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6. Honor
Nitobe suggested that the sense of honor, implying a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, could not fail to characterize the samurai, born and bred
to value the duties and privileges of their profession. Fear of disgrace hung like a sword on the head of every samurai. p. 19
7. Loyalty
Loyalty could hardly be found in some places, as Nitobe affirmed that all members of a clan were responsible for the actions of their lord. Should a master be
insulted or even killed, a retainer would take it upon himself to avenge his lord to any end. For such loyalty, the lord was expected to take care of his retainers to insure that
they did not become dissatisfied to the point of taking leave of their lord and becoming ronin masterless. p. 21
8. Character and Self Control
The first point to observe in knightly pedagogic was to build up character, leaving in the shade the subtler faculties of prudence, intelligence and dialectics. According
to Nitobe, the tripod that supported the framework of Bushido was said to be Chi, Jin, Yu
, respectively Wisdom, Benevolence, and Courage. Furthermore, he concluded that without taking into account long years of discipline in self-control, none can be
correct.
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4. Ronin
Based on Ptak Collin in The Samurai of Japan, the term of ronin is used for the master-less
samurai of the late Muromachi 1138
–1573 and Tokugawa 1603– 1867 periods.
By the 12th century the term ronin began to be used for samurai who, as a result of either losses in battle, the untimely death of their lord, or their own
misdeeds, had been dispossessed of their fief and their noble sponsorship. During the tumultuous period before the founding of the Tokugawa shogun, their numbers
increased rapidly. A warrior usually became ronin in one of four ways:
1. A clan or fief was defeated and abolished in battle, or the shogun authorities reduced a fief in size or abolished the fief entirely. The samurai involved
all would become ronin. Unless the lord of that fief took his retainers with him to his new fief, the samurai in his service would become ronin.
2. A samurai was dismissed from service by his daimyo. During the Tokugawa era, according to the Buke Shohatto, no daimyo was allowed to take into
service a ronin who had been dismissed by his original daimyo. 3. A samurai voluntarily left his fief, with or without his daimyo‟s permission,
and thus become a ronin. 4. A warrior was born as a ronin because he was the son of a ronin.
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D. Theoretical Framework
The socio cultural historical approach is used to understand the nature of the social context of the subject matter. They are more likely to describe the society and
culture in Japan in the feudal period, in accordance with the approach conducted. The emphasis on feudal era is because samurai took a role in that very moment. Bushido
principles of loyalty, self-control, and honor that strengthened by review of feudalism in governmental side, Japanese social class, and the concept of ronin is used to
sharpen the analysis of the problem. It is significant to get sufficient data about Japanese culture, encompassing the political and governmental system, the religions,
the art works and literary works, the social classes and the social milieu. Since the setting of the novel is in the feudal period, it is necessary to reflect on the social
cultural background, as long as it is relevant to the analysis.
