In Legends of the Samurai, Hiroaki Sato confronts both the history and the legend of the samurai, untangling the two to present an authentic picture of these legendary warriors. Through his masterful translations of original samurai tales, laws, dicta, reports, and arguments accompanied by insightful commentary, Sato chronicles the changing ethos of the Japanese warrior from the samurai's historical origins to his rise to political power. A fascinating look at Japanese history as seen through the evolution of the samurai, Legends of the Samurai stands as the ultimate authority on its subject.
Editorial reviews:
"A welcome antidote to the one-dimensional image of the samurai...a revealing, entertaining, and often surprising portrait of pre-modern Japan's heroic warrior elite." - Mangajin
"The value of this work lies in the way it illuminates a non- Western cultural tradition--a way of thinking and acting that may seem alien. It offers a rare look into the mindset of Japan's warrior aristocracy." - Library Journal
About the author:
Hiroaki Sato is a prize-winning writer and translator with over 40 works of classical and modern Japanese poetry, prose, and fiction published in English. His reviews and articles have appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times Book Review, AsiaWeek, Mainichi Daily News, St. Andrews Review, Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, The Journal of American and Canadian Studies, Comparative Literature Studies, The Japan Times, The Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, The Journal of Japanese Studies, Modern Haiku, Japan Focus, and others.
