Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Tsunetomo Yamamoto (12 June 1659 - 1719) was a samurai of the Saga domain in Hizen Province under his lord Mitsushige Nabeshima. For thirty years Yamamoto devoted his life to the service of his lord and clan. When Nabeshima died in 1700, Yamamoto did not commit tsuifuku because Mitsushige Nabeshima has expressed a dislike of the practice in his life, so Yamamoto considered it better to follow his lord's wishes after his death, and to refrain from tsuifuku. After some disagreements with Nabeshima's successor, Yamamoto renounced the world and retired to a hermitage in the mountains. Late in life (between 1709 and 1716), he narrated many of his thoughts to a fellow samurai, Tsuramoto Tashiro. These commentaries were later turned into the Hagakure (Hidden behind the Leaves).

External references

• de Bary, et al, ed. Sources of Japanese Tradition, 2d Ed.