How long does it take to read Hagakure?
The Book of the Samurai
Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo takes about 3 hours 18 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 3 hours 18 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1973. 180 pages, about 49,500 words.
7 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 5 hours 30 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 3 hours 18 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 2 hours 4 minutes |
The page count is the median across 16 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
The comprehensive and accurate edition of the Hagakure is a must-have for serious martial artists or fans of samurai and the bushido code. The Hagakure is one of the most influential of all Japanese texts—written nearly 300 years ago by Yamamoto Tsunetomo to summarize the very essence of the Japanese Samurai bushido ("warrior") spirit. Its influence has been felt throughout the world and yet its existence is scarcely known to many Westerners. This is the first translation to include the complete first two books of the Hagakure and the most reliable and authentic passages contained within the third book; all other English translations published previously have been extremely fragmentary and incomplete.
Subjects: Conduct of life, Bushido, Conducta (Ética), Samurai, +Bushidō
