Love and Honor is the title of the most recent samurai flick that I have watched. Bushi no Ichibun, [the Japanese title which means ‘part of being a warrior’], is the third installment of a Yoji Yamada’s samurai based on Shuhei Fujisawa’s novels. The story is about Shinojo Mimura, a low ranking samurai during the Edo period in Japan who is a food taster for the shogun. His modest but peaceful life was disrupted when the food he tasted was poisoned and as a result he lost his sight.
Losing his sight also means losing his job and livelihood. His wife seeks the help of a high ranking official to save his position. In return, she gets sexually harassed. To defend her honor, blind Shinojo sets up a duel with the high ranking official.
Crime rate is on the rise and the folks who are supposed to “serve and protect” are taking a very apathetic attitude towards it. Especially rampant are sex related crime.
As far as I am concerned, sexual deviants and rapist are an insult to men. Even in prison, they are considered pariahs and often get beaten up by other inmates. I don’t know whether there is honor among thieves but the guy who robs may think that he is doing it to feed his family. What of the sexual deviants? To satisfy some primitive cravings?
What happen to the good old wooing of women where the thrill of the chase is the chase itself?
Men are ranked higher than animals and beasts because of their power to reason. To make rational decisions and take responsibilities. It is this ability to response that separates men from beasts. Yet there are many borderline beasts out there who display more animalistic characteristics and think with their sexual organs instead of their brains. They resort to force to get their way with women.
I know some folks who are constantly dating women and getting laid. I respect that. They work for it. Mutual consent. Both parties are happy and no one gets hurt. Even folks who pay for it [though I don’t endorse this]. Business transaction. Mutual consent. Both parties are happy and no one gets hurt.
But to force it on someone and create a lot of physical pain and emotional anguish is definitely low life. And inhuman. The sad part is these cases are out there and the folks who are supposed to “serve and protect” are apathetic. Maybe they will wake up if the victims of these heinous crime happen to be someone they love or someone close to them.
I believe what we are reading in the media are only a tip of the iceberg. What about the unreported cases?
Maybe we should go back to the days of vigilantes and mob justice. For love…and honor.
He Says ... She Says ... 
