I think the reason Bushido was so structured was to keep it from being co-opted and warped as it was during that war to justify some otherwise unthinkable acts.
That should stand as a warning to people of any strong belief, that they must be ever wary of those who would twist their beliefs and co-opt their fervor.
May your grandpa rest in peace.
A big part of the code of Bushido was suicide. Which as someone like me who is Japanese, I do not understand that. What honor does one take in ending their own life?! My grandpa did NOT like that. He viewed those who chose young pilots to carry out ramming their planes into allied ships as “tyrants” and called the pilots who did carry out their wishes that, they were “cowards” or “That’s cowardice” as he said in his journal. He was one of those chosen and he did not carry out any Kamikaze mission despite lying to his superiors. He pretended he was going to crash into ships, and fooled the allied planes giving chase. Which some of those planes ran into their own ships as they had no time to correct their flight killing themselves and those aboard. He turned left and right, weaving, and dodging in and out from bullets and barrel rolling as the bullets continued to head his way, with his plane taking over 200 rounds. Not being shot one time. American pilots could do nothing other than rock their wings commending my grandpa out-maneuvering them. It was him against 3.