Samurai War Stories
Page 9
Maeda Magoshiro Toshikatsu – the leader of the attack – and his brother ordered their armies to advance to the West and arrived at a place called Hosorogi, which was on the boundaries of Kaga and Echizen. Meanwhile, Nakagawa Sohan Nyudo, who was kin to Maeda Magoshiro Toshikatsu, intended to advance to Kaga from Osaka and arrived at Tsuruga. However, on hearing that Maeda Magoshiro Toshikatsu had departed for the battle, Otani Gyobu-no-sho tried to block them from advancing by using a fake letter as a ploy. The letter said, ‘The army from the West intends to raise a fleet and send it to Kaga.’ On discovering this Maeda Magoshiro Toshikatsu was greatly surprised and tried to retreat back to Kanazawa from Hosorogi on the ninth of the eighth month. To make this retreat, Maeda Magoshiro Toshikatsu intended to put his four main retainers,Yamazaki Nagato-no-Kami, Takayama Minamino-bo, Ota Tajima-no-Kami and Cho Kurozaemon-no-Jo, at a place called Gokozuka which would hold the forces of Komatsu Castle at bay while his army retreated past them, allowing them through the castle area. Furthermore, the plan was that, after the main army passed by, the four generals mentioned above, plus their troops, would cross over the tidal beach. Therefore, they put their plan into action and proposed to march along a road called Asai Nawate.31 Then a young samurai, whose name was Matsudaira Kyubei, came forward from the lower seats32 and said, ‘It is not good to retreat along Asai Nawate, because if we were in that castle, we would not let the enemy simply go if they were passing by our castle along such pathways where footing is not good. Therefore, there is no way that the defenders will simply let us through without attacking. Also, if they do come out and assault, the area around the castle is all muddy and the roads are narrow. If the enemy placed an ambush here and there, while our troops are withdrawing along the narrow path, the enemy can assault with ease and our army will be beaten without doubt.’
Hearing him talk like this, all the veterans said he was too impertinent as a young man and he should rely on their judgment and then they settled on their own plan. They were displeased with the young man and his inappropriate behaviour. However, the old warriors said, if the enemy would come out of the castle to attack them – as the young warrior had warned – then they would be the first ones to defeat them with spears and display actions to show what they, as real warriors, were made of. With this decision in place they left Gokozuka – where they were stationed – at the hour of Snake, which was the morning of the ninth day of the eighth month.
While they were going along the street near the castle, all was quiet and no one came out. Seeing this, every warrior in the troop said to himself that the young samurai Kyubei was wrong as not a single one of the enemy was attacking them.
They came to the narrow path with a width of 2 ken that had muddy rice fields on both sides and when their troops were passing, stretching out along it, the enemy came out of the castle and assaulted them from the rear. The castle troops held down Maeda’s side with fierce attacks. The samurai Matsumura Magosaburo, one of the attackers who had come out of Komatsu Castle, made the first sortie; overwhelming the enemy he captured twenty-four enemy heads. The fleeing army were defeated and ran away into the muddy fields as their entire force fell in panic and became dishonourably confused. Then the young warrior, Matsudaira Kyubei, the samurai who expected this situation, went back and became the first one to have a spear fight on the bridge that was upon the road, as did Mizukoshi Nui-no-suke. Other warriors, such as Iwata Denzaemon, Ono Jin’nojo, Inoue Kanzaemon, clashed with spears as well. Then Uesaka Shume also came forward. Also, Haiga Jidayu and Fuwa Mokubei from the Komatsu Castle side were brave and came forward but were killed. Following that, Abiko Sakudayu, Tomita Kohei and Narita Sukekuro fought fiercely in the middle of the bridge. However, the Komatsu castle side were pushed back by 2 or 3 ken from the bridge and seeing this, the army of Kanazawa – the fleeing army – gained momentum and tried to advance to attack. Because of this, Sakuragi Genta, of the Komatsu Castle side, prepared his Horo arrow cape and turned his horse in retreat, thus each side stopped and both began to retreat. While both sides were retreating, Eguchi Saburozaemon – of the fleeing side – went farther on the narrow path, following and observing the enemy for approximately 10 cho and climbed up on a hill and stayed in position for a few hours, observing enemy movements. He returned to the main army in the end. This is what is now called the Battle of Asai Nawate.
Afterwards, there was a reconciliation between both clans, and the two lords met on the twenty-sixth of the ninth month. Prisoners were exchanged on the bridge of Terai Highway and all was completed. Later, whenever he talked about his battles, Toshinaga said the memory of the Battle of Asai Nawate always made him break out in a cold sweat. Toshinaga, the leader of the fleeing force, gave a Kanjo, or letter of appreciation to some who fought with spear in the battle. Most of all, he complimented the young Matsudaira Kyubei and later renamed him Matsudaira Houki-no-Kami.
Among the people of the West, there were some samurai who appealed, as they had heard that the warriors of Kanazawa were being given letters of appreciation, they said that they should receive one too. The lord replied, ‘If you ask which side of the bridge the battle ended, the answer would be this, it ended 2 or 3 ken back toward our side. So though the battle actually was initiated in the middle of the bridge, it ended on our side because our allies were outdone in combat, which is why I will not give you a letter of appreciation.’
Article 31
According to an old samurai story, generally speaking, it seems that people compose poems in accordance with their character. With due respect, I will review some poems as follows:
Lord Takeda Shingen’s death poem:
Anything in this world will return to its essential quality in the end. Without putting on makeup (do not put on decorations but be just as you are), it will turn out to be refined
I hear that this lord used to be so gentle in doing everything yet was still devastating when conducting warfare (Yumiya).
Lord Uesugi Kenshin’s death poem:
Being drunk in the dream for forty-nine years, a life of prosperity is nothing more than a cup of sake
I, the author have heard that Kenshin was fearless, fierce and good at warfare, which I find very likely. The themes of the poems represent so much of their characters.
Article 32
According to an old samurai story, here are the types of Odoshi, or thongs and threads that bind the plates of armour together.
Hiodoshi
Red thongs, used for vermilion armour
Itohiodoshi
Red thongs, used for gold armour
Kozakuraodoshi33
Purple thread or cord of many colours, used for black armour
Unohanaodoshi
White thread and pale yellow thread to be used on the edges for silver armour
Kashiraodoshi
Thread of many colours
Araiitoodoshi
A thread of pale pink
(See Figs 15, 16 and 17)
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VOLUME TWO
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Article 33
According to an old samurai tale, Lord Takeda Shingen and Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu had a battle in Mikatagahara of Enshu and in the end Lord Ieyasu was defeated and retreated to Hamamatsu Castle.
A retainer of Lord Ieyasu, named Takagi Kyusuke Hiromasa, fought defensively while they all retreated and captured a monk warrior’s head and presented it for viewing to the lord.
Having viewed it, Lord Ieyasu said to him, ‘Our army consider that we are defeated and everyone in the castle is seriously nervous and unsettled. Show this head to all of them and tell them that you have decapitated Shingen. Tell everyone that our army have won.’
Upon this order, Takagi pierced the head with the tip of his sword and went around saying what he had been told in a loud voice. All the people in the castle, hearing him say this, became enthused and later relaxed with joy.
It is worthy of admiration that Lord Ieyasu had thought of such an excellent idea.
> Article 34
According to an old samurai tale, Date Terumune of Sendai intended to put Nihonmatsu Ukyo under his command and attempted to attack him several times while encamped at Shionomatsu. Nihonmatsu was not such a powerful lord but would not surrender. However, as late as the eighteenth of the third month of 1582, Ukyo indicated that he would go to Shionomatsu and surrender. With this offer, Terumune was really pleased and entered into a meeting with him and talked for a while in a relaxed manner, even mentioning that he wanted to rely on him in the future [attempting to secure a peaceful end]. After a while when Ukyo was taking his leave and Terumune came along to see him off, Ukyo took the chance to seize Terumune and held him at sword point by placing the blade on his neck, just like the long dead and famous Benkei warrior monk who took hold of Shozon. In this manner he grabbed Terumune and put him on horseback together with himself. At this point they mounted and rushed back to Nihonmatsu territory.
This event took place while Terumune’s son, who was called Masamune,34 was away. As soon as he heard what had happened, he chased them with a small number and caught up with them at a distance of around 5 or 6 cho of Abukuma River. Masamune killed them all and even killed his own father,35 he did this so that their attempt to take his father as a prisoner failed. Masamune was only 18 when he did this, but for his young age, he was a very impressive general.
Article 35
According to an old samurai story, a son of Lord Hideyori’s nursemaid, Kimura Nagato-no-kami once played a joke on a monk who was serving in Osaka Castle, which was around seven or eight years before the Winter Seige of Osaka Castle. The monk became very angry and said, ‘Have at it’. The people who were there were amused but then realised that the situation was going to get increasingly ugly. With this Nagato-no-kami – the prankster – stayed completely calm and returned to his room saying, ‘If I did not have something of greater concern, I would not let you go at this point.’
At hearing this, some people said that it was an unexpected development. Others said the monk was in the right. Since then Nagato-no-kami seemed to become introverted each day, while on the other hand the monk was becoming more and more confident and proud.
However, at the time of the Winter Seige of Osaka Castle, Nagato-no-kami performed amazingly well in the battle, attacking Satake’s army at Gamo river bank around Shigino. Shibui Naizen – a great samurai general – of the Satake side was killed in this battle. Goto Matabei was astonished to see this spectacular service. The people were impressed with this and said that this action was a reference to the special reason for why he did not fight the monk all those years before. However, Kimura Nagato-no-kami himself stayed modest, even more so and, furthermore, behaved without arrogance. After observing him for a good while, Goto Matabei said, ‘He seems to be not satisfied with his own actions in the battle. I think he looks determined to be the first one advancing in the face of death and to do an even greater service next time.’
Exactly as Matabei predicted, Kimura Nagato-no-kami fought and died an honourable death at Wakaeguchi. It is said that he honourably faced in the direction of Wakaeguchi, at which point he was decapitated by a 17-year-old samurai, whose name was Ando Chosaburo, a retainer of Ii Kamon-no-Kami Naotaka. Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu viewed the head for inspection; as soon as the head was brought there, a refined fragrance of eaglewood filled the place, as though it was freshly ignited. The lord appreciated this highly, wondering how the young warrior could have been prepared like this.
Article 36
According to an old samurai story, Nagaoka Yusai Fujitaka used to govern Tango domain. One year the people had a crop failure, because of this they asked Fujitaka to make an inspection to observe the severity of it. However, he did not accept their request and in fact did not inspect the crops. In response to this the peasants composed and displayed this poem:
If the rice fields are left as they are without the crop being reaped, what would he say in his mind?36
Article 37
According to an old samurai story, there was a samurai whose name was Machino Nagato-no-Kami, who served Gamo Shimotsuke-no-Kami of Aizu. Machino had a renowned warrior named Hattori Den’emon as a retainer, who had decapitated the head of a famous samurai whose name was Oroshi Hikozaemon.
After the death of the lord, a samurai named Kato Sama-no-suke Yoshiaki was given the area of Aizu and came to govern there. As Hattori was then a ronin, he approached the lord to gain employment. However, when hearing that Hattori Den’emon had served Machino Nagato-no-Kami, Sama-no-suke said, ‘There seems little doubt that he got Oroshi’s head, but if he was really right-minded in a true sense he would not have been serving Machino Nagato-no-Kami as such a low level retainer. As he had won Orosi’s head, he should have been appreciated as incomparably good. However, he was content with such a position probably because he is not such an ambitious samurai.’ Therefore, because of this reason, Hattori Den’emon was not employed.
Article 38
According to an old samurai story, a retainer of Lord Gifu Chunagon37 Hidenobu, also named Kozukuri Taizen, said the following:
No matter how reliable and spirited you think a monk or merchant is, you should not grow too intimate with them, let them know of a grave matter or rely on them in anyway. Essentially, monks and merchants do not do anything that will cause trouble to them and they have little in the way of righteous sense. One or two out of ten may sincere but as a samurai it is not advised to rely on them. When a samurai seems to be feeble-minded, you should still ask them for help, as by this you will be able to feel more secure than if you asked a non-samurai. If your judgment about him turns out to be misguided, it is not a thing to be ashamed of, as you trusted a samurai, even if it was in vain. Also, if you rely on someone who is not so familiar with the way of samurai,38 no matter how trustworthy and single-minded the monk or merchant, you will not be able to rely on him if the situation turns bad.
Though Lord Takeda Shingen had a fair respect for monks and founded numerous temples in his two domains of Koshu and Shinshu, it turned out that, when his son Lord Katsuyori committed suicide, his head was sent to Kyoto and his body was abandoned along the road where a lot of horses were treading. Not even a single monk from any of those temples would run the risk of going and getting the body for burial, this was because they did not want to arouse the displeasure of Lord Nobunaga.
Furthermore:
The monks of Mt Koya39 of Kishu domain have changed completely from the way they were in the old days, and they do not shelter any rebel or excommunicate any patron families any more.
The above is even more so with merchants, as they are so undependable, just as grass sways in the wind, therefore there is nothing much to say about them.
Take heed! As a samurai, if you fall into a serious situation and have no one to ask for help, it would be a praiseworthy deed for you to leap to your death into deep water with stones in your sleeves, rather than rely on a monk or merchant, which would be extremely disgraceful.
Article 39
According to an old samurai story, Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu, after he won the Battle of Sekigahara and returned to his castle, had an interview with every allied daimyo and his prominent warriors. Among them, there were three principal retainers attached to Fukushima Saemon-dayu Masanori and they were Fukushima Tanba-no-Kami, Ozeki Iwami-no-Kami and Nagao Hayato-no-Suke. All the three warriors had disabilities. Tango-no-Kami was crippled, Iwami-no-Kami was one-eyed, and Hayato-no-Suke had a hare lip. The interviews were held in the order of Tango, Iwami and Hayato. When Hayato expressed his gratitude in front of the lord, the pages there could not help but burst into uncontrollable laughter. With this, Lord Ieyasu became very angry. He said, ‘To every man any disability is no disgrace, while bravery in heart should be held in high esteem. These three warriors are the crème de la crème. You should follow their teaching and set them in your very bones.’
Article 40 40
According to an old samurai story, this is a list of
battles from the past and how many years have been passed from then until now (1654), which I have recorded and kept.
The Battle of Un’noguchi in the province of Shinshu
Eleventh month, 1536 – 119 years ago.
The Battle of Nirasaki in the province of Koshu
Seventh month, nineteenth day, 1538 – 117 years ago.
The Battle of Kawanakajima in the province of Shinshu
Ninth month, tenth day, 1561 – 94 years ago.
The Battle of Konodai in the province of Shimousa
First month, eighth day, 1564 – 91 years ago.
The Battle of Anegawa in the province of Goshu
Sixth month, twenty-eighth day, 1569 – 86 years ago.
The Battle of Mikatagahara in the province of Enshu
Twelfth month, twenty-second day, 1572 – 83 years ago.
The Battle of Nagashino in the province of Sanshu
Fifth month, twenty-first day, 1575 – 80 years ago.
The Battle of Takatenjin in the province of Enshu