According to an old samurai story, a child of a samurai family should not be raised among merchants or peasants. It would be desirable to make him start learning reading and writing at the age of 8, and to be fully determined towards the martial arts at the age of 14 or 15. Even if the parents are poor and cannot provide for their children with an education or learning or the martial arts, they should at least raise their children among samurai. In the case where they are raised as common people, no matter how highborn they are, they will look and speak like humble people. Thus, in childhood they will say Gairu for Kaeru [frog] or Gani for Kani [crab]. Even after having grown up, they will speak as follows:
Sansho dono for Saisho dono (Prime Minister)
Ninbu dono for Minbu dono (name of an official rank)
Yuwami-no-kuni for Iwami-no-kuni (name of a province)
Jozoji for Zojoji (Name of a temple)
Kitsunegawa-no-gosho for Kitsuregawa-no-gosho (the palace at Kitsuregawa)
Kozaruhen for Kozatohen (the name of the left hand side of any Chinese ideogram)
Katsuubushi for Katsuobushi (dried bonito)
Taikeike for Taiheiki (name of a famous war chronicle)
Miyasu for meyasu (estimate)
Koyumi for koyomi (calendar)
Higuan for higan (the equinoctial week)
Sengyo for segyo (almsgiving)
Mutsuke for mokke (unexpectedness)
Shimotsu for shumotsu (boil)
Hakuran for kakuran (sunstroke)
Kakeuchi for kakeochi (elopement)
Injukiri for injikiri (making a hand gesture of in)
Ishigake for ishigaki (stone wall)
Ai for ayu (sweet-fish)
Shake for sake (salmon)
A poem on the subject of salmon:16
I left yesterday and arrived here today to find the salmon going upstream
With the double meaning of:
Cutting out a kimono yesterday and trying it on today, it already has become unstitched at its hem
As well as the above, there are many other likely mistakes, but these are only examples.
Article 20
According to an old samurai story, this is a tale about the capturing of Ishida Jibunosho. He was captured alive in a bed of reeds in Wakizaka of the Asai district of Goshu province by Tanaka Denzaemon, who was a retainer of the lord of Okazaki Castle, whose name was Tanaka Hyobu-no-tayu. After being captured, Jibunosho took a Wakizashi short sword of 1 shaku, 3 sun [39cm] from the inside of his kimono and said, ‘This was given to me by Lord Hideyoshi to remind me of him. It is Kiriha Kanezane’s short sword.’ Hyobudayu, on getting this Wakizashi sword, informed Lord Ieyasu of this. The lord gave him Chikugo province as reward, and this is how Hyobudayu became Tanaka Chikugo-no-kami.
Article 21
According to an old samurai story, I was shown some poems composed by ancient generals as follows:
Presented to Yakusiji Jirozaemon-jo Kinyoshi by Lord Ashikada Takauji
Even though it was not the way of his family, how smart it was for him to go that far on the path of poems
‘Foggy Mountains’ by Date Masamune:
Fog in the mountains appears to be similar to the sea, so I thought the sound was the sound of waves but I found it was the sound of the pine trees swaying in the wind
‘Snowy Mountains’ by Date Masamune:
Trailing a winding snowy path in the mountain, I found it came to a dead end in the snow. Then it turned out that it was near a neighbouring village.
‘Green Willow’17 by Lord Mouri Motonari:
As the Odamaki18 hemp yarn wound around a hollow ball that is spinning out a thread, I wonder who on earth made the start of it all
‘Quiet Retreat’ by Lord Hojo Ujiyasu:
Even though the garden is not cleaned so often, it is absolutely spotless, leaving it all to wind here in this hermitage at the foot of the mountain
‘Cherry Blossoms Among Pine Trees’ by Lord Takeda Harunobu
All cherry blossoms among pine trees are proven not to be worthwhile,19 thus being together as they are, [the Cherry Blossom] has not learned to remain forever green
‘An Ode of Celebration for the Pine Trees’ by Lord Hojo Ujimasa
May heaven keep our clan as the pine trees we see in Sumiyoshi now, may it live for 1,000 years or even for 10,000
Title unknown, but composed by Lord Imagawa Ujizane:
I will not blame the world or people, accepting the blame of not meeting the times as my responsibility20
Article 22
According to an old samurai story, Lord Nagao Kenshin had excellent generals, Naeo Yamashiro-no-kami, Kakizaki Izumi-no-kami and Amakasu Omi-no-kami, who were all well matched. The lord left Ecchu province in the care of Kakizaki.
One time Kakizaki put a horse of his own on sale in Kyoto. Lord Oda Nobunaga happened to know that the owner was Kakizaki and bought it at a high price and with haste. Also he sent a polite letter to Kakizaki, which said, ‘This is a rare horse to have. If you have any other horses like this, I would be happy to buy them,’ this was sent together with a kimono as a present.
Unfortunately, Kakizaki was so careless that he did not tell Lord Kenshin of this matter, so when Kenshin heard of this, he became very angry and killed him.
Later on, the ghost of Kakizaki appeared to Lord Kenshin, but the lord was so fearless and high spirited that he was not daunted by this at all.
However, the lord passed away soon after that, so people spread the rumour that the ghost of Kakizaki haunted and killed him.
Article 23
According to an old samurai story, at the event of the Battle of Ishigakibara of Bungo domain, there was a samurai whose name was Yoshihiro Kahei-no-jo who was the lord of Kakei Castle, and it must be said that he had sided with Otomo Shuri-dayu. One day he went scouting to understand the formation of his enemy, who were led by Kuroda Josui Nyudo Masanari. While scouting, Yoshihiro fought with Inoue Kurozaemon, who was a retainer of Masanari and was killed by him. The local people later built a stone monument for him at a beach called Beu, which was close to Ishigakibara, this stone was engraved with the name of Yoshihiro Kahei-no-jo.
As he was a famous samurai, right-minded samurai prayed when passing by it and the local people, if suffering from a high fever, conducted the purification rite of Shiogori21 and offered rice and sake as they worshipped it. If this was done then they immediately recovered from the fever. The children of the dead samurai Kahyoe later heard of that stone and went to Beu and stood by the grave and said, ‘As rice and sake are offered, this grave looks indecent. From now on, only the right Shiogori ritual will be performed and it will be enough to heal sickness, otherwise the fever will never lift.’ Since that day, only by performing the purification rite of Shiogori would people be healed of their illness.
Article 24
According to an old samurai story, in Mikatagahara of Enshu province, at the battle between Lord Takeda Shingen and Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu, thousands of soldiers died by falling into a valley called Saigakake, which was between Mikatagahara and Hamamatsu. The spirits of the dead raised voices and rang out ear-piercingly to the fullest with their cry. Hearing of this, Lord Ieyasu asked help of a sage and the sage said he would appease the souls.
He performed the rite of Nenbutsuodori22 from the thirteenth to the fifteenth of the seventh month of a lunar year, and made the correct constructions with silk. This festival was named Bindoro and they celebrated the dead for three days during the Bon period, which is the festival for the dead. With this, the voices of the dead stopped and the festival is still in practice to this day, or so I hear.
Article 25
According to an ancient samurai story, Matsuda Rokuro Saemon-no-jo Sadakatsu, who was a retainer of Lord Hojo Ujiyasu, said:
Good Bushi with a number of great achievements do not talk about their feats all through their lives, no matter how many people ask them to. They do not talk but are renowned as incomparable, courageous and distinguished because the
y are extraordinary samurai.
On the other hand, some Bushi who are not so good or who are good but in an ordinary way, that is those who get only two or three enemy’s heads, have an avid desire for fame and talk about how great they are. If asked by people, they talk even more than ever, especially when talking to young samurai. It is like when you put sake in a barrel. When the barrel is filled with sake, it will not resonate very much, while it will sound very loudly with only a little sake.
Such braggarts are so clamorous because their feats are not very significant. I think that is a very reasonable thing to say. Also, I think this holds true with every kind of art. Those who pretend to have mastery of some art they have not mastered very well look so stupid to the eye of the observers.
A famous monk of Zen Buddhism, Takuan (1573-1645) composed the following poem:
Having seen only one cherry tree at the base of Yoshino mountain, you pretend to know all, but you do not know anything of the magnificent view of Yoshino when you are deep in the mountain and it is filled with cherry blossoms
The meaning of this poem seems very deep. Later on, Rokurozaemon went to serve the Shogun Hidetada as an Ohata Bugyo, that is a commander of the standards.
Article 26
According to an old samurai story, a samurai whose name was Konishi Manbei, and was 18 or 19 years old, came into the service of Sir Akechi Hyuga-no-kami with a high stipend and with the ambition to dedicate himself fully to this lord. Some samurai, on hearing that, questioned how such an immature samurai could do anything significant, for he would need nerves of steel. Others whispered that it was not very sensible for the lord to give him such a high stipend.
One time while Manbei was in the castle, some nosy young samurai came to him and said to Manbei, ‘I do not remember exactly what your name is, is it Mabei or Manbei?’ On hearing this, Manbei realised that he was making fun of him and replied, ‘It depends on the level and fullness of your spirit. When you are highly spirited, you will call me Manbei with good pronunciation and when you are hungry or lacking in will, you can call me Mabei. It all depends on your spirit.’ Then the disruptive samurai was embarrassed and retreated.
During the battle with Akai Akuemon, the lord of the Hotsuzu Castle of Tamba, Sir Akechi encamped within the area of Mt Yahata. While he was observing his men he found a hut with Manbei and an older and newly recruited samurai sleeping deeply. The lord snuck in and took away their swords. The two samurai were so surprised when they awoke that the older samurai said, ‘All this will be out when the day breaks. We should stab each other to death before dawn.’ Upon this, Manbei contemplated for a while then said, ‘There would be no benefit from us dying in vain. It would have been a deep disgrace if our swords were taken while awake, but it was while we were asleep and it should not be classed as our fault at all. If you really want to kill yourself, I must stress that I am not of the same opinion.’ This meant that the older samurai could not commit suicide on his own.
However, when the day was nearly breaking, Manbei, wearing a red pennant, went over to the enemy camp and successfully put the pennant on the height within the enemy’s camp and was killed at length at the foot of the pennant. Both sides were amazed by his magnificent deed. It is rumoured that Sir Akechi’s actions were a mistake.
Article 27
According to an old samurai story, Sue Owari-no-kami Takafusa, who was a chief retainer of Lord Ouchi Yoshitaka, plotted a rebellion against the lord and drove him into killing himself at Daineiji temple of Nagato domain in 1551.
The lord composed a death poem saying:
Both those who kill and who are killed are only momentary like dewdrops or lightning. All are an appropriate manifestation, that is the way you should see everything in life
His retainers made death poems too. Among them, Reizei Hangan Takatoyo cut a finger and wrote the following poem with his blood on the wall of the temple:
Neither the trailing clouds nor smoke will remain in the end,23 nor will the wind which has carried them away into the air
Soon after that, Sue ended up being attacked and killed by Lord Mouri Motonari.
Article 28
According to an ancient samurai story, there was once a brave general whose name was Tago-no-Tokitaka, who was from the domain of Iwami. He was so highly prepared as a general that he never had a heavy or long night’s sleep all through his life. He always used to say to his men, ‘Though man can only live for fifty years, if you do not sleep at night, it would be worth as much as for 100 years’. Thus he always told his men not to sleep sluggishly. Therefore, they could not sleep in a relaxing or normal way.
In my view, as a truly ambitious samurai, you should not like to sleep deeply, since it can keep you off guard. As in an old saying, ‘Rise in early morning and get to sleep late at night, this is how you should act.’
Also, there are some martial poems on this subject:
Anyone who was born as a samurai should not sleep at night. Those who sleep at night cannot serve very well
Those samurai who sleep sluggishly are incompetent. If you are not a mamushi snake24 you cannot pierce anyone
However, though you should not indulge yourself in sleeping sluggishly at night you cannot go without sleeping all through your life without even a short nap from time to time. You should be mindful of this.
However, if you stay awake but become absorbed in drinking, gambling or women, it would be even worse than simply sleeping.
There was a mysterious event one or two years before Tokitaka was ruined. One black kite flew down to the sideboard where Tokitaka’s meal used to be prepared and landed there. Tokitaka, seeing this, composed a poem:
The sideboard is where the meal is prepared for Tokitaka25 every morning and evening, so if a bean flies onto the meal, it should be brewed into the miso.26
Then the kite died at once.
Article 29
According to an ancient samurai story, you should not ride a horse which is beyond your control on the battlefield, as it is embarrassing if, just before commencing an attack, you are struggling to restrain the horse from advancing. You should ride on a horse you can control at your command to go wherever you want to go using the reins with one hand. Take note that a 7- or 8-year-old horse should be fine and that horses that are too young will not do at all. The height of the horse should be 4 shaku, 3 sun [129cm] to 4 shaku, 3 sun and 5 bu [130.5cm]. Do not ride on semi-trained horses. If you ride and stand, you will not match [the horse] in rhythm. When riding a horse in armour, you should ride it in a different way from the one you usually do. Those horses that run well on flat land are preferable, while short-barrelled horses run well in fields and mountains, whereas long-barrelled ones with a high head swim well in rivers.27
Article 30
According to an old samurai story, the lord of Komatsu Castle in the domain of Kaga was a man named Niwano Gorozaemon-no-Jo Nagashige, who sided with Ishida Jibusho Mitsunari of the West28 and in Komatsu Castle they prepared for a siege. Supporting them was a man named Yamaguchi Genba-no-kami, who was the lord of Daijoji Castle.
On the other side was a man named Maeda Hizen-no-kami Toshikatsu, the lord of Kanazawa Castle, he was also of Kaga domain, but he was allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu of the East. He left his castle and marched to war on the twenty-sixth day of the seventh month in the year 1600 and in the direction of Echizen. He constructed a fortress on Mt Sanda and had a samurai named Okajima Bicchu-no-Kami stationed there with a troop of 500 men to secure their way through the area of Komatsu and other places. This army had a board of councillors and they decided to assault every enemy castle on their way to Echizen. However, for no apparent reason Maeda Hizen-no-kami Toshikatsu did not attack Komatsu Castle29 but instead passed through Komatsu on the first day of the eighth month and besieged Daijoji Castle, which was five Ri in distance farther than the castle of Komatsu. [The lord of] Komatsu Castle sent out two troops in different directions, 140 muskets in the direction of Asai and ships with 70 or 80
muskets stationed on an inlet.30 He assaulted Maeda Hizen-no-kami Toshikatsu’s army with these musket troops from the outside and because of this the besieging force fled to the village of Kiba. Meanwhile, the scouts from Komatsu Castle wrongly took their allies as the enemy and reported them as such, which forced the troops from Komatsu to suddenly retreat. In response to this, the other side became spirited and began hammering away with muskets, but at dusk, both sides eventually retreated. On the third day of the month, Maeda’s force left that conflict and attacked Daijoji Castle instead. Yamaguchi, who was the lord of Daijoji Castle, with his son, sent ashigaru troops out from the castle to meet them and to fight back. As night fell the Kanazawa side, who were attacking the castle, drove away the castle defenders the next day and broke into the castle town. Here they fought fiercely and countless people died on both sides. Tomita Kurouzu, of the besieging army, was killed in this battle. Although the besieged in the castle were defending themselves well, they gave way and were confined in the main enclosure towards the end and Maeda Magoshiro Toshikatsu – the attacker – ordered his men to assault from the ‘enclosure of the bell’ and most soldiers inside the castle were killed. In the end, on the fourth day of the eighth month, Yamaguchi Genba-no-Kami and his son Ukyo-no-Suke – the leaders of the castle defence – killed themselves.
Samurai War Stories Page 8