South Carolina Law Review Volume 57 Issue 2 Article 5 Winter 2005 Bushido in the Courtroom: A Case for Virtue-Oriented Lawyering Chenise S. Kanemoto Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/sclr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Kanemoto, Chenise S. (2005) "Bushido in the Courtroom: A Case for Virtue-Oriented Lawyering," South Carolina Law Review: Vol. 57 : Iss. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/sclr/vol57/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you by the Law Reviews and Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in South Carolina Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Kanemoto: Bushido in the Courtroom: A Case for Virtue-Oriented Lawyering BUSHIDO IN THE COURTROOM: A CASE FOR VIRTUE-ORIENTED LAWYERING* CHENISE S. KANEMOTO** I. INTRODUCTION The samurai, the privileged warrior class of ancient Japan, dedicated their lives to loyal service and the pursuit of justice. Although samurai commonly evoke images of barbarity, they were in fact respected and refined, and they cared as much about cultivating calligraphy and philosophy as they did about perfecting skills of swordsmanship and war strategy. The samurai spent a lifetime honing the skills necessary to be effective and honorable warriors. Modem American lawyers possess many of the same characteristics as the samurai' and actually bear a remarkable resemblance to them. Lawyers also are a privileged class, engaging in battles of a legal nature.2 While lawyers are often thought of as harsh and abrasive, ideally lawyers will use their knowledge of law and the legal system to effectuate justice one case at a time.