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The Samurai and the Sacred : The Path of the Warrior, Stephen Turnbull, Osprey, 2006, 224 pages, including index, bibliography and notes, with copious colour illustrations, ISBN: 1 84603 021 8, £20. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi Stephen Turnbull, who is a lecturer in Japanese religion at the University of Leeds, has written extensively about the Japanese samurai and about aspects of Japanese history and religion. This book explores the relationship between the samurai and Japanese religious beliefs and traditions. Turnbull's book begins with a discussion of the origins of Shinto and the nature of the kami which, quoting the famous eighteenth century nationalist philosopher Motoori Norinaga, include "humans, birds and beasts, plants and trees, oceans and mountains." He then traces the early history of Buddhism in Japan and the way in which it was fused with Shinto. He outlines the influence of religious beliefs on the history of the military struggles for hegemony in medieval Japan at a time when many Buddhists believed that the end of the world (mappo) was approaching. Life was short and brutal reflecting the impermanence of all things expressed by the Buddhist term mujo. He discusses the samurai's relationship with the "pure land" Buddhist sects and the commotions caused by the warrior monks. He notes that Kusonoki Masashige, famed for his devotion to the Emperor who died in 1336, was "the nearest thing Japan ever produced to a samurai saint." Turnbull draws attention to the Christian samurai who took part in the campaigns in Korea where exceptionally there was "a Christian chaplaincy to a Japanese army." He also recounts briefly the subsequent persecution of the Christians and the way in which some Christian beliefs survived. Readers who have not read Turnbull's book The Kakure Kirishtan of Japan (Japan Library 1998) may find his brief account of these hidden Christians particularly interesting. Due attention is given to the role of Zen in the life and philosophy of the Japanese, but Turnbull reminds the reader that Zen was only one of the religious influences on the samurai. He points out for instance that "self-discipline lies at the very heart of Confucianism" and that fatalism was "the sine qua non of the samurai who fought in the Ikko-ikki armies of Jodo Shinshu" (Pure Land Buddhist sects). Turnbull rightly points out that the famous book entitled Bushido and published in 1905 by the Japanese Christian Nitobe Inazo "is a very curious work." He describes it aptly as combining a "strange blend of samurai myths and Tom Brown's Schooldays." He notes in this context the comments of the famous Japanologist Basil Hall Chamberlain about the "new" religion which was inaugurated by the Meiji government, This, Chamberlain asserted, consisted of "worship of the sacrosanct Imperial Person and of His Divine Ancestors, of implicit obedience to Him as head of the army ( a position, by the way, opposed to all former Japanese ideas, according to which the Court was essentially civilian); furthermore, of a corresponding belief that Japan is as far superior to the common ruck of nations as the Mikado is divinely superior to the common ruck of kings and emperors." The author ends with a discussion of the role of the Yasukuni shrine with "'its chilling museum next door where Japan's recent military past is unexpectedly glorified." His final sentence reads: "Yasukuni still retains a role as a place where there is something quite sinister about the link between the samurai and the sacred."

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