On Inazō Nitobe's "Bushido: The Soul of Japan"
New Books in East Asian Studies
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The Last Samurai
Many americans get their ideas about samurai from popular culture. The first book i read about japan that i can remember was shogan, published in 19 75. In the early years of the comedy sketch show saturday night life, the actor john belluse had a set of sketches in which he played a samurai with a ontemporary American job. I've since learned that that is just a novel, very entertaining, but not to be taken too seriously. But there's some over the top stuff that i think ultimately can be traced back to the influence of bushito. And if tom cruwse was necessary to bring the crowds in, that's fine. Whatever.
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