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Bushidō as a coherent set of ideas and philosophies began with Yamaga Sokō(1622–1685), a samurai from Aizu, a province located in the western end of what is now Fukushima Prefecture.[i] In this context, his life was rife with ironies. First, Sokō began life as a rōnin, or masterless samurai. This meant he was of the warrior class by birth but not an active participant in any military matters. As a rōnin he did not hold any official office in the military government. Second, he matured at what was essentially a time of peace, and thus had no firsthand experience with war in any capacity, not even as an observer. Rather, he approached war and preparedness for it in an academic fashion, but obviously with some brilliance because he was appointed as military advisor by the daimyo of Akō (in present day Hyōgo Prefecture) in 1652. The final irony was that he was exiled because his writings were seen as a challenge to the ruling warrior family and thus was rejected by the establishment and therefore can not be seen to widely represent the warrior class.
Military preparedness was most certainly one of Sokō’s interests but he never even used the word bushidō.This is understandable because although the word existed at the time it was highly arcane. To express his ideas he coined the word shidō. These words, bushidō and shidō, have the same root and are understandably sometimes defined as synonyms. However, most scholars agree that they have different meanings. In the most general sense, shidō is about ethics, about having the right mental state, while bushidō is about actions, doing what one should.
Nevertheless, Yamaga Sokō’s ideas were to have lasting impact on the actions of others. They were based on a syncretic selection of Confucian, Buddhist, and Shintō thought. His teachings were clearly conservative, expressing revisionist values based on a romanticized past of which he had no part. It was in fact Sokō’s rejection of neo-Confucian ideas, the ruling philosophy of the Tokugawa government, that caused him to be exiled. Although not a label used in Sokō’s time, this school of thought came to be known as kogaku (literally “ancient learning”). Kogaku philosophers thought that the metaphysical additions to Confucian thought from the Song dynasty (960–1279) were corrupt and that true understanding could only be reached by refocusing on the original ancient Confucian texts. Other influential proponents included Itō Jinsai (1627–1705) and Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728). In Sokō’s view, life was governed by clear principles of right and wrong, and it was this idea that he applied to warrior behavior. The morality and virtue expressed in Confucian writings translated to military preparedness. This is not to suggest ideas about virtue and ethics would not have existed in Japan without Confucianism, rather Confucianism gave a framework to existing ideas. Sokō was also a proto-nationalist, a trait that became especially apparent after his exile. We use this term because Japan was not yet a true nation in the modern sense. He saw Japan as superior to China, ideas that he expressed in Chūchō jijitsu (The Truth About the Middle Kingdom). One reason that he saw Japan as superior because it was divinely created and ruled by an imperial line directly linked with heaven.
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