Boye Lafayette De Mente (1928–2017)

Not bad at all. Chapters are broken up into sizeable chunks that are insightful and easy to read. My biggest complaint stems from the fact that despite the author's extensive knowledge of the Korean language, he refrains from using any 한글 in the book - only romanization of key terms. This makes for a sloppy glossary.

Don't let this questionable editing mistake steer you away from this book - not only does it contain nugget after nugget of valuable information, it also contains a fantastic show more summary of ancient and modern Korea wrapped up in about 12 pages.

The author does well to tie in his knowledge of Japanese culture and business as it plays a big role in Korea. However, I would have liked more taboos and "do-not-do-this-you-impatient-foreign-businessperson" tidbits - although the book has plenty. I suppose the best feature of the book is it's instant pick-up-and-read aspect however, if the proper context isn't taken into account, I'm afraid that some of this book might be forgettable - which is a shame.

Perhaps it goes without saying that this book is applicable to anyone living in Korea and has thousands of applications outside the business world. A great read. show less

The legendary Madame Butterfly never seems to leave from the talks of Japanese mistresses. Mistress-keeping they say is a rich man’s sexual luxury. In the old times when polygamy danced wildly in the streets, sexing up a mistress was in vogue. With the evolution of civilized laws it is now delineated as an act of sexual vulgarity. Yet, the act of mistress keeping is still breathing in the clandestine alleys of sexual dwellings. And along with its pleasures come the perils. Ask Tiger show more Woods/Jesse James?
But, when it comes to the art of mistress keeping the Japanese sure do rule the roost. The Japanese language has 50 different ways of saying “courtesan” or “mistresses”. Need I say more? Japan was famous for its mistresses due to the age old tradition of arranged marriages and even due to the legal prostitution laws. The phenomenon was so indulgent that it became a symbol of the Japanese culture and history. Lafayette De Mente crafts a map of the tradition of mistress keeping from the pre-modern Japanese period of Shogun and Edo to recent Post Modern era with its pros and cons. I liked his eloquent usage of various Kanji characters as an ideograph to extract the exact meaning of sex outside a marriage. This book is a politically correct narration of how Japanese men are horny as a three balled tomcat and since they could not fulfill their sexual fantasy or fetishes from their arranged marriages they ran wild in the sexual alleys of other women. The richer the man the more he could boasts about his conquests in mistress keeping. Later on, in the post Pacific War period it became a full fledged industry with pimps becoming more popular than certain authorities. Eventually, the open sexual indulgence ceased due to stricter societal laws. The Japanese even have lenient sentences for those accused of killing their mistresses. And, now with all the existing strict laws they have clandestine affairs and play it safe. Yes! The Japanese are horny, but who isn’t? After all man is a sexual animal and polygamy is a part of the animal kingdom. It is not a justification but a reality dose.
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This book was published in the 1990s, the author lived in Japan for decades from the 1950's so he has spent a lot of time in Japanese culture and learned a lot from it, which he is passing to us. As of this review it's 2026 so this book is three decades old, but a lot of the information in here is relevant.

I won't claim this book made me an expert in Japanese culture but it did give me some insights and better understanding into certain aspects of Japanese philosophy and how it affects their show more way of life. The author did get repetitive sometimes, but I still found this an informative book.

M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews show less

The astounding transformation of tiny, resource-poor Japan into the world's second largest economy in the span of less than 30 years was due to the ongoing influence of an ancient samurai code of tehics-a code that once made the Japanese unbeatable warriors in hand-to-hand combat and which now makes them formidable strategists in business and other fields.

The most famous combat strategist in Japanese history was Musashi Miyamoto, a warrior who lived from 1584 to 1645. Musashi fought this show more first duel to the death when he was 13, killing a veteran warrior more than twice his age. By the time he was 29, he had killed over 60 other warriors in death duels, and was a legend in his own time.

Just berfore he died, Musashi recorded his philosophy, strategies and tactics in a short treatise entitled Go Rin Sho-'Book of Five Rings'. Author Boye Lafayette De Mente has extracted the fundamentals of Musashi's tactics from this esoteric little book and explains them here in the modern context of business, politics and war.

Musashi's strategies for winning are as valid today as they were in seventeeth century Japan, and provide valuable insights for anyone in any field of endeavor-from business, war and sports to the fields of art, love and politics.

Product Description
The most famous combat strategist in Japanese history was Musashi Miyamoto, a warrior who lived from 1584 to 1645. Miyamoto fought his first duel to the death when he was 13, killing a veteran warrior more than twice his age. By the time he was 29 he had killed more than 60 other warriors in duels and was a legend in his own time.

Shortly before his death, Musashi recorded his philosophy, strategies and tactics in a short treatise entitled Go Rin Sho—The Book of Five Rings. An esoteric read for anyone not versed in Japanese culture and language, Go Rin Sho has now been distilled to present the fundamentals of Miyamoto's tactics and explain them in the modern context of business, politics and war. Samurai Strategies is the result. Compiled by renowned Japanologist Boye Lafayette De Mente, it is more precise and practical as a handbook for winning than The Art of War by China's most famous military strategist, Sun Tzu.

This hardcover edition features a new introduction by the author and additional commentary in each chapter by well-known Japanese author and samurai expert Michihiro Matsumoto.
About the Author
Boye Lafayette De Mente worked for several years as an editor of newspapers and magazines in Tokyo and has written many books on Japan's language and culture, including The Japanese Samurai Code, Etiquette Guide to Japan, Survival Japanese and Instant Japanese.

I am very glad to have found this book.

My first encounter with the life story of Miyamoto Musashi, Japan's most renowned combat strategist, was in the early 80's when I started to work for a large heavy & construction equipment conglomerate, which dealt primaily with Japanese principals & their products. For the first time in my life, I was introduced to Japanese management culture, & the first 'Japanese' book I read was 'The Book of Five Rings', translated by a Victor Harris, a mechanical engineer like me.

Coming back to today: The author of this particular book is quite right. Miyamoto Musashi's original work was written for samurai warriors who are steeped into Buddhlist & Shinto precepts, in the code of the samurai, in the long traditions of the samurai, & in allusions that were part of the culture of the times. Like Japanese artists who leave it up to readers to complete their work, Miyamoto Musashi left it up to readers of his work to fill in the details of his allusions & advice from their own store of knowledge.

Henceforth, it wasn't easy for me to read 'The Book of Five Rings.' It took me quite a while to figure out the essence, digest the work & eventually managed to distill about ten strategies which I could understand & apply in my own sphere of work.

In this particular book, the author has attempted to identify & explain, in plain English, the philosophy, the strategy, & the ways of winning that Miyamoto Musashi sought to pass on to his disciples. The original work is about how to fight duels to the death & win! The author has made the fighting principles equally applicable to winning in business, & in virtually all other endeavours. In fact, he has elegantly distilled them all down to 42 strategies (compared to my original ten strategies)!!!

The author's writing is almost straight-talk, & in easy-to-understand language. I would even recommend all teens to read it in order to achieve a quick headstart in life, as the 42 strategies are also applicable in studies & in sports.

Interestingly, the Book of Five Rings is, in Miyamoto Musashi's own words, 'a guide for men who want to learn strategy.'

In life, eveything is possible. It is just a question of strategy.

On the whole, this is excellent work. It therefore deserves a rating of 5 from me. -Lee Say Keng

This book is definitely a must-read for everyone, martial artist or not. It reads fairly quickly, and is one you'll want to read again. Each of the '42...secrets' are life-lessons. They give you insight into the time when Samurai lived, and explains how the lesson applied then and how it applies now. We all have something to learn from their code of Honor, and this book can help everyone. -Teri Knapp

Contents

Preface: Musashi's Book of Five Rings
Introduction-The life and times of Japan's most famous samurai
Chapter 1 Set goals
Cahpter 2 Life-or-death discipline
Chapter 3 Train to win
Chapter 4 Be prepared
Chapter 5 The illusion of form
Chapter 6 Absolute integrity
Chapter 7 Train the mind
Chapter 8 Clear the mind
Chapter 9 The power of emptiness
Chapter 10 Learn from our opponents
Chapter 11 Pay attention to details
Chapter 12 The power of silence
Chapter 13 Change the rules of engagement
Chapter 14 The power of fear
Cahpter 15 Confuse your opponent
Chapter 16 The mind as a weapons
Chapter 17 See what cannot be seen
Chapter 18 Don't get stuck on one style
Chapter 19 The importance of flexibility
Chapter 20 Make sure you see the big picture
Chapter 21 Use time as a weapon
Cahpter 22 Never stop learning
Chapter 23 Hit first; hit hard!
Chapter 24 Use all of your weapons
Cahpter 25 The samurai and the carpenter
Chapter 26 Take the initiative
Chapter 27 Know your environment
Chapter 28 Watch for a collapse
Chapgter 29 Become your opponent
Chapter 30 Draw your opponent in
chapter 31 Never use the same tactic twice
Chapter 32 Make your opponent change his style of fighting
Chapter 33 Behave as if you were already dead
Chapter 34 Avoid stalemates
Cahpter 35 Never give your opponent a second chance
Cahpter 36 Pierce the bottom
chpater 37 The importance of art in life
Chapter 38 The sword of the spirit
Chpatper 39 Focus on winning
Chpater 40 The head of a rat, the neck of a bull
Chapter 41 Surpass today what you were yesterday
Chapter 42 Perseverance and diligence
Conclusion The renewal of the samurai spirit show less