But the samurai spirit and the precepts of Bushido made a comeback in the 1930's as Japan's military prepared the nation for war.

The ideal of samurai military spirit lived on in romanticized form and was often used as propaganda during the early 20th century wars of the Empire of Japan.

For Buruma, Mishima was a phony, "a very gifted buffoon" who claimed to personify the samurai spirit when he was in fact quite at home with Western culture.

Mishima wrote the play in 1965, five years before his public, ritualistic suicide, which was intended to reawaken Japan's samurai spirit but only provided tabloid entertainment.

Sawamura went to Thailand to prove he couldn't lose regardless of the rules because he thought himself to have the samurai spirit.

But he preached a return to the noble-warrior concept, the samurai spirit, and that still fascinates a lot of Japanese.

Yonai had his share of the samurai spirit: he wanted this submarine, so the book be damned--he would fly at two hundred feet.

At the same time, Yoshi teaches his samurai spirit and sword technique to each of the outdoor experts he worked with.

The book touches on topics that range from national language and democracy to the samurai spirit.