# Looking for a good book on Japanese samurai/Bushido

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-book-on-japanese-samurai-bushido/587451>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 1, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-book-on-japanese-samurai-bushido/587451 "2011-07-01T00:36:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-book-on-japanese-samurai-bushido/587451/1 "2011-07-01T00:36:12Z")

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Thanks in large part to _Shogun 2_ and re-reading _Samurai William_ by Giles Milton and _The Book of Five Rings_ by Miyamoto Musashi, I’ve struck up a renewed interest in samurai, their way of life and their Bushido mindset.

I’ve had a looksee on Amazon and Google but it’s a bit of a minefield, there are a heck of a lot of highly rated books out there, but I’m not made of money. Anyone have any knowledge in this field? Where should I start?

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**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-book-on-japanese-samurai-bushido/587451/2 "2011-07-01T00:45:14Z")

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hmmmm… i always thought i’m well-read on samurai but i can’t give you one good non-fiction title (you already mentioned the musashi book.)

suggest you read historical works and japanese lore instead. the tale of genji, articles on musashi, the war of the tairas and minamotos, oda nobunaga, tokugawa ieyasu, masamune the smith.

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**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-book-on-japanese-samurai-bushido/587451/3 "2011-07-01T02:03:50Z")

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I enjoyed [**Bushido, the Soul of Japan**](http://www.amazon.com/Bushido-Soul-Japan-Bushido-Warrior/dp/4770027311) and **[Hagakure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagakure)**.

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**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-book-on-japanese-samurai-bushido/587451/4 "2011-07-01T10:24:10Z")

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For historical fiction, I enjoyed Eiji Yoshikawa’s **Musashi** and **Taiko**.