Samurai War Stories

by Cummins, Antony; Minami, Yoshie;

  Article 57

  According to an old samurai story, samurai should always wish to keep to the righteous path or shodo, , and try not to fall into the way of depravity, even if it is difficult to accomplish.

  Those samurai who keep on with the right path will achieve high honours with the aid of Buddha and the gods, while those who have fallen into a corrupt way will naturally meet with misfortune and be laughed at by the people of the world.

  For instance, Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu was not always so powerful and was once held as hostage by Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto. In time, Lord Yoshimoto was destroyed by Lord Oda Nobunaga, which left Yoshimoto’s heir, Ujimasa, in command, but he was defeated by Lord Takeda Shingen and had to relinquish Sunpu.

  At that time, Lord Ieyasu’s brother, Sir Genzaburo and Ofu, who was the daughter of one of his chief retainers, Sakai Saemon-no-jo, were also held as hostages within the Imagawa clan. A samurai named Miura Yoji took them away, and instead of taking them back to Lord Ieyasu as he should have done, he took them to Koshu and passed them to Lord Shingen, he did this as Lord Shingen was the most powerful presence at the time and was winning every battle and it was reputed that soon he would conquer the whole country.

  However, soon after that Lord Shingen died and the Takeda clan collapsed and Lord Ieyasu destroyed Lord Shingen’s heir, Lord Katsuyori and this act allowed Ieyasu to prosper.

  Miura Yoji, the man who had betrayed the hostages fell into a difficult predicament and ended up becoming a vagabond.

  This is exactly what he invited upon himself by moving onto the path of evil. As Genzaburo and Ofu were hostages for Lord Ieyasu, if Miura Yoji was a right-minded warrior, he would have taken them to Mikawa, no matter what the situation. However, he had an evil desire deep within his mind, and because he did such a thing, he got his comeuppance.

  Article 58

  According to an old samurai story, a samurai whose name was Mukai Noto-no-kami said:

  To hold and decapitate an enemy, pin him down by sitting astride him, keeping his dominant arm firmly under your right foot,72 turn up his Shikoro helmet neck plates and then stab and cut the throat first, and then hold your Wakizashi short-sword with a reverse grip, move the head into place73 by holding the Miagenoita helmet peak and cut off the head.

  Article 59

  According to an old samurai story, there are various writings about the origin of the Horo arrow catching cape:

  During the reign of the Han Dynasty in ancient China, General Su Wu was ordered to conquer the barbarians of Hu and advanced on them. However, the barbarians were so strong that Su Wu was captured and had the tendon of one leg cut and was made to herd sheep in a land of snow for nineteen years. A poem was made by or for him saying, ‘When thirsty, I drink drops from a cave and when hungry, I eat snow from heaven.’ He was allowed to have a Horo cape as it is said that the Horo cape is to protect you in both this world and in the next. Therefore, Su Wu put a message onto the wing of a goose with the cord of Taishaku74 of his Horo, by sending his letter in this manner, he finally returned to his homeland. That is why, traditionally, one cord of the Taishaku is shorter than the other. Su Wu used the ideogram 75 for Horo.

  In addition, in ancient China, Fan Kuan was a retainer of Gao-zu of the Han Dynasty. During the Chu versus Han contention, Gao-zu was defeated seventy-four times. When Gao-zu left for the seventy-fifth battle, Fan Kuan made his farewell to his mother and she in a fond farewell said, ‘You should imagine you were in my womb’ and cover your armour with silk fabric. He did this and the fabric protected him and he achieved great deeds and came back to see his mother again. That is why the ideogram for Horo is meaning mother and clothes.

  According to Kagakushu,76 the word Horo has come from the placenta of a mother’s womb, which the baby has on its head and it protects the baby from various kinds of harm. Therefore, when a warrior goes to battle, if he fights the enemy with a Horo cape covering him, it protects him from harm, just like the placenta does. A mother’s womb and a battlefield are the times of your birth and your death.

  Zhang Liang was also a retainer of the Emperor Gao. Before going to war, he visited his father and mother’s grave, where he found ivy on his parents’ tomb. He kept it on his armour while fighting in battle. He won the battle as he wished. Therefore, the writing for Horo also can have the ideogram for ivy, as in this example .

  This is an ancient saying:

  It is polite conduct for those who pass by Mt Li to pray at the grave of the first emperor. Why would there not be any response if you visit your father and mother’s grave?77

  The container for the Horo cape is the one mentioned in the chapter Kyoikusa in Volume 33 of the great Taiheiki war chronicle. (See Fig 20)

  Nasu-no-Goro was determined to die in battle and sent a message with a messenger to his old mother that he had left back home. However, she did not show grief but said in her reply, ‘Once born into a samurai family, it is usual to value your fame rather than your life. You should be prepared to throw away your life not to disgrace our ancestors. I include in this reply the Horo arrow cape which once belonged to Nasu-no Yoichi78 – one of our ancestors. He wore this during the Battle of Yashima and achieved fame by hitting his targets with his arrows.’ When she finished, she gave him a red Horo cape in a bag of gold brocade. This one was the same as the one mentioned at the start of this article.

  Article 60

  According to an old samurai story, Lord Hojo Ujiyasu and his heir and son, Lord Ujimasa, shared a meal. Upon seeing his son eat, Lord Ujiyasu began shedding tears and said: ‘The Hojo family, our clan will end with my life.’ At this the atmosphere was ruined and not only the Lord Ujimasa, but also all his chief councillors had a depressed look about them. Then the lord Ujiyasu said, ‘Look at how my son Ujimasa is taking his meal, he has put some soup onto his bowl of rice, then he has added more. Every single person, noble or humble, eats two meals every day, so it cannot be possible that he is not well trained at this. It is such poor judgement that he cannot properly estimate the amount of soup that you should put in your bowl of rice and that he needs to take more, as if it was not enough. He does not have the basic judgement for even a routine task as this, one that is done every morning and evening; therefore, he could never evaluate someone and discover what he is really thinking about, deep inside under the surface. If he does not have this ability, then he cannot recruit good samurai. If he does not have good samurai under his command in this time of war, it is obvious that, if I die tomorrow, the clever lords of the neighbouring domains will invade us and ruin my son Ujimasa. I am afraid this is the truth. Thus our Hojo clan will end with my life.’

  Article 61

  According to an old samurai story, at the Winter Siege of Osaka, Ban Dan’emon led a night attack on the camp of Hachisuka Awanomori of the East. The troops on the flank were led by Komeda Kenmotsu and the rear troop was led by a ronin of Harima named Yamada Gorozaemon. It was known that Ban was the commander of the night attack because he had wooden plates scattered along the way that said ‘the commander of this night attack is Ban Dan’emon’.

  Afterwards, at the Summer Siege of Osaka, he was killed in Kashinoe village in Izumi. A stone monument for him still exists there. The head of Dan’emon was decapitated by Yagi Shinzaemon, who was from Asai Kii-no-Kami’s clan.

  Article 62

  According to an old samurai story, when you are going on a march with a number of people, if the wind is against you and strong, blowing into your faces, then you should encamp in a place chosen carefully. Also, if the wind is in your face do not rush to do battle, however, if the wind is behind you or blows from your right side, you should stay on the march no matter how strong the wind is.

  What to do in case you find the enemy desperate: for example, if they burn down their ships even though they have a river at hand, burn their own rations, or throw away pots and kettles, you should know they are determined to fight until the bitter end.79 Even if they are a small number, you should not s
et upon them immediately. You should wait for days to tire them out, or try for arbitration and defeat them by taking advantage of a gap if they show any.

  For night attack, you should choose a stormy night, one with a strong wind and strong rain. At such a time you should be thorough about passwords and Aijirushi identifying marks. When you go across the enemy line in the night, tie up the horses’ tongs with cloth, cover or roll things that may make sounds, such as the iron fittings of the horse bits, handles, etc. and when withdrawing from this night attack, you should retreat with archers or riflemen at the rear [of your retreat]. The reason is, if the enemy try to hold you in check, you may have to fight them back.

  If you see armoured warriors in the bush and birds are not startled and even perch in the area, you should know they are fake. Old tradition says if flying birds are not startled above a fortress, you should know the enemy is trying to deceive you with fake figures.

  In the event of a fire in your camp, everyone should stick to his own position in the camp. Do not leave your post to try to fight the fire recklessly. Only the troop at the location of the fire should be in charge of fire fighting. In the case where the fire spreads too much, only then should other troops in that area work together. Even if there is a parent or son involved in the fire, you should never go into where a fire is raging.

  * * *

  1 The Japanese name for hooded gulls is Miyakodori, which literally means ‘birds of the metropolis (Kyoto)’, the concept was often used in poems at the time and is a play on words and this article is a subtle play between the two meanings.

  2 Tan – a unit for a roll of kimono cloth of about 11m.

  3 The god of wealth.

  4 The ideogram for Kento means ‘dog’s head’, which one must know to understand the story.

  5 This refers to an old tale concerning the ghost of a harlot called Eguchi-no-Kimi.

  6 As a quip, he uses the name Kento, which translates as ‘head of a dog’ to become an insult, he does this by changing the pronunciation of his name to Inu-no-Kashira.

  7 This time he uses the correct pronunciation.

  8 It is said that he and Oda Nobunaga had sexual relations with young men, this was known as Shudo, a common samurai practice.

  9 Presumably a mistake, it should be Honda Heihachiro Tadakatsu.

  10 This is the opinion of the unknown author.

  11 A tiger keelback, a venomous snake.

  12 This story is complex due to the crossover of names and the insertion of names that do not actually have any relevance to the story. In short, a man was employed by the lord of Echizen, but as the lord dies he changes sides to join Toyotomi Hideyori in the hope that Hideyori would make him the next lord of Echizen, usurping his former lord’s son.

  13 Jiki has the double meaning of ‘direct’ and ‘yellow cloth’.

  14 The ideogram for on’na in On’na-no-suke means woman.

  15 The composer of a set of famous war poems. First and third person are confused.

  16 This poem has a double meaning and is an elocution lesson. It is a reference to the last word in the list given above, but is of course lost in translation.

  17 ‘Green Willow’ is often connected to thread or yarns.

  18 A yarn spindle.

  19 This is a play on words and has the same phonetic sound as Kai, Takeda Shingen’s domain.

  20 This is a reference to his defeat in 1568 by Takeda Shingen.

  21 Bathing in sea water for purification.

  22 A way of Buddhist praying with chanting, drum beating and dancing.

  23 The Japanese word used here is ‘Sue’ and has the double meaning of end and a person’s name.

  24 A pit viper, here it has double meaning for snakes and ‘true samurai’, due to its similar sound.

  25 Taka also means ‘hawk’ in Japanese. Also the word ‘tobi’ is used here which has the double meaning of ‘fly’ and ‘kite’.

  26 The play on words here is that the hawk kills the kite; the samurai’s name in question refers to the hawk.

  27 This story is also found in the 100 military poems of Takenaka Hanbei.

  28 This is a reference to the divide between East and West Japan.

  29 This castle was considered impregnable.

  30 He sends troops out here in two different directions to cover both land and sea.

  31 Nawate means a long straight path between rice fields.

  32 Seat order was hierarchical.

  33 It is possible that this could have had a cherry blossom pattern.

  34 A great tactician known as the ‘one eyed dragon’.

  35 Presumably he killed his father before he killed the rest of the enemy.

  36 The words Tadaoki, Nagaoka and Yusai are used here as a play on words, these words are the same as the names of the samurai in question, and the author is using the negatives to reflect Fujitaka’s lack of action.

  37 Or Oda.

  38 – a stranger to samurai.

  39 An alternative name for Kongobuji temple.

  40 The original script simply included the date and names as a list, including the number of years between them.

  41 This was added in a later edition and did not appear in the original.

  42 In a skirmish where only one person dies and only one head is taken.

  43 This is a garment to keep the left sleeve of an archer out of the string’s way.

  44 A Shige is a type of bow which was normally owned by a lord. It is lacquered with rattan rolled around at several points. The Murashigedo, the bow in question here, is similar but with rattan at a fewer number of points.

  45 A whistling arrow.

  46 A hairstyle with the topknot undone so that a helmet is not obstructed.

  47 The number four is the number of death in Japan.

  48 The three things represent defeat, victory and joy respectively, this is once more a play on words.

  49 Gunkan.

  50 Hitotsukubi literally means ‘one head’, which is the only head taken in battle.

  51 Normally ropes were right-handed.

  52 This is a direction that changes dependent on the day and moves in accordance with Chinese astrology.

  53 i.e., the enemy army.

  54 A handful of hair on top of the head bunched up and tied.

  55 A string attached to the saddlebows on both sides.

  56 This is a heading, no pun intended, to show which unit took the heads in battle.

  57 The name goes at the top and the killer at the bottom. These were records written in the Japanese style of right to left, top to bottom.

  58 i.e., the name of the killer.

  59 i.e., a thick ink.

  60 A reference to decapitation.

  61 A defensive cape to deflect arrows.

  62 This is the famed Hattori Hanzo, shinobi leader and aid to Tokugawa Ieyasu, he is often confused with Spear Hanzo owing to him receiving a spear as a gift from the Shogun.

  63 See Volume One, Article 30.

  64 The meaning of this word is unknown.

  65 Heiju – not found in modern Japanese, most likely the sleeve that holds back the archer’s top to stop the string from catching on it.

  66 The Dainichikyo is a form of Sutra which contains these two references. Kongokai or Diamond World and Taizokai or Womb/World are forms of Mandala. It appears that the author meant that the item in question represented these two concepts.

  67 Or Date.

  68 Also known as Kato Akinari.

  69 Kenshin’s childhood name was Torachiyo. There was an elder brother of Kenshin named Saruchiyo, however he died young. It is considered to be the author’s mistake here.

  70 Here the word Seibai is used, this can mean defeat but has connotations of execution.

  71 He was a famed samurai of the Sengoku period who opposed Takeda Shingen, and was considered a great tactician.

  72 Most likely foot and not leg because of the use of the verb fumaeru.

  73 The sentence here is uncl
ear, it is either to remove the peak of the helmet or to remove the helmet by the peak, or even to move the head into position by holding the peak.

  74 It is unknown what this is, it appears to be a part of the Horo arrow-cape.

  75 The word Horo has several ideograms and variations.

  76 A Japanese dictionary completed in 1444.

  77 The point here is that Zhang Liang prayed at his parents’ grave and got an answer, thus so should all others.

  78 The famous archer who hit the fan on top of the mast of a boat at the Battle of Yashima.

  79 Literally, ‘one life in ten deaths’.

  Oan Monogatari,

  The Story Of Oan1

  and of Okiko,

  Seventeenth Century

  The children came and said, ‘Wise nun, please tell us an old story,’ and thus, the old nun began her tale:

  My father’s name was Yamada Kyoreki. He served Sir Ishida Jibusho Mitsunari in Hikone, which was in the Omi domain. Later, the above lord Jibusho rose in revolt against the Tokagawa clan and was blockaded at Ogaki Castle which is in the domain of Mino. Here at this siege is where we were all gathered together, myself included. While we were there, we had a bizarre experience in the castle, this is that story.

  Every night around midnight, we heard voices of about thirty people, voices of men and women who we did not know, they called out ‘Mr Tanaka Hyobu, Mr Tanaka Hyobu’. This was then followed by the sound of crying out. This was a weird thing and very fearful!

  Later, the massive army of Lord Ieyasu closed in on us and there we were assaulted day and night. This force against us was led by Tanaka Hyobu. When we were going to fire a stone cannonball at his force from the inside of our castle, the men announced that they were about to do so, shouting it here and there.