Bushido Virtue #1 GI

義
The first virtue of the samurai code is Gi, its meaning is justice or fairness. It's far beyond the rule of not cheating in battle, it's also about decisions, not judging by personal favor but by quality. The samurai culture is very often still alive in Japan's modern day society especially in old corporate companies that still take care of traditions. This way it's about giving fair chances to everyone in every situation in life. One movie example where you can see this virtue is "Last Samurai" where the lead actor is captured after a battle, making hi a prisoner (Shuujin), but still the lord Katsumoto is giving him a fair chance to get to know each other though they are enemies he is threating him with respect.

Although Gi is part of the Bushido - the way of the warrior - in some cases the samurai had double standards, especially in realtion to other casts or ranks. They sometimes exploited their right to weild a sword in public by killing civillians if they were displeased by them, neither fair nor respectful.

That's it so far about the 1st of 7 virtues of the Samurai.

Bushido - the Way of the Samurai

I will explain the 7 virtues of the Samurai next week.

Just to give you a short Teaser

GI義

YUU

JIN

REI

MAKOTO

MEIYO

CHUUGI

Time for some Books

Tomorrow starts the Book Fair Leipzig / Leipziger Buchmesse (LBM) and the Manga-Comic-Con as well, don't forget to bring your glasses and load your camera batteires for all the Cosplayers around, see you there!

Book Fair 2019 is coming soon

Be prepared and pack your camera gear for the hundrets of Cosplayer on those 4 days in March from 21st until 24th.

Of course a Book fair is also about the latest books that you definitely should not miss, especially when you are planning on writing and publishng your own material just look for a matching publisher and get in contact with editors, otherwise the section for self-publishing might fit you, because it has never been easier to cast your own work into the world of readers.

If you are just into reading, can just explore all the halls and maybe you can get an autograph of a famous or your most beloved author him-/herself.

I will check the picturebook section like every year hoping to find the right motivation for my own work being able to choose from 40.000 pics about Japan, increasing my portfolio every year ;)

The Cosplayers that you are unable to miss not just in their "own area" Manga-Comic-Con will get most of my attention.

There are a few interesting booths (not the shops, it's way too expensive, import your stuff) for example NINTENDO presenting their latest Games as well as GamesRoom SVVAMP offering tournaments and a nice place to relax and experience some great multiplayer games.

Be prepared for some awesome work next week.

Just compare the amazing Cosplay work from DREAMHACK 2019

Just to tease you with some Cosplayers from 2018

White Day

Time to celebrate White Day. It's quite common in Japan to return the favor of receiving chocolate on Valentinesday by giving back the same amount of white chocolate on March 14th to women, the gift can also be a symbol of love or how much you cherish someone in the way of giving jewellery back. In Japan this day is also very often used to propose. Happy White Day, everyone! Rittersport and a Subway Cookie should do a good job for that. Look HERE