Samurai Book of Postcards

No samurai chose his lot. All were born into a life ruled by a warrior’s ethic, the stern code that demanded the samurai’s unflinching devotion to his feudal lord. The rigid system left no room for doubts or hesitation, and failure to uphold Bushido (the way of the warrior) sentenced a samurai to death by his own hand. Above all other ideals stood duty, and he who found the imperatives of duty unattainable was expected to slice open his stomach with a short sword while a faithful second decapitated him. Ritual death by the sword could preserve honor, a crucial consideration for a member of a clan dependent on income from a wealthy lord.

A perpetual awareness of living in death’s vestibule endowed the samurai with a discipline matched by the terrible beauty of his steel sword. This extraordinary killing tool, made by an artisan whose reclusive existence mirrored that of a Zen monk, combined lightness, flexibility, and sharpness to shave bone. Though the centuries have added more ghastly arms to mankind’s armory, the tension between an old Japanese sword’s elegance and its purpose makes it unique. The samurai believed that his soul merged with the spirit of his sword—like him, created for a single purpose.

Thirty color reproductions from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Pomegranate’s books of postcards contain thirty top-quality reproductions bound together in a handy, artful collection. Easy to remove and produced on heavy card stock, these stunning postcards are a delight to the sender and receiver. Note: postcards are oversized and may require additional postage.