A method used when you cannot swim and is used in a pond, marsh and so on, where debris is floating and a normal way of swimming cannot be used or you cannot walk.
手足搦
Shusoku garami
Bound hands and feet
A method of swimming with your arms and legs bound together.
竹具足術
Take Gusokujutsu
The skill of bamboo armor
This is a preliminary skill to be practiced for swimming with armor.
二ツ掻
Futatsu kaki
Twin paddles
A skill used when you need to keep a “correct posture” during swimming.
瓜剥
Uri muki
Peeling the gourd
Skill of peeling a gourd [with a knife] while treading water.
操銃及弓術
Souju oyobi kyujutsu
Shooting guns and bows while swimming
A method of using muskets or bows when treading water.
水馬
Suiba
Crossing water with a horse
The skill of leading a horse into water and crossing over to the other side with it.
煙花船
Enkasen
“Signal fire ship”
This means to hide yourself immediately, this is a skill for avoiding danger.
免許術
Menkyo Jutsu
The following are skills for those with a teaching license:
甲冑泳
Kacchu oyogi
Swimming in armor
To swim wearing armor and a sword.
軍貝音入
Gunkai neire
Signaling with a conch shell
The skill of blowing a conch shell while treading water—use this as a signal for going ahead or exiting.
秘傅術
The following are secret skills:
浮沓
Ukigutsu
Floating aids
From ancient times the following information has been given to those who receive it by the use of a written oath. When you put this tool around your waist, you tread water without using your hands and legs. Also it is useful as lifesaving equipment, and can be used as a water bottle on dry land. When not in use, fold and stow it away in your kimono.
畳ミ船竝継船
Tatami-bune narabini Tsugi-fune
Military boat and jointed boat*
The first boat is for three people. It should be sized so that one person can carry this on his back. It should be constructed with materials available at hand and the oar should be of two parts and jointed. This boat has often brought benefits to Nojima-Ryu. [The second vessel, the jointed boat] can be used as a flat-bottomed version with a few boats [sections] joined together; also, each boat can be used separately according to the situation. The directions for use and structure are given through written oath and this has been the way from ancient times.
Fighting and Men-at-Arms
The Western term “man-at-arms” can be described as an armored fighting man who is sometimes on horseback and is considered a professional warrior. In this section, I shall consider a man-at-arms to not be of the knightly class but to be a professional soldier in a medieval army, meaning that while many people on a battlefield look like knights, they may not be, because “knight” is a social class—so remember, just because a man may be on a samurai battlefield wearing two swords, they may not actually be a samurai.
Taking the samurai to be the knight, we could consider the ashigaru foot soldiers, or even at a stretch some servants, to be men-at-arms and in addition to this we could also consider samurai mercenaries to fall into the same bracket, but here we shall concentrate on support fighters only. Armored and equipped for war, they were soldiers on foot who could support other samurai, including mounted samurai, or fight alone. Normally they were full-time employees of a samurai or lord or were taken from the general population in times of war. However, we must avoid the “Disney Trap” and not consider these as inexperienced peasants dragged into the conflicts of the nobles. While some may have been uneducated, inexperienced or even useless in war, some were full-time professional fighters, in the constant presence of a samurai. This man-at-arms would be well versed in the setting up of camp, of getting fires ignited, or maintaining weapons and armor, and also of fighting alongside a samurai master. Remember, not all warriors on a Japanese battlefield are samurai—there were many trained and sometimes well-armed non-samurai who would also fight and take heads.
Head Hunting
Head hunting is one of the core activities of the samurai. Their purpose was to cut the heads from fallen warriors, thrust them on to spears or the ends of their swords and cry out in triumph to the gods of war—the samurai were a head cult. This section will look at the samurai and the head of the enemy and the ritual that surrounds the taking of the ultimate human trophy. A much-overlooked factor is the requirement of the samurai to gain heads and as modern readers we rarely—if ever—observe the samurai from this perspective. For a samurai, honor in battle, the death and destruction of the enemy, and the elevation of prowess through the display of decapitated human heads is the main track that their lives are geared towards.
Cutting off the Head
In the main, a man does not like having his head cut from his neck, and seldom did a man sit there and allow this to happen in the heat of battle. To stop a victim from struggling free, the samurai would pin the victim’s right arm under his leg, pull back the peak of his helmet and make a cut across the throat or put the knife behind the windpipe and cut outwards, then he would reverse the grip and start to saw and cut away at the man’s neck until it separated from his body. Some samurai may carry a specific knife for this task. Prior to this, a samurai may give a coup de grâce in one of the following areas:
1. A cut along the throat
2. A stab to the heart
3. A cut to an artery in the leg
Chimatsuri—the Blood Sacrifice
Chimatsui, literally “blood-festival,” was the act of dedicating the first head taken in a battle to specific gods of war. The following quote is taken from the Gunpo Jiyoshu manual and explains the concept—after the quote the gods and directions will be explained.
Chimatsuri is to offer the first head gained in battle to the ninety-eight thousands gods of war, with your hands joined in prayer, chanting the following:
“Namu* Marishisonten† and to all the other gods of war, you gave us this head today, it is all thanks to your gratifying wonderful will, we pray for our continued luck in battle.”
The above must be said in the direction of Tomobiki [while offering this head] to the eight demons serving the four Devas, who guard Buddha, also offer this head to the nine devil gods, saying:
“Give us a victory, our continued luck in battle and save us, Kyu Kyu Nyonitsuryo.”‡
When you do this you should not face in the direction of Hagun.
The nighty-eight thousand gods of war is not literal, it means innumerable number of gods; also the goddess Marishiten (the common pronunciation) is a goddess of war, the direction of Tomobiki and Hagun change daily and must be identified before the ritual is performed.
Displaying Heads
The displaying of heads is highly ritualized and formulated. The idea is that a lord should observe and inspect the decapitated heads of the enemy. There are multiple historical sources on the different types of inspection, but most revolve around the lord being protected from the enemy ghosts by chants and spells, at which point the heads are displayed, confirmed and recorded to then be gibbeted elsewhere. For a full translation of a head inspection ritual see Samurai War Stories.
The Gunpo Jiyoshu manual states the following:
The head inspection was conducted for the purpose of distribution of honors of the warriors by inspecting and deciding who they killed and how.
The Gunpo Jiyoshu continues with an instruction for when only one head i
s taken in battle:
Hitotsukubi—the one head
Though the Hitotsukubi is usually not shown to the lord, it is sometimes shown to those lords who have understanding about these things. When having it inspected by the lord, its hair should be tied in a style called Sakawage—into two top knots, with a pin made from the shrubby althaea tree; the pin is then penetrated through these knots. Next, put the head on a white cloth with the cut end [of the head pointing] down and wrap it so that the face is covered; finish by tying it up at the top of the head. If the person was an archer, you should show [the head] with a bow before the lord. The lord should first cut the nine kuji lines in the air, then open three folds of his war fan and look at the head through the fan itself. At this point chant the following verse three times:
をのがとがを あづさにかけて いる時は おもひかへすな あびらうんけん
Wonogatoka wo azusani kakete iru toki wa omoi kaesuna abirakenun
“When calling a spirit of a dead person, do not think back on your faults, abirakenun!”
The manual continues with:
Decapitated heads with special requirements:
Heads with a special reason for submission and which are put forward for the lord’s inspection should have the one who killed the victim between the head and the lord and armed with a bow, the string closest to the lord. Otherwise, the lord should block the view of the head with his sleeve, details to be orally transmitted.
Generally, the heads of samurai should not be carried in one hand. Those with a terrible look, such as throwing up of the eyes, sticking out of the tongue, etc., should not be offered up for the lord’s inspection.
Sometimes incense is burned and the helmet is passed over it—this is a courtesy for the enemy who has to deal with a samurai’s head. Alternatively a samurai would wear incense so that his odor was agreeable in death. The same manual continues:
Before the inspection [of decapitated heads] women applied makeup and arranged the hair of the heads; also they applied tooth-blacking dye. Warriors were careful about their appearance; they prepared to die with the knowledge that their heads were to be inspected. Makeup and the wearing of fragrance and incense are considered proper. If [the head] has scars, conceal them with rice powder.
The Five Types of Heads
The decapitated head of a victim normally falls into one of five categories. However some heads—those that are grotesque and evil-looking—are considered as malevolent.
右眼
Ugan
Right-eyed
The eyes of the dead stare to the right.
左眼
Sagan
Left-eyed
The eyes of the dead stare to the left.
天眼
Tengan
Heaven-eyed
The eyes of the dead stare up at the heavens.
地眼
Jigan
Earth-eyed
The eyes of the dead stare down to the earth.
仏眼
Butsugan
Buddha-eyed
The eyes of the dead are half closed in a Buddha-like position.
Divination and Heads of Evil
Being a head cult, the samurai had rituals prescribed for the heads they collected. This included divination through heads and the exorcism of those that were deemed evil.
To divine the future through a decapitated head the samurai would look at the mouth by lifting the upper lip:
1. If the lower jaw protruded forward past the upper teeth, then it was good luck for the side who had taken the head.
2. If the upper teeth protruded past the lower jaw then it was bad luck for the side which had taken the head.
3. If the teeth were flush together then the result of the situation would be a stalemate or end in an agreement of peace.
Respect had to be shown to this head—if it was an auspicious head then a monk would chant the correct formula to appease the soul of the dead, and if a head of evil intent the correct exorcism would be performed.
If a head (see image on the following page) has its eyes wide open, its teeth exposed, and the hair along the side of the face and sideburns sticking out and upward, then it is an evil head. This head should not be shown to a lord-commander. The man who killed this enemy and took the head must undergo an exorcism—people should be respectful around the head and it should be treated properly. The ideogram as seen in the image should be written on the head and then it should be taken to a place where it is to be buried. The direction that it should be buried is the “direction of inviting death” while the person burying it should stand in the “direction of life.” The man performing this rite must stand with hands together in prayer and incant a specific spell seven times, then holding his left hand on his chest and his index finger of the right hand pointing to the sky, he should move to write the following ideograms on the ground:
They must next cut the kuji grid of protection in the air with their finger and take seven steps backwards and then trace the following Sanskrit mark in the air:
The person who should deal with this head does not have to be the person who killed; this should be done by a person of great skill, a technician.
Gibbeting the Heads
A samurai, with head in hand who has finished presenting it to the lord and has received his reward, has to dispose of the trophy. Unlike some other head cultures, the samurai do not keep the heads as a normal rule, but tend to return them to the families of the fallen warrior; or they gibbet them on wooden beams that have spikes to hold them firmly in place.
These stands—being made of the correct wood—are erected and the heads are placed upon the spikes and left to rot in the wind. Sometimes the heads are wrapped in cloth—normally in an arrow cape if it is an important warrior—or they are returned to the family. If they are returned then they are presented in a box container with the correct spells and prayers provided.
Head-taking was not only a factor of the warring periods but also in times of peace. It would not be unheard of to see a man on a mission of vengeance and a duel between the pursuer and the pursued as they battled in the streets or fields of peacetime Japan. The result would be the victor walking down the street with a bloody head in his hands while the authorities tried to discover if the killing was legal or not. Overall, the samurai is a taker of heads; his victory count, prestige and employment often depend upon the heads taken in battle.
Chi and Magic
Samurai life was medieval and at the same time that the samurai existed, in Europe there were the Crusades, the Renaissance, the witch trials, and many other medieval movements. Crime was detected by defeat in combat through the judgement of god, spells were used for many facets of life, charms and rituals were performed and medicine was in its infancy. What we see as “black magic” or connote as evil arts or ridiculous practices are not far removed from our own history. As a Christian knight would wear the cross, so a samurai would wear a divine talisman.
Chi
In Japanese, the Chinese word chi becomes ki. It is the idea of an internal spirit and energy that is found in the living world, in each person and in the air, and is understood by most people. In an army the gunbaisha’s task was to identify chi in the sky or the chi of the opposite army—they would observe shapes in the clouds and air to identify and divine future events or the feel of an enemy. Defeat, victory, fires, illness and an array of many other things were “predicted” through chi.
Chi of proceeding horses
Chi of the dragon flying in the clouds
Chi of the fan
Chi of victory
The teachings of chi are in depth and very detailed, with multiple variations, including differences in color and direction. A master would be skilled in chi and they would give their findings to the lord-commander.
Magic, Divination and Auspicious Dates
Magic in the world of the samurai normally consisted of talismans of protection and divine ritual magic
that brings about a desired result or again, protection and even invisibility.
Magic
Magic is too loose a term to cover samurai arts of this nature. Some have foundations in Buddhism, others Shinto and others in shamanism. The subject is vast and potentially a limitless investigation. Shinobi and samurai would both use the now famous kuji-in, a form of self-protection normally formed by drawing a grid in the sky, projecting their will into the universe to bring about change and protection. In addition to this is the making of talismans, normally through some form of animal sacrifice, such as killing mating dogs or birds, turtles, etc., and other forms of what we would consider “magic,” i.e., practices that alter nature or bring about change through supernatural ways.
Samurai performing kuji-in
Auspicious directions and dates
The cardinal points and associations
Samurai warfare, especially in earlier times, would focus on the calculation of auspicious dates and directions. Deciding a date in this way is called hidori while deciding the direction is katadori. The general idea is to use ancient and sometimes secret systems of identifying which hour, day or year was auspicious for a samurai’s forces, yet ill-fated for the enemy. Different schools of thought grew around this concept and multiple elements were considered to discover the correct time. Three major factors played their part in this decision:
1. 十干 The Ten Celestial Stems—A ten day cycle and record.
2. 十二支 The Twelve Heavenly Bodies (also symbols, earthly branches, animals or zodiac)—The Japanese zodiac.
3. 五行 The Five Elements—Normally in connection with the direction that the army faced or the birth element of the lord, etc.
A master astrologer would use the above and have to take the following points into account to decide if an hour, day, year, direction or chi formation was beneficial for the allies but hostile for the enemy. They would consider:
♦ The direction the army are facing
Samurai and Ninja: The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior Myth That Shatters the Bushido Mystique Page 10
