English translation of the eighteenth-century Japanese text that delves into the samurai mind. Hagakure is a must-have for serious martial artists or fans of samurai and the bushido code. Hagakure Kikigaki, is a practical and spiritual guide for a warrior, drawn from a collection of commentaries by the clerk Yamamoto Tsunetomo, former retainer to Nabeshima Mitsushige (July 10, 1632 - July 2, 1700), the third ruler of what is now Saga Prefecture in Japan. Tashiro Tsuramoto compiled these commentaries from his conversations with Tsunetomo from 1709 to 1716; however, it was not published until many years afterwards. The book grapples with the dilemma of maintaining a