Customer Reviews

The Samurai and the Sacred

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I have several other books from this author published recently and though I treasure those, I believe this book to be the most practical for my understanding of Japan.

Between the years 1962 & 1964 while with the military I resided in Japan on the Kanto Plain between Tokyo and Yokohama. During those years I visited many shrines, temples, and places of the Kami. In fact I was stationed at a Navy/Marine base named Kamiseya. Many of the questions I had and still have concerning sacred things of the Kami, Shinto, Buddha, temples, Torii gates, pagodas and shrines are addressed in this book. In addition, the numerous color photographs which exist on almost every page only heighten the understanding; as I look at many of these I know what it felt like to actually be there. The photos offer much greater realism to the text.

In addition the author traces the path of Buddhism from India through China and Korea to eventually reach Japan, where it was intermingled with both existing Shintoism and the Imperial family. The fact of the sun goddess being intertwined with the Imperial family explain why the Emperors were seen to be divine. All of this gives more understanding of just 'what' makes the Japanese to be "Japanese" than many other volumes I've read.

If you have any interest in the history of Japan concerning her religious roots that continue through present day, this is a book for you. Mr. Turnbull has issued at least 3 major books in the last few years that deal with both Japanese history and the Samurai, but this latest is the best for anyone wanting to know the force other than military that has both driven and sustained Japan through the centuries.

Semper Fi.

The Samurai and the Sacred is exactly what we have all come to love when reading Stephen Turnbull's books, well narrated facts. This book is a must have for any samurai lover, martial art practitionar, or stephen turnbull fan.
Very nice color illustrations which no other book has also adds to its value.

Great book, gives alot of info on the native Japanese religion w/ relation to the samurai. Great picture, of artwork, shinto shrines, statues etc.

Stephen Turnbull has become a mark of quality for me. Any time I pick up one of his books, I know that I am in for a serious and entertaining history lesson on Japan's old warrior castes. Currently a lecturer in Far Eastern Religions for the University of Leeds, Turnbull knows his stuff. As with all his books, this one is also covered in photographs and ancient pictures, bringing to vivid life all the history.

"Samurai and the Sacred" combines two of his major focuses, the Samurai and Japanese religion, and takes an indepth look at the spirituality and the effects of religion on Japan's warrior caste. The book takes a historical focus, going from the ancient Shinto beliefs, up to Buddhism, the "Christian Century" and the return to Shinto and the Emperor cult.

Like with his other books, such as Ninja: The True Story of Japan's Secret Warrior Cult Turnbull seeks to demystify and de-Hollywood the ideal of the Samurai as a spiritual warrior poet, devoted to his calling and passionate in his beliefs. This, he says, is an image created later by the "armchair samurais" of the Meiji period, those who still held the rank and title passed on by their ancestors, but who had never actually held a sword in combat. In order to justify their now-useless place in Japanese society, they wrote books and offered themselves up as a refined example of a perfect Japanese person that the rest of society could follow.

As often is the case, the true history is much more interesting, with warrior monks burning down neighboring temples in demand for more money, and Christian samurais marching on Korea with crucifix back-banners and rosaries buried under their armor. Particularly interesting was the groups of hidden Christians who maintained their beliefs in silence for centuries, yet when freedom of religion was granted and they revealed themselves to the new Catholic church, they were so disgusted with the changes the church had made over the centuries they declared the Catholic church to be heretics, and they the true preservers of the faith.

The only drawback would be considering this a study of Japanese religion on the whole. "Samurai and the Sacred" does touch upon these issues, but it is concerned solely with how the samurai approached religion, and not the majority populace. That part of the book is wide but not deep, and it might be a good idea to have a background in those areas before reading this one.

This proves to be a very interesting book on how religion and warfare interact with each other during the days of samurai warriors of Japan. The book can also be considered to be a partial introduction to Japan's religious practices and tell an interesting story of how Japan's native Shinto religion intermixed the imported Buddhism and their various off shoots like zen. The book reflects on how these religious concepts were perceived by samurais and how it influenced them. Many of the these concepts continued on into World War II. It was educational to understand the purpose of Yasukuni Shrine where great deal of turmoil often get rolling whenever a Japanese politician make his appearance there. Since this shrine was intended to honor the millions of common soldiers who gave their lives for their country, perhaps it was a mistake to enshrined major Japanese war criminals there as they do not fit the description of type of people who get enshrined there.

It was also interesting to note how introduction of Christianity disrupted this harmonic religious relationship. Christianity, unlike Shinto and Buddhism, have a very intolerant dogma that disrupted the peaceful co-existence of faiths in Japan. The author tells account where Christianized Japanese troops goes out of their way to destroyed shrines and temples of other faiths, not for military or political purposes like Oda Nobunaga might have done, but for religious cleansing.

Of course, here lies one major weakness in this book. The author perhaps spent too much time with Christianity, whose impact on the samurai warriors were short-lived. While the accounts of the hidden Japanese Christians proves to be educational, they had nothing to do with samurai warriors.

Overall, a pretty good book on understanding the religious credos of the samurai warriors down the history.

Beatutifully illustrated, Turnbull provides thoughtful discussion into the paradox of martial religion as practised over the centuries in Japan, shinto, Buddhist, Confucian and Christian. Lacks in depth review of Japanese writings on the subject.

Both spirituality and military history collections - as well as those strong in Japanese history in particular - will welcome The Samurai and the Sacred, a fine study examining the spiritual world of the samurai from their involvement in Japanese mainstream religions to their feature in Christianity and folk religions. Samurai expert Stephen Turnbull offers a detailed look at Japanese religion and religious terrorism in a powerful study suitable for any serious Japanese spirituality shelf.