1 The dagger shows the person so marked plays a notable role in this book.

2 Kaionji Chgor, Shidan to Shiron, pp. 286-305.

3 Ibid., pp. 297-298.

4 Karl Friday, Hired Swords: The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan.

5 George Sansom, A History of Japan to 1333, p. 331.

6 According to the Chinese philosopher Mencius, the “five ethical principles” are affection between father and son, righteousness between ruler and subject, separate functions for husband and wife, proper order between old and young, and trust between friends.

7 The observation on the Chinese character wu goes back to China’s “oldest narrative history,” The Tso Chuan. In Burton Watson’s translation, see p. 99.

8 A Diplomat in Japan, pp. 345-346. Satow, referring to an English newspaper’s accusation that “it was disgraceful for Christians to have attended the execution,” goes on to observe, “I was proud to feel that I had not shrunk from witnessing a punishment which I did my best to bring about. It was no disgusting exhibition, but a most decent and decorous ceremony, and far more respectable than what our own countrymen were in the habit of producing for the entertainment of the public in the front of Newgate prison.” Satow’s friend at the British Legation, A. B. Mitford (Lord Redesdale), was also a witness and wrote his own account of the same execution; it is included in Nitobe Inaz’s Bushid, The Soul of Japan, reprinted in Bushido: The Warrior’s Code, pp. 76-78. It originally appeared in Mitford’s book, Tales of Old Japan.

9 The same warrior shoots down a monstrous bird called nue in the same tale. The nue story is told differently in the K no Moronao section in the Taiheiki and appears in this book on pp. 189-190.

10 The description appears in Taion Ki (Record of the People to Whom I Am Greatly Indebted) by the poet and educator Matsunaga Teitoku (1571-1653).

11 Some texts of the Heike attribute another anonymous poem in Senzai Sh to Tadanori; if his poems in later anthologies, where he is identified by name, are added, he has a total of ten (or eleven) of his pieces included in imperial compendiums–a respectable accomplishment. The Heike quotes one more poem by Tadanori, which is said to have been found in his helmet when he was beheaded. The Senzai lists four poems by three other Taira men as anonymous.

12 Bill D. Ross, Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor, p. xiii.

13 See p. 187 of this book. Commander Hirose Takeo (1868-1904), of the Imperial Navy, for example, used the pledge in several of his poems, most notably in one extolling loyalty to the emperor and one sent to his relatives before leading a commando in Luxu, at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, in which he was directly hit by an artillery shell.

14 In a small book entitled Nogi, published in 1913, the American journalist Stanley Washburn lovingly describes how his colleague, Richard Barry, of Collier’s Weekly, attempted to translate some of Nogi’s poems into English with the poet himself, agonizing over “whether the meters of Shakespeare or those of Swinburne [are] the more worthy to carry the ideas of the General,” It must be noted that, even though Nogi emerged from the war as an international hero, during the last phase of the assault on Port Arthur General Kodama Gentar (1852-1906), deputy chief of staff of Japan’s Manchurian forces, replaced him as de facto commander and led the siege to Japanese victory. This was done with Nogi’s consent but without public knowledge, and Kodama returned to his headquarters as soon as victory was secured. Kodama died the following year, it is said, because of the anxiety and exhaustion he had to go through during the war.

1 Kuni, the word which I have translated “country” here, will be translated “province” elsewhere in this book. The sense of tribal independence was probably much stronger in the semi-mythological period covered here than in the later periods.

2 So far Yamato Takeru’s actions are characterized by what may be called biblical crudities. But when ordered to take up at once a new campaign to the east, he fathoms his imperial father’s true intent and sheds his boyish and brutal singlemindedness.

3 The sudden appearance of Yamato Takeru’s wife suggests the composite nature of this story.

4 Thought to be the Ainu.

5 The exchange is made in the form of sedka, “repeat song,” so called because it was made up of two 5-7-7-syllable katauta, “half-songs.” Traditionally, this duet has been regarded as the origin of the poetic form of renga, “linked verse.”

6 Kotoage shite, “raise up words.” It appears that it was a taboo to assert oneself in certain circumstances.

7 These four songs were indeed sung until quite recently, the last occasion being the funeral of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912). The meanings of these, as well as some of the other poems cited in this narrative, are obscure.

1 This is interpreted as a reference to the discovery of copper in 708, when to celebrate the occasion the name of the era was changed to Wad, “Japanese Copper,” Some scholars note, however, that Yakamochi may have been referring to the discovery of gold on Tsushima Island, in 701, which apparently proved false. On that occasion the name of the era was changed to Taih, “Great Treasure,” and Yakamochi’s great-uncle, Miyuki, then Minister of the Right, was rewarded.

1 Mt. Hiei, northeast of Kyoto, is where Enryaku Temple, the headquarters of the Tendai Sect of Buddhism, is located.

2 Jinzen (943-990), who served as head of the Tendai Sect, was reputed to be the “most knowledgeable” Buddhist of his day.

3 Genshin (942-1017) was a ranking priest of the Tendai Sect who wrote, in 985, a famous introduction to Buddhism, j Ysh (Essentials of Deliverance).

4 Ingen (954-1028), the twenty-sixth head of the Tendai Sect. He appears in the diary of Murasaki Shikibu, the author of Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji), as one of the monks who came to the court to offer prayers when Shshi, Emperor Ichij’s consort, was preparing to give birth in 1008. In her entry on the eleventh of the ninth month, Murasaki reports that the prayers Ingen wrote and recited were “moving, ennobling, and stirring.”

5 The musical instrument called sh may be described as the Oriental counterpart to the bagpipe, at least in appearance. The Chinese version had thirteen to nineteen bamboo tubes, the Japanese one seventeen, arranged on a pot, which is much smaller than the bag of the bagpipe. In Japan the instrument is still used in the court dance called gagaku.

1 By Minamoto no Tru (822–895), who is known for constructing in his garden a replica of Shiogama, another uta-makura in Mutsu. The poem, which appears in Kokin Shu (no. 724), is based on a conceit that dye-patterns made with hare’s-foot-fern are irregular and therefore “disturbed.” What is implied is “who else but you.”

2 Fifteen was also counted as “ten plus five” and that “plus five” was pronounced yogo.

3 The standard height of the horse in use in Japan in those days was set at four feet, and a larger horse was expressed by the number of extra inches. So a “seven-incher” means a horse four feet, seven inches high.

4 Kasagake, “hung hat,” is a horseback shooting game in which a target twenty to thirty yards away was shot at from a running horse. The name derives from the fact the stationary target used initially was a hat made of rush. A similar game in which a moving target was used was called inuoi, “dog-chase”-obviously because the target was a dog. In both games hikime arrows were used. A hikime had a blunt wooden head to prevent damage to the target; it also had several holes in its shaft so that it made a whooping noise when shot. These arrows were used in sports and certain rituals.

5 Ichimegasa, “market-woman’s hat,” is a large, deep hat for women, which was made of rush and lacquered. Originally it was used by common women–hence the name; later it was adopted by the ladies of the nobility. It was large and deep enough to hide its wearer’s face.

1 Episode 84; in Ivan Morris’s translation, episode 80.

2 Minamoto no Tsunefusa (968-1023); he became Middle Captain in the tenth month of 998.

3 Minamoto no Narimasa, whose dates are unknown in part because he did not attain high rank.

4 “Lord Counselor” is Fujiwara no Tadanobu (967-1035), who acquired that position in the fourth month of 996.

5 Where the offices for the Palace Guards were located.

6 The ‘diver’ is a metaphor for herself–one hiding temporarily from view.

7 The Yoshino River flows between Mt. Imo and Mt. Se. The poem suggests that the relationship between Lady Sei and Norimitsu no longer flows as the Yoshino River does, not when it is blocked by landslides from the two mountains.

1 The wonder boy in ancient Japan, reputed to have been born of a “mountain woman” and a red dragon.

2 This employs a pun: Kararo, which means both a “Chinese-style oar” and “must be bitter.” Smartweed stalks exude bitter-tasting juices. Raik’s wife was the mother of the famous poet Lady Sagami.

3 The name may be freely given as “Demon Boy.”

4 The usual traditional Japanese house leaves unused the space between the flat ceiling and the roof, which is often used as an attic in European and American houses.

1 The characterization of the way Tadatsune’s servant talked as “flattened” is supposed to be the recorder’s jab at the rural accent of the Band people.

2 Offering a family register, called mybu, was equal to a pledge of loyalty.

1 Fujiwara no Yorimichi (992-1074), who served three emperors as regent and chancellor.

2 Myson (971-1063) held a round of high Buddhist posts.

3 Also known as Onj-ji, it is the headquarters of the Tendai sect. The temple, in tsu, is some distance from Kyoto.

1 Or horo, a large cloth bag an equestrian warrior used to carry on his back to protect himself from the arrows.

1 The wars obviously lasted longer than the designated periods, though sometimes the Former Nine-Year War is said to have begun in 1054. At times the Twelve-Year War refers to the Former Nine-Year War, sometimes to the combination of the two wars.

2 A large, vaguely defined group of people also identified as emishi, “barbarians.” The view that these people were the same as the ethnic group known today as the Ainu was the dominant one during the Meiji and Taish eras (1868-1926), but today it is questioned. But no one has turned up definitive evidence to refute the view.

3 For Yoshiie’s middle name, Hachiman Tar, see p. 74.

4 Koromo, the place name, also means “robe” or “cloth”; and tate means both “castle” and “warp,” as in “warp and woof.”

6 For Minamoto warriors the dove was an embodiment of the Hachiman deity and one flying above their encampment was regarded as an exceptionally good omen.

6 The meaning of “white sign” is not clear.

7 Fujiwara no Michiyori (992-1074), a regent.

8 e no Masafusa (1041-1111), a poet and Chinese scholar. Among the posts Masafusa held was that of acting head (or general) of Dazaifu. This is why at one point he is referred to as General e, although the generalship at Dazaifu was more nominal than real.

9 The Latter Three-Year War. So referred to here because it started during the Eih era (1081-1084).

10 Formerly Sadat’s residential stronghold, destroyed in the earlier war.

11 Rephrasing of a sentence in Sun Tzu: “Birds rising in flight is a sign that the enemy is lying in ambush,” in Griffith’s translation.

1 In the sections from the Azuma Kagami translated here, most of the bracketed descriptions are in the original text, although the bracketed personal names are provided by the annotator I used. A few are my additions.

2 Kiyomori had taken Buddhist vows in 1167.

3 For episodes about Yorimasa, see the Introduction, pp. xxvii-xxviii and the section on K no Moronao, pp. 189-190.

4 With Yoshiie’s help and encouragement, Fujiwara no Kiyohira (1056-1128) established himself as successor of the Abe clan and created a formidable power base and a flourishing culture. The third-generation family head Hidehira further strengthened the family’s hold on the region, turning it into a “kingdom” unto itself.

5 The first military exploit of Yoshihira, the oldest brother of Yoritomo and Yoshitsune, was the killing, in 1155, of his own uncle and Yoshinaka’s father, Yoshikata. Subsequently Yoshihira hunted for Yoshinaka, but before he managed to find him, he was captured and killed following the Heiji Disturbance.

6 Some important factors quickly worked against Yoshinaka. His army, initially numbering several tens of thousands, was a hodge-podge assemblage of troops led by many disparate local clans and was never wholly under his control. Kyoto that year was ravaged by a famine, and a sudden intrusion of a host of rowdy, looting soldiers alienated the Kyoto townsfolk and aristocrats from Yoshinaka in short order. As Yoshinaka’s estimation plummeted, his army dispersed. In his first attempt after occupying the Capital to carry out the mandate to destroy the Taira, he was miserably defeated. Yoshinaka, from rural, mountainous Kiso, was politically unsophisticated and was no match for Goshirakawa, who may be counted among the greatest political schemers in Japanese history.

7 In the absence, though not death, of Emperor Antoku, the new emperor, Gotoba (1178-1239), had been installed on the twenty-second of the eighth month of the previous year. The disagreement on the selection of a new emperor is said to have been the first incident that palpably estranged Yoshinaka and Goshirakawa: Yoshinaka pushed the late Prince Mochihito’s son, and Goshirakawa, Antoku’s younger brother. Goshirakawa won and remained the de facto imperial ruler.

8 By the lunar calendar, “winter” consisted of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth months.

9 Like the episode concerning the presentation of horses to the carpenters, this story shows Yoritomo’s disinclination to accord special treatment to his brothers. Indeed, for Yoritomo his brothers were often less important than the gokenin–those warriors with independent means who pledged personal allegiance to him. Yoritomo’s ire was serious enough to merit another entry in the Azuma Kagami; on the sixth of the third month, the document reports, Yoritomo decided to “absolve Noriyori from his ire. It was because Noriyori had for days expressed his worries about the matter.”

10 Later that same day Naozane, Naoie’s father, would find himself in a position to kill Taira no Atsumori, who was his son’s age. The incident aggrieved him so deeply that he later would take Buddhist vows.

11 For Tadanori, see the Introduction, pp. xxix-xxx.

12 Onzshi means “honored son.” When applied to the Minamoto, the term denoted a son in the direct line of family inheritance. In the rest of this account Yoshitsune will be simply called Kur even when the term onzshi is used.

13 “A poet knows,” etc., refers to the practice among the court poets of the day of routinely describing in their poems things that are required topics even though they may never have actually seen them. Yoshino and Hatsuse, both in present-day Nara, are famous for their cherry blossoms, an important poetic topic for the season of spring.

14 The original idea may come from a story about a Chinese general who left his country in spring on a military expedition. In winter, when he returned, he lost his way in the snow; thereupon, he released an old horse and, by following it, made it safely back to his fort.

15 A legendary monk-warrior who would remain steadfastly loyal to Yoshitsune to the very end.

16 Taira no Moritoshi, one of the “generals of soldiers” deployed to defend the Bulbul’s Passage side of Ichinotani A powerful warrior, he would be killed by a Minamoto warrior in the ensuing battle.

17 In Buddhism it’s a sin to kill any sentient being.

18 The castle-fortress of Ichinotani, which was built in a brief period of time, is likely to have consisted largely of shacklike makeshift structures.

19 At the outset of this series of battles, Taira no Noritsune had assured the Heike high command, to the latter’s immense relief, that he would fight at the most dangerous spot.

20 Jimoku. There were two regular sessions: the one for spring, which was mainly intended for appointing governors and other local officials, and the one for autumn, which was mainly for appointing court officials. There were also emergency sessions called shjimoku.

21 Evidently nothing came of this suggestion. Considering the ceremony and pomp Yoritomo arranged for Noriyori when he sent him from Kamakura for the same purpose, as described in later entries, he may have made the suggestion without providing Yoshitsune with adequate troops. The Saikai, “the Western Sea,” designates Kysh Island where the Taira clan had strong supporters.

22 The listing of Yoritomo’s prized retainers that follows is omitted.

23 Yoshitsune himself seems to have preferred his title in the Outer Palace Guards in signing his name.

24 The incidents involving uchi no Koreyoshi and Taira no Nobukane are extracted from the Azuma Kagami to show Yoritomo’s ambiguous attitude toward Yoshitsune. The extract is also made to show that even though the civil war between 1180 and 1185 was mainly between the Taira and Minamoto clans, allegiance of each member was not necessarily to his own clan, and that even after the main body of the Taira family was officially termed “the imperial enemy,” not all the remaining members of the clan were so condemned.

25 In his two letters-one largely written before the arrival of Noriyori’s messenger, the other a reply to Noriyori’s letter-Yoritomo, showing his acute awareness of the volatile, shifting allegiance among motley groups of soldiers, emphasized the importance of handling them with extreme care. He repeated his advice that Noriyori do his best not to “antagonize” the men of Kysh while “cajoling” the men from the East into “doing fine work.” His strategy in attacking Yashima should be, he said, to use the men from the East as his core force while making Kysh men carry out the general assault.

26 An old name of Shimonoseki, a port town at the southwest tip of Honshu Island.

27 27.Yoshimori (1147-1213) was among the most dedicated and loyal retainers Yoritomo had. In the Western battles he was attached to Noriyori as his saburai daish (general of soldiers).

28 This utterance may suggest that by then Yoshitsune had sensed his relationship with Yoritomo had become untenable.

29 He and his brother, Tadanobu, were “given” to Yoshitsune by Fujiwara no Hidehira when Yoshitsune left sh to join Yoritomo.

30 Antoku. Called “former” because the assumption was that he lost the imperial throne when the Taira took him out of Kyoto.

31 The Heike Monogatari says Taira no Noritsune, a great archer, shot him. Noritsune was trying to shoot Yoshitsune down, but Tsugunobu and others made a protective formation in front of Yoshitsune. It may be recalled that Noritsune fled Ichinotani without putting up much of a fight.

32 Or “Fifth-Rank Black.”

33 As the Heike Monogatari points out, the Taira commanders lost a crucial opportunity by failing to mount an aggressive attack-at least on the night of the nineteenth. Yoshitsune and his men were exhausted after a night in a stormy sea, battles and a forced march on the following day and night, followed by a series of battles the next day. Also, they were few in number.

34 The Heike says people jeered at Kajiwara and his men by comparing them to “flowers too late for a service, sweet flags on the sixth, or clubs brought long after a fight is over.” Sweet flags here refer to those used for decoration on the fifth of the fifth month.

35 Shikoku Island, where Yoshitsune and his troops were.

36 An influential figure, because of his religious position, who initially sided with the Taira clan and was trounced in the first battle. His wife was Yoritomo’s aunt.

37 Yoshitsune’s movements for about a month after he went to Awa Province following the Shido battle are unrecorded. He may have spent the month fighting various clans in Shikoku or persuading them to join the Minamoto. Dannoura is close to present-day Shimonoseki, at the southwestern tip of Honshu.

38 Of those important Taira people who were killed or captured alive.

39 Where the family shrine was located.

40 Henceforth Yoritomo will be referred to as “the lord of second rank.

41 The famous “Koshigoe Letter.” A slightly abbreviated translation appears in The Nobility of Failure, pp. 85-86. The version cited in the Heike Monogatari is shorter.

42 Hereafter Yoshitsune will be often referred to as the Governor of Iyo.

43 Yukiie was Yoritomo and Yoshitsune’s uncle. He had initially raised an army with Yoshinaka. An unlucky soldier, he was defeated in a series of battles.

44 Tokitada (1130-89) is notorious for the observation quoted earlier: “Anyone who isn’t a member of our clan has to be a nonhuman.” He became influential because one of his sisters married Goshirakawa and another Kiyomori. He was one of the few ranking Taira members who were not beheaded but exiled.

45 Tsunemoto (d. 961) was a grandson of Emperor Seiwa (850-880) who was given the family name of Minamoto to found the Minamoto clan.

46 That is, after a grand and elaborate service held at the South Holy Hall, a description of which takes up most of the long entry on this day. For the South Holy Hall, see the entry on the eleventh, fourth month, 1185.

47 The one ordering Yukiie and Yoshitsune to “pursue and destroy” Yoritomo. The imperial command sent to provinces appears to have been actually issued five days later, on the eleventh. According to the entry on that day, Goshirakawa became fearful of Yoritomo’s ire and decided that Yukiie and Yoshitsune might be alive despite news that they had perished at Daimotsu.

48 During that period Japan suffered from a series of great famines and other natural disasters. The situation was seriously aggravated by large groups of soldiers who, moving up and down the country, routinely indulged in looting, killing, and burning. The warriors’ behavior was such that Yoritomo himself was forced to issue a series of stern injunctions-even to his top aides, such as Kajiwara no Kagetoki.

49 The chroniclers of the Azuma Kagami tend to be strict about the shifting titles, but here they have not taken note that Yoshitsune is no longer the Governor of Iyo or the captain in the Imperial Police.

50 Fujiwara no Kamatari (614-669), who is enshrined in Danzan Shrine. The taishokkan was the highest court rank created after the Taika Reform and Kamatari was the first to receive it.

51 Tokimasa (1138-1215), father of Yoritomo’s wife, Masako, became regent after Yoritomo’s death and laid the foundation for the Hj’s takeover of the Kamakura government.

52 This command was issued to Yoritomo.

53 mine, a mountain range in Yoshino regarded as sacred for spiritual training. To “enter the Great Peak” means to “start spiritual training.”

54 Yoritomo’s wife, Masako (1156-1225). As this episode shows, Masako was strong-willed. After Yoritomo’s death, she ran the Kamakura government – first with her father, then by herself. She was called the “Nun Shogun.”

55 Ichiro jjitsu. Ichiro designated the chief of a group of people on a certain assignment, and jjitsu “on duty.”

56 A variation on the tanka in Ise Monogatari: “Like the shizu spool turned round and round, if only I could repeat the past and bring it back.” Shizu is a type of ancient fabric which serves as a metaphor of the past.

57 From a passage in a classical Chinese text, “moving the dust on the beams” is a metaphor for excellence in singing or any other musical performance.

58 U no hana kasane, “saxifrage or deutzia flower layers,” is a robe with a “layered color combination, white over green.” Kimono: Fashioning Culture, p. 219.

59 Clothes were the standard reward for performers. As a ranking court aristocrat, Yoritomo probably watched Shizuka’s performance from a box seat with a see-through blind.

60 The ones left by Hj Tokimasa for policing Kyoto when he departed for Kamakura on the twenty-seventh of the third month.

61 Jien (1155-1225). Later an archbishop, he brought together his brother, Kanezane, and Yoritomo. An accomplished poet, he wrote a history of Japan called Gukansh.

62 On the twenty-ninth of the eleventh month of the same year the court changed his name again – this time to Yoshiaki.

63 The temple earlier referred to as the South Holy Hall.

64 The will was ignored. Yasuhira, the second of Hidehira’s three sons, succeeded him as head of the family and immediately put himself in intense conflict with his younger brother, Tadahira, who supported his father’s wishes. In the end Yasuhira killed Tadahira before he himself was killed by Yoritomo.

1 In 1193, four years after killing Yoshitsune, Yoritomo had Noriyori murdered. He had started destroying powerful men in his own camp during the war against the Taira clan.

2 The Taiheiki, which incorporates a number of legendary Chinese episodes, is studded with Chinese-style rhetorical flourishes. But dates and certain other factual data in the narrative are deemed surprisingly reliable. The book opens as Godaigo ascends the throne and ends as Hosokawa Yoriyuki assumes the regency for the third Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimitsu.

3 Rokuhara, east of Kyoto, had a tandai – Kamakura’s outpost which was administrative, judicial, and, above all, military in nature. In one of the skirmishes a force supporting Emperor Godaigo defeated a Rokuhara unit.

4 An emperor normally spoke to his low-ranking subjects through an intermediary.

5 The Hj, because they operated out of the East.

6 “Plotting stratagems,” etc., is a phrase in Han Shu (The History of the Former Han Dynasty). Ch’en-p’ing and Chang-liang are two strategists who served Kao-tsu, the founder of the Han Dynasty.

7 Masauji; later changed to Masasue.

8 Villages east of Akasaka

9 Place-names in Sagami Province.

10 The Confucian Analects has a sentence: “Make sure to take precautions on an important occasion and choose to plot things out.”

11 “If you intently praise the Lord, the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara will in the end hear your voice and absolve you of all sufferings.”

12 A traditional execution ground on the Kamo River. See p. 123.

13 The original 5-7-5-7-7-syllable verse cleverly puns on three names: Watanabe (crossing), Takahashi (high bridge), and Suda (corner field). Suda may also suggest sudaku, “to gather in great numbers.”

14 The two clans served the Utsunomiya family.

15 Another name of Prince Shtoku (574-622), who wrote Japan’s first constitution. A devout Buddhist, he built Tenn and other temples.

16 Nobushi, peasants and samurai who have become marauding bandits. In the age of great social upheaval the line between samurai and bandit must often have been thin. Masashige’s father may have been classifiable as a “warrior-bandit” at one point.

17 Godaigo’s son (1308-35) who abandoned the priesthood to work to defeat the Kamakura Bakufu. He succeeded in rounding up a good deal of support for the cause, briefly served as shogun, but was eventually arrested and killed. He is called Prince Ot.

18 The size of the Kamakura forces tends to be greatly exaggerated with Chinese-style hyperbole. It may be kept in mind, however, that any large military unit in those days was an assemblage of opportunistic groups whose numbers greatly fluctuated at a moment’s notice.

19 One such record surviving from this battle concerns Kumagae Naotsune, a descendant of Kumagae Naozane (see p. 116). It details the wounds that he and his flag carrier sustained. Each wound was worth a reward.

20 Hana no moto no renga-shi. About renga (linked verse), see the Introduction, p. xxvii-xxix.

21 In the original, sakigake, “to be first,” means, in the military jargon of the day, “to ride out or run out ahead of everyone else to reach the enemy ground,” an act traditionally regarded as highly commendable and honorable, although, as this account shows, it began to be discredited during this period. The word katsu, “to win,” also has an obvious military association.

22 By following an utterly conventional (and safe) poetic notion that a storm is a foe of cherry blossoms in bloom, this one inadvertently manages to reverse the auspicious idea given in the opening verse.

23 Lu Pan, a master carpenter of Lu, is reputed to have made a ladder extendible to the clouds when his king was attacking Sung.

24 Nitta Yoshisada (1301-38), who was appointed by Godaigo Lieutenant General of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, in 1333. By the time Takauji started his march back to Kyoto, Yoshisada had become Godaigo’s top commander.

25 Godaigo appointed Masashige Captain of the Imperial Police and Lieutenant of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division-the same appointments Yoshitsune received. In effect, the men holding these posts were the top imperial bodyguards.

26 To avoid Takauji’s army when he returned to Kyoto in the first month of the year, Godaigo had gone up Mt. Hiei for “a visit.” The Enryakuji, a large temple complex on that mountain, had its own sphere of influence and was able to provide such protection. As is clear from Masashige’s subsequent argument, he is saying that Yoshisada ought to be part of the “visit.”

27 The port town at the estuary of the Yodo River, an important transportation route between Kyoto and Osaka.

28 A legendary Chinese archer in the Spring and Autumn Period (B.C. 770-B.C. 403). He could hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces.

29 First Han Emperor Kao-tsu’s subject known for his single-minded loyalty.

30 To make an enclosure for temporary field headquarters.

31 “Sword-bearer,” tatehaki, is the title given to men assigned to guard the crown prince’s quarters. There were thirty of them.

32 As noted before, Tadayoshi (1306-52) is Takauji’s brother. His relationship with Takauji later soured and he was eventually killed by him.

33 The Nine Realms are those of hell, hungry demons, beasts, asura, humans, heaven, sravaka, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas.

1 Barbara Ruch, “Akashi no Kakuichi,” Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, vol. 24, no. 1, p. 36.

2 A warrior-poet (1104-80), who is described in the Introduction, pp. xxvii-xxviii. He was killed at the beginning of the war between the Minamoto and the Taira clans.

3 Alludes to the anonymous poem that opens the section on love in Kokin Sh (no. 469): “Cuckoos call, this is the fifth month with those irises, as profusely as those irises I’m in love!”

4 Alludes to a poem on summer by Fujiwara no Takayoshi in Kin’y Sh (no. 138): “Irises tire your pulling hands with their long roots; how is it they grow in the marshes of Asaka?” Takayoshi plays on the fact that asa of Asaka means “shallow.”

5 A line from Po Chü-i’s poem about the legendary beauty Yang Kuei-fei (719-756), “Song of Everlasting Regret.” Emperor Hsuan Tsung (685-762) was ruined as a result of his infatuation with her.

6 Here the translation abbreviates the original account.

7 Jij is exaggerating somewhat. At the time of the story, in 1341, Takasada was one of the four commanders appointed to assemble military forces against the imperial forces threatening Kyoto.

8 Alludes to a poem: “If we meet as often as they drag in the seine on Akogi Isle, people will know eventually.”

9 Alludes to a poem on love by Kii (dates unknown) in Kin’y Sh (no. 501): “I wouldn’t be splashed by the fickle waves of famed Takashi Bay, lest my sleeves become soaked.” Translated: “I know you’re fickle so I won’t succumb to your sweet words, lest I be left alone weeping.”

10 Yoshida Kenk (1284-1350), author of the famous collection of essays, Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness).

11 Also known as Genka (1308?-81), a poet who was originally a member of Moronao’s household.

12 By Monk Jakunen (dates unknown); the subject is the Commandment against Adultery. The poem appears as no. 1964 in Shin-Kokin Shu.

13 Alludes to a poem in Chapter 99 of Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise): “Not that I did not see you, nor that I did, but longing for you for no reason I brood all day.”

14 Alludes to a legendary Chinese goddess whose shrine had flowers of uncommon beauty, as well as to Wang Chao-chün, a legendary beauty in Emperor Yuan’s court, who was sold to barbarians because she refused to bribe the imperial portrait painter.

15 Ashikaga Takauji and his brother, Tadayoshi.

16 His personal name is missing.

17 Kosode means “short sleeve.” As Liza Dalby puts it in Kimono: Fashioning Culture, the “kosode (small sleeve) garment took its name in contradistinction to gowns with great, billowing, fingertip-covering sleeves.”

18 To show readiness to die.

19 Alludes to a poem on autumn by Major Counselor Minamoto no Tsunenobu’s Mother (dates unknown) in Go-Shi Shu (no. 324): “Is it daybreak? Through the rifts of mist over the river the sleeves of distant people can be seen.”

20 Shih Chilun was executed because he refused to give up his favorite concubine Luchu. See Burton Watson’s Meng Ch’iu: Famous Episodes from Chinese History and Legend, pp. 154-155.

21 Rephrasing of an observation by Meng Tzu (Mencius): “To those who love others and those who benefit others Heaven necessarily brings happiness; to those who slander others and those who harm others Heaven necessarily brings calamity.”

1 The “Island-in-the-River,” a triangular flatland formed where the Chikuma and Sai rivers merge.

2 Similar sentiments were expressed by Hj Ujiyasu (1515-71). Comparing some of his contemporary warlords, Ujiyasu said: “Kenshin is the only man who, once he agrees to do something for you, carries out his obligations no matter what happens to himself. That’s why I’d like to have his undershirt so that I might cut it into pieces and give each piece to each of my young commanders as an amulet. If I were to die tomorrow, Kenshin would be the only one I would consider asking to look after my family.”

3 The name means something like “Victory forever.” It was a rather common name in those days.

4 Yoshimoto (1519-60), a warlord of considerable influence, would later be killed by Oda Nobunaga (1534-82) in the Okehazama Battle (see the next chapter). Nobunaga, who started the unification process, is depicted as a devious and cowardly man in this account.

5 That is, they thought Harunobu was taking a defensive posture in preparation for a siege.

6 An equivalent of 1,000 koku or 5,000 bushels of rice.

7 See note 2 of this section.

8 An angry manifestation of the Vairocana, the central Sun. In Japan he is usually depicted as a demonlike figure seated on a rock and enveloped in giant flames, with teeth bared, eyes furious; in that posture, he grips a sword in his right and a rope in his left.

9 The name means something like “tiger forever.”

10 Where his father, Tamekage, was trapped and killed by Enami Kazuyori.

11 The daimyo of Echigo Province and, therefore, Kagetora’s overlord.

12 The killing of sixteen “ministers” is probably a Chinese-style exaggeration. There survives Kenshin’s lengthy letter to his religious teacher, dated the twenty-eighth of the sixth month 1556, in which he expresses his wish to become a hermit-pilgrim. But as soon as the news got out, Echigo faced another civil war. As a result, Kenshin changed his mind and made his main retainers and powerful local clan leaderssign a letter pledging their allegiance and, as was the custom of the day, provide himwith their closest relatives as hostages.

13 Yoshiteru (1536–65), the thirteenth Ashikaga shogun. The Ashikaga shogunate was by then in the final stage of decline, and Yoshiteru would be killed by Matsunaga Hisahide (1510-77), one of the more colorful usurpers of the day.

14 Historians think that the greatest confrontation between Shingen and Kenshin took place in 1555, not, as the Ky Gunkan says, in 1561. San’y’s accounts of the five confrontations between the two warlords also differ from the generally accepted history in dates and details of the battles. For example, what San’y describes as the second battle, occurring in the eighth month, 1554, incorporates some of the incidents that are usually thought to have happened in the fourth one, which took place in 1561.

15 Tenky means “the Bureau of Horses” or its chief and here refers to Nobushige, Shingen’s brother. It may be recalled that when they were young, their father, No-butora, favored Nobushige over Shingen. The two seem to have gotten along with each other after Shingen kicked out Nobutora.

16 Shingen’s son.

17 The Ky Gunkan is written to extol Shingen, hence this imposition of self-deprecation on Kenshin. In fact Kenshin is thought to have often had the upper hand on Shingen.

18 The success of this spectacular redeployment of a large army, which was accompanied by a considerable number of horses besides, would be difficult to account for only by lack of fires for making meals. Kenshin, for example, may have left some troops on Mt. Saij to maintain bonfires to give the impression that his army was still encamped there.

19 A wheel-shaped formation from one part of which small units of mounted soldiers gallop out continually to combat the enemy.

20 The fifth month, 1560. See note 4 of this section.

21 Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) founded the Tokugawa Shogunate. For those under the shogunate, San’y among them, reverence for Ieyasu as the “founding father” was required as a matter of course: hence “our.” A son of a small local clan in Mikawa, Ieyasu was forced to spend most of his first twenty years a hostage.

22 Ujiyasu’s oldest son (1538-90). He committed suicide when an overwhelming army commanded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi surrounded his Odawara Castle.

23 The ultimate goal of any warlord worth his salt was to “put up his flag and drum in Kyoto,” as San’y makes Shingen say in the preceding, untranslated section. Shingen finally began to make that move.

24 Yoshiaki (1537-97), the fifteenth Ashikaga shogun. The year 1568, when Nobunaga entered Kyoto supporting Yoshiaki’s legitimacy as shogun, is traditionally regarded as the end of Japan’s “age of warring states.” Yoshiaki regarded Nobunaga as a mere supporter. Nobunaga regarded Yoshiaki as his puppet. As a result their relationship became strained almost at once, with Yoshiaki constantly seeking other warlords’ aid in trying to subdue Nobunaga.

25 Echigo (present-day Niigata), Kenshin’s province, faces the Japan Sea and is famous for great snowfalls.

26 Nobukatsu was Katsuyori’s son. It may be recalled that it had been decided earlier that Katsuyori would inherit the Suwa family.

27 Seta, which is on the left bank of the Seta River, in present-day tsu City, Shiga, was traditionally regarded as the eastern entrance to Kyoto.

28 The Ky Gunkan says it was another brother, Nobukane, who pretended to be Shingen. Kurosawa Akira based his movie, Kagemusha, on this story.

29 Reference to section 3, chapter 7, “On Battles,” of the Sun Tzu: “An army survives by deception, moves for advantage, and changes by dispersal and concentration of forces. It is as swift as a wind, quiet as a forest, destructive as fire, immovable as a mountain, unfathomable as darkness, vigorous as thunder.” San’y somehow reverses the order of the listing.

30 Actually, 3,000 harquebuses. The harquebuses of the day had a range of less than a hundred yards and took time to reload. To make up for these weaknesses, Nobunaga for the first time divided the gun unit into three and had the three groups shoot by turns. The fences were built to block the onslaught of Takeda’s famous mounted soldiers.

31 See pp. 223-224.

32 Adherents of the Ikk sect, which initially found converts mainly among the peasants in Kaga, Noto, Etch, and Echizen. They were often rebellious and at times took over whole provinces.

33 See note 13 of this section.

34 Takeda Katsuyori.

35 Echigo, Etch, Kaga, Noto, Hida, Shinano, Kzuke, and Sado.

1 Geten. It refers to Shi-ten, one of the Six Realms of Desire, and Shi-ten is called Geten because it is located at the lowest stratum. In this “heaven” one day and night is the equivalent of fifty years of a human life.

2 Yoshimoto spread the rumor that he was leading an army of 40,000 men. The biographer further inflated the figure.

3 Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), who unified Japan and established his own shogu-nate. At the time he was going by the name of Matsudaira Motoyasu and, though he had his own castle, was Yoshimoto’s virtual hostage. Sometime after Yoshimoto’s death, he became Nobunaga’s important ally. Hence this special reference to the enemy commander.

4 See note 10, p. 117.

5 A revised version of ta Gyichi’s Shinch-k Ki. In defense of his rewriting Hoan said that Gyichi’s account was “simplistic” and “choppy,” and that it had “oversights” and “omissions,” which made him “worried that those whose achievements have been overlooked might be aggrieved.” Arai Hakuseki, whose account appears on pp. 273-286, reports his mother’s remark that her forbears are mentioned in Shinch Ki.

6 Pebbles were vital weapons for boys when they fought among themselves. In addition, pebble-throwing was often an integral and of course dangerous part of a rambunctious festival. So the image of a demon killing children with pebbles was, at the time, far less incongruous than it may appear today.

7 Kiso Yoshinaka (1154-84), the first Minamoto commander to enter Kyoto after the Minamoto rebelled against the Taira in 1180. See pp. 113-114 and note 6.

8 Mikuji, a small, folded piece of paper in which your fortune is predicted.

9 Men whose status is between servant and samurai.

10 Michael Cooper, They Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan, 1543-1640, p. 103.

11 To have himself worshipped, according to Frois. See They Came to Japan, pp. 101-102.

1 Or itsutsu, which designates about two hours between one hour and three hours after sunset.

2 It isn’t clear what other use the water could be put to.

3 The original proverb describes someone with a guilty conscience. Here it is used to mean the importance of being humble.

4 Because of the topknot and the practice of shaving the pate, a man in those days had to do more than just brush his hair.

5 By what is not clear from the context.

6 The meaning of the original saying cited is not clear.

7 Amusing but realistic advice in view of the enormous number of Chinese characters that have to be memorized in order to be able to read and write. The problem was much more acute in Sun’s days when no formal educational system existed.

8 The last two sentences are from Book VII of The Analects.

1 Musashi pursued the arts of serving tea, writing renga, painting, and sculpture. Some of his slash-like monochromatic paintings are highly admired.

2 For a famous commentary of Musashi’s contemporary, the Confucian scholar Nakae Tju, on the accomplished samurai’s duty to be versed in bunbu ryd, “literary (civilian) and martial (military) skills,” see the Introduction, p. xxiii.

3 A reference to Lao Tzu (sec. 8): “Supreme good is like water. Water benefits everything, yet doesn’t compete. Because it doesn’t compete, it doesn’t suffer from any accusation. It settles where ordinary people don’t want to be. So it’s close to the Way.” The noncompetitive nature of water is evident in the ease with which it fits into a container of any shape. Water also is content to settle down at the lowest place; hence the statement: “It settles where ordinary people don’t want to be.” (This is the first half of the paragraph. Following one interpretation one sentence is moved here from the end of the second half.)

4 A reference to Sun Tzu (vol. 3, sec. 6): “If you know both your enemy and yourself, you won’t be in danger even if you fight him a hundred times; if you don’t know your enemy but do know yourself, you will sometimes win, sometimes lose; if you know neither your enemy nor yourself, you will be in danger in every battle.”

5 Practically all the schools of swordsmanship in Musashi’s days taught holding a single sword with both hands. Musashi rejects this as impractical in actual combat.

6 This observation is based on Japan’s ancient sword worship.

7 In some untranslated passages of this book, Musashi demonstrates his detailed knowledge of carpentry in comparing the command structure and the duties of each soldier to that of the carpenters’ guild and the work of its members. However, comparing the samurai to carpenters appears to have been common in those days.

8 In the preceding paragraphs, which are untranslated, Musashi has described five basic ways of positioning the sword or swords at the outset of a sword fight-middle, upper, lower, left, and right–adding, characteristically: “Though the positions are differentiated into five types, all are meant to cut a person.”

9 See “Knowing the Situation,” later in these excerpts.

10 Munen mus in Japanese, “no-thought, no-feature” is the ultimate state a Buddhist can attain where the consciousness of the ordinary mind has no place. Mus is a translation of the Sanskrit word animitta.

11 Musashi here divides into two the word tanren, which means “discipline, drill.”

12 Evidently Musashi thought that in using two swords it was important to keep your right sword free to avoid being attacked from that flank.

13 Omote literally means “front”: hence the beginner’s state, the techniques for the beginner. Oku literally means “innermost”: hence the state of ultimate accomplishment, the techniques for someone accomplished.

14 Musashi may be alluding to a homiletic tanka apparently current at the time, which may be translated: “Alack, I again find myself close to a village, having tried to go too far into the hills.”

15 Seishi is a written pledge to train as a student; batsubun a letter of censure. The ability to issue seishi and batsubun meant an ability to recruit students and earn income. Some of the elaborate arrangements for pledge and censure often led to the stultification of what was taught.

1 Hot medicinal drink made by boiling down carrots, sometimes mixed with ginger.

2 A year before Masanari was born, the Sakigawara Battle was fought in which Tokugawa leyasu (1542-1616) gained control of Japan. In 1614 and 1615, when Masanari was in his mid-teens, two battles were fought through which leyasu completed his hegemony by destroying the remaining supporters of his former lord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98).

3 Tsuchiya Toshinao (1607-75), a daimyo with a small fiefdom in Kazusa Province. “Assistant Minister,” etc., was his ceremonial court rank.

4 Koh is a Chinese name of the Ministry of Popular Affairs. Hereafter Toshinao will be referred to by this title.

5 Under the Tokugawa system daimyo and vassals with the rank of hatamoto, “aide-de-camp,” were required to spend every other year or half of each year in Edo. See the Introduction, p. xxii.

6 Masanari had the position of metsuke, “inspector,” under Toshinao and was responsible for keeping watch on the behavior of Toshinao’s vassals.

7 Suruga Castle was Tokugawa Ieyasu’s original stronghold.

8 The Tsh-g on Mt. Nikk was built to enshrine Tokugawa Ieyasu. The To-kugawa government required daimyo to take turns serving on the fire-watch duty at the shrine.

9 The Tokugawa government required daimyo to take turns “guarding” the four gates of Osaka Castle, the western outpost of the government.

10 Or komus. The komus were members of a Zen sect; they did not practice thetonsure, wore a tube-shaped hat that entirely hid their heads, and, as they visited from house to house to beg for money, played the shakuhachi. They wore a sword.

11 Or saburai daish. See p. 115.

12 See the chapter ‘Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin.”

13 A fan was an indispensable part of a well-dressed person’s paraphernalia.

14 A short sword without a sword-guard. It had a long string attached to its sheath, which was used to fasten the sword to the belt. The name sayamaki, “sheath-coiled,” comes from the way the sheath was carved in such a way as to make it look as if a vine were coiling around it.

15 Or torihimo. The Japanese, being Japanese, developed some intricate and, shall we say, artistic ways of tying up a criminal with this cord.

16 Hakuseki’s own inserted note says: “Called Kurob. It was an unusual way of calling oneself. ‘Except,’ my father said,’ in those days some people called themselves by the name of the province of their birth. It may be that he was someone born in Echizen.’“

17 Hakuseki has just cited a story, told by his father, of a samurai who committed a petty transgression, then committed a series of murders to hide the embarrassment, and disappeared.

18 One of the steep roads on Mt. Hakone.

19 Kairagi is the tough leatherlike skin of a tropical ray, which was sometimes used to decorate and protect the sword hilt and sheath.

1 An anonymous tanka on love in the Gosen Shu (no. 726) with the heading: “A man, who continued to secretly visit a woman living with her parents, said, ‘Well, no one will know about this for a while.’ [So the woman responded with a poem].” By the Edo Period the poem had come to be taken as a homiletic piece meaning something like, “A gentleman looks upon himself and corrects his ways.”

2 A complete translation of the tract is included in Hiroaki Sato, The Sword and the Mind.

3 See the next chapter.

4 Inspector; literally, “eye-attached.”

5 Ittei, or Ishida Yasub Nobuyuki (1629-93), was a Confucian scholar and a counselor to Nabeshima Mitsushige. When he was thirty-three, his feudal bondage to Mitsushige was severed because of an incident, and he was put under a form of house arrest. Pardoned seven years later, he lived the rest of his life in retirement, writing a number of books. He greatly influenced Tsunetomo.

6 Alludes to the famous pronouncement of Confucius: “At age fifteen I decided to be accomplished in scholarship; at thirty I established myself; at forty I stopped being confused; at fifty I knew the principle of heaven; at sixty I followed my ear; at seventy I followed my heart’s desire but never overstepped the bounds of propriety.”

7 A collection of homiletic verses for warriors attributed to Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1189). For Yoshitsune, see the chapter on him.

8 See the chapter on him.

1 As elsewhere noted, samurai in higher positions were often accorded a court rank as well as a court title. Kira Yoshinaka, who was born in 1641, carried the title of kzukenosuke, “Lieutenant Governor of Kzuke,” as well as the rank of “Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Left Division,” and junior forth rank.

2 Asano, who was born in 1667, received the court title of takuminokami, “Chief of the Bureau of Carpentry,” in 1680, when he was thirteen years old, along with the rank of junior fifth rank. Following tradition, both kzukenosuke and takuminokami will be often used in lieu of actual names in the rest of this section

3 The kamishimo, “upper-lower,” was “a two-item set worn over kosode. The lower part consisted of a hakama tied at the waist. The upper section, kataginu, was a vestlike affair with whalebone stays stretching the material at the shoulder into stiff wings of fabric. Anything that has ever been said about the use of shoulder pads to project an image of authority in the West must apply in triplicate to the kataginu,” according to Liza Dalby, the author of Kimono. The kamishimo made of hemp was the samurai’s formal wear in normal circumstances.

4 The samurai’s formal wear to be worn under the kamishimo or any other formal outer garment. It was made of silk and had simple stripe patterns around the waist and sleeves.

5 Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu (1658-1714), who was rapidly promoted by Shogun Tsunayoshi from an obscure, low position to the status of daimyo, then appointed rch. Because of shogunate favoritism, Yoshiyasu was more equal than the other men of the same rank.

6 Some historians say that the decision to condemn Asano to death was probably made by Shogun Tsunayoshi himself.

7 The samurai’s formal crested wear made of silk, which, like the noshime, was worn under a kamishimo, etc.

8 Asano Naganori’s name as a young man.

9 Kataoka Gengo’emon Takafusa (1666-1702). Before coming to Ukynoday’s mansion, he had written a report on the incident and dispatched it to Ak. He would also write the second report, following Asano’s disembowelment.

10 This poem recalls the one by Fujiwara no Kintsune (1171-1244) that is included in the Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets): Hana sasou arashi no niwa no yuki narade furiyuku mono wa waga mi narikeri (Cherry blossoms lured by a storm, all this snow-but, no, what is falling is nothing but myself).

11 Perhaps because of this Yosob wrote his own account of the incident to explain his action in Kajikawa-shi Hikki (Mr. Kajikawa’s Writing).

12 The Three Relationships are those between master and subject, father and son, and husband and wife. For the Five Bonds, see the “five ethical principles,” Introduction, note 6, p. xxiii.

13 “In the World of Men,” Chuang Tzu quotes Confucius as saying: “That a son should love his parents is fate – you cannot erase this from his heart. That a subject should serve his ruler is duty – there is no place he can go and be without his ruler, no place he can escape to between heaven and earth.” (The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, translated by Burton Watson, pp. 59-60).

14 The Book of Rites. The original refers only to one’s father. Denial of coexistence is one way of saying you mustn’t rest until you kill the one who killed your father.

15 During a Yen attack on the State of Ch’i, the Yen general Yueh Yi surrounded at a distance the city where Wang Chu lived, and sent for him with the promise of making him a general, along with the threat that, if he declined, his city would be razed. Wang Chu, though a commoner, had a great reputation for wisdom. He declined, saying, “A loyal subject never serves two rulers, a chaste wife never changes her husband…. I’d rather be boiled to death than lose my righteousness.” He then hanged himself. Hearing this, many of the nobility who had fled Ch’i returned and revived the state. See “The Biography of T’ien Tan,” Chap. 82, of the Shih Chi of Ssu-ma Ch’ien.

16 Yen Chen-ch’ing (709-786), a ranking courtier, became the first to raise an army against An Lu-shan when the latter took advantage of his favored position with Emperor Hsüan Tsung and established himself as emperor. Later, when another man revolted, Yen went to see him as imperial emissary, but he was arrested and, after three years’ imprisonment, murdered. In addition to his loyal acts, Yen is famous for his masterly calligraphy.

17 Yü Jang, in trying to avenge a lord who treated him well, changed his voice and appearance by swallowing charcoal and painting lacquer on his body, in order to approach his enemy. Failing in his second attempt, he stabbed himself to death. See “The Biographies of Assassins,” Chap. 86, Ssu-ma Ch’ien’s Shih Chi.

18 T’ien Heng committed sucide, rather than respond to a summons from Emperor Kao, once his rival. Following a magnificent funeral Kao gave T’ien Heng, the two men accompanying him also committed sucide, even though the emperor had honored them with the rank of colonel. When informed of T’ien Heng’s death, his 500 followers living in remote islands all killed themselves. See “The Biography of T’ien Tan,” Burton Watson’s translation from the Shih Chi, vol. I, pp. 245 – 251. In Hayashi’s poem cited, “a shallot song” is a threnody for nobility.

19 Ching K’o a scholarly swordsman, was entrusted with the task of assassinating the man who later became the first emperor of Chin. His attempt failed and he was killed. The next line alludes to the song he sang before crossing the River I-shui: “The wind blows forlornly, the I-Shui water is cold; / a brave man, once he departs, never returns.”

20 The written explanation prepared before the break-in contains this phrase. It is known that Horibe Yasub (1670-1703), a member of the band and a noted swordsman, in drafting the explanation, asked Hosoi Hirosawa (1658-1735), a student of Confucianism and military strategy, if it was all right to change the original phrase and add “master.” See note 14 of this section.

21 The men who assaulted Kira’s mansion are known to have worn kusari-katabira, jackets made of small iron rings strung together, and carried “shooting equipment,” such as bows and arrows. Behind this statement is the notion that the moment he learns of the vengeance to carry out, a samurai must sally forth at once, without wasting his time on self-preserving precautions. See pp. 298–299.

22 In a later period, General Nogi Maresuke (1849-1912) is known to have pointedly asked: “Why didn’t he [Takuminokami] stab the man?” It is said that if the intent is to kill with a sword, the surest way is not to slash, as Takuminokami obviously did, but to stab. By asking the question, Nogi implied that Takuminokami didn’t know how to handle a sword.

23 Sentences in this paragraph are somewhat shuffled in the translation.

24 ishi and his men killed sixteen men and wounded twenty-two.

25 “You can’t tell,” etc., is a remark quoted in “Duke Chao First Year [541 B.C.]” in the Tso Oman.

26 The followers of T’ien Heng. See note 18.

27 Wu Tzu-hsu, unable to find the whereabouts of King Chao, who was responsible for the killing of his father and brother, dug up the grave of King P’ing, who was equally responsible, and “did not stop until he had whipped the corpse three hundred times.” See “The Biography of Wu Tzu-hsu,” in Ssu-ma Ch’ien’s Shih Chi.

28 I.e., of the Tokugawa government: Ieyasu (1542-1616).

29 Haibun is a prose piece, typically brief and interspersed with haiku. Most often written by a haiku poet, it can be elaborately allusive.

1 Another was Natsume Sseki (1867-1916), whose Kokoro is linked to Nogi’s suicide. The novella can be read in Edwin McClellen’s elegant translation.

2 For “biannual pilgrimage,” see the Introduction, p. xxii.

3 The “Shimabara rebels” refer to the peasants in the Amakusa region, in Kysh, who revolted in the tenth month of 1637. The rebellion, led by a Christian youth by the name of Amakusa Shir Tokisada, was quelled in the second month of the following year, with all the 37,000 participants killed. Tadatoshi was one of the daimyo who provided an army for the suppression of the revolt on the shogunate order. For an account of the swordsman Yagy Munenori’s involvement in the arrangement of the government forces, see The Sword & the Mind, pp. 9-11.

4 One of the two sets of Chinese characters applied to Mt. Fuji.

5 Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98), the de facto ruler of Japan at the time, sent armies to Korea, in 1592 and 1597, with the ultimate purpose of subjugating China. Both campaigns failed.

6 Toward the end of 1614 and in the summer of 1615 Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), who had already founded the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, laid siege to Osaka Castle where the Toyotomi clan and their followers were headquartered and destroyed them. Got Matab Mototsugu (1570-1615) was a Toyotomi commander who was killed in battle during the second siege.

7 The heir of Kat Kiyomasa (1562-1611), one of Hideyoshi’s prominent generals. The way the Tokugawa stripped Tadahiro of his fief of 520,000 koku and banished him on the flimsiest of pretexts, in 1632, shows the ruthlessless with which the shogunate was trying to consolidate its power as late as seventeen years after the rival house, the Toyotomi, was destroyed.

8 The first mention of the head of the family of this story.

9 A report on the fall of Osaka Castle, in 1615; it was published more than two hundred years later, in 1837.

10 -metsuke, responsible for keeping an eye on the conduct of vassals. See “Forty-seven Samurai,” p. 306, and elsewhere.

11 Mitsuhisa was born in 1619 and died in 1649. So his age, given as seventeen at the outset, is off the mark.

12 A merchant-turned-warlord (d. 1600) and a devout Christian with the baptized name of Agostino. Defeated in the battle of Sekigahara, and now a fugitive, he asked a passerby to capture him and take him to the enemy authorities because, as a Christian, he was unable to take his own life. After capture, he was beheaded. There is a book about him published in 1607 in Genoa.

13 Kiyomasa (1562-1611)-Konishi Yukinaga’s rival during the Korean campaigns and in other matters–was given one half of the Province of Higo to rule, with the other half given to Konishi. Kat’s Kumamoto Castle, one of the more aesthetically pleasing castles that remain to this day, may have been influenced by Konishi’s, which was destroyed after his death; Kat transferred at least one donjon from his rival’s castle before its destruction.

14 Both battles took place in 1600, or the fifth year of Keich. In Tokugawa Ieyasu’s moves to control the country, the battle of Sekigahara, on the fifteenth of the ninth month of that year, proved decisive.

15 Another name of Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), for whom see pp. 254-272. Musashi became acquainted with Tadatoshi in 1640 and remained a Hosokawa guest for the rest of his life. Tadatoshi, an accomplished swordsman himself, is said to have urged Musashi to write down what he had learned through swordsmanship; Gorin no Sho was one result.

16 So that the boy might many the daughter and carry forward Takenouchi’s family name.