Blog #5

Bushido - "Bushido refers to the ethics that were formed among the samurai."(P. 41) The samurai were the warrior class in Japan from the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration. This group valued martial prowess and loyalty above all other things in life and Bushido is the code buy which they lived. Bushido has its roots in the practices of Zen Buddhism. A practitioner of Zen Buddhism seeks to find enlightenment (Satori) through strict physical and mental discipline. These ideas meshed with the Samurai ideals and helped form Bushido. "Thus, the spiritual elements of Bushido came from Zen Buddhism, and Zen religious practices were used by samurai to train physically and mentally" (P.43)

Giri - Giri can best be described as a social obligation, moral duty, or dept. "Giri can perhaps best be understood as a constellation of related meanings, the most important of which are as follows: (1) moral principles or duty, (2) rules one has to obey in social relationships, and (3) behavior one is obligated to follow or that must be done against one's will." (Matsumura, 1988, p.653) (P. 95) The concept of Giri first formed during the prefudal period of Japan where the demands of rice harvesting forced people to create small farming communities to help the rice harvest. Those that helped in the harvest topically expected some good will in return for their actions. Later on this ideal meshed with Neo-Confucian values. "With the Neo - Confucian values of the age, shushigaku giri came to mean a rule one has to obey in human relations."(P.97)

IE System - "Define ie as "a patrilineage", a network of households related through their respected heads, comprising main houses, branch houses, and the branches of branch houses traced down through generations." (P.119) The IE system revolves around the household and those in it. In feudal Japan and to a lesser extent today the household was lead by the head of the household who was generally the senior male. It was his job to oversee the dealings of the houses and control the resources for the houses. Because of this the IE system has a clear need for a single successor to the head of the household. this is why marge among the houses was so important, they needed to continue the family line. This is especially important for the Samurai who derive their status from the number of famous ancestors they have. "It was also a characteristic of the samurai's ie to place great importance on maintaining the family line and fame of the ie." (Pg. 122).

Part B

One thing from our discussion that struck me was when we were talking about why the girls wanted to rejoin the jazz band after the real band had gotten better from their food poisoning.

Why did they come back to try and reform the band? They were having fun while they were learning to play the instruments. This feeling of doing well is the essence of Gambaru (to do ones best) this is why they came back and eventually succeeded with the band.

Why did Tomoko and the others abandon the Jazz band when the School band came back instead of continuing by themselves? I believe this is because of Honne to Tatemae. Tomoko was not sure how the other girls felt about the situation so she said that she was happy to quit so the other girls would not think she was strange for saying that she actually wanted to continue with the Jazz band.