Bushi ni nigon nashi
A samurai doesn't go back on his word
Sometimes it just seems like you can't trust anyone anymore. It seems to be standard practice for politicians to make promises in their campaign speeches and then forget them as soon as they are in office. It is sad when we aren't outraged or even surprised by this anymore. It is even sadder if we can't even trust those closer to us.
In the old days, someone's word meant something. Not keeping one's promise or going back on one's word was frowned upon. This was especially true in ancient Japan, especially for the samurai. For the samurai, honor was everything and trustworthyness was an important part of this. The saying, bushi ni nigon nashi comes from this idea. This saying means, “For a samurai there is no double-talk” or “A samurai doesn't go back on his word.”
I recently saw a poster that said, “If you want to be trusted, be trustworthy.” This means that if you want people to trust you, you have to be worthy of their trust. In other words don't lie, keep your promises, and do what you say you will do.
Like the samurai, we should all strive to be worthy of other peoples' trust. We should build our character to the point where our word is a matter of honor and going back on it is shameful. And when we reach this point, if someone questions whether we mean what we say we can tell them, “Bushi ni nigon nashi desu.”
Usage note: Most Japanese sayings can be turned into complete sentences just by adding “desu” to the end. To add emphasis, add “desu yo”. To ask for agreements (think, “yeah,” “right,” “you know”), add “desu ne”.
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