" Bushido "
General Tadamichi Kuribayashi’s last words: A samurai’s prayer

In 1944 the bleak insignificant island of Iwo Jima, only four miles long, suddenly became top priority to the American war effort. As the U.S. forces advanced across the Pacific, U.S. commanders found the resistance from the Japanese becoming formidable. Japanese commanders and their men relied more upon the ancient tenets of their culture and less upon the Western military wisdom. Even when hopelessly outnumbered, outgunned, and surrounded, the Japanese fought relentlessly to the point of starvation, to the last bullet, and even launched suicide attacks desperately seeking to take as many of the enemy as possible with them to their death.

The U.S. Commanders recognized this fact. They also recognized the horrifying potential for bloodshed that the Japanese attitude towards war and defeat promised should America ever attempt an invasion of mainland Japan. In addition, the U.S. had an insatiable thirst for revenge for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. To the U.S. it was clear that Japan must be bombed into unconditional surrender.

Iwo Jima ‘s proximity to Japan made it strategically critical. It served as an early warning station to mainland Japan for American B-29 Super Fortress bomb raids and allowed interceptors the time to ambush Japan –bound planes. The B-29 would be the bomber that eventually dropped the first atomic bomb on a populated area (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Those bombs ended World War II.

Iwo Jima was Japanese home soil, just 650 miles from Tokyo. No foreign army in Japan’s 5000-year history had trod on Japanese soil. Japan recognized the strategic and patriotic significance of Iwo. They also knew that a successful defense of the island was impossible. In May 1944 Emperor Hirohito summoned General Kuribayashi to command the post.

General Kuribayashi was in his early fifties and was a fifth generation soldier, descendent of a long line of samurai. The samurai followed the code of the warrior or “bushido”, which extolled courage, honor, and loyalty to the Emperor, sacrifice, and contempt for death. As a samurai, the ultimate disgrace would be to allow oneself to be taken prisoner by the enemy. It would be a far more honorable fate to choose death.

There were two things of which Kuribayashi was certain: that Iwo would eventually fall to the U.S. and that he and his garrison would all perish but he was determined to make the fall of Iwo Jima as costly as possible to the United States. An aristocrat, Kuribayashi was educated in Canada and toured the United States. He was one of the few soldiers ever granted an audience with Emperor Hirohito. He is considered a brilliant military strategist in that the defense of Iwo was fought entirely underground. The Japanese honeycombed the island with more than 18miles of tunnels, 5000 caves, and pillboxes. He also instructed his troops that each man should kill 10 of the enemy before they were killed.

On the 36th day after the invasion had begun, it was believed that it would not take more than 10 days to capture the island, the fighting ended. After a vicious and bloody battle almost 6,000 U.S. Marines were dead and more than 17,000 were wounded. Only 216 of the 22,000 Japanese defenders survived to be captured. The rest presumably died according to their code.

On March 23, 1945, held up in an underground cave, the last radio transmission to Tokyo from Kuribayashi went out: “All officers of Chichi Jimi, goodbye from Iwo”. General Kuribayashi reportedly committed Hara kiri. His body was never found. It was the ultimate act of a samurai. Honor for the samurai was dearer than life. The ultimate disgrace was to surrender or be taken prisoner. Disgrace and defeat would be atoned by committing Hara kiri. It was an unquestionable demonstration of honor, courage, loyalty, and moral character.

Bushido, literally translated “Way of the Warrior”, developed in Japan between the Heian and Tokugawa Ages. It was a code and way of life for samurai, a class of warriors. It puts emphasis on loyalty, self sacrifice, justice, sense of shame, refined manners, purity, modesty, frugality, and above all honor. Bushido was heavily influenced by both Buddhism and Shintoism.

From Buddhism, Bushido gets its relationship to danger and death. The samurai do not fear death because they believe as Buddhism teaches, after death one will be reincarnated and may live another life here on earth. They have no fear of danger or death.

Shintoism, another Japanese doctrine, gives Bushido its loyalty and patriotism. Shintoism includes ancestor-worship, which makes the Imperial family the fountainhead of the whole nation. It awards the emperor a god-like reverence. He is the embodiment of heaven on earth. With such loyalty, the samurai pledge themselves to the emperor. Shintoism also provides the backbone for patriotism to their country, Japan. They believe the land is not merely there for their needs; it is the sacred abode to the gods, the spirits of their forefathers.

As such the piece was created with both Buddhist and Shinto elements. The centerpiece is a vintage Hino Maru or Japanese flag, circa 1940. The flag represents Shinto patriotism. Historically, the red disc is symbolic for the rising sun from which Japan, or Nippon to its people, takes its name-land of the rising sun. Its origin pays tribute to the supreme Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu. The white of the flag represents honesty and purity.

The black scripts are various Buddhist sutra pieced from hand wood-blocked Tibetan prayer flags imported from the Himalayas: “Gyal tsan seno” sutra given to Indra by Buddha, for overcoming enemies and obstacles. The” victorious banner” sutra is a traditional Tibetan prayer with protection mantras to overcome obstacles, enemies, malicious forces and disease. Also includes mantras to increase good relationships, life, health, wealth, and good fortune. The “wind horse” is a traditional prayer flag that carries the wish-fulfilling jewel of enlightenment and one’s prayers to heaven with uplifting energy and good fortune to all beings. The “Kurukelle” sutra, or Power Mother of Bliss and Emptiness, increases one’s control over the phenomenal world…it controls the ego.

The bulk of the piece is made from an antique “kamishimo” that is cut into pieces and re-sewn. Kamishimo is the formal dress of high-ranking samurai. It is extremely rare because it is the style worn by an elite warrior class when committing ritual suicide called seppaku (self disembowelment), or more commonly known as “hara kiri”. This particular kamishimo dates back to the Edo period, and is itself a rare collectors item that is almost 130 years old. Seppaku was a means of exonerating oneself of any shameful or disgraceful act. Kamishimo worn during seppaku were ghostly white and not adorned with family crests. White, in this case, was symbolic of purity and death. The pleats of the winged shoulders, or “kami”, can still be seen, as well as the pleats of the hakama skirt, or “shimo”. The sleeves also remain intact. The use of the kamishimo in this piece epitomizes “Bushido”, embodying the qualities of courage, honor, and discipline.

The backing is of waffled cotton and silk. Traversing the center is a “Kathak”, or silk Buddhist prayer scarf with the eight auspicious symbols, imported from Nepal. Its use indicates the good intentions of the person offering it. The offering of the kathak indicates that the request is not marred by corrupt thought or ulterior motives.

The piece is to be hung with a shimenawa present. “Shimenawa” are rice rope with zigzag pieces of paper suspended from it. It is a symbol of a sacred place. It is used in Shinto religion to mark the sacred from the profane.

I have been asked many times why I chose to do this piece. Iwo Jima is a “sore spot” for many Americans, especially Veterans of World War II. Thousand of U.S. Marines gave their lives on that tiny island. What happened in that place remains a horrible tragedy. The island is considered a war monument. It is now inaccessible and essentially closed. The Japanese government allows occasional one day visits to veterans only. My answer to the question is that the type of tragedy that occurred at Iwo released many souls with strong karma. General Kuribayashi, famous or infamous as he may be, was a great spirit. When spirit speaks, I listen. My hands translate that which was said. I take no overt stand on politics. I only interpreted the sentiment. My prayers go out to all who lost their lives and their innocence. (78in x 68in)