Martial Arts, Ancient & Medieval Military History, Japanese History, Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Asian Philosophy

Legends of the Samurai

Name: Legends of the Samurai
Author: Sato
ISBN: 9781590207307

by Hiroaki Sato

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Overview

Over the decades the reputation of the samurai has grown to mythical proportions, owing to such films as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Yojimbo as well as works such as James Clavell's epic Shogun. In Legends of the Samurai, Hiroaki Sato confronts both the history and the legend of the samurai, untangling the two to present an authentic picture of these legendary warriors.

Through his masterful translations of original samurai tales, laws, dicta, reports, and arguments accompanied by insightful commentary, Sato chronicles the changing ethos of the Japanese warrior from the samurai's historical origins to his rise to political power.

A fascinating look at Japanese history as seen through the evolution of the samurai, Legends of the Samurai stands as the ultimate authority on its subject.

About the Author, Sato

HIROAKI SATO is a poet, translator, and journalist, as well as an adjunct professor at UMASS Amherst. The winner of the PEN translation prize and the former president of the Haiku Society of America, he also translated The Sword and the Mind, published by Overlook. He lives in New York City.

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Editorials

Library Journal

Sato, the editor and translator of One Hundred Frogs (LJ 4/15/83), has compiled an interesting collection of stories about Japan's warrior class, the samurai. In translations that seek to capture the nuances of the original, Sato illustrates the evolving ethos of the samurai class over a period of 1000 years. In choosing a story to illuminate an incident, Sato selected the version closest in time to the event rather than a more modern retelling. This gives his collection a sense of immediacy and authenticity that is often missing in translations that attempt to recast stories for a Western audience. The value of this work lies in the way it illuminates a non-Western cultural tradition-a way of thinking and acting that may seem alien. It offers a rare look into the mindset of Japan's warrior aristocracy. Recommended for academic and public libraries with a strong reader interest in this area.-Robert James Andrews, Duluth P.L., Minn.