Chivalry Without Women: The Way of the Samurai and Swinton's World History in 1890s Japan.

The article examines how William Swinton's 1874 American textbook, *Outlines of the World's History*, unintentionally influenced the modern Japanese concept of bushidō, or the "way of the samurai." Widely read and translated in Japan during the late 19th century, Swinton's portrayal of European chivalry—emphasizing the role of women as educators and companions to knights—was adapted and contested amid Japan's social transformations, particularly debates over gender roles and national identity. Key Japanese intellectuals used Swinton's framework to redefine bushidō as a timeless, masculine national spirit distinct from Western "woman worship," fostering a male-supremacist ideal that shaped Japan's elite identity and wartime ideology. This reinterpretation detached bushidō from its feudal origins, recasting it as a civilizing force integral to Japan's modern nationalism and imperial mission.