The Shoka no Hyojo manual from the first two decades of the 1600s gives great examples of this less professional approach to sharpening and cleaning a blade.
Hayanetaba no Koto
Quick Sharpening
The following recipe is taken from a secret text from within a tradition of swords-manship:
Use a skin of a toad: Skin a toad in the hour of the Cockerel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month and dry it in the shade. Carry this with you and when you wipe your sword with it, you will find that your sword can even cut through iron or stone. This is also known as Netaba no Daiji: this is an oral tradition.
Nori wo Otosu Kusuri no Koto
A recipe to wipe clean coagulated blood [from the blade of a sword]
This recipe is also taken from the writing of the above swordsmanship school: Skin a mole and dry the skin in the shade, sprinkle powdered boseki stone on the fur side and carry this to wipe the blade after you have killed someone. This will remove the blood extremely well. There is more on this in oral traditions.
The above two skills are haya-waza—ad hoc skills.
The above shows that the idea of a samurai “flicking the blood” from his sword in a swift motion is a romantic idea and most of the time, paper, horse manure, mole and toad skins and the like were used—a much less romantic image. Of course a samurai would then have to clean the swords properly at the next convenient time to stop them from rusting, but simply flicking the blood off a blade should be considered more ceremonial. This leads us to consider idealistic notions of the samurai in battle and samurai warfare.
The Reality of Battle
Warfare in Japan, like warfare around the world, moved through stages of development and while the veneer of the samurai image overlays all of samurai history, the skills of samurai warfare adapted and changed. Up until this point, the image of the samurai has been developing in your mind’s eye. The castle of the samurai looms on hilltops and in flatland defensive positions while the military and portable battle camp, with its spiked defenses and ditches overlooked by watchtowers, sits against the gray skyline. Enemy trenches and huts surround fortifications and war curtains have been erected, signal fires and beacons are on hilltops and mountain crests, horns blare, bells chime and drums beat on the wind, passing their hidden and open messages to the troops. Above all, columns of thin smoke tell of a signal being manned in the distance. Outside of these fortifications, samurai armies move through valleys—but never over the crests of hills—and through ancient forests, forming up on battlefields, displaying the substantial or the insubstantial. Two or more armies join on the field of battle after a game of “cat and mouse,” all done to acquire the best positioning, ranks form up and get ready to clash. The cavalry will try to outflank the divisions and fleets will blockade escape routes or other troops from landing. The drums beat the approach and the ashigaru march forward, arrows nocked and muskets primed; they move together or in open formation so that the samurai can charge through, each looking to be the first spear of the battle or even to achieve ichibankubi—to capture the first head. While a change in battle tactics, the use of foot soldiers over samurai, the introduction of guns, the decline of mounted warfare and modernization are all important factors to take into account, the main issue to understand and accept is that samurai warfare develops and cannot be pinned down to a single style—also that it has variations between clans, and that evolution and regression have their part to play. At the heart of all this is a military trained, soldier-warrior who has religious determination, who is trained in the ways of weapons and of tactics, with a hardened edge that comes with having taken human life. Standing on the field of battle, his “tribe” with him, his crest splashed across his banner pole, with headband keeping the sweat back, he can see the enemy massed before him. The question is what will kill him first?
The Most Common Killer of Samurai
There have been various examinations of battle wounds and archaeological reports on the frequency of wounds given by Japanese weapons and while some of the statistics differ slightly, a general theme emerges. It has to be taken into account that weapons technology developed greatly, so the following list is a general overview—if you wish to examine a specific time then the position of each may shift.
Most samurai deaths were caused by:
1. Arrows
2. Bullets (this becomes the most common cause towards the end of the Warring States Period)
3. Pole-arms
4. Swords
5. Rocks and stones
The most common killer of samurai is projectile weapons and killing at a distance, followed by the clash of spears and then, lastly, the melee of swords. The idea of the samurai facing off in a sword fight as the world battles around him is a romantic notion and in truth he would have to pass the great volleys of arrows and later on arrows and bullets mixed. Generally a battle consists of the following components:
1. Initial duels or contests (if any)
2. Arrows and gunshot when in range
3. The approach and clash of both sides with spears
4. The general melee
5. The retreat, victory or stand-off
Samurai warfare is complex and many factors contribute to a victory—cavalry charges, deceptive movements, fire attacks, etc.—but in the main, a samurai should worry more about deadly projectiles coming from the sky or the bow of a samurai on horseback than an armed opponent charging them with a sword. But all of the above do kill.
War Cries
War cries can be divided into four basic types:
Before Battle
A single person cries out “Ei, Ei” (this is pronounced “A-A”); after this everyone cries out “Ou” (pronounced “O”), making the war cry “A-A-O” (as said in the alphabet).
Upon Victory
The victors move to the area where the enemy once stood to display dominance; from there they perform the same war cry as above.
After Capturing a Castle
When a castle has been captured, the victors cry out together “A-A-O, A-A-O.” The first one is made by a single man who says “A-A-O” and then everyone cries back “A-A-O.”
At a Head Inspection
When the head inspection has finished, normally the lord will start the war cry—this is probably just the “A-A” section and the company around him should finish with “O.”
The above was taken from an Ohara family document and shows that different war cries were used for different situations.
Guaranteeing a Kill
A field of battle could stretch out over a long distance and war campaigns can reach across states, therefore the need for proof of kills is required. At the center of this requirement for proof is the headhunting cult of the samurai—this is because a head is undeniable proof of a kill. The problem is that at times there may be no time to take a head, a samurai may not have space to carry a head or additional heads or he may even be a shinobi or a member of a night raid, ordered not to take heads because the night raid has to move fast to have the advantage of surprise or momentum. To counter this, samurai had several ways to prove their kill without actually taking a head.
Taking the nose and top lip—In place of a head, a samurai or foot soldier could cut off the nose of the dead. However both the nose and the top lip were needed, this is because the top lip would have stubble or a moustache and therefore proves that a man has been killed and not a woman in place of a man. Sometimes the nose was taken along with the upper part of the skin of the face, including the section with the eyebrows, in essence ripping off the face. In addition the bottom lip and skin of the chin could be taken.
Hidden cloth—A samurai or shinobi could write his name on a cloth and screw it up, then when he has killed an enemy he pushes the cloth or paper to the back of the throat of the dead man. If the head is stolen by battlefield scavengers before the samurai or shinobi can come back to claim it, they could identify which was theirs by checking the back of the throat for the
ir paper or cloth.
Wooden pegs—Samurai or shinobi may write their names on sharpened wooden pegs and as they move through on a night raid they would make a kill and then stab the wooden peg into the body to prove that they had been the one to make the kill if the head was later stolen.
Named arrows—Thin strips of paper with a samurai’s name can be threaded through the fletching; in an exchange of arrows, a samurai could identify which of his arrows killed which enemy.
Vows and promises—If on a battlefield a samurai had made a kill and there was time to spare but the head could not be taken, then the man who made the kill would ask a samurai near him to swear to the kill. As a reminder of this, the samurai would rip out a small section of cloth from his armor or helmet and give the other samurai a tag with his name on it; then if both lived until the end of the battle, the two would join again and match the cloth to the helmet and in this way the other samurai—whose word was considered solid—would testify to the kill.
The reason that a samurai may not be able to carry more heads is because he would normally attach the heads to the horns or rings of his saddle on both sides, or he would use a kubibukuro, a head-carrying sack—this was a bag of wide netting, not unlike a grandmothers’ shopping bag, where heads were placed to be carried back to the battle camp. However, if a samurai killed a horomusha (“samurai of the cape”), which is someone of high status, then he would wrap the head in that cape.
Mist, Wind, Rain, and the Sun
The samurai had a few tricks on the field of battle concerning the weather:
Mist—If there is a mist or a fog or even a smoke screen from burning vegetation, such as pine needles, etc., then a samurai or force will try to have their face to the wind. This is because the fog will move to the leeward, which means that the enemy will become the first to be visible—this is because the wind will bring them into the open before the samurai on the leeward side. This principle also applies to illumination at night. Wherever a light source will appear first is where the enemy should be and the defending samurai should not be.
Wind and rain—Rain will follow the direction of the wind. The general rule in most cases is that the rain and the wind must come over a samurai’s right shoulder—this is where his attack will come from, meaning that his enemy must look into the wind and the rain, while the samurai’s vision is shielded from them.
Sun and the moon—This is the same as the above.
Battles and Rivers
To move an army over a river, shinobi and long distance scouts were used to check the situation ahead. Then a landing position was set up on the opposite bank and troops would move over in stages and not all at once. Bridges may be built or life-lines put in place. The first troops over the river would set up defensively and leave room for the rest of the army to land. Then in stages the army would cross. If the army did not take these precautions and an enemy force was on the other side, the enemy army would let half of the army cross and then attack, making the fleeing troops collide with the crossing troops, drowning many in the process.
Troops can cross water using the following: bridges, with life-lines, by moving in teams and moving across together, by using life jackets, or by moving in teams holding on to horses.
The image on the facing page is an Edo Period block print and shows the now infamous “floating shoes.” The Japanese term is Ukigutsu and translates literally as “floating” and “shoe;” however, a more fitting translation would be “water platform,” and as can be seen, they do not go on the feet as a shoe but act as a platform to move through the water. Other types consist of floats held in cloth and tied around the body.
A samurai army on the move from field of battle to field of battle would invariably cross water. This created a need for water training to be used in battle and on campaign—this became quite a serious and technical affair.
Flotation device
Samurai Swimming
Suiren is a term best translated as “aquatic skills” or “aquatic training.” These were collections of skills to help a samurai or foot soldier when swimming in a military capacity. One of the last surviving schools still in existence today is Nojima-Ryu and the following is a selection of their skills, which were written by Tada Ichiro Yoshinao in the late 1800s from a lecture concerning their school’s swimming skills:
平泳
Hira oyogi
Breaststroke
This is a basic swimming stroke of our school. This is the most simple and easiest way of swimming. In this stroke you are required to have a full view of both the right and left sides while facing the enemy in the water—just as if you were walking on the ground—and if needs arise to swim wearing your armor and swords. That is why this stroke is designated as a fundamental skill.
抜手
Nukite
Withdrawing hand
Use this when you swim facing the wind and waves or when crossing the tide. In this style your body naturally leans obliquely [in the water], which allows you to cut through the waves with your shoulder and to avoid the waves foaming against your face. This enables you to swim at a higher speed.
水入
Suiri
Diving under water
A method of moving under water.
底息
Sokoiki
Holding your breath
A method to hold your breath for longer periods in water.
捨浮
Suteuki
Floating body
A method of floating on the surface of the sea to rest when you are tired.
枯木流シ
Kareki nagashi
Flowing like a stick
Method used when you get leg cramps while swimming.
筏流
Ikada nagashi
Flowing raft
A method in which people, or even tens of people, perform the above skill of kareki nagashi in a united form.
輕石流シ
Karuishi nagashi
Flowing pumice stone
A method of floating on the water without using hands and feet—done in a similar way as pumice stone floats on the water.
安坐
Anza
Floating in a cross-legged sitting position
A method of floating in a cross-legged sitting position in the water.
鷗形
Kamome gata
Form of the seagull
A method used to observe the state of the river/seabed or to search for something sunk on the water bottom in shallower areas.
Note: Feet are most important for both swimming skills and the soldier himself. If you are wounded on the foot, it will significantly reduce your capacity for activity; therefore it is important to observe the bed of the water you are in when you are about to land on an unknown land.
飛込ミ
Tobikomi
Diving into the water
A method of diving into water from a high position.
鰹落シ
Katsuo otoshi
Bonito diving
A method used to dive into shallow water and to swim swiftly away after entering the water.
中轉リ
Chugaeri
To turn in water
A method used when you do not know how deep the water is or if there is the possibility of stepping in a muddy floor.
立泳
Tachioyogi
Treading water
Use this when you have to raise both of your hands out of the water to use them for some purpose or other.
水書
Suisho
Writing when in the water
This is an interesting skill where you can write or draw something while treading water.
水歩
Suiho
Water walking
This is one kind of treading water and you should apply this when you need to know the depth.
鰡飛
Inatobi
Gray mullet “jumping” (sinking below the wa
ter)
When you are swimming using breaststroke use this for avoiding floating water-weeds and any flotsam that is drifting towards you.
水入鰡飛
Suiri inatobi
“Jumping” like gray mullet below the water (swimming below the waves)
Use this when scouting the state of the enemy’s camp, or when you go under the water for a while to conceal your wake, or when you need to search for something on the bed of the water you are in, or even when you want to use water tools.
掻分
Kakiwake
Paddle aside
This is a variation of the skill above, named inatobi, and is used to avoid continuous waves.
傅馬形
Tenmagata
Float like a flat-bottomed barge
This is a skill used to come on shore when there is something dangerous close to the shore.
鯱泳
Shachi oyogi*
Shachi swimming
Samurai and Ninja: The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior Myth That Shatters the Bushido Mystique Page 9