Abstract
This paper reviewed the samurai's thought, the essential part in Tsuda's study of Japan's esprit. The author tried to comprehend one aspect of Tsuda's study of the future of Japan's esprit by analyzing the relationship between the samurai's thought and Japan's esprit. Tsuda criticized Nitobe Inazo's and Inoue Tetsuziro's widely accepted arguments about the samurai's thought that held that Bushido was the samurai's moral code that also became the moral standard for Japan's masses. Bushido incorporated Buddhism, Shintoism and Confucianism. Loyalty and patriotism also played an important role in Bushido. In contrast to the thoughts on Bushido advanced by these two men, Tsuda held that the samurai's thought originated from his way of life. This thought began in the Gen-Pei Period, developed in the Warring State Period, and faded in the Edo Period. The samurai's thought consisted of two parts. First, it was related to the relationship between the master and the vassal. Tsuda insisted that this relation was not the loyalty of the vassal to the master, but rather a kind of exchange of service and reward between them. Second, courage, honor, independence, and sympathy were not generated through religious practices but through participation in battles. As a fighter, the samurai behaved against the human's desire for survival. Moreover, it was difficult to establish a stable society based on the relationship between the master and the vassal. Therefore, the samurai's thought could not guide Japan's esprit.
