The World of the Shining Prince by Ivan Morris

Using a combination of sources, excerpts, and retellings, Morris reveals both the mythic and legendary basis of Japan's tragic heroes as well as their historical reality and how they have influenced Japan's culture and psyche. Morris draws upon both primary and secondary materials, including literature, poetry, and theatrical interpretations of the heroes' stories found in kabuki and Noh. In fact, the endnotes, bibliography, and index make up approximately a third of the books' length. It's readily clear that Morris put a tremendous amount of thought and research into the volume.

The Nobility of Failure is an extremely illuminating volume.

They fail, but fail gloriously, reaping the posthumous reward of deathless fame.

Here the late British historian Ivan Morris celebrates Japanese heroes who refused to make the tawdry compromises success all too often demands.

and the kamikaze fighters of World War II.

Supported by extensive notes and bibliography, the chapters cover: Through detail, crystal-clear prose and unmatched narrative sweep and brilliance, Professor Morris takes you into the innermost hearts of the Japanese people. Morris then turns his attention to the kamikaze pilots of World War II, who gave their lives in defense of their nation in the full realization that their deaths would have little effect on the course of the war. Long recognized as a core book in any study of Japanese culture and literature, The Nobility of Failure examines the lives and deaths of nine historical individuals who faced overwhelming odds, and, realizing they were doomed, accepted their fate-to be killed in battle or by execution, to wither in exile, or to escape through ritual suicide. This cultural background remains a bedrock underlying the modern Japanese psyche, and continues to shape the Japanese as individuals and a society even today, unconsciously, in the same way the West is still affected by the myths and legends passed down from Greece and Rome. In Japan, however, many of the most revered heroes lost their lives without achieving their goals, and in many cases fought their battles in full realization that they would end in abject defeat and death. Many of them died heroically to achieve their goals. The Western literatures are packed with the stories-real and otherwise-of diverse heroes, but most of them share the common element of victory. Alexander, Robin Hood, Wellington, George Washington.

The World of the Shining Prince by Ivan Morris