Bushido and Bushito
Our new fatal code of conduct
by Alan Bisbort

August 21, 2003 - HARTFORD (apj.us) -- In Japan, 'bushido' is the strict code of conduct for the samurai, or warrior, class. Updated in the early 20th century from its 13th century roots, this code allowed the Japanese army to justify atrocities the likes of which the modern world had not seen up to that point, such as the Rape of Nanking in 1937. The perpetrators of this mass psychotic breakdown were foot soldiers and officers in the Japanese army who'd been brainwashed by this bastardized bushido.

Japanese soldiers were given little pragmatic field training, but steeped in seishin kyoiku, or "spiritual training." When they enlisted, their families were told that from here on out the army was their mother and father. The military ethic was simple: death was better than surrender, retreat was impossible, disobedience was disgrace.

According to historian Edwin P. Hoyt, "the goal was to build a nation of people dedicated to denial of self, with such ardent loyalty to the Imperial Way, that the citizen would feel that dying for the emperor was a privilege." Every morning during their two years of unfathomably grueling military training, recruits were made to chant: "Whether I float as a corpse under the waters, or sink beneath the grasses of the mountainside, I willingly die for the Emperor."

By 1932, Emperor Worship had become Japan's new religion, fueled by national proclamations like, "Not only the Imperial Army but the entire nation regard our Emperor as a Living God. For us it is not a question of historical or scientific accuracy. It is an article of faith."

Hoyt writes, "If there were Japanese, Buddhists, Christians and others who did not agree with this philosophy, after 1932 they had best be careful... The powers of the Ministry of Home Affairs were strengthened year after year, and the home ministry ran the police. Soon there would also be the Thought Police (sic), watching carefully for any deviation from the norm; the norm was unquestioned obedience to official command."

Indeed, the Japanese army field manual offered such pointers as, "The Officer by his courage and coolness under a rain of bullets must inspire the soldiers and imbue them with unshakeable confidence in himself." And this: "If you are slain in battle, you should be resolved to have your corpse facing the enemy."

Hoyt sums up the ultimate failure of Japan's bushido: "They substituted courage for common sense... Japanese army leaders knew virtually nothing about their potential enemies... Japan was in the right, they said, and faith and courage would conquer all... The philosophy led the army into dishonesty and arrogance in dealings with the outside world." Similarly, the Encyclopedia of World War II notes, "Bushido is often compared to the Western chivalric code. In Bushido, however, there is little of the cult of romantic love, or the high status of women or the sense of noblesse oblige toward one's social inferiors that characterize the Western code."

Needless to add, bushido also led many Japanese soldiers to pointless deaths, even as it assured them that they were dying heroically for the emperor, a little wisp of a man who liked to dress up in fancy outfits but who never actually served in the military.

Need I make the connection to the present day?

All right, then, I will. Bushido, adapted and bastardized by the United States in 2003 might more properly be called "Swaggering Bravado," aka "Bushito."

Substitute the Office of Homeland Security for the Ministry of Home Affairs. Substitute Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Coulter, Novak, and, to some extent, all unquestioning conduits of mainstream American journalism, for the Thought Police. Also substitute John Ashcroft's Unchecked Power for the Thought Police. Substitute erroneous headlines like "Opinion Polls Showing Bush Has 'Soaring' Approval Rating" for Emperor Worship. Substitute "God Told Me To Kill Saddam" for "Our Emperor as a Living God." Substitute George W. "AWOL-during-Vietnam" Bush in his codpiece and helmet aboard the flight deck of an aircraft carrier for Emperor Hirohito in his silk robes and dainty slippers. Substitute "Bring 'em on!" for the Japan's suicidal "unshakeable confidence." Substitute "the unchecked anger of the Iraqi people" for the "rain of bullets." And so on.

It is time now that we, collectively as a nation, substitute "I will not willingly die for Bush" for "I willingly die for the Emperor". We must stop this bushido/bushito from spreading. We must, as a national cautionary tale, put it safely behind a glass display case in the National Archives or the U.S. Capitol rotunda, maybe next to the relocated files of George W. Bush's arrest, military and financial records.

We must wake up from this national nightmare.

Alan Bisbort is a columnist for the Hartford Advocate. His most recent publication is What Happened Here in New York City History (Pomegranate Knowledge Cards).