TAIKO: AN EPIC NOVEL OF WAR AND GLORY IN FEUDAL JAPAN

by Eiji Yoshikawa

  "Come on, have some more sake!'

  "I'm not going to deceive myself. You've gone to a lot of trouble for me today, but your sake tastes just a little bitter."

  "You were sent here by Hideyoshi."

  "Of course. Even Lord Hideyoshi is extraordinarily worried about you. Not only that, but he defends you absolutely, regardless of what other people say about you. He calls you ‘a valuable man' and 'a stalwart warrior.' He says that we should not make a mistake, and I can tell you that he'll never forget your friendship."

  Murashige sobered up a little and, in some measure, spoke from his heart. "In fact, I received two or three letters from Hideyoshi admonishing me, and I'm moved by his friendship. But Akechi Mitsuhide and other Oda retainers came one after another as Lord Nobunaga's envoys and I rebuffed them all. Certainly I can't comply with Hideyoshi's request now."

  "I don't think that's true. If you'll leave the matter to Lord Hideyoshi, he'll surely be able to manage some way of mediating with Lord Nobunaga."

  "I don't think so," Murashige said sullenly. "They're saying that when Mitsuhide and Nobumori heard that I had rebelled, they clapped their hands and rejoiced. Mitsuhide came here to appease me. He soothed me with pretty words, but who knows what kind of report he made when he returned to Nobunaga. If I opened my castle and returned to kneel before Nobunaga, in the end he'd only order his men to grab me by the scruff of the neck and cut off my head. None of my retainers is of a mind to return to Nobunaga. They're at the point where they feel that fighting to the end would be best, so this is not just my own opinion. When you go back to Harima, please tell Hideyoshi not to think badly of me."

  It seemed that Kanbei was not going to be able to persuade Murashige easily. After a few more cups of sake, he took out Odera Masamoto's letter and handed it to Murashige.

  Kanbei had already looked over the gist of the contents. It was simple, but it censured Murashige's behavior earnestly. Murashige moved closer to the lamp and opened it, but just as he finished reading it, he excused himself and left the room.

  As he went out, a group of soldiers crowded into the room. They surrounded Kanbei, forming a wall of armor and spears around him.

  "Get up!" they shouted.

  Kanbei put down his cup and looked at the agitated faces around him. "What hap­pens if I do?" he asked.

  "Lord Murashige's orders are to escort you to the castle jail," answered one of the soldiers.

  "Jail?" he blurted out, and he wanted to laugh out loud. At the moment he thought it was all over for him, and he saw how funny he must look for having fallen into Murashige's trap.

  He stood up, a smile on his face. "Let's go, then. There's nothing I can do but go meekly, if this is Lord Murashige's show of courtesy."

  The warriors escorted Kanbei down the main corridor. The noisy clatter of their armor blended with their footsteps. They went down any number of dark corridors and stairways. Kanbei was made to walk in places that were so dark he could have been blind­folded, and he wondered if he might not be killed at any time. He was more or less pre­pared for such an event, but it did not seem to be forthcoming. At any rate, the lightless place he walked along seemed to be a complicated passageway weaving through the bow­els of the castle. After a while, a heavy sliding door clattered open.

  "Inside!" he was ordered, and after taking about ten paces forward, he found himself in the middle of a cell. The door slammed shut behind him. This time, Kanbei did laugh out loud into the darkness. Then he turned to the wall and spoke with self-scorn, almost as though he were reciting a poem.

  "I myself have fallen into Murashige's trap. Well, well… public morals certainly have become complicated, haven't they?"

  He guessed that he was beneath an armory. As far as he could tell by feeling with the soles of his feet, the floor was made of thick, knotted planks. Kanbei walked along calmly, following the four walls. He was able to judge that the area of the cell was about thirty square meters.

  No, the way I see it is that Murashige is the man to be pitied. What does he think he's going to accomplish by imprisoning me?

  He sat down cross-legged in what was evidently the center of the cell. His buttocks were cold, but there seemed to be nothing to sit on in the room.

  He suddenly realized that he hadn't had to give up his short sword, and thought, That's something to be thankful for. If I just have this one weapon… at any time I could….

  He silently told himself that even if his buttocks were numbed, his spirit would not be. The Zen meditation that he had practiced so hard in his youth would now perhaps be of use. Such things came to mind as time went by. I'm glad I came, was his next thought. If Hideyoshi had come himself, this small disaster would have been replaced by a great one. I'm grateful that it has turned out this way.

  Soon a thin stripe of light shone in his face. Kanbei calmly looked toward the light. A window had been opened. A man's face appeared on the other side of the lattice. It was Araki Murashige.

  "Is it cold in there, Kanbei?" Murashige asked. Kanbei looked in his direction and finally answered him with total calm. "No, I'm still warm from the sake, but it might get uncomfortable around midnight. If Lord Hideyoshi hears that Kuroda Kanbei has frozen to death, he'll probably arrive before dawn and expose your head on the gate in the frost. Murashige, you're a man with decent brains. What do you plan to accomplish by keeping me here?"

  Murashige was at a loss for words. He was also aware that he was being shamed by his own actions. Eventually, however, he laughed scornfully.

  "Stop your grumbling, Kanbei. You're saying that I have no brains, but aren't you the one who witlessly fell into this trap?"

  "Abusive language is not going to help you. Can't you talk logically?"

  Murashige said nothing, and Kanbei went on, "You're prone to admonishing me as some sort of strategist or demon of tactics, but I concern myself with fundamental policies, not petty tricks. I have never considered plotting against a friend and making a merit of it. I was simply thinking of you, and of Lord Hideyoshi's distress. That's why I came here alone. Can't you understand? What about Lord Hideyoshi's friendship? What about your loyalty?"

  Murashige did not know how to answer. He fell silent for a while, but finally pulled together a rebuttal. "You talk about friendship and moral principles, but these are words that only have luster during times of peace. It's different now. The country is at war with itself, and the world is in chaos. If you don't plot, you're plotted against; if you don't inflict injury, someone will inflict injury on you. This is a world so grim that you may have to kill or be killed in the time it takes you to pick up your chopsticks. Yesterday's ally is today's enemy, and if a man is your enemy—even if he is your friend—there's nothing you can do but throw him in prison. It's all tactics. One could say that it's out of compassion that I haven't killed you yet."

  "I see. Now I understand your view of the world, your everyday thoughts on warfare, and the extent of your morality. You have the pitiful blindness of the times, and I don't fee1 like talking things over with you anymore. Go ahead, destroy yourself!"

  "What? You're saying I'm blind?"

  "That's right. No, even though it's come to this, I can't seem to abandon the last little bit of friendship I have for you. I have one more thing I'll teach you."

  "What? Does the Oda clan have some secret strategy?"

  "It's not a matter of advantages and disadvantages. You're a pitiful individual. Although you're famous for your courage, you're ignorant of how to live in this chaotic country. Not only that, but you have no desire to save the world from this chaos. You're inhuman, lower than a townsman or a farmer. How can you call yourself a samurai?"

  "What! You're saying I'm not human?"

  "That's right. You're a beast."

  "What did you say?"

  "Go ahead! Get as angry as you can. It's all directed against yourself. Listen, Murashige. If men lose morality and loyalty, the world becomes nothing but a world of beasts. We fight and fight
again, and the hellfire of human rivalry is never exhausted. If you con­sider only battle, intrigue, and power, and forget morality and human-heartedness, you won't stop at being an enemy of Lord Nobunaga. You'll be an enemy of all humankind and a plague to the entire earth. As far as I'm concerned, if you're that kind of person, I'd be glad to twist off your head."

  Speaking his mind and then sinking into silence, Kanbei could hear a clamor going on. Outside the prison window, Murashige was surrounded by his retainers and personal attendants, and they were all yelling.

  "Cut him down!"

  "No, we can't kill him."

  "He's insufferable."

  "Calm yourselves!"

  It appeared that Murashige was caught between those who wanted to pull Kanbei out and butcher him on the spot and those who declared that killing him would have adverse results. And he seemed unable to come to a decision.

  In the end, however, they concluded that even if they were going to kill him, there was no particular hurry to do so. After that they seemed to settle down, and the footsteps of Murashige and the rest could be heard clattering off into the distance.

  From observing this event, Kanbei quickly understood the mood of the entire castle.

  Although the banner of revolt had been clearly unfurled, even now there were those who indignantly wanted to fight the Oda and others who advocated cooperating with their former allies. Under the same roof, they feuded on almost every single point, and the situation could be read easily.

  Murashige, who was caught up in this dispute, had driven away Nobunaga's envoys and increased his military preparations. Now he had thrown Kanbei into prison.

  It appears that he's come to his doom. Ah, how sad, Kanbei thought. Without regret­ting his own fate, he lamented Murashige's ignorance. After the voices had drifted away, the peephole was closed again, but Kanbei was suddenly aware of a slip of paper that had fallen through. He picked it up, but could not read it that night. It was so dark in the cell he could hardly see his own fingers.

  The next day, however, when the faint light of morning filtered in, he remembered the paper right away and read it. It was a letter from Odera Masamoto in Harima, ad­dressed to Araki Murashige.

  This same bothersome character we talked about has come here, admonishing me to change my mind. I deceived him into trying to ascertain your mind first, so he'll probably arrive at your castle at the same time this letter arrives. He is a man of broad resources, so he'll be a burden as long as he's alive. When he gets to Itami Castle, I suggest that you take the opportunity and not let him loose in the world again.

  Kanbei was shocked. When he looked at the date on the letter, he saw that it was indeed the same day that he himself had offered his remonstration to Masamoto and left Gochaku Castle.

  "Well then, he must have sent this letter right afterward," he muttered to himself in amazement. He was struck by the realization that there are a large number of clever people in the world. And yet the world had called him—he who had taken such pains to abstain from shallow thinking and petty schemes—a tactician.

  "It's interesting, isn't it? Being in the world."

  Looking up at the ceiling, he spoke without being aware of it. The sound of his voice echoed as though he were in a cave. How interesting to be in the world.

  As one might expect, there were lies and there were truths, there was form and there was void, there was anger and there was joy, there was faith and there was confusion. This was being in the world. But for a few weeks at least, Kanbei would be far away from the world.

  * * *

  The attacking forces disposed around Itami, Takatsuki, and Ibaragi castles were ready strike at any time. Nevertheless, the order to attack had not yet come from Nobunaga's headquarters on Mount Amano. In the various camps, the days passed so quietly that the soldiers' patience was beginning to wear thin.

  "Still no word?"

  Nobunaga had already asked this question twice that day. What he was having difficulty waiting for, however, was just the opposite of the source of the soldiers' impatience. At this point, the Oda clan's position was extraordinarily and dangerously complex—not in regard to the western or eastern provinces, but right around the capital. If at all possible, Nobunaga did not want to fight a war here, at this time. And as the days passed, he worried over this policy of avoiding action in his home area at all costs.

  Whenever he was anxious, Hideyoshi occupied his thoughts. He wanted him constantly at his side. Not long before, a report had come from this general upon whom he relied so much, telling him that Kanbei had stated his case to his former master, Odera Masamoto, and then had gone immediately to Itami Castle, where he intended to persuade Murashige to negotiate. Kanbei was even prepared to die on this mission, Hideyoshi had said, and he asked Nobunaga to wait.

  "This shows a lot of self-confidence," Nobunaga said, "and Hideyoshi's not apt to be negligent."

  But even though Nobunaga in this way persuaded himself to be patient, the atmosphere at his field headquarters was becoming charged with his generals' extreme annoyance. Whenever Hideyoshi made some trivial mistake, their resentment would erupt as though it had been smoldering under the ashes for a long time.

  "I don't understand why Hideyoshi sent the man! Who is this Kanbei, anyway? If you look into his background, he turns out to be a retainer of Odera Masamoto. And his father is a senior retainer of Masamoto too. For his part, Masamoto is conspiring with Araki Murashige in communicating with the Mori and betraying us. He's acting in concert with Murashige while he has raised the banner of rebellion in the western provinces. How could Hideyoshi have chosen Kanbei for such an important mission?"

  Hideyoshi was criticized for his lack of foresight, and some even went so far as to suspect him of negotiating with the Mori.

  The reports that began to come in all contained the same information: far from submitting to Kanbei's argument, Odera Masamoto had spoken out against Lord Nobunaga all the more. He had spread stories about the weakness of the Oda forces in the area. Moreover, his communications with the Mori had become more and more frequent.

  Nobunaga had to admit that this was true.

  "Kanbei's action was nothing but a deception. While we wait for good news from such an unreliable man, the enemy strengthens his connections and perfects his defenses, so that in the end our forces will achieve nothing, regardless of how fierce our attack is."

  At that point, news finally came from Hideyoshi. It was, however, not good. Kanbei had still not returned, and there was no clear information. Moreover, the letter sounded hopeless. Nobunaga clicked his tongue. Suddenly he tossed aside the satchel that had contained the letter.

  "It's too late!" Finally provoked, Nobunaga suddenly roared out angrily, "Secretary! Write this immediately and address it to Hideyoshi. Tell him he's to come here without a moment's delay."

  Then he looked at Sakuma Nobumori and said, "I've heard that Takenaka Hanbei has confined himself in the Nanzen Temple in Kyoto to convalesce. Is he still there?"

  "I believe he is."

  Nobunaga's response to Nobumori's reply was as quick as an echo. "Well then, go there and tell this to Hanbei: Kuroda Kanbei's son, Shojumaru, was sent to his castle by Hideyoshi some time ago as a hostage—he is to be beheaded immediately, and his head sent to his father in Itami."

  Nobumori bowed. Everyone around Nobunaga momentarily crouched in fear of his sudden anger. Not a voice was heard, and for a moment, Nobumori did not get up. Nobunaga's mood was capable of changing from one moment to the next, and his anger exploded without much difficulty. The patience he had exhibited until now was not part of his true nature. That had been strictly a matter of reasoning, into which he had had to put much effort. Therefore, when he did throw off the self-control that he so disliked and raised his voice, his earlobes began to redden, and his face suddenly took on a ferocious appearance.

  "My lord, please wait a moment."

  "What is it, Kazumasu? Are you admonishing me?"

  "It wo
uld be presumptuous for someone like me to admonish you, my lord, but why have you so suddenly given an order to kill Kuroda Kanbei's son? Shouldn't you deliberate on this a bit longer?"

  "I don't need to deliberate any more to see Kanbei's treason. He pretended to talk to Odera Masamoto, and then deceived me again into thinking that he was negotiating with Araki Murashige. That I've refrained from taking action for the last ten days is entirely be­cause of that damned Kanbei's schemes. Hideyoshi reported that to me just now. Hideyoshi's had enough of being made a fool of by Kanbei."

  "But what if you summoned Lord Hideyoshi to give you a full report of the situation and talked with him about punishing Kanbei's son?"

  "I can't make a peacetime decision at a time like this. And I'm not ordering Hide­yoshi here to listen to his opinion. I'm asking him to explain how he fomented this disas­ter. Hurry up and take the message, Nobumori."

  "Yes, my lord. I'll convey this to Hanbei, as you wish."

  Nobunaga's mood was gradually becoming darker. He turned to the scribe and asked, 'Did you write my summons to Hideyoshi, secretary?"

  "Would you like to read it, my lord?"

  The letter was shown to Nobunaga and then immediately passed to the chief messenger, who was ordered to take it to Harima.

  But before the messenger was able to leave, a retainer announced, "Lord Hideyoshi has just now arrived."

  "What? Hideyoshi?" Nobunaga's expression remained the same, but for an instant it seemed that his anger had softened.

  Soon Hideyoshi's voice could be heard, and it rang out as cheerfully as usual. As soon as Nobunaga heard Hideyoshi, he had to make an effort to maintain his angry expression. His anger melted in his breast the way ice melts under the sun, and there was nothing he could do about it.

  With a casual greeting to the generals who were present, Hideyoshi entered the en-dosure. He passed through the assembled generals and knelt courteously before Nobu­naga, then looked up at his lord.

  Nobunaga said nothing. He was trying hard to show his anger. There were not many commanders who could do anything other than prostrate themselves in fear when they encountered Nobunaga's silence.