Heika Jōdan Mokuroku

SKILL LIST FOR THE SCROLL HEIKA JŌDAN

Heika Jōdan is the first stage of our school and hereinafter a list of 290²⁸ points are written on things that samurai should keep in mind at all times. Our master of old used to teach orally – this way is called zakō. There was no little concern that the points might be forgotten. Therefore this list was compiled to record a small selection. It does not include every factor, some of which continue to change in various ways. Overall the points mentioned here should be considered as principles and as a basis for other cases. They should be considered to be an aid so that you can be fully flexible according to each circumstance.

At the beginning of the following list the ideogram hei has been written. This is because these points are principles for samurai at normal times .²⁹ All these points are things that should be kept in mind so that the principles of the samurai may be understood during normal times; they are the teachings concerning preparation.

There are twenty-two points and at the end of this list there are a further eleven points, which are transmitted as secret traditions. Together they add up to thirty-three points and you should be aware of them all, as they are the essence of a samurai during normal times.

28The transcriptions state 280, which is an error.

29The original scroll has the ideogram (taken from the term – ‘normal times’) just before the list of points starts. This denotes that all the issues should be considered standard points for a samurai in times of peace. At the start of each new list the appropriate ideogram was inserted, and the original manual has them written in red ink.