Tsuramoto Tashiro
Encyclopedia
was a young samurai
who visited an aging recluse Yamamoto Tsunetomo
on March 5, 1710 and remained fascinated by the older samurai of the Saga domain
. He began to record meticulously the latter’s opinions on what constituted the warrior code of the samurai class to which they both belonged, and completed his 11 volume compilation of Yamamoto’s ideas, entitled Hagakure
on September 10, 1716. His
manuscript was kept secretively in the possession of the Nabeshima clan
of the Saga domain for almost two centuries, until it was finally made public in the Meiji period
.
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
who visited an aging recluse Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
, also read Yamamoto Jōchō was a samurai of the Saga Domain in Hizen Province under his lord Nabeshima Mitsushige. For thirty years Yamamoto devoted his life to the service of his lord and clan...
on March 5, 1710 and remained fascinated by the older samurai of the Saga domain
Saga Domain
Saga Domain was a han, or feudal domain, in Tokugawa period Japan. Largely contiguous with Hizen Province on Kyūshū, the domain was governed from Saga Castle in the capital city of Saga by the Nabeshima clan of tozama daimyō...
. He began to record meticulously the latter’s opinions on what constituted the warrior code of the samurai class to which they both belonged, and completed his 11 volume compilation of Yamamoto’s ideas, entitled Hagakure
Hagakure
Hagakure , or is a practical and spiritual guide for a warrior, drawn from a collection of commentaries by the samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo, former retainer to Nabeshima Mitsushige, the third ruler of what is now the Saga prefecture in Japan...
on September 10, 1716. His
manuscript was kept secretively in the possession of the Nabeshima clan
Nabeshima clan
The Nabeshima clan was a prominent Japanese samurai clan of Kyūshū which controlled Saga Domain from the late Sengoku period through the Edo period.The Nabeshima clan was a cadet branch of the Shōni clan and was descended from the Fujiwara clan...
of the Saga domain for almost two centuries, until it was finally made public in the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
.