Fieschi Aude's Book: The Mask of the Samurai

The image of the samurai, inseparable from that of traditional Japan, has become the stereotype of the knight who uses his sword to cut off heads or who charges against the enemy to demonstrate his ferocity and cover himself in glory. After his passing, the samurai was elevated to the rank of national hero, mythologized, and in Japan, not a day goes by without a broadcaster recalling his marvelous exploits through films or television series.

But which hero is he talking about?

Rather than recounting the famous battles that decided the hegemony of one clan or another, Aude Fieschi is primarily interested in the motivations of these warriors—born of the great schools of thought that prevailed in Japan between the 12th and 19th centuries—and the moral, religious, philosophical, and military education that was instilled in them from childhood, without which one cannot understand that very particular code of values that is bushido, the Way of the Warrior, whose ultimate goal is the achievement of perfection.

But the constant search for perfection that guided the samurai was also manifested in the practice of the arts, which they sometimes left a lasting mark on, such as in the tea ceremony, the game of go, or Zen meditation.

The figures of the samurai are many and far richer than appearances would lead one to believe: this essay reveals their reality through their history, which is also that of the Land of the Rising Sun, casting a glance beneath their mask, to discover those men who, with all their wealth and diversity, dominated Japan for seven centuries.

Aude Fieschi

Born in Senegal in 1952, she has spent most of her life abroad. A graduate of Japanese language and literature, she has never ceased to be interested in Japanese culture and has translated numerous Japanese literary works into French. In 2002, she wrote a curious history of the kimono, "Le kimono d'art et de désir."