The Japanese Tradition
In Japan, the equivalent to a Just War tradition is Bushido, the way of the warrior, concerned with jus in bello but not jus ad bellum. It is a moral code requiring the enumerated virtues of benevolence, courage, frugality, honesty, honor, loyalty, mastery of martial arts, rectitude, and respect.
Originating in the ninth century with precursors that refer to the ideal of a warrior-poet, and formalized under the Tokugawa dynasty (seventeenth-nineteenth centuries), it draws on Confucianism, Shinto, and Zen Buddhism. Nitobe (1969) saw in Bushido the sources of the personal qualities most admired by the Japanese, adding calm in the face of danger and crisis, compassion for those of lower status, justice, politeness, propriety, self-control, and sincerity to the growing list of requirements. Bushido became a propaganda tool by the government, emphasizing obedience, duty, and self-sacrifice in the name of the state. It was militarized in the twentieth century to inspire soldiers to fight to the end rather than surrender. However, the first proposals for suicide attacks were resisted because Bushido calls for the warrior to be aware of but not to view death as the purpose of war.More on the topic The Japanese Tradition:
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