ONIYURI

Naginatajutsu is a Japanese martial arts style focused on the long pole weapon known as the Naginata. The Naginata is a weapon that looks like a spear with a long curved blade at the top. Given its length, the Naginata was used to fight mounted warriors. It also gave its user a reach advantage over a traditional sword.

The Naginata is an ancient Japanese weapon usually associated with Samurai and Warrior Monks. Given its length and cutting power, Samurai found the Naginata very useful against mounted enemies.

Today, Naginatas are used in Naginatajutsu (old-styled) and Naginata-Do (modern-style) martial arts styles. These martial arts style uses Naginatas in katas and in sparring matches.

According to the International Naginata Federation, “There are two different kinds of competition in Naginata. Shiai-kyōgi is that similar to Kendo competition. Armour (bōgu) is worn and competitors engage in sanbon-shōbu. That is, the first to get two points within the designated time limit wins. There are both individual and team matches. Teams have three or five members. As in Kendo, three referees (shimpan) adjudicate matches. In shiai-kyōgi, the criteria for valid points (yūkō-datotsu) are defined by the All Japan Naginata Federation’s Tournament Regulations: “An accurate strike with the naginata’s datotsu-bu (monouchi) must be made to a datotsu-bui (stipulated target area) with correct posture, vigorous spirit, while calling out the name of the target being struck.” The stipulated target areas are men (helmet; front, left, right), dō (plastron; left, right), sune (shin guard; left, right, both inner and outer), kote (gauntlet; left, right), tsuki (straight thrust to the throat).

Basic methods for using the naginata include furiage (lifting the naginata overhead and striking), mochikae (swapping grip to enable attacking from the opposite side or from a different angle), furikaeshi (spinning the naginata overhead), kurikomi (pulling the naginata in to shorten the length to strike closer in), kuridashi (extending the naginata, thereby facilitating attacks from a further distance). In all cases, either the sharp side (monouchi) of the blade or the butt-end (ishizuki) must make contact with one of the official target areas for the point to be counted as valid.

The other type of competition is called engi-kyōgi. In this competition, a team of two is pitted against another pair. Both teams perform set-forms or techniques. There are two variations: One involves performing three or five of the shikake-ōji techniques simultaneously, and the other involves doing the All Japan Naginata Federation Kata.”

Modern Naginatajutsu Training

Modern Naginatajutsu focuses on the use of a wooden Naginata with a bamboo blade. A metal blade is not used today due to safety reasons. This wooden Naginata is used for training, kata and sparring.

The Student

Our story continues in the late 19th Century in the city of Fut San, Canton Province, Southern China. A famous Wing Chun instructor, Master Chan Wah Shun, was teaching a small, exclusive group of students. In fact, his tuition was so high- few ounces of silver, a tremendous cost at the time-that Wing Chun Kuen had become “the rich man’s kung fu.”

The Master’s school was located in a compound owned by a rich family. A seven-year-old child from this family, Jee Man (later known as Yip Man), watched the classes with a burning desire to learn. The boy kept pestering Chan Wah Shun to learn, but he did not take it seriously. In addition to the tuition, the Master required a level of seriousness from his students that he never expected a young child to have.

Yip Man went to his family and begged them for silver to pay Chan Wah Shun to teach him. They finally gave into the pleas after they saw how desperately he wanted to learn Wing Chun. Then the boy approached Chan Wah Shun with several taels of silver (a huge sum of money at that time), and asked the master to take him as a student. Chan Wah Shun, already an old man, had not planned to accept any more students, but he was so impressed with the young boy’s passion that he opened his door to Yip Man, the last disciple he would ever accept.

Master Chan developed such a liking for Yip Man that he became his favorite student. Yip’s elder kung fu brothers, including Ng Chung So, Lu Yu Ji and Chan Yu Min, were also completely won over by the boy and all looked after him. Six years later, as he was near death, the old Master ordered Ng Chung So to teach Wing Chun to Yip Man. Yip learned from Ng Chung So for three more years.

At the age of sixteen, Yip Man traveled to Hong Kong to study English at St. Steven’s College. There he was introduced to Leung Bik, second son of Chan Wah Shun’s teacher, Leung Jan. Yip Man studied under Leung Bik for three more years, fully mastering the art of Wing Chun.

Master Yip Man attended an annual parade in Fut San with a female cousin. A military officer was attracted to her, and saw that her companion, wearing delicate, traditional Chinese clothing, looked more like a gentleman than a fighter. Emboldened, he made rude advances to her. Yip Man, unable to tolerate this behavior, used of the Wing Chun simultaneous attack and defense techniques, knocking the officer to the ground. The officer drew his revolver, but before he could shoot, Yip grabbed the barrel and used the strength of his thumb to force open the cylinder, thus rendering it useless.

The Teacher

For a number of years, Yip Man worked as a police investigator. He continued to hone his skills and was known as a formidable fighter. However, he did not teach martial arts until, after the Nationalist government fell; he moved to Hong Kong and established a Wing Chun school. His student base grew as the school moved around several time. Among his students in the 1950’s were Chan Shing (Chris Chan) and the late Bruce Lee.

Even at seventy, Yip Man had the strength of a young man. One night, as he was taking a walk, two young hoods with knives tried to rob him. He used the Pak Sao technique to knock one hood’s knife up and out of harm’s way, while simultaneously kicking him backwards. Then he kicked the other youth before he had time to figure out what to do.

Yip Man was an innovator who varied his method of instruction according to the knowledge, talents, habits and interests of the individual student. He was also very selective of his students, as was his orginal Master, Chan Wah Shun. This is illustrated by one of Master Yip’s famous quotes: “No doubt it is difficult for a disciple to select a teacher, but it is even more difficult for a teacher to select a disciple.”

It is impossible in a short treatise to encapsulate Grandmaster Yip Man’s contribution to Wing Chun. However, some basic principles can be observed. He remained true to the underlying tenet of traditional Wing Chun: that the art should remain direct, practical and simple, without fancy embellishment designed more to impress than to serve as an effective fighting technique. Without Grandmaster Yip Man, the Wing Chun system would most probably still be a very secret art taught only to a few, trusted individuals.

Written by: Joe Vaughan

Edited by: Sifu’s Ken Chun and Tito Pedruco

Yip Man, or Ip Man, is a martial arts master best known for teaching the Wing Chun form. Kung Fu master and icon Bruce Lee was one of his students.

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Synopsis

Yip Man, also known as Ip Man, was born on October 1, 1893, in Foshan, China. He studied Wing Chun and went on the become one of the most respected martial arts masters of his time. Among his most notable students was Bruce Lee. Yip Man died on December 2, 1972, in Hong Kong. In 2013, two films about his life were released, The Grandmaster and Ip Man: The Final Fight.

Early Life

Yip Man, also known as Ip Man, was born Ip Kai Man (or Yip Kai Man) on October 1, 1893, in Foshan, China. He was the third of four children and was raised by his wealthy parents, Ip Oi Dor and Ng Shui.

Political upheaval served as the backdrop for Man’s younger years, but he received a traditional education until, at age 12, he was able to begin studying Wing Chun–a system of martial arts developed in southern China more than 300 years ago–under the tutelage of Chan Wah Shun, who charged him an exorbitant amount of money for the service, initially believing he would discourage the boy. But Man would learn much from his teacher in the three short years before Wah Shun’s death.

Career

At the age of 15, Man moved to Hong Kong, where he later attended St. Stephen’s College. While in Hong Kong he also continued his martial arts training. Man eventually returned to Foshan at the age of 24 and was employed as a police officer. By this point, his Wing Chun skills were such that he was able to begin giving private lessons.

In 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party came to power, Man fled to Hong Kong, where he opened a Wing Chun school, charging for his services and becoming the first martial arts master to train students publicly. One of Man’s most notable students was Bruce Lee, who studied under the master in 1953. At the age of 13, Lee was an excellent and intense student and became proficient in the Wing Chun art. Lee would return to visit Yip Man in later years, the two having become friends.

Personal Life, Later Years and Legacy

Yip Man was married to Cheung Wing Sing, and the couple had two sons, Ip Chun and Ip Ching, both of whom became martial arts specialists.

Man died from complications of cancer on December 2, 1972, in Hong Kong. He was 79. Since his death, many works have been made about his life, including the 2001 book Ip Man: Portrait of a Kung Fu Master by Ip Ching and Ron Heimberger, and the films The Legend is Born: Ip Man (released in 2010) and 2013’s The Grandmaster and Ip Man: The Final Fight.

Ip Man (1 October 1893 – 1 December 1972), also known as Yip Man, and also Yip Kai-man, was a Chinese martial artist. He had several students who later became martial arts masters in their own right, including Bruce Lee.

Early life

Yip was born to Yip Oi-dor and Wu Shui, and was the third of four children. He grew up in a wealthy family in Foshan, Guangdong, and received a traditional Chinese education. His elder brother was Yip Kai-gak, his elder sister was Yip Wan-mei and his younger sister was Yip Wan-hum.

Yip started learning Wing Chun from Chan Wah-shun when he was 7. Since Chan was 70 at the time, Yip was Chan’s last student. Due to his teacher’s age, Yip learned most of his skills and techniques from Chan’s second eldest disciple, Wu Chung-sok (吳仲素). Chan lived three years after Yip’s training started and one of his dying wishes was to have Wu continue teaching Yip.

At the age of 16, Yip moved to Hong Kong with help from his relative Leung Fut-ting. One year later, he attended school at St. Stephen’s College—a secondary school for wealthy families and foreigners living in Hong Kong. During Yip’s time at St. Stephen’s he saw a foreign police officer beating a woman and intervened. The officer attempted to attack Yip, but Yip struck him down and ran to school with his classmate. Yip’s classmate later told an older man who lived in his apartment block. The man met with Yip and asked what martial art Yip practised. The man told Yip that his forms were “not too great”. The man challenged Yip’s Wing Chun in chi sao (a form of training that involves controlled attack and defence). Yip saw this as an opportunity to prove that his abilities were good, but was defeated by the man after a few strikes. Yip’s opponent revealed himself to be Leung Bik, Chan Wah-shun’s senior and the son of Chan’s teacher, Leung Jan. After that encounter, Yip continued learning from Leung Bik.

Yip returned to Foshan when he was 24 and became a policeman. He taught Wing Chun to several of his subordinates, friends and relatives, but did not officially run a martial arts school. Some of his better known informal students were Chow Kwong-yue (周光裕), Kwok Fu (郭富), Lun Kah (倫佳), Chan Chi-sun (陳志新), Xu He-Wei (徐和威) and Lui Ying (呂應). Among them, Chow Kwong-yue was said to be the best, but he eventually went into commerce and stopped practising martial arts. Kwok Fu and Lun Kah went on to teach students of their own and they passed down the art of Wing Chun in the Foshan and Guangdong region. Chan Chi-sun and Lui Ying went to Hong Kong later but neither of them accepted any students. Yip went to live with Kwok Fu during the Second Sino-Japanese War and only returned to Foshan after the war, where he continued his career as a police officer. Yip left Foshan for Hong Kong at the end of 1949 after the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese Civil War because he was an officer of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), the Communists’ rival in the Civil War.

Life in Hong Kong

Initially, Yip Man’s teaching business was poor because Yip’s students typically stayed for only a couple of months. He moved his school twice: first to Castle Peak Road in Sham Shui Po and then to Lee Tat Street (利達街) in Yau Ma Tei. By then, some of his students had attained proficiency in Wing Chun and they were able to start their own schools. Some of his students and descendants sparred with other martial artists to compare their skills and their victories helped to increase Yip’s reputation. In 1967, Yip and some of his students established the Ving Tsun Athletic Association (詠春體育會).

Yip Man was said to have regularly used opium. One of his former students, Duncan Leung, claimed that Yip used tuition money to support his opium addiction

Death and legacy

Yip died on 2 December 1972 in his unit at 149 Tung Choi Street in Hong Kong, from throat cancer, only 7 months before the death of Bruce Lee.

Yip’s legacy is the global practice of Wing Chun. Some of his notable students include: Leung Ting (梁挺), Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, Chu Shong-tin, Wong Shun Leung, Wong Kiu (王喬), Yip Bo-ching (葉步青), William Cheung, Hawkins Cheung, Bruce Lee, Wong Long, Wong Chok, Law Bing, Lee Shing, Ho Kam-ming, Moy Yat, Duncan Leung, Derek Fung Ping-bor (馮平波), Chris Chan Shing (陳成), Victor Kan, Stanley Chan, Chow Sze-chuen, Tam Lai, Lee Che-kong, Simon Lau, his nephew Lo Man Kam, and his sons Ip Ching and Ip Chun

Yip also left behind a written history of Wing Chun. Many artifacts of his life are on display in the “Yip Man Tong” museum in the Foshan Ancestral Temple grounds

In popular culture

Ip Man, a Hong Kong film based on the life of Yip Man, starring Donnie Yen as the martial artist, was released in cinemas in 2008. The film takes a number of liberties with Yip’s life, often for dramatic effect. Yip’s eldest son Ip Chun appears in the film and served as a consultant on the production, which focuses on Yip’s life during the 1930s to the 1940s during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The film is the first to be based on the life of Yip. The sequel Ip Man 2 focuses on Yip’s beginnings in Hong Kong and his students, including Bruce Lee.

Amid a surge of Yip Man–related film projects in production, Donnie Yen told the Chinese media in March 2010 that after Ip Man 2, he will no longer play the Wing Chun master any more. He stated, “I would never ever touch any films related to Ip Man. This will be my final film on the subject. Whenever something becomes a success, everyone would jump on the bandwagon, this is very frightening. Did you know how many Ip Man films are in production? Under such condition, we would not progress, it’d only lead to over-saturation of the subject matter.

Yu Chenghui played Yip Man in The Legend of Bruce Lee, a 2008 Chinese television series based on the life story of Bruce Lee, who was one of Yip’s students.

Another Hong Kong film based on Yip Man’s life, called The Legend Is Born – Ip Man, was released in June 2010. Herman Yau directed the film and it starred Dennis To as Yip Man. Ip Chun makes a special appearance in the film as Leung Bik.

Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster is a 2013 film starring Tony Leung as Yip Man. The film concentrates more on the end of an era in Chinese martial arts history as the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out. It was created in an almost biographical style, highlighting parts of history. In contrast with the other Yip Man–related projects, The Grandmaster is a more reflective film, focusing more on the musings and philosophies between martial arts and life, as well as Yip Man’s journey through the early 1930s to the early 1950s.

The 2013 Hong Kong film Ip Man: The Final Fight, directed by Herman Yau and starring Anthony Wong as Yip Man, focuses on Yip’s later life in Hong Kong. Ip Chun makes a cameo appearance in the film. This film also focuses on the loyalty of his pupils towards him.

The 2013 Chinese television series Ip Man, based on Yip Man’s life, was aired on the television network Astro On Demand between March and May 2013. It was directed by Fan Xiaotian and starred Kevin Cheng as the titular character.

Etymology

The word "ninja" in kanji script

Ninja is an on'yomi (Early Middle Chinese-influenced) reading of the two kanji "忍者". In the native kun'yomi kanji reading, it is pronounced shinobi, a shortened form of the transcription shinobi-no-mono (忍の者). These two systems of pronouncing kanji create words (ninja/ninsha or shinobi-no-mono) with similar meanings.[9]

The word shinobi appears in the written record as far back as the late 8th century in poems in the Man'yōshū.[10][11] The underlying connotation of shinobi (忍) means "to steal away" and — by extension — "to forbear", hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Mono (者) means "a person".

Historically, the word ninja was not in common use, and a variety of regional colloquialisms evolved to describe what would later be dubbed ninja. Along with shinobi, some examples include monomi ("one who sees"), nokizaru ("macaque on the roof"), rappa ("ruffian"), kusa ("grass") and Iga-mono ("one from Iga").[7] In historical documents, shinobi is almost always used.

Kunoichi, meaning a female ninja,[12] supposedly came from the characters くノ一 (pronounced ku, no and ichi), which make up the three strokes that form the kanji for "woman" (女).

In the West, the word ninja became more prevalent than shinobi in the post-World War II culture, possibly because it was more comfortable for Western speakers.[13] In English, the plural of ninja can be either unchanged as ninja, reflecting the Japanese language's lack of grammatical number, or the regular English plural ninjas.[14]

History

Despite many popular folktales, historical accounts of the ninja are scarce. Historian Stephen Turnbull asserts that the ninja were mostly recruited from the lower class, and therefore little literary interest was taken in them.[15] Instead, war epics such as the Tale of Hōgen (Hōgen Monogatari) and the Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) focus mainly on the aristocratic samurai, whose deeds were apparently more appealing to the audience.[13] Historian Kiyoshi Watatani states that the ninja were trained to be particularly secretive about their actions and existence:

So-called ninjutsu techniques, in short are the skills of shinobi-no-jutsu and shinobijutsu, which have the aims of ensuring that one's opponent does not know of one's existence, and for which there was special training.[16]

Predecessors

Yamato Takeru dressed as a maidservant, preparing to kill the Kumaso leaders. Woodblock print on paper. Yoshitoshi, 1886.

The title ninja has sometimes been attributed retrospectively to the semi-legendary 4th century prince Yamato Takeru.[17] In the Kojiki, the young Yamato Takeru disguised himself as a charming maiden, and assassinated two chiefs of the Kumaso people.[18] However, these records take place at a very early stage of Japanese history, and is unlikely to be connected to the shinobi of later accounts. The first recorded use of espionage was under the employment of Prince Shōtoku in the 6th century.[1] Such tactics were considered unsavory even in early times, when, according to the 10th century Shōmonki, the boy spy Koharumaru was killed for spying against the insurgent Taira no Masakado.[19] Later, the 14th century war chronicle Taiheiki contained many references to shinobi,[17] and credited the destruction of a castle by fire to an unnamed but "highly skilled shinobi".[20]

Early history

It was not until the 15th century that spies were specially trained for their purpose.[15] It was around this time that the word shinobi appeared to define and clearly identify ninja as a secretive group of agents. Evidence for this can be seen in historical documents, which began to refer to stealthy soldiers as shinobi during the Sengoku period.[21] Later manuals regarding espionage are often grounded in Chinese military strategy, quoting works such as The Art of War (Sunzi Bingfa), by Sun Tzu.[22]

The ninja emerged as mercenaries in the 15th century, where they were recruited as spies, raiders, arsonists and even terrorists. Amongst the samurai, a sense of ritual and decorum was observed, where one was expected to fight or duel openly. Combined with the unrest of the Sengoku era, these factors created a demand for men willing to commit deeds considered not respectable for conventional warriors.[1][2] By the Sengoku period, the shinobi had several roles, including spy (kanchō), scout (teisatsu), surprise attacker (kishu), and agitator (konran).[21] The ninja families were organized into larger guilds, each with their own territories.[23] A system of rank existed. A jōnin ("upper man") was the highest rank, representing the group and hiring out mercenaries. This is followed by the chūnin ("middle man"), assistants to the jōnin. At the bottom was the genin ("lower man"), field agents drawn from the lower class and assigned to carry out actual missions.[24]

Iga and Kōga clans

The plains of Iga, nested in secluded mountains, gave rise to villages specialized in the training of ninja.

The Iga and Kōga clans have come to describe families living in the province of Iga (modern Mie Prefecture) and the adjacent region of Kōka (later written as Kōga), named after a village in what is now Shiga Prefecture. From these regions, villages devoted to the training of ninja first appeared.[25] The remoteness and inaccessibility of the surrounding mountains may have had a role in the ninja's secretive development.[24] Historical documents regarding the ninja's origins in these mountainous regions are considered generally correct.[26] The chronicle Go Kagami Furoku writes, of the two clans' origins:

There was a retainer of the family of Kawai Aki-no-kami of Iga, of pre-eminent skill in shinobi, and consequently for generations the name of people from Iga became established. Another tradition grew in Kōga.[26]

Likewise, a supplement to the Nochi Kagami, a record of the Ashikaga shogunate, confirms the same Iga origin:

Inside the camp at Magari of the Shogun [Ashikaga] Yoshihisa there were shinobi whose names were famous throughout the land. When Yoshihisa attacked Rokkaku Takayori, the family of Kawai Aki-no-kami of Iga, who served him at Magari, earned considerable merit as shinobi in front of the great army of the Shogun. Since then successive generations of Iga men have been admired. This is the origin of the fame of the men of Iga.[27]

A distinction is to be made between the ninja from these areas, and commoners or samurai hired as spies or mercenaries. Unlike their counterparts, the Iga and Kōga clans produced professional ninja, specifically trained for their roles.[21] These professional ninja were actively hired by daimyos between 1485 and 1581,[21] until Oda Nobunaga invaded Iga province and wiped out the organized clans.[28] Survivors were forced to flee, some to the mountains of Kii, but others arrived before Tokugawa Ieyasu, where they were well treated.[29] Some former Iga clan members, including Hattori Hanzō, would later serve as Tokugawa's bodyguards.[30]

Following the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, Tokugawa employed a group of eighty Kōga ninja, led by Tomo Sukesada. They were tasked to raid an outpost of the Imagawa clan. The account of this assault is given in the Mikawa Go Fudoki, where it was written that Kōga ninja infiltrated the castle, set fire to its towers, and killed the castellan along with two hundred of the garrison.[31] The Kōga ninja are said to have played a role in the later Battle of Sekigahara (1600), where several hundred Kōga assisted soldiers under Torii Mototada in the defence of Fushimi Castle.[32] After Tokugawa's victory at Sekigahara, the Iga acted as guards for the inner compounds of Edo Castle, while the Kōga acted as a police force and assisted in guarding the outer gate.[30] In 1614, the initial "winter campaign" at the Siege of Osaka saw the ninja in use once again. Miura Yoemon, a ninja in Tokugawa's service, recruited shinobi from the Iga region, and sent ten ninja into Osaka Castle in an effort to foster antagonism between enemy commanders.[33] During the later "summer campaign", these hired ninja fought alongside regular troops at the Battle of Tennōji.[33]

Shimabara rebellion

A final but detailed record of ninja employed in open warfare occurred during the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638).[34] The Kōga ninja were recruited by shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu against Christian rebels led by Amakusa Shirō, who made a final stand at Hara Castle, in Hizen Province. A diary kept by a member of the Matsudaira clan, the Amakusa Gunki, relates: "Men from Kōga in Omi Province who concealed their appearance would steal up to the castle every night and go inside as they pleased."[35]

The Ukai diary, written by a descendant of Ukai Kanemon, has several entries describing the reconnaissance actions taken by the Kōga.

They [the Kōga] were ordered to reconnoitre the plan of construction of Hara Castle, and surveyed the distance from the defensive moat to the ni-no-maru (second bailey), the depth of the moat, the conditions of roads, the height of the wall, and the shape of the loopholes.[35] — Entry: 6th day of the 1st month

The ruins of Hara Castle.

Suspecting that the castle's supplies may be running low, the siege commander Matsudaira Nobutsuna ordered a raid on the castle's provisions. Here, the Kōga captured bags of enemy provisions, and infiltrated the castle by night, obtaining secret passwords.[36] Days later, Nobutsuna ordered an intelligence gathering mission to determine the castle's supplies. Several Kōga ninja — some apparently descended from those involved in the 1562 assault on an Imagawa clan castle — volunteered despite being warned that chances of survival were slim.[37] A volley of shots were fired into the sky, causing the defenders to extinguish the castle lights in preparation. Under the cloak of darkness, ninja disguised as defenders infiltrated the castle, capturing a banner of the Christian cross.[37] The Ukai diary writes,

We dispersed spies who were prepared to die inside Hara castle. ...those who went on the reconnaissance in force captured an enemy flag; both Arakawa Shichirobei and Mochizuki Yo'emon met extreme resistance and suffered from their serious wounds for forty days.[37] — Entry: 27th day of the 1st month

As the siege went on, the extreme shortage of food later reduced the defenders to eating moss and grass.[38] This desperation would mount to futile charges by the rebels, where they were eventually defeated by the shogunate army. The Kōga would later take part in conquering the castle:

More and more general raids were begun, the Kōga ninja band under the direct control of Matsudaira Nobutsuna captured the ni-no-maru and the san-no-maru (outer bailey)...[39] — Entry: 24th day of the 2nd month

With the fall of Hara Castle, the Shimbara Rebellion came to an end, and Christianity in Japan was forced underground.[40] These written accounts are the last mention of ninja in war.[41]

Oniwaban

In the early 18th century, shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune founded the oniwaban, an intelligence agency and secret service. Members of this office, the oniwabanshū ("garden keeper"), were agents involved in collecting information on daimyos and government officials.[42] The secretive nature of the oniwaban — along with the earlier tradition of using Iga and Kōga clan members as palace guards — have led some sources to define the oniwabanshū as "ninja".[43] This portrayal is also common in later novels and jidaigeki. However, there is no written link between the earlier shinobi and the later oniwabanshū.

Roles

A page from the Shōninki (1681), detailing a list of possible disguises

In his Buke Myōmokushō, military historian Hanawa Hokinoichi writes of the ninja:

They travelled in disguise to other territories to judge the situation of the enemy, they would inveigle their way into the midst of the enemy to discover gaps, and enter enemy castles to set them on fire, and carried out assassinations, arriving in secret.[44]

The ninja were stealth soldiers and mercenaries hired mostly by daimyos.[45] Their primary roles were those of espionage and sabotage, although assassinations were also attributed to ninja. In battle, the ninja could also be used to cause confusion amongst the enemy.[46] A degree of psychological warfare in the capturing of enemy banners can be seen illustrated in the Ōu Eikei Gunki, composed between the 16th and 17th centuries:

Within Hataya castle there was a glorious shinobi whose skill was renowned, and one night he entered the enemy camp secretly. He took the flag from Naoe Kanetsugu's guard ...and returned and stood it on a high place on the front gate of the castle.[47]

Espionage

Espionage was the chief role of the ninja. With the aid of disguises, the ninja gathered information on enemy terrain, building specifications, as well as obtaining passwords and communiques. The aforementioned supplement to the Nochi Kagami briefly describes the ninja's role in espionage:

Concerning ninja, they were said to be from Iga and Kōga, and went freely into enemy castles in secret. They observed hidden things, and were taken as being friends.[27]

Later in history, the Kōga ninja would become regarded as agents of the Tokugawa bakufu, at a time when the bakufu used the ninja in an intelligence network to monitor regional daimyos as well as the Imperial court.[23]

Sabotage

Arson was the primary form of sabotage practiced by the ninja, who targeted castles and camps.

The 16th century diary of abbot Eishun (Tamon-in Nikki) at Tamon-in monastery in Kōfuku-ji describes an arson attack on a castle by men of the Iga clans.

This morning, the sixth day of the 11th month of Tembun 10, the Iga-shu entered Kasagi castle in secret and set fire to a few of the priests' quarters. They also set fire to outbuildings in various places inside the San-no-maru. They captured the Ichi-no-maru (inner bailey) and the Ni-no-maru.[48]

—Entry: 26th day of the 11th month of the 10th Year of Tenbun(1541)

In 1558, Rokkaku Yoshitaka employed a team of ninja to set fire to Sawayama Castle. A chunin captain led a force of forty-eight ninja into the castle by means of deception. In a technique dubbed bakemono-jutsu ("ghost technique"), his men stole a lantern bearing the enemy's family crest (mon), and proceeded to make replicas with the same mon. By wielding these lanterns, they were allowed to enter the castle without a fight. Once inside, the ninja set fire to the castle, and Yoshitaka's army would later emerge victorious.[49] The mercenary nature of the shinobi is demonstrated in another arson attack soon after the burning of Sawayama Castle. In 1561, commanders acting under Kizawa Nagamasa hired three Iga ninja of genin rank to assist the conquest of a fortress in Maibara. Rokakku Yoshitaka, the same man who had hired Iga ninja just years earlier, was the fortress holder — and target of attack. The Asai Sandaiki writes of their plans: "We employed shinobi-no-mono of Iga. ...They were contracted to set fire to the castle".[50] However, the mercenary shinobi were unwilling to take commands. When the fire attack did not begin as scheduled, the Iga men told the commanders, who were not from the region, that they could not possibly understand the tactics of the shinobi. They then threatened to abandon the operation if they were not allowed to act on their own strategy. The fire was eventually set, allowing Nagamasa's army to capture the fortress in a chaotic rush.[50]

Assassination

The most well-known cases of assassination attempts involve famous historical figures. Deaths of famous persons have sometimes been attributed to assassination by ninja, but the secretive nature of these scenarios have been difficult to prove.[15] Assassins were often identified as ninja later on, but there is no evidence to prove whether some were specially trained for the task or simply a hired mercenary.

Portrait of Oda Nobunaga, by Jesuit painter Giovanni Niccolo, 1583–1590.

The warlord Oda Nobunaga's notorious reputation led to several attempts on his life. In 1571, a Kōga ninja and sharpshooter by the name of Sugitani Zenjubō was hired to assassinate Nobunaga. Using two arquebuses, he fired two consecutive shots at Nobunaga, but was unable to inflict mortal injury through Nobunaga's armor.[51] Sugitani managed to escape, but was caught four years later and put to death by torture.[51] In 1573, Manabe Rokurō, a vassal of daimyo Hatano Hideharu, attempted to infiltrate Azuchi Castle and assassinate a sleeping Nobunaga. However, this also ended in failure, and Manabe was forced to commit suicide, after which his body was openly displayed in public.[51] According to a document, the Iranki, when Nobunaga was inspecting Iga province — which his army had devastated — a group of three ninja shot at him with large-caliber firearms. The shots flew wide of Nobunaga, however, and instead killed seven of his surrounding companions.[52]

The ninja Hachisuka Tenzō was sent by Nobunaga to assassinate the powerful daimyo Takeda Shingen, but ultimately failed in his attempts. Hiding in the shadow of a tree, he avoided being seen under the moonlight, and later concealed himself in a hole he had prepared beforehand, thus escaping capture.[53]

An assassination attempt on Toyotomi Hideyoshi was also thwarted. A ninja named Kirigakure Saizō (possibly Kirigakure Shikaemon) thrust a spear through the floorboards to kill Hideyoshi, but was unsuccessful. He was "smoked out" of his hiding place by another ninja working for Hideyoshi, who apparently used a sort of primitive "flamethrower".[54] Unfortunately, the veracity of this account has been clouded by later fictional publications depicting Saizō as one of the legendary Sanada Ten Braves.

Uesugi Kenshin, the famous daimyo of Echigo province was rumored to have been killed by a ninja. The legend credits his death to an assassin, who is said to have hid in Kenshin's lavatory, and gravely injured Kenshin by thrusting a blade or spear into his anus.[55] While historical records showed that Kenshin suffered abdominal problems, modern historians have usually attributed his death to stomach cancer, esophageal cancer or cerebrovascular disease.[56]

Countermeasures

A variety of countermeasures were taken to prevent the activities of the ninja. Precautions were often taken against assassinations, such as weapons concealed in the lavatory, or under a removable floorboard.[57] Buildings were constructed with traps and trip wires attached to alarm bells.[58]

Japanese castles were designed to be difficult to navigate, with winding routes leading to the inner compound. Blind spots and holes in walls provided constant surveillance of these labyrinthine paths, as exemplified in Himeji Castle. Nijō Castle in Kyoto is constructed with long "nightingale" floors, which rested on metal hinges (uguisu-bari) specifically designed to squeak loudly when walked over.[59] Grounds covered with gravel also provided early notice of unwanted intruders, and segregated buildings allowed fires to be better contained.[60]

Training

The skills required of the ninja has come to be known in modern times[year needed] as ninjutsu (忍術?) , but it is unlikely they were previously named under a single discipline, but were rather distributed among a variety of covered espionage and survival skills.

This diagram from the Bansenshukai uses divination and esoteric cosmology (onmyōdō) to instruct on the ideal time for taking certain actions.

The first specialized training began in the mid-15th century, when certain samurai families started to focus on covert warfare, including espionage and assassination.[61] Like the samurai, ninja were born into the profession, where traditions were kept in, and passed down through the family.[23] According to Turnbull, the ninja was trained from childhood, as was also common in samurai families. Outside the expected martial art disciplines, a youth studied survival and scouting techniques, as well as information regarding poisons and explosives.[62] Physical training was also important, which involved long distance runs, climbing, stealth methods of walking[63] and swimming.[64] A certain degree of knowledge regarding common professions was also required if one was expected to take their form in disguise.[62] Some evidence of medical training can be derived from one account, where an Iga ninja provided first-aid to Ii Naomasa, who was injured by gunfire in the Battle of Sekigahara. Here the ninja reportedly gave Naomasa a "black medicine" meant to stop bleeding.[65]

With the fall of the Iga and Kōga clans, daimyos could no longer recruit professional ninja, and were forced to train their own shinobi. The shinobi was considered a real profession, as demonstrated in the bakufu's 1649 law on military service, which declared that only daimyos with an income of over 10,000 koku were allowed to retain shinobi.[66] In the two centuries that followed, a number of ninjutsu manuals were written by descendants of Hattori Hanzō as well as members of the Fujibayashi clan, an offshoot of the Hattori. Major examples include the Ninpiden (1655), the Bansenshukai (1675), and the Shōninki (1681).[8]

Tactics

The ninja did not always work alone. Teamwork techniques exist: for example, in order to scale a wall, a group of ninja may carry each other on their backs, or provide a human platform to assist an individual in reaching greater heights.[67] The Mikawa Go Fudoki gives an account where a coordinated team of attackers used passwords to communicate. The account also gives a case of deception, where the attackers dressed in the same clothes as the defenders, causing much confusion.[31] When a retreat was needed during the Siege of Osaka, ninja were commanded to fire upon friendly troops from behind, causing the troops to charge backwards in order to attack a perceived enemy. This tactic was used again later on as a method of crowd dispersal.[33]

Most ninjutsu techniques recorded in scrolls and manuals revolve around ways to avoid detection, and methods of escape.[8] These techniques were loosely grouped under corresponding natural elements. Some examples are:

Hitsuke – The practice of distracting guards by starting a fire away from the ninja's planned point of entry. Falls under "fire techniques" (katon-no-jutsu).[68]

Tanuki-gakure – The practice of climbing a tree and camouflaging oneself within the foliage. Falls under "wood techniques" (mokuton-no-jutsu).[68]

Ukigusa-gakure – The practice of throwing duckweed over water in order to conceal underwater movement. Falls under "water techniques" (suiton-no-jutsu).[68]

Uzura-gakure – The practice of curling into a ball and remaining motionless in order to appear like a stone. Falls under "earth techniques" (doton-no-jutsu).[68]

Disguises

A komusō monk is one of many possible disguises.

The use of disguises is common and well documented. Disguises came in the form of priests, entertainers, fortune tellers, merchants, rōnin, and monks.[69] The Buke Myōmokushō states,

Shinobi-monomi were people used in secret ways, and their duties were to go into the mountains and disguise themselves as firewood gatherers to discover and acquire the news about an enemy's territory ... they were particularly expert at travelling in disguise.[27]

A mountain ascetic (yamabushi) attire facilitated travel, as they were common and could travel freely between political boundaries. The loose robes of Buddhist priests also allowed concealed weapons, such as the tantō.[70] Minstrel or sarugaku outfits could have allowed the ninja to spy in enemy buildings without rousing suspicion. Disguises as a komusō, a mendicant monk known for playing the shakuhachi, were also effective, as the large "basket" hats traditionally worn by them concealed the head completely.[71]

Equipment

Ninja utilized a large variety of tools and weaponry, some of which were commonly known, but others were more specialized. Most were tools used in the infiltration of castles. A wide range of specialized equipment is described and illustrated in the 17th century Bansenshukai,[72] including climbing equipment, extending spears,[65] rocket-propelled arrows,[73] and small collapsible boats.[74]

Outerwear

Antique Japanese gappa (travel cape) and cloth zukin (hood) with kusari (chain armour) concealed underneath.

While the image of a ninja clad in black garbs (shinobi shōzoku) is prevalent in popular media, there is no written evidence for such a costume.[75] Instead, it was much more common for the ninja to be disguised as civilians. The popular notion of black clothing is likely rooted in artistic convention. Early drawings of ninja were shown to be dressed in black in order to portray a sense of invisibility.[44] This convention was an idea borrowed from the puppet handlers of bunraku theater, who dressed in total black in an effort to simulate props moving independently of their controls.[76] Despite the lack of hard evidence, it has been put forward by some authorities that black robes, perhaps slightly tainted with red to hide bloodstains, was indeed the sensible garment of choice for infiltration.[44]

Clothing used was similar to that of the samurai, but loose garments (such as leggings) were tucked into trousers or secured with belts. The tenugui, a piece of cloth also used in martial arts, had many functions. It could be used to cover the face, form a belt, or assist in climbing.

The historicity of armor specifically made for ninja cannot be ascertained. While pieces of light armor purportedly worn by ninja exist and date to the right time, there is no hard evidence of their use in ninja operations. Depictions of famous persons later deemed ninja often show them in samurai armor. There were light weight concealable types of armour made with kusari (chain armour) and small armor plates such as karuta that could have been worn by ninja including katabira (jackets) made with armour hidden between layers of cloth. Shin and arm guards, along with metal-reinforced hoods are also speculated to make up the ninja's armor.[44]

Tools

A page from the Ninpiden, showing a tool for breaking locks.

Tools used for infiltration and espionage are some of the most abundant artifacts related to the ninja. Ropes and grappling hooks were common, and were tied to the belt.[72] A collapsible ladder is illustrated in the Bansenshukai, featuring spikes at both ends to anchor the ladder.[77] Spiked or hooked climbing gear worn on the hands and feet also doubled as weapons.[78] Other implements include chisels, hammers, drills, picks and so forth.

The kunai was a heavy pointed tool, possibly derived from the Japanese masonry trowel, to which it closely resembles. Although it is often portrayed in popular culture as a weapon, the kunai was primarily used for gouging holes in walls.[79] Knives and small saws (hamagari) were also used to create holes in buildings, where they served as a foothold or a passage of entry.[80] A portable listening device (saoto hikigane) was used to eavesdrop on conversations and detect sounds.[81]

The mizugumo was a set of wooden shoes supposedly allowing the ninja to walk on water.[74] They were meant to work by distributing the wearer's weight over the shoes' wide bottom surface. The word mizugumo is derived from the native name for the Japanese water spider (Argyroneta aquatica japonica). The mizugumo was featured on the show Mythbusters, where it was demonstrated unfit for walking on water. The ukidari, a similar footwear for walking on water, also existed in the form of a round bucket, but was probably quite unstable.[82] Inflatable skins and breathing tubes allowed the ninja to stay underwater for longer periods of time.[83]

Despite the large array of tools available to the ninja, the Bansenshukai warns one not to be overburdened with equipment, stating "...a successful ninja is one who uses but one tool for multiple tasks".[84]

Weaponry

Although shorter swords and daggers were used, the katana was probably the ninja's weapon of choice, and was sometimes carried on the back.[71] The katana had several uses beyond normal combat. In dark places, the scabbard could be extended out of the sword, and used as a long probing device.[85] The sword could also be laid against the wall, where the ninja could use the sword guard (tsuba) to gain a higher foothold.[86] The katana could even be used as a device to stun enemies before attacking them, by putting a combination of red pepper, dirt or dust, and iron filings into the area near the top of the scabbard, so that as the sword was drawn the concoction would fly into the enemy's eyes, stunning him until a lethal blow could be made. While straight swords were used before the invention of the katana,[87] the straight ninjatō has no historical precedent and is likely a modern invention.

A pair of kusarigama, on display in Iwakuni Castle

An array of darts, spikes, knives, and sharp, star-shaped discs were known collectively as shuriken. While not exclusive to the ninja,[88] they were an important part of the arsenal, where they could be thrown in any direction.[89] Bows were used for sharpshooting, and some ninja's bows were intentionally made smaller than the traditional yumi (longbow).[90] The chain and sickle (kusarigama) was also used by the ninja.[91] This weapon consisted of a weight on one end of a chain, and a sickle (kama) on the other. The weight was swung to injure or disable an opponent, and the sickle used to kill at close range. Simple gardening tools such as Kunai and sickles were used as weaponry so that, if discovered, a ninja could claim they are his tools and not weapons, despite their ability to be used in battle.

Explosives introduced from China were known in Japan by the time of the Mongol Invasions (13th century).[92] Later, explosives such as hand-held bombs and grenades were adopted by the ninja.[83] Soft-cased bombs were designed to release smoke or poison gas, along with fragmentation explosives packed with iron or pottery shrapnel.[67]

Along with common weapons, a large assortment of miscellaneous arms were associated with the ninja. Some examples include poison,[72] caltrops,[93] cane swords (shikomizue),[94] land mines,[95] blowguns, poisoned darts, acid-spurting tubes, and firearms.[83] The happō, a small eggshell filled with blinding powder (metsubushi), was also used to facilitate escape.[96]

Legendary abilities

Superhuman or supernatural powers were often associated with the ninja. Some legends include flight, invisibility, shapeshifting, the ability to "split" into multiple bodies, the summoning of animals, and control over the five classical elements. These fabulous notions have stemmed from popular imagination regarding the ninja's mysterious status, as well as romantic ideas found in later Japanese arts of the Edo period. Magical powers were sometimes rooted in the ninja's own efforts to disseminate fanciful information. For example, Nakagawa Shoshujin, the 17th century founder of Nakagawa-ryū, claimed in his own writings (Okufuji Monogatari) that he had the ability to transform into birds and animals.[66]

Perceived control over the elements may be grounded in real tactics, which were categorized by association with forces of nature. For example, the practice of starting fires in order to cover a ninja's trail falls under katon-no-jutsu ("fire techniques").[93]

Actor portraying Nikki Danjō, a villain from the kabuki play Sendai Hagi. Shown with hands in a kuji-in seal, which allows him to transform into a giant rat. Woodblock print on paper. Kunisada, 1857.

The ninja's adaption of kites in espionage and warfare is another subject of legends. Accounts exist of ninja being lifted into the air by kites, where they flew over hostile terrain and descended into, or dropped bombs on enemy territory.[74] Kites were indeed used in Japanese warfare, but mostly for the purpose of sending messages and relaying signals.[97] Turnbull suggests that kites lifting a man into midair might have been technically feasible, but states that the use of kites to form a human "hang glider" falls squarely in the realm of fantasy.[98] However, references to man-lifting kites exist in works dating to the relevant era and before, including Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

Kuji-kiri

Kuji-kiri is an esoteric practice which, when performed with an array of hand "seals" (kuji-in), was meant to allow the ninja to enact superhuman feats.

The kuji ("nine characters") is a concept originating from Taoism, where it was a string of nine words used in charms and incantations.[99] In China, this tradition mixed with Buddhist beliefs, assigning each of the nine words to a Buddhist deity. The kuji may have arrived in Japan via Buddhism,[100] where it flourished within Shugendō.[101] Here too, each word in the kuji was associated with Buddhist deities, animals from Taoist mythology, and later, Shinto kami.[102] The mudrā, a series of hand symbols representing different Buddhas, was applied to the kuji by Buddhists, possibly through the esoteric Mikkyō teachings.[103] The yamabushi ascetics of Shugendō adopted this practice, using the hand gestures in spiritual, healing, and exorcism rituals.[104] Later, the use of kuji passed onto certain bujutsu (martial arts) and ninjutsu schools, where it was said to have many purposes.[105] The application of kuji to produce a desired effect was called "cutting" (kiri) the kuji. Intended effects range from physical and mental concentration, to more incredible claims about rendering an opponent immobile, or even the casting of magical spells.[106] These legends were captured in popular culture, which interpreted the kuji-kiri as a precursor to magical acts.

Famous people

Many famous people in Japanese history have been associated or identified as ninja, but their status as ninja are difficult to prove and may be the product of later imagination. Rumors surrounding famous warriors, such as Kusunoki Masashige or Minamoto no Yoshitsune sometimes describe them as ninja, but there is little evidence for these claims. Some well known examples include:

Kumawakamaru escapes his pursuers by swinging across the moat on a bamboo.[107] Woodblock print on paper. Kuniyoshi, 1842–1843. Mochizuki Chiyome (16th cent.) – The wife of Mochizuke Moritoki. Chiyome created a school for girls, which taught skills required of geisha, as well as espionage skills.[108]

Fujibayashi Nagato (16th cent.) – Considered to be one of three "greatest" Iga jōnin, the other two being Hattori Hanzō and Momochi Sandayū. Fujibayashi's descendents wrote and edited the Bansenshukai.

Fūma Kotarō (d. 1603) – A ninja rumored to have killed Hattori Hanzō, with whom he was supposedly rivals. The fictional weapon Fūma shuriken is named after him.

Hattori Hanzō (1542–1596) – A samurai serving under Tokugawa Ieyasu. His ancestry in Iga province, along with ninjutsu manuals published by his descendants have led some sources to define him as a ninja.[109] This depiction is also common in popular culture.

Ishikawa Goemon (1558–1594) – Goemon reputedly tried to drip poison from a thread into Oda Nobunaga's mouth through a hiding spot in the ceiling,[110] but many fanciful tales exist about Goemon, and this story cannot be confirmed.

Kumawakamaru (13th–14th cent.) – A youth whose exiled father was ordered to death by the monk Homma Saburō. Kumakawa took his revenge by sneaking into Homma's room while he was asleep, and assassinating him with his own sword.[111]

Momochi Sandayū (16th cent.) – A leader of the Iga ninja clans, who supposedly perished during Oda Nobunaga's attack on Iga province. There is some belief that he escaped death and lived as a farmer in Kii Province.[112] Momochi is also a branch of the Hattori clan.

Yagyū Muneyoshi (1529–1606) – A renowned swordsman of the Shinkage-ryū school. Muneyoshi's grandson, Jubei Muneyoshi, told tales of his grandfather's status as a ninja.[45]

In popular culture

Main article: Ninja in popular culture

Jiraiya battles a giant snake with the help of his summoned toad. Woodblock print on paper. Kuniyoshi, c. 1843.

The image of the ninja entered popular culture in the Edo period, when folktales and plays about ninja were conceived. Stories about the ninja are usually based on historical figures. For instance, many similar tales exist about a daimyo challenging a ninja to prove his worth, usually by stealing his pillow or weapon while he slept.[113] Novels were written about the ninja, such as Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari, which was also made into a kabuki play. Fictional figures such as Sarutobi Sasuke would eventually make way into comics and television, where they have come to enjoy a culture hero status outside of their original mediums.

Ninja appear in many forms of Japanese and Western popular media, including books (Kōga Ninpōchō), television (Ninja Warrior), movies (Ninja Assassin), Satire (REAL Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book) video games (Tenchu), anime (Naruto), manga (Basilisk) and Western comic books (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero). Depictions range from realistic to the fantastically exaggerated, both fundamentally and aesthetically, and often portray ninja in non-factual, sometimes incredibly flamboyant ways for humor or entertainment.

Modern schools that claim to train ninjutsu arose from the 1970s, among others those of Masaaki Hatsumi (Bujinkan) and Stephen K. Hayes (To-Shin Do).

Black-clad figures with muffled faces skitter through a courtyard, swarming over walls like spiders and running lightly across rooftops, quick as cats.

An unsuspecting samurai sleeps peacefully as these shadows permanently silence his body guards. The bedroom door slides open without a sound, an up-raised blade glints in the moonlight, and...

This is the ninja of the movies and comic books, the stealthy assassin in black robes with magical abilities in the arts of concealment and murder.

This wraith-like being is very compelling, to be sure. But what is the historical reality behind the popular culture icon of the Ninja?

Origins of the Ninja:

It is difficult to pin down the emergence of the first ninja, more properly called shinobi. After all, people around the world have always used spies and assassins.

Japanese folklore states that the ninja descended from a demon that was half man and half crow. However, it seems more likely that the ninja slowly evolved as an opposing force to their upper-class contemporaries, the samurai, in early feudal Japan.

Most sources indicate that the skills that became ninjutsu, the ninja's art of stealth, began to develop between 600-900 A.D. Prince Shotoku, (574-622), is said to have employed Otomono Sahito as a shinobi spy.

Mainland Influences on the Early Ninja:

By the year 850, the Tang Dynasty in China was in decline. It would fall in 907, plunging China into 50 years of chaos; the collapse prompted some Tang generals to escape over the sea to Japan.

These commanders brought new battle tactics and philosophies of war with them.

Chinese monks also began to arrive in Japan in the 1020s, bringing new medicines and fighting philosophies of their own. Many of the ideas originated in India, and made their way across Tibet and China before turning up in Japan.

The monks taught their methods to Japan's warrior-monks, or yamabushi, as well as to members of the first ninja clans.

The First Known Ninja School:

For a century or more, the blend of Chinese and native tactics that would become ninjutsu developed as a counter-culture, without rules.

It was first formalized by Daisuke Togakure and Kain Doshi.

Daisuke had been a samurai, but he was on the losing side in a regional battle. He lost his lands and his samurai title.

In 1162, Daisuke was wandering the mountains of southwest Honshu when he met Kain Doshi, a Chinese warrior-monk. Daisuke renounced his bushido code, and together the two developed a new theory of guerrilla warfare called ninjutsu.

Daisuke's descendants created the first ninja ryu, or school, the Togakureryu.

Ninjutsu versus Bushido:

Ninjutsu developed as an opposing force to the samurai code of bushido.

Samurai valued loyalty and honor above all else.

Going into battle, a samurai would select a single opponent, announce his challenge, list his family pedigree, and then attack. Samurai wore bright colors on their armor to announce their clan identity.

Bushido was very noble, but it couldn't always get the job done.

That is where ninjutsu came in: the ninja code valued accomplishing a mission by whatever means necessary. Sneak attacks, poison, seduction and spying were all shameful to the samurai, but fair play by the rules of the ninja.

Who Were the Ninja?:

Some of the ninja leaders, or jonin, were disgraced samurai like Daisuke Togakure. They had lost in battle or had been renounced by their daimyo, but fled rather than committing seppuku.

Most ordinary ninja were not from the nobility, though. They were villagers and farmers, who learned to fight by any means necessary for their own self-preservation.

The most famous ninja strongholds were the Iga and Koga Provinces.

Women also served in ninja combat. Female ninja, or kunoichi, infiltrated enemy castles in the guise of dancers, concubines or servants. They were successful spies, and sometimes acted as assassins as well.

Samurai Use of the Ninja:

The samurai lords could not always prevail in open warfare, but they were constrained by bushido. So, they often hired ninja to do their dirty work.

Secrets could be spied out, opponents assassinated, or misinformation planted... without sullying a samurai's honor.

This system also transferred wealth to the lower classes, as ninja were paid handsomely for their work.

Of course, a samurai's enemies could also hire ninja. As a result, the samurai needed, despised, and feared the ninja, in equal measure.

The ninja "high man," or jonin, gave orders to the chunin, "middle man," who passed them on to the genin, ordinary ninja.

Ninja Clothing, Tools and Weapons:

In modern movies and comic books, ninjas are portrayed in all-black clothing, with only their eyes showing.

This costume, however, comes from the kabuki theater.

Actual ninjas wore navy blue for night operations. Usually, however, they dressed to blend in with their targets - as any sensible espionage agent would do.

Ninja tools and weapons included: shinobigatana, medium-length swords; the bo and naginata, war staves and pikes; and martial arts like karate.

Ninja also developed special equipment like the shuko, an iron hand-crampon used for climbing, and the tessen, a sharpened metal fan.

Ninja Techniques:

Ninjutsu is practical; if a tactic is effective, then it is acceptable.

The Eight Methods taught in many ryu were: Body skills, karate, spear fighting, staff fighting, blade-throwing, use of fire and water, fortification and strategy, and concealment.

Many ninja weapons were modified from farm sickles, saws for wood cutting, pruning shears, etc. If discovered, these items would not give away a ninja's identity.

Among the ninja were expert poisoners. Poison was added to food, or applied to a dart or blade.

Some ninja disguised themselves as flute-playing mystics. The sturdy flute could be used as a club or blow-dart tube.

The Rise and Fall of the Ninja:

The ninja came into their own during the tumultuous era between 1336 and 1600. In an atmosphere of constant war, ninja skills were essential for all sides.

The Nanbukucho Wars (1336-1392)

For more than 50 years in the 14th century, Japan had two separate imperial courts, which fought for control of the country.

The Northern Court was controlled by the shoguns. The Southern Court belonged to Emperor Go-Daigo, who wanted to rule in his own right.

Ninja played an important role on both sides in this struggle, infiltrating castles as spies, and even burning down the South's Hachiman-yama Fortress.

The Northern Court eventually won, and the puppet-Emperor system was retained.

The Onin War (1467-1477)

About 70 years later, the Onin War broke out. Ninja featured heavily in this conflict, as well.

The war began as a succession fight within the ruling Ashikaga clan, but soon devolved into a nation-wide civil war.

Although the Onin War ended after 10 years, it ushered in a century of turmoil called the Sengoku Jidai, or "Warring States Period" (though it was actually samurai clans fighting, rather than states).

Ninja served a number of purposes during the Sengoku Period (1467-1568). They acted as kancho (spies), koran (agitators), teisatsu (scouts), and kisho (surprise attackers). They were most effective in castle sieges, infiltrating and distracting the defenders inside while the main besieging army attacked from outside.

Destruction of the Ninja Bases (1581)

The ninja were an important tool during the Sengoku Period, but a destabilizing influence. When war-lord Oda Nobunaga emerged as the strongest daimyo and began to reunite Japan (1551-1582), he saw the ninja strongholds at Iga and Koga as a threat.

Nobunaga's lightning-quick attack on Iga forced the ninja to fight open battles; they were defeated and scattered to nearby provinces or the mountains of Kii.

While their power-base was destroyed, the ninja did not vanish entirely. Some went into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who later became shogun in 1603.

The much-reduced ninja continued to serve both sides in struggles. In one famous incident from 1600, a ninja sneaked through a group of Tokugawa's defenders at Hataya castle, and planted the flag of the besieging army high on the front gate!

Edo and the End

The Edo Period (1603-1868) brought stability and peace to Japan, bringing the ninja story to a close. Ninja skills and legends survived, though, and were embellished to enliven the movies, games and comic books of today.

Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵?, c. 1584 – June 13, 1645), also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku,[1] was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He was the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪書 Go Rin No Sho?), a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today. Miyamoto Musashi is widely considered as a Kensei and one of the greatest warriors of all time.[2]

Contents

[hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Birth

1.2 Munisai and Musashi's birth date

1.3 Upbringing

1.4 Training in swordsmanship

1.5 First duel

1.6 Travels and duels 1.6.1 Duel with Sasaki Kojirō

1.6.2 Service

1.7 Later life and death

2 Teachings

3 Timeline

4 Philosophy 4.1 Way of strategy 4.1.1 Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu

4.1.2 Long sword

4.2 Religion

5 Musashi as an artist

6 Popular culture

7 See also

8 Bibliography

9 References

10 Further reading 10.1 Fiction

10.2 Essays

10.3 Testimony

11 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Birth

The details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify. Musashi himself simply states in Gorin no Sho that he was born in Harima Province.[3] Niten Ki (an early biography of Musashi) supports the theory that Musashi was born in 1584: "[He] was born in Banshū, in Tenshō 12 [1584], the Year of the Monkey."[4] The historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashi's text, notes: "[...]Munisai was Musashi's father...he lived in Miyamoto village, in the Yoshino district [of Mimasaka Province]. Musashi was most probably born here."[5] His childhood name was Bennosuke 弁之助.

Musashi gives his full name and title in Gorin no Sho as Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Genshin." (新免武蔵守藤原玄信)[6] His father, Shinmen Munisai 新免無二斎, was an accomplished martial artist and master of the sword and jutte (also jitte).[7] Munisai, in turn, was the son of Hirata Shōgen 平田将監, a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, the lord of Takayama Castle in the Yoshino district of Mimasaka Province.[8] Hirata was relied upon by Lord Shinmen, and so was allowed to use the Shinmen name. As for "Musashi," Musashi no Kami was a court title, making him the nominal governor of Musashi province. "Fujiwara" was the lineage from which Musashi claimed nominal descent.

[edit] Munisai and Musashi's birth date

Mysteriously, Munisai's tomb says he died in 1580, which obviously conflicts with the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi. Further muddying the waters, according to the genealogy of the extant Miyamoto family, Musashi was born in 1582. Kenji Tokitsu has suggested that the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi is wrong, as it is primarily based on a literal reading of the introduction to the Go Rin No Sho where Musashi states that the years of his life "add up to 60" (yielding the twelfth year of the Tensho era, or 1584, when working backwards from the well-documented date of composition), when it should be taken in a more literary and imprecise sense, indicating not a specific age but merely that Musashi was in his sixties when he wrote it.

Because of the uncertainty centering on Munisai (when he died, whether he was truly Musashi's father, etc.), Musashi's mother is known with even less confidence. Here are a few possibilities:

1.Munisai's tomb was correct. He died in 1580, leaving two daughters; his wife adopted a recently born child, from the Akamatsu clan, intended to succeed Munisai at his jitte school. Omasa, Munisai's widow, was not truly Musashi's mother.

2.The tomb was wrong. Munisai lived a good deal longer, later than 1590 possibly. Musashi, then, was born to Munisai's first wife, Yoshiko (daughter to Bessho Shigeharu, who formerly controlled Hirafuku village until he lost a battle in 1578 to Yamanaka Shikanosuke). Munisai divorced her after Musashi's birth, whereupon she decamped for her father's house, leaving Musashi with Munisai. Musashi grew up treating Munisai's second wife, Omasa (daughter to Lord Shinmen) as his mother. This second scenario is laid out in an entry to the Tasumi family's genealogy. The daughter of Bessho Shigeharu first married Hirata Muni and was divorced from him a few years later. After that she married Tasumi Masahisa. The second wife of Tasumi Masahisa was the mother of Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi's childhood name was Hirata Den. During his childhood, he went to Hirafuku to find his real mother. He moved in with the Tasumi family.[9]

3.A variant of this second theory is based on the fact that the tombstone states that Omasa gave birth to Musashi on 4 March 1584, and died of it. Munisai then remarried to Yoshiko. They divorced, as in the second theory, but Yoshiko took Musashi, who was 7 at the time, with her, and married Tasumi Masahisa.

4.Kenji Tokitsu prefers to assume a birth date of 1581, which avoids the necessity of assuming the tombstone to be erroneous (although this poses the problem of from whom then Musashi received the transmission of the family martial art).

[edit] Upbringing

Regardless of the truth about Musashi's ancestry, when Musashi was seven years old, the boy was raised by his uncle, Dorinbo (or Dorin), in Shoreian temple, three kilometers (~1.8 mi.) from Hirafuku. Both Dorin and Musashi's uncle by marriage — Tasumi — educated him in Buddhism and basic skills such as writing and reading. This education is possibly the basis for Yoshikawa Eiji's fictional education of Musashi by the historical Zen monk Takuan. He was apparently trained by Munisai in the sword, and in the family art of the jitte. This training did not last for a very long time, as in 1589, Munisai was ordered by Shinmen Sokan to kill Munisai's student, Honiden Gekinosuke. The Honiden family was displeased, and so Munisai was forced to move four kilometers (~2.5 mi.) away to the village of Kawakami.

In 1592, Munisai died, although Tokitsu believes that the person who died at this time was really Hirata Takehito.

Musashi contracted eczema in his infancy, and this adversely affected his appearance.[10] Another story claims that he never took a bath because he did not want to be surprised unarmed. While the former claim may or may not have some basis in reality, the latter seems improbable.[11] An unwashed member of the warrior caste would not have been received as a guest by such houses as Honda, Ogasawara and Hosokawa. These and many other details are likely embellishments that were added to his legend, or misinterpretations of literature describing him.

His father's fate is uncertain, but it is thought that he died at the hands of one of Musashi's later adversaries, who was punished or even killed for treating Musashi's father badly. However, there are no exact details of Musashi's life, since Musashi's only writings are those related to strategy and technique.

[edit] Training in swordsmanship

Miyamoto Musashi having his fortune told. Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

The name "Musashi" was thought to be taken from the name of a warrior monk named Musashibō Benkei who served under Minamoto no Yoshitsune, but this is unconfirmed.

It's said that he may have studied at the Yoshioka ryu school, which was also said to be a school Musashi defeated single-handedly during his later years, although this is very uncertain. He did have formal training either by his father until he was 7 years old or from his uncle beginning at the age of 7. Ultimately the name was taken from his own original kanji, 武蔵, which can be read as Takezō or as Musashi, as stated in Eiji Yoshikawa's book Musashi.

[edit] First duel

I have trained in the way of strategy since my youth, and at the age of thirteen I fought a duel for the first time. My opponent was called Arima Kihei, a sword adept of the Shinto ryū, and I defeated him. At the age of sixteen I defeated a powerful adept by the name of Akiyama, who came from Tajima Province. At the age of twenty-one I went up to Kyōtō and fought duels with several adepts of the sword from famous schools, but I never lost.

—Miyamoto Musashi, Go Rin No Sho

According to the introduction of The Book of Five Rings, Musashi states that his first successful duel was at the age of thirteen, against a samurai named Arima Kihei who fought using the Kashima Shintō-ryū style, founded by Tsukahara Bokuden (b. 1489, d. 1571). The main source of the duel is the Hyoho senshi denki ("Anecdotes about the Deceased Master"). Summarized, its account goes as follows:

In 1596, Musashi was 13, and Arima Kihei, who was traveling to hone his art, posted a public challenge in Hirafuku-mura. Musashi wrote his name on the challenge. A messenger came to Dorin's temple, where Musashi was staying, to inform Musashi that his duel had been accepted by Kihei. Dorin, Musashi's uncle, was shocked by this, and tried to beg off the duel in Musashi's name, based on his nephew's age. Kihei was adamant that the only way his honor could be cleared was if Musashi apologized to him when the duel was scheduled. So when the time set for the duel arrived, Dorin began apologizing for Musashi, who merely charged at Kihei with a six-foot quarterstaff, shouting a challenge to Kihei. Kihei attacked with a wakizashi, but Musashi threw Kihei on the floor, and while Kihei tried to get up, Musashi struck Arima between the eyes and then beat him to death. Arima was said to have been arrogant, overly eager to fight, and not a terribly talented swordsman.

—William Scott Wilson, The Lone Samurai[12]

[edit] Travels and duels

In 1599, three years later, Musashi left his village, apparently at the age of 15 (according to the Tosakushi, "The Registry of the Sakushu Region", although the Tanji Hokin Hikki says he was 16 years old in 1599, which agrees time-wise with the age reported in Musashi's first duel).[9] His family possessions such as furniture, weapons, genealogy, and other records were left with his sister and her husband, Hirao Yoemon.

He spent his time traveling and engaging in duels, such as with an adept called Akiyama from the Tajima Province.

In 1600, a war began between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans. Musashi apparently fought on the side of the Toyotomi's "Army of the West", as the Shinmen clan (to whom his family owed allegiance) had allied with them. Specifically, he participated in the attempt to take Fushimi castle by assault in July 1600, in the defense of the besieged Gifu Castle in August of the same year, and finally in the Battle of Sekigahara. Some doubt has been cast on this final battle, as the Hyoho senshi denki has Musashi saying he is "no lord's vassal" and refusing to fight with his father (in Lord Ukita's battalion) in the battle. Omitting the Battle of Sekigahara from the list of Musashi's battles would seem to contradict the Go Rin No Sho's statement that Musashi fought in six battles, however. Regardless, as the Toyotomi side lost, it has been suggested that Musashi fled as well and spent some time training on Mount Hiko.

Ichijoji Sagarimatsu, Location of the battle between Musashi and the Yoshioka school

After the battle, Musashi disappears from the records for a while. The next mention of him has him arriving in Kyoto at the age of 20 (or 21), where he began a series of duels against the Yoshioka School. Musashi's father, Munisai, also fought against a master of the Yoshioka school and won 2 out of 3 bouts in front of the shogun at the time, Ashikaga Yoshiaki who granted him the title of "Unrivaled Under The Sun". The Yoshioka School (descended from either the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū or the Kyo-hachi-ryū) was the foremost of the eight major schools of martial arts in Kyoto, the "Kyo-ryū" / "Schools of Kyoto". Legend has it that these eight schools were founded by eight monks taught by a legendary martial artist resident on the sacred Mount Kurama. At some point, the Yoshioka family also began to make a name for itself not merely in the art of the sword but also in the textile business and for a dye unique to them. They gave up teaching swordsmanship in 1614 when they fought in the Army of the West against Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Osaka, which they lost. But in 1604, when Musashi began duelling them, they were still preeminent. There are various accounts of the duels — the Yoshioka family documents claim that there was only one, against Yoshioka Kenpō, which Musashi lost.

Musashi challenged Yoshioka Seijūrō, master of the Yoshioka School, to a duel. Seijūrō accepted, and they agreed to a duel outside Rendaiji in Rakuhoku, in the northern part of Kyoto on 8 March 1604. Musashi arrived late, greatly irritating Seijūrō. They faced off, and Musashi struck a single blow, per their agreement. This blow struck Seijūrō on the left shoulder, knocking him out, and crippling his left arm. He apparently passed on the headship of the school to his equally accomplished brother, Yoshioka Denshichirō, who promptly challenged Musashi for revenge. The duel took place in Kyoto outside a temple, Sanjūsangen-dō. Denshichirō wielded a staff reinforced with steel rings (or possibly with a ball-and-chain attached), while Musashi arrived late a second time. Musashi disarmed Denshichirō and defeated him. This second victory outraged the Yoshioka family, whose head was now the 12-year old Yoshioka Matashichiro. They assembled a force of archers, musketeers and swordsmen, and challenged Musashi to a duel outside Kyoto, near Ichijoji Temple. Musashi broke his previous habit of arriving late, and came to the temple hours early. Hidden, Musashi assaulted the force, killing Matashichiro, and escaping while being attacked by dozens of his victim's supporters. To escape and fight off his opponents he was forced to draw his second sword and defend himself with a sword in each hand. This was the beginning of his niten'ichi sword style. With the death of Matashichiro, this branch of the Yoshioka School was destroyed.

After Musashi left Kyoto, some sources recount that he travelled to Hōzōin in Nara, to duel with and learn from the monks there, widely known as experts with lance weapons. There he settled down at Enkoji Temple in Banshu, where he taught the head monk's (one Tada Hanzaburo's) brother. Hanzaburo's grandson would found the Ensu-ryū based on the Enmei-ryū teachings and iaijutsu.

From 1605 to 1612, he travelled extensively all over Japan in musha shugyō, a warrior pilgrimage during which he honed his skills with duels. He was said to have used bokken or bokuto in actual duels. Most of the engagements from these times did not try to take the opponent's life unless both agreed, but in most duels, it is known that Musashi did not care which weapon his foe used — such was his mastery.

A document dated 5 September 1607, purporting to be a transmission by Miyamoto Munisai of his teachings, suggests Munisai lived at least to this date. In this year, Musashi departed Nara for Edo, during which he fought (and killed) a kusarigama practitioner named Shishido Baiken. In Edo, Musashi defeated Muso Gonnosuke, who would found an influential staff-wielding school known as Shinto Muso Ryu. Records of this first duel can be found in both the Shinto Muso-ryu tradition and the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū (Miyamoto Musashi's school). The Shinto Muso Ryu tradition states that, after being defeated by Musashi, Muso Gonnusuke beat Musashi in a rematch. There are no current reliable sources outside the Shinto Muso Ryu tradition to confirm that this second duel took place.

Musashi is said to have fought over 60 duels and was never defeated, although this is a conservative estimate, most likely not accounting for deaths by his hand in major battles. In 1611, Musashi began practicing zazen at the Myoshinji Temple, where he met Nagaoka Sado, vassal to Hosokawa Tadaoki; Tadaoki was a powerful lord who had received the Kumamoto Domain in west-central Kyūshū after the Battle of Sekigahara. Munisai had moved to northern Kyūshū and became Tadaoki's teacher, leading to the possibility that Munisai introduced the two. Nagaoka proposed a duel with a certain adept named Sasaki Kojirō. Tokitsu believes that the duel was politically motivated, a matter of consolidating Tadaoki's control over his fief.

[edit] Duel with Sasaki Kojirō

Main article: Sasaki Kojirō

On April 13, 1612, Musashi (about age 30) fought his duel with Sasaki Kojirō, who was known as "The Demon of the Western Provinces" and who wielded a nodachi. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the island of Funajima, in the Kanmon Straits separating Honshū and Kyūshū. The duel was short. Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that legend says he had carved from an oar used on the boat that carried him to the island. Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful, while Musashi's supporters thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide. The tide carried him to the island. After his victory, Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight from Sasaki's vengeful allies was helped by the turning of the tide. Another theory states he waited for the sun to get in the right position. After he dodged a blow, Sasaki was blinded by the sun.

Musashi briefly established a fencing school that same year.

[edit] Service

"Seishin Chokudo" (earnest heart, straight way) monument dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, located in Kokura. These characters were engraved by Musashi on his bokken. It stands on the place where Musashi is supposed to have lived, at the foot of the castle. The Hombu dojo of a main branch of Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu is in Kokura and demonstrates every year in front of this monument.

In 1614–1615, Musashi participated in the war between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa. The war had broken out because Tokugawa Ieyasu saw the Toyotomi family as a threat to his rule of Japan; most scholars believe that, as in the previous war, Musashi fought on the Toyotomi side. Osaka Castle was the central place of battle. The first battle (the Winter Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fourth battle) ended in a truce. The second (the Summer Battle of Osaka; Musashi's fifth battle) resulted in the total defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori's Army of the West by Ieyasu's Army of the East in May 1615. Some reports go so far as to say that Musashi entered a duel with Ieyasu, but was recruited after Ieyasu sensed his defeat was at hand. This may seem unlikely since Ieyasu was in his 70s and was in poor health already, but it remains unknown how Musashi came into Ieyasu's good graces.

Other accounts claim he actually served on the Tokugawa side, but such a claim is unproven, although Musashi had a close relationship with some Tokugawa vassals through his duel with Sasaki Kojirō, and in the succeeding years, he did not drop out of sight as might be expected if he were being persecuted for being on the losing side. In his later years, Ogasawara and Hosokawa supported Musashi greatly — an atypical course of action for these Tokugawa loyalists, if Musashi had indeed fought on behalf of the Toyotomi.

In 1615 he entered the service of Ogasawara Tadanao (小笠原忠直) of Harima Province, at Ogasawara's invitation, as a "Construction Supervisor," after previously gaining skills in craft. He helped construct Akashi Castle and in 1621 to lay out the organization of the town of Himeji. He also taught martial arts during his stay, specializing in instruction in the art of shuriken-throwing. During this period of service, he adopted a son.

In 1621, Musashi defeated Miyake Gunbei and three other adepts of the Togun-ryu in front of the lord of Himeji; it was after this victory that he helped plan Himeji. Around this time, Musashi developed a number of disciples for his Enmei-ryū although he had developed the school considerably earlier; at the age of 22, Musashi had already written a scroll of Enmei-ryū teachings called "Writings on the Sword Technique of the Enmei-ryū" (Enmei-ryū kenpo sho). 円/"En" meant "circle" or "perfection"; 明/"mei" meant "light"/"clarity", and 流/"ryū" meant "school"; the name seems to have been derived from the idea of holding the two swords up in the light so as to form a circle. The school's central idea is given as training to use the twin swords of the samurai as effectively as a pair of sword and jutte.

In 1622, Musashi's adoptive son, Miyamoto Mikinosuke, became a vassal to the Himeji Domain. Possibly this prompted Musashi to leave, embarking on a new series of travels, winding up in Edo in 1623, where he became friends with the Confucian scholar Hayashi Razan, who was one of the Shogun's advisors. Musashi applied to become a swordmaster to the Shogun, but as he already had two swordmasters (Ono Jiroemon Tadaaki and Yagyū Munenori — the latter also a political advisor, in addition to his position as the head of the Shogunate's secret police), Musashi's application was denied. He left Edo in the direction of Ōshū, ending up in Yamagata, where he adopted a second son, Miyamoto Iori. The two then traveled, eventually stopping in Osaka.

In 1626, Miyamoto Mikinosuke, following the custom of junshi, committed seppuku because of the death of his lord. In this year, Miyamoto Iori entered Lord Ogasawara's service. Musashi's attempt to become a vassal to the lord of Owari, like other such attempts, failed.

In 1627, Musashi began to travel again. In 1634 he settled in Kokura with Iori, and later entered the service of the daimyo Ogasawara Tadazane, taking a major role in the Shimabara Rebellion. Iori served with distinction in putting down the rebellion and gradually rose to the rank of karō — a position equal to a minister. Musashi, however was reputedly injured by a thrown rock while scouting in the front line, and was thus unnoticed.

[edit] Later life and death

Miyamoto Musashi, Self-portrait, Samurai, writer and artist, c. 1640

The grave-marker of Miyamoto Musashi, in present-day Kumamoto Prefecture (熊本県)

A picture of Musashi engaged in fantastic combat, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)

Six years later, in 1633, Musashi began staying with Hosokawa Tadatoshi, daimyo of Kumamoto Castle, who had moved to the Kumamoto fief and Kokura, to train and paint. Ironically, it was at this time that the Hosokawa lords were also the patrons of Musashi's chief rival, Sasaki Kojirō.[clarification needed] While there he engaged in very few duels; one would occur in 1634 at the arrangement of Lord Ogasawara, in which Musashi defeated a lance specialist by the name of Takada Matabei. Musashi would officially become the retainer of the Hosokowa lords of Kumamoto in 1640. The Niten Ki records "[he] received from Lord Tadatoshi: 17 retainers, a stipend of 300 koku, the rank of ōkumigashira 大組頭, and Chiba Castle in Kumamoto as his residence."[13]

In the second month of 1641, Musashi wrote a work called the Hyoho Sanju Go ("Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy") for Hosokawa Tadatoshi; this work overlapped and formed the basis for the later Go Rin No Sho. This was the year that his third son, Hirao Yoemon, became Master of Arms for the Owari fief. In 1642, Musashi suffered attacks of neuralgia, foreshadowing his future ill-health. In 1643 he retired to a cave named Reigandō as a hermit to write The Book of Five Rings. He finished it in the second month of 1645. On the twelfth of the fifth month, sensing his impending death, Musashi bequeathed his worldly possessions, after giving his manuscript copy of the Go Rin No Sho to the younger brother of Terao Magonojo, his closest disciple. He died in Reigandō cave around June 13, 1645 (Shōhō 3, 30th day of the 4th month). The Hyoho senshi denki described his passing:

At the moment of his death, he had himself raised up. He had his belt tightened and his wakizashi put in it. He seated himself with one knee vertically raised, holding the sword with his left hand and a cane in his right hand. He died in this posture, at the age of sixty-two. The principal vassals of Lord Hosokawa and the other officers gathered, and they painstakingly carried out the ceremony. Then they set up a tomb on Mount Iwato on the order of the lord.

Musashi died of what is believed to be thoracic cancer, and was not killed in combat. He died peacefully after finishing the Dokkodo ("The Way of Walking Alone", or "The Way of Self-Reliance"), 21 precepts on self-discipline to guide future generations.

His body was interred in armor within the village of Yuge, near the main road near Mount Iwato, facing the direction the Hosokawas would travel to Edo; his hair was buried on Mount Iwato itself.

Nine years later, a major source about his life — a monument with a funereal eulogy to Musashi — was erected in Kokura by Miyamoto Iori; this monument was called the Kokura hibun. An account of Musashi's life, the Niten-ki 二天記, was published in Kumamoto in 1776, by Toyota Kagehide, based on the recollections of his grandfather Toyota Masataka, who was a second generation pupil of Musashi.

[edit] Teachings

Musashi created and perfected a two-sword kenjutsu technique called niten'ichi (二天一, "two heavens as one") or nitōichi (二刀一, "two swords as one") or "Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu" (A Kongen Buddhist Sutra refers to the two heavens as the two guardians of Buddha). In this technique, the swordsman uses both a large sword, and a "companion sword" at the same time, such as a katana with a wakizashi.

The two-handed movements of temple drummers may have inspired him, although it could be that the technique was forged through Musashi's combat experience. Jutte techniques were taught to him by his father — the jutte was often used in battle paired with a sword; the jutte would parry and neutralize the weapon of the enemy while the sword struck or the practitioner grappled with the enemy. In his time a long sword in the left hand was referred to as gyaku nito. Today Musashi's style of swordsmanship is known as Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū.[citation needed]

Musashi was also an expert in throwing weapons. He frequently threw his short sword, and Kenji Tokitsu believes that shuriken methods for the wakizashi were the Niten Ichi Ryu's secret techniques (see Hayakutake-Watkin).

Musashi spent many years studying Buddhism and swordsmanship. He was an accomplished artist, sculptor, and calligrapher. Records also show that he had architectural skills. Also, he seems to have had a rather straightforward approach to combat, with no additional frills or aesthetic considerations. This was probably due to his real-life combat experience; although in his later life, Musashi followed the more artistic side of bushidō. He made various Zen brush paintings, calligraphy, and sculpted wood and metal. Even in The Book of Five Rings he emphasizes that samurai should understand other professions as well. It should be understood that Musashi's writings were very ambiguous, and translating them into English makes them even more so; that is why so many different translations of the Go Rin No Sho can be found. To gain further insight into Musashi's principles and personality, one could read his other works, such as Dokkodo and Hyoho Shiji ni Kajo.

[edit] Timeline

The following timeline follows, in chronological order (of which is based on the most accurate and most widely accepted information), the life of Miyamoto Musashi as of yet.[citation needed]

Date

Age

Occurrence

1578

Musashi’s brother, Shirota, is born.

1584

0

Miyamoto Musashi is born.

1591

7

Musashi is taken and raised by his uncle as a Buddhist.

1596

13

Musashi duels with Arima Kihei in Hirafuku, Hyōgo Prefecture.

1599

15

Duels with a man named Akiyama in the northern part of Hyōgo Prefecture.

1600

16

Believed to have fought in the Battle of Sekigahara in Sekigahara, Gifu Prefecture on the losing side. Whether he actually participated in the battle is currently in doubt.

1604

20

Musashi has 3 matches with the Yoshioka clan in Kyoto. {1} Match with Yoshioka Seijuro in Yamashiro Province, outside the city at Rendai Moor (west of Mt. Funaoka, Kita-ku, Kyoto). {2} Match with Yoshioka Denshichiro outside the city. {3} Match with Yoshioka Matashichiro outside the city at the pine of Ichijoji.

1604

20

Visits Kōfuku-ji, Nara and ends up dueling with the Buddhist priest trained in the style of Hōzōin-ryū.

1605–1612

21–28

Begins to travel again.

1607

23

Munisai (Musashi's father) passes his teachings onto Musashi.

1607

23

Duels with the kusarigama expert Shishido Baiken in the western part of Mie Prefecture.

1608

24

Duels Muso Gonnosuke, master of the five-foot staff in Edo, modern-day Tokyo.

1610

26

Fights Hayashi Osedo and Tsujikaze Tenma in Edo.

1611

27

Begins practicing zazen meditation.

1612

28

Musashi's match with Sasaki Kojirō takes place on Ganryujima (Ganryu or Funa Island) off the coast of present-day Shimonoseki.

Opens a fencing school for a brief time.

1614–1615

30–31

Believed to have joined the troops of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Winter and Summer campaigns at Osaka Castle, though no significant contributions are documented.

1615–1621

31–37

Musashi comes into the service of Ogasawara Tadanao in Harima province as a construction supervisor.

1621

37

Duels Miyake Gunbei in Tatsuno, Hyōgo Prefecture.

1622

38

Sets up temporary residence at the castle town of Himeji in Hyōgo Prefecture.

1623

39

Travels to Edo.

Adopts a second son named Iori.

1626

42

Adopted son Mikinosuke commits seppuku following in the tradition of Junshi.

1627

43

Travels again.

1628

44

Meets with Yagyū Hyōgonosuke in Nagoya, Owari Province.

1630

46

Enters the service of Lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi.

1633

49

Begins to extensively practice the arts.

1634

50

Settles in Kokura, Fukuoka Prefecture for a short time with son Iori as a guest of Ogasawara Tadazane.

1637

53

Serves a major role in the Shimabara Rebellion and is the only documented evidence that Musashi served in battle. Was knocked off his horse by a rock thrown by one of the peasants.

1641

57

Writes Hyoho Sanju-go.

1642

58

Suffers severe attacks from neuralgia.

1643

59

Migrates into Reigando where he lives as a hermit.

1645

61

Finishes Go Rin No Sho / The Book of Five Rings.

Miyamoto Musashi dies from what is believed to be thoracic cancer.

[edit] Philosophy

Throughout Musashi's last book, The Book of Five Rings (五輪書 Go Rin no Sho?), Musashi seems to take a very philosophical approach to looking at the "craft of war"; "There are five ways in which men pass through life: as gentlemen, warriors, farmers, artisans and merchants." These falling into one of the few profession groups that could be observed in Musashi's time.

Throughout the book, Musashi implies that the way of the Warrior, as well as the meaning of a "True strategist" is that of somebody who has made mastery of many art forms away from that of the sword, such as tea drinking (sado), laboring, writing, and painting as Musashi practiced throughout his life. Musashi was hailed as an extraordinary sumi-e artist in the use of ink monochrome as depicted in two such paintings: "Shrike Perched in a Dead Tree" (Koboku Meigekizu, 枯木鳴鵙図) and "Wild Geese Among Reeds" (Rozanzu, 魯山図). Going back to the Book of Five Rings, Musashi talks deeply about the ways of Buddhism.

He makes particular note of artisans and foremen. In the time in which he writes the book, the majority of houses in Japan were made of wood. In the use of building a house, foremen have to employ strategy based upon the skill and ability of their workers.

In comparison to warriors and soldiers, Musashi notes the ways in which the artisans thrive through events; the ruin of houses, the splendor of houses, the style of the house, the tradition and name or origins of a house. These too, are similar to the events which are seen to have warriors and soldiers thrive; the rise and fall of prefectures, countries and other such events are what make uses for warriors, as well as the literal comparisons of the: "The carpenter uses a master plan of the building, and the way of strategy is similar in that there is a plan of campaign".

[edit] Way of strategy

Throughout the book, Go Rin No Sho, the idea which Musashi pushes is that the "way of the strategist" (Heihō 兵法) is similar to how a carpenter and his tools are mutually inclusive, e.g. — a carpenter can do nothing without his tools, and vice versa. This too, he compares to skill, and tactical ability in the field of battle.

Initially, Musashi notes that throughout China and Japan, there are many "sword fencers" who walk around claiming they are strategists, but are, in fact, not — this may be because Musashi had defeated some such strategists, such as Arima Kihei.

The idea is that by reading his writings, one can become a true strategist from ability and tactical skill that Musashi had learned in his lifetime. He argues that strategy and virtue are something which can be earned by knowing the ways of life, the professions that are around, to perhaps learn the skills and knowledge of people and the skills of their particular professions.

However, Musashi seems to state that the value of strategy seems to be homogeneous. He notes that:

The attendants of the Kashima Kantori shrines of the province Hitachi received instruction from the gods, and made schools based on this teaching, travelling from province to province instructing men. This is the recent meaning of strategy.

As well as noting that strategy is destined to die;

Of course, men who study in this way think they are training the body and spirit, but it is an obstacle to the true way, and its bad influence remains forever. Thus the true way of strategy is becoming decadent and dying out.

As a form, strategy was said to be one of "Ten Abilities and Seven Arts" that a warrior should have, but Musashi disagrees that one person can gain strategy by being confined to one particular style, which seems particularly fitting as he admits "I practice many arts and abilities — all things with no teacher" — this perhaps being one of the reasons he was so highly regarded a swordsman.

Musashi's metaphor for strategy is that of the bulb and the flower, similar to western philosophy of "the chicken or the egg", the "bulb" being the student, the "flower" being the technique. He also notes that most places seem to be mostly concerned with their technique and its beauty. Musashi writes, "In this kind of way of strategy, both those teaching and those learning the way are concerned with coloring and showing off their technique, trying to hasten the bloom of the flower" (as opposed to the actual harmony between strategy and skill.)

With those who are concerned with becoming masters of strategy, Musashi points out that as a carpenter becomes better with his tools and is able to craft things with more expert measure, so too can a warrior, or strategist become more skilled in his technique. However, just as a carpenter needs to be able to use his tools according to plans, so too must a strategist be able to adapt his style or technique to the required strategy of the battle he is currently engaged in.

This description also draws parallels between the weapons of a trooper (or soldier) and the tools of a carpenter; the idea of "the right tool for the right job" seems to be implied a lot throughout the book, Go Rin No Sho. Musashi also puts into motion the idea that when a carpenter is skilled enough in aspects of his job, and creates them with expert measure, then he can become a foreman.

Although it is not expressly mentioned, it may be seen that Musashi indicated that when you have learned the areas in which your craft requires, be it carpentry, farming, fine art or battle, and are able to apply them to any given situation, then you will be experienced enough to show others the wisdom of your ways, be it as a foreman of craftsmen, or as a general of an army.

From further reading into the book, the idea of "weapons within strategy," as well as Musashi referring to the power of the writer, may seem that the strategy which Musashi refers to does not exclusively reside within the domain of weaponry and duels, but within the realm of war and battles with many men:

Just as one man can beat ten, so a hundred men can beat a thousand, and a thousand can beat ten thousand. In my strategy, one man is the same as ten thousand, so this strategy is the complete warrior's craft.

[edit] Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu

Within the book, Musashi mentions that the use of two swords within strategy is mutually beneficial between those who utilize this skill. The idea of using two hands for a sword is an idea which Musashi disagrees with, in that there is not fluidity in movement when using two hands — "If you hold a sword with both hands, it is difficult to wield it freely to left and right, so my method is to carry the sword in one hand"; he as well disagrees with the idea of using a sword with two hands on a horse, and/or riding on unstable terrain, such as muddy swamps, rice fields, or within crowds of people.

In order to learn the strategy of Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu, Musashi employs that by training with two long swords, one in each hand, you will be able to overcome the cumbersome nature of using a sword in both hands. Although difficult, Musashi agrees that there are times in which the long sword must be used with two hands, but if your skill is good enough, you should not need it. The idea of using two long swords is that you are starting with something to which you are unaccustomed, and that you will find difficult, but will adapt to after much use.

After using two long swords proficiently enough, Musashi then states that your mastery of a long sword, and a "companion sword", most likely a wakizashi, will be much increased — "When you become used to wielding the long sword, you will gain the power of the Way and wield the sword well.".

In short, it could be seen that from the excerpts from Go Rin No Sho, the real strategy behind Ni-Ten No Ichi Ryu, is that there is no real iron-clad method, path, or type of weaponry that is specific to the style of Ni-Ten No Ichi Ryu:

You can win with a long weapon, and yet you can also win with a short weapon. In short, the Way of the Ichi school is the spirit of winning, whatever the weapon and whatever its size.

[edit] Long sword

The strategy of the long sword is different than other strategies, in that it is much more straightforward. In the strategy of the longsword, it seems that Musashi's ideal was, that by mastering gripping the sword with two fingers, it could become a platform used for moving onto the mastery of Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu, as well as being able to use two broadswords, or more masterfully use a companion sword.

However, just because the grip is to be light, it does not mean that the attack or slash from the sword will be weak. Like with any other technique in the Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu, he notes:

If you try to wield the long sword quickly, you will mistake the way. To wield the long sword well, you must wield it calmly. If you try to wield it quickly, like a folding fan or a short sword, you will err by using "short sword chopping". You cannot cut down a man with a long sword using this method.

Like with most disciplines in martial arts, Musashi notes that the movement of the sword after the cut is made must not be superfluous; instead of quickly returning to a stance or position, one should allow the sword to come to the end of its path from the force used. In this manner, the technique will become freely flowing, as opposed to abrupt.

Musashi also discouraged the use of only one sword for fighting, and the use of over-large swords like nodachi because they were cumbersome and unwieldy.

[edit] Religion

Even from a late age, Musashi separated his religion from his involvement in swordsmanship. Excerpts such as the one below, from The Book of Five Rings, demonstrate a philosophy that is thought to have stayed with him throughout his life:

There are many ways: Confucianism, Buddhism, the ways of elegance, rice-planting, or dance; these things are not to be found in the way of the warrior.[14]

However, the belief that Musashi disliked Shinto is inaccurate, as he criticises the Shintō-ryū style of swordsmanship, and not Shinto, the religion. In Musashi's Dokkodo, his stance on religion is further elucidated: "Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help."[15]

[edit] Musashi as an artist

Kingfisher Perched on a Withered Branch, by Miyamoto Musashi

In his later years, Musashi claimed in his Go Rin No Sho that "When I apply the principle of strategy to the ways of different arts and crafts, I no longer have need for a teacher in any domain." He proved this by creating recognized masterpieces of calligraphy and classic ink painting. His paintings are characterized by skilled use of ink washes and an economy of brush stroke. He especially mastered the "broken ink" school of landscapes, applying it to other subjects, such as his Kobokumeikakuzu ("Kingfisher Perched on a Withered Branch"; part of a triptych whose other two members were "Hotei Walking" and "Sparrow on Bamboo"), his Hotei Watching a Cockfight, and his Rozanzu ("Wild Geese Among Reeds").

[edit] Popular culture

For more details on this topic, see Miyamoto Musashi in fiction.

Even in Musashi's time there were fictional texts resembling comic books. It is therefore quite difficult to separate fact from fiction when discussing his life. There have been numerous works of fiction made about or featuring Musashi, among them several dozen films, including several with the title of Miyamoto Musashi. One of these, released in the English-speaking world as Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, is the Academy Award–winning film by Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshirô Mifune. Eiji Yoshikawa's novelization has greatly influenced successive fictional depictions (including the ongoing manga Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue) and is often mistaken for a factual account of Musashi's life.

Bushidō (武士道?), meaning "Way of the Warrior-Knight", is a Japanese word which is used to describe a uniquely Japanese code of conduct and a way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. It originates from the samurai moral code and stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto death. Born from Neo-Confucianism during times of peace in Tokugawa Japan and following confucian texts, Bushido was also influenced by Shinto and Buddhism, allowing the violent existence of the samurai to be tempered by wisdom and serenity. Bushidō developed between the 9th and 12th centuries and numerous translated documents dating from the 12th to 16th centuries demonstrate its wide influence across the whole of Japan,[1] although some scholars have noted "the term bushidō itself is rarely attested in premodern literature."[2]

Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, aspects of bushidō became formalized into Japanese Feudal Law.[3]

Contents

[hide] 1 History Of The Term

2 Historical development 2.1 Early history to 12th century

2.2 13th to 16th centuries

2.3 17th to 19th centuries

2.4 19th and 20th centuries

3 Tenets 3.1 Seven virtues of Bushidō

3.2 Associated virtues

4 Modern translations

5 Major figures associated with Bushidō

6 See also

7 References

8 External links and further reading

[edit] History Of The Term

The word was first used in Japan during the 17th century[4]. It came into common usage in Japan and the West after the 1899 publication of Nitobe Inazō's Bushido: The Soul of Japan.[5]

According to the Japanese dictionary Shogakukan Kokugo Daijiten, "Bushidō is defined as a unique philosophy (ronri) that spread through the warrior class from the Muromachi (chusei) period."

In Bushidō: The Soul of Japan (1899), author Nitobe Inazō wrote:

"...Bushidō, then, is the code of moral principles which the samurai were required or instructed to observe... More frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten... It was an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career."

Nitobe was not the first person to document Japanese chivalry in this way. In his text Feudal and Modern Japan, (1896) Historian Arthur May Knapp wrote:[6] (broken reference)

"The samurai of thirty years ago had behind him a thousand years of training in the law of honor, obedience, duty, and self-sacrifice..... It was not needed to create or establish them. As a child he had but to be instructed, as indeed he was from his earliest years, in the etiquette of self-immolation. The fine instinct of honor demanding it was in the very blood..."

[edit] Historical development

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[edit] Early history to 12th century

Main article: Bushido literature

The Kojiki is Japan's oldest extant book. Written in 712, it contains passages about Yamato Takeru, the son of the Emperor Keiko. It provides an early indication of the values and literary self-image of the Bushidō ideal, including references to the use and admiration of the sword by Japanese warriors.

This early concept is further found in the Shoku Nihongi, an early history of Japan written in the year 797. The chapter covering the year 721 is notable for an early use of the term "bushi" (武士?) and a reference to the educated warrior-poet ideal. The Chinese term bushi had entered the Japanese vocabulary with the general introduction of Chinese literature, supplementing the indigenous terms tsuwamono and mononofu.

An early reference to saburau — a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person of high rank — appears in Kokin Wakashū, the first imperial anthology of poems, (early 10th century). By the end of the 12th century, saburai ("retainer") had become largely synonymous with bushi, and closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.

Although many of the early literary works of Japan contain the image of the warrior, the term "bushidō" does not appear in early texts like the Kojiki. Warrior ideals and conduct may be illustrated, but the term did not appear in text until the Sengoku period, towards the end of the Muromachi era (1336–1573).[7]

[edit] 13th to 16th centuries

From the literature of the 13th to 16th centuries, there exists an abundance of references to the ideals of Bushidō. Carl Steenstrup noted that 13th and 14th century writings (gunki) "portrayed the bushi in their natural element, war, eulogizing such virtues as reckless bravery, fierce family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man."

Compiled in 1371, the Heike Monogatari chronicles the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century—a conflict known as the Gempei War. Clearly depicted throughout the Heike Monogatari is the ideal of the cultivated warrior. The warriors in the Heike Monogatari served as models for the educated warriors of later generations, and the ideals depicted by them were not assumed to be beyond reach. Rather, these ideals were vigorously pursued in the upper echelons of warrior society and recommended as the proper form of the Japanese man of arms. By the time of Imagawa Ryoshun's "Regulations" at the beginning of the 15th century, the Bushidō ideal was fairly clear, and the term itself came into widespread use.

Other examples of the evolution in the Bushidō literature of the 13th to 16th centuries included:

Takeda Shingen, by artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi The Message Of Master Gokurakuji - Hojo Shigetoki (1198–1261)

The Chikubasho - Shiba Yoshimasa (1350–1410)

The Regulations Of Imagawa Ryoshun - Imagawa Sadayo (1325–1420)

The Seventeen Articles Of Asakura Toshikage - Asakura Toshikage (1428–1481)

The Twenty-One Precepts Of Hōjō Sōun - Hojo Nagauji (1432–1519)

The Recorded Words Of Asakura Soteki - Asakura Norikage (1474–1555)

The Iwamizudera Monogatari - Takeda Shingen (1521–1573)

Opinions In Ninety-Nine Articles - Takeda Nobushige (1525–1561)

Lord Nabeshima's Wall Inscriptions - Nabeshima Naoshige (1538–1618)

The Last Statement of Torii Mototada - Torii Mototada (1539–1600)

The Precepts of Kato Kiyomasa - Kato Kiyomasa (1562–1611)

Notes On Regulations - Kuroda Nagamasa (1568–1623)

The sayings of Sengoku-period retainers and warlords such as Kato Kiyomasa and Nabeshima Naoshige were generally recorded or passed down to posterity around the turn of the 16th century when Japan had entered a period of relative peace. In a handbook addressed to "all samurai, regardless of rank," Kato states:

"If a man does not investigate into the matter of Bushido daily, it will be difficult for him to die a brave and manly death. Thus, it is essential to engrave this business of the warrior into one's mind well."

Kato was a ferocious warrior who banned even recitation of poetry, stating:

"One should put forth great effort in matters of learning. One should read books concerning military matters, and direct his attention exclusively to the virtues of loyalty and filial piety....Having been born into the house of a warrior, one's intentions should be to grasp the long and the short swords and to die."[1]

Naoshige says similarly, that it is shameful for any man to die without having risked his life in battle, regardless of rank, and that "Bushidō is in being crazy to die. Fifty or more could not kill one such a man." However, Naoshige also suggests that "everyone should personally know exertion as it is known in the lower classes."[1]

[edit] 17th to 19th centuries

Miyamoto Musashi killing a giant creature, from The Book of Five Rings

Japan enjoyed a period of relative peace during the Sakoku period from 1600 to the mid-19th century, also called the "Pax Tokugawa". During this period, the samurai class played a central role in the policing and administration of the country under the Tokugawa shogunate. The bushidō literature of this time contains much thought relevant to a warrior class seeking more general application of martial principles and experience in peacetime, as well as reflection on the land's long history of war. The literature of this time includes:

The Last Statement of Torii Mototada (1539–1600)

Kuroda Nagamasa (1568–1623)

Nabeshima Naoshige (1538–1618)

The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) by Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645)

Budoshoshinshu by Taira Shigesuke, Daidōji Yūzan (1639–1730)

Hagakure as related by Yamamoto Tsunetomo to Tsuramoto Tashiro.

The Hagakure contains many of the sayings of Sengoku-period retainer Nabeshima Naoshige (1537–1619) regarding Bushidō related philosophy early in the 18th century by Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659–1719), a former retainer to Naoshige's grandson, Nabeshima Mitsushige. The Hagakure was compiled in the early 18th century, but was kept as a kind of "secret teaching" of the Nabeshima clan until was the end of the Tokugawa era (1867).[8] His saying "I have found the way of the warrior is death" was a summation of the willingness to sacrifice that bushido codified.[9]

Tokugawa-era rōnin scholar and strategist Yamaga Sokō (1622–1685) wrote extensively on matters relating to bushidō, bukyō (a "warrior's creed"), and a more general shido, a "way of gentlemen" intended for application to all stations of society. Sokō attempts to codify a kind of "universal bushidō" with a special emphasis on "pure" Confucian values, (rejecting the mystical influences of Tao and Buddhism in Neo-Confucian orthodoxy), while at the same time calling for recognition of the singular and divine nature of Japan and Japanese culture. These radical concepts — including ultimate devotion to the Emperor, regardless of rank or clan — put him at odds with the reigning shogunate. He was exiled to the Akō domain, (the future setting of the 47 Rōnin incident), and his works were not widely read until the rise of nationalism in the early 20th century.

The aging Tsunetomo's interpretation of bushidō is perhaps more illustrative of the philosophy refined by his unique station and experience, at once dutiful and defiant, ultimately incompatible with the mores and laws of an emerging civil society. Of the 47 Rōnin—to this day, generally regarded as exemplars of bushidō — Tsunetomo felt they were remiss in hatching such a wily, delayed plot for revenge, and had been over-concerned with the success of their undertaking. Instead, Tsunetomo felt true samurai should act without hesitation to fulfill their duties, without regard for success or failure.

This romantic sentiment is of course expressed by warriors down through history, though it may run counter to the art of war itself. This ambivalence is found in the heart of bushidō, and perhaps all such "warrior codes". Some combination of traditional bushidō's organic contradictions and more "universal" or "progressive" formulations, (like those of Yamaga Soko), would inform Japan's disastrous military ambitions in the 20th century.

[edit] 19th and 20th centuries

Recent scholarship in both Japan and abroad has focused on differences between the samurai class and the bushidō theories that developed in modern Japan. Bushidō in the prewar period was often emperor-centered and placed much greater value on the virtues of loyalty and self-sacrifice than did many Tokugawa-era interpretations.[10] Bushidō was used as a propaganda tool by the government and military, who doctored it to suit their needs.[11] Scholars of Japanese history agree that the bushidō that spread throughout modern Japan was not simply a continuation of earlier traditions.

More recently, it has been argued that modern bushidō discourse originated in the 1880s as a response to foreign stimuli, such as the English concept of "gentlemanship," by Japanese with considerable exposure to Western culture. Nitobe Inazo's bushidō interpretations followed a similar trajectory, although he was following earlier trends. This relatively pacifistic bushidō was then hijacked and adapted by militarists and the government from the early 1900s onward as nationalism increased around the time of the Russo-Japanese War.[12]

The junshi suicide of General Nogi Maresuke and his wife on the death of Emperor Meiji occasioned both praise, as an example to the decaying morals of Japan, and criticism, explicitly declaring that the spirit of bushido thus exemplified should not be revived.[13]

During pre-World War II and World War II Shōwa Japan, bushido was pressed into use for militarism,[14] to present war as purifying, and death a duty.[15] This was presented as revitalizing traditional values and "transcending the modern."[16] Bushido would provide a spiritual shield to let soldiers fight to the end.[17] As the war turned, the spirit of bushido was invoked to urge that all depended on the firm and united soul of the nation.[18] When the Battle of Attu was lost, attempts were made to make the more than two thousand Japanese deaths an inspirational epic for the fighting spirit of the nation.[19] Arguments that the plans for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, involving all Japanese ships, would expose Japan to serious danger if they failed, were countered with the plea that the Navy be permitted to "bloom as flowers of death."[20] The first proposals of organized suicide attacks met resistance because while bushido called for a warrior to be always aware of death, but not to view it as the sole end, but the desperate straits brought about acceptance.[21] Such attacks were acclaimed as the true spirit of bushido.[22]

Denials of mistreatment of prisoners of war declared that they were being well-treated by virtue of bushido generosity.[23] Broadcast interviews with prisoners were also described as being not propaganda but out of sympathy with the enemy, such sympathy as only bushido could inspire.[24]

[edit] Tenets

Three stone monuments of great philosophers who had achievements in Buddhism, Shintoism and Confucianism

Bushidō expanded and formalized the earlier code of the samurai, and stressed frugality, loyalty, mastery of martial arts, and honor to the death. Under the bushidō ideal, if a samurai failed to uphold his honor he could only regain it by performing seppuku (ritual suicide).

In an excerpt from his book Samurai: The World of the Warrior,[25] historian Stephen Turnbull describes the role of seppuku in feudal Japan:

In the world of the warrior, seppuku was a deed of bravery that was admirable in a samurai who knew he was defeated, disgraced, or mortally wounded. It meant that he could end his days with his transgressions wiped away and with his reputation not merely intact but actually enhanced. The cutting of the abdomen released the samurai’s spirit in the most dramatic fashion, but it was an extremely painful and unpleasant way to die, and sometimes the samurai who was performing the act asked a loyal comrade to cut off his head at the moment of agony.

Bushidō was widely practiced, varying little over time, and across the geographic and socio-economic backgrounds of the samurai, who at one time represented up to 10% of the Japanese population.[26] The first Meiji era census at the end of the 19th century counted 1,282,000 members of the "high samurai", allowed to ride a horse, and 492,000 members of the "low samurai", allowed to wear two swords but not to ride a horse, in a country of about 25 million.[27]

Bushidō includes compassion for those of lower station, and for the preservation of one's name.[1] Early bushidō literature further enforces the requirement to conduct oneself with calmness, fairness, justice, and propriety.[1] The relationship between learning and the way of the warrior is clearly articulated, one being a natural partner to the other.[1]

Other parts of the bushidō philosophy cover methods of raising children, appearance, and grooming, but all of this may be seen as part of one's constant preparation for death — to die a good death with one's honor intact, the ultimate aim in a life lived according to bushidō. Indeed, a "good death" is its own reward, and by no means assurance of "future rewards" in the afterlife. Notable samurai, though certainly not all (e.g. Amakusa Shiro), have throughout history held such aims or beliefs in disdain, or expressed the awareness that their station — as it involves killing — precludes such reward, especially in Buddhism. On the contrary, the soul of a noble warrior suffering in hell or as a lingering spirit is a common motif in Japanese art and literature. Bushidō, while exhibiting the influence of Dao through Zen Buddhism, is a philosophy in contradistinction to religious belief, with a deep commitment to propriety in this world for propriety's sake.

[edit] Seven virtues of Bushidō

Main article: Virtue

The Bushidō code is typified by seven virtues:

Rectitude (義 gi?)

Courage (勇 yū?)

Benevolence (仁 jin?)

Respect (礼 rei?)

Honesty (誠 makoto?)

Honor (名誉 meiyo?)

Loyalty (忠義 chūgi?)

[edit] Associated virtues

Filial piety (孝 kō?)

Wisdom (智 chi?)

Care for the aged (悌 tei?)

[edit] Modern translations

Modern Western translation of documents related to Bushidō began in the 1970s with Carl Steenstrup, who performed research into the ethical codes of famous Samurai clans including Hōjō Sōun and Imagawa Sadayo.[28]

Primary research into Bushidō was later conducted by William Scott Wilson in his 1982 text Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors. The writings span hundreds of years, family lineage, geography, social class and writing style — yet share a common set of values. Wilson's work also examined the earliest Japanese writings in the 8th century: the Kojiki, Shoku Nihongi, the Kokin Wakashū, Konjaku Monogatari, and the Heike Monogatari, as well as the Chinese Classics (the Analects, the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, and the Mencius).

In May 2008, Thomas Cleary translated a collection of 22 writings on Bushido "by warriors, scholars, political advisers, and educators". The comprehensive collection provides a historically rich view of samurai life and philosophy. The book, Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook, gives an insider's view of the samurai world: "the moral and psychological development of the warrior, the ethical standards they were meant to uphold, their training in both martial arts and strategy, and the enormous role that the traditions of Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism had in influencing samurai ideals." The translations, in 22 chapters, span nearly 500 years from the 14th to the 19th centuries.

[edit] Major figures associated with Bushidō

Miyamoto Musashi

Morihei Ueshiba

Yamaga Sokō

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Katō Kiyomasa

Torii Mototada

Ogami Itto

Imagawa Ryōshun

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro

Asano Naganori

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tadakatsu Honda

Forging

Katana made from tamahagane, showing alternating layers of varying carbon content.

Forge scenes, print from a Edo period book, Switzerland, Museum of Ethnography of Neuchâtel

The steel bloom, or kera, that is produced in the tatara contains steel that varies greatly in carbon content, ranging from wrought iron to pig iron. Three types of steel are chosen for the blade; a very low carbon steel called hocho-tetsu is used for the core of the blade, called the shingane. The high carbon steel, called tamahagane, and the remelted pig iron, called nabe-gane,[7] are combined to form the outer skin of the blade, called kawagane.[3][8][9] Only about 1/3 of the kera produces steel that is suitable for sword production.[10]

The best known part of the manufacturing process is the folding of the steel, where the swords are made by repeatedly heating, hammering and folding the metal. Frequently attributed to specific Japanese smiths in legend, the process of folding metal to improve strength and remove impurities, along with other steel technologies such as differential hardening, were well known in China since at least the Han Dynasty, and it is most likely that the method was introduced to Japan during the Tang Dynasty, when the Japanese made a strong effort to recruit Chinese smiths and other craftsmen, and the same period during which many fables attribute the invention of the process to some Japanese smith or another. The technique of repeated heating and folding of steel for swords was found in many other cultures and did not necessarily have one single point of origin.

In traditional Japanese sword making, the low carbon hocho-tetsu is folded several times by itself, to purify it. This produces the soft metal, called shingane, to be used for the core of the blade. The high carbon tamahagane and the higher carbon nabe-gane are then forged in alternating layers. The nabe-gane is heated, quenched in water, and then broken into small pieces to help free it from slag. The tamahagane is then forged into a single plate, and the pieces of nabe-gane are piled on top, and the whole thing is forge welded into a single block, which is called the age-kitae process. The block is then elongated, cut, folded, and forge welded again. The steel can be folded transversely, (from front to back), or longitudinally, (from side to side). Often both folding directions are used to produce the desired grain pattern.[4] This process, called the shita-kitae, is repeated from 8 to as many as 16 times. After 20 foldings, (220, or about a million individual layers), there is too much diffusion in the carbon content, the steel becomes almost homogenous in this respect, and the act of folding no longer gives any benefit to the steel.[11] Depending on the amount of carbon introduced, this process forms either the very hard steel for the edge, called hagane, or the slightly less hardenable spring steel, called kawagane, which is often used for the sides and the back.[4]

During the last few foldings, the steel may be forged into several thin plates, stacked, and forge welded into a brick. The grain of the steel is carefully positioned between adjacent layers, with the exact configuration dependent on the part of the blade for which the steel will be used. Between each heating and folding, the steel is coated in a mixture of clay, water and straw-ash to protect it from oxidation and carburization. The clay, in turn, acts as a flux, pulling impurities out from between the layers.[3][4][8] This practice became popular due to the use of highly impure metals, stemming from the low temperature yielded in the smelting at that time and place. The folding did several things:

Blacksmith scene, print from a Edo period book, Museum of Ethnography of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It provided alternating layers of differing hardenability. During quenching, the high carbon layers achieve greater hardness than the medium carbon layers. The hardness of the high carbon steels combine with the ductility of the low carbon steels to form the property of toughness.[2][10]

It eliminated any voids in the metal.

It homogenized the metal, spreading the elements (such as carbon) evenly throughout - increasing the effective strength by decreasing the number of potential weak points.

It burned off many impurities, helping to overcome the poor quality of the raw Japanese steel.

It created up to 65000 layers, by continuously decarburizing the surface and bringing it into the blade's interior, which gives the swords their grain (for comparison see pattern welding).

Generally, swords were created with the grain of the blade (called hada) running down the blade like the grain on a plank of wood. Straight grains were called masame-hada, wood-like grain itame, wood-burl grain mokume, and concentric wavy grain (an uncommon feature seen almost exclusively in the Gassan school) ayasugi-hada. The difference between the first three grains is that of cutting a tree along the grain, at an angle, and perpendicular to its direction of growth (mokume-gane) respectively, the angle causing the "stretched" pattern. The blades that were considered the most robust, reliable, and of highest quality were those made in the Mino tradition, especially those of Magoroku Kanemoto. Bizen tradition, which specialized in mokume, and some schools of Yamato tradition were also considered strong warrior's weapons.[citation needed]

[edit] Assembly

In addition to folding the steel, high quality Japanese swords are also composed of various distinct sections of different types of steel. Known in China as bao gang 包钢 (literally "wrapped steel") since at least the Tang Dynasty, this manufacturing technique uses different types of steel in different parts of the sword to accentuate the desired characteristics in various parts of the sword beyond the level offered by differentiated tempering.

The vast majority of modern katana and wakizashi are the maru (sometimes also called muku) type which is the most basic, with the entire sword being composed of one single steel. The kobuse type is made using two steels, which are called hagane (edge steel) and shingane (core steel). Honsanmai and shihozume types add the third steel, called kawagane (skin steel). There are almost an infinite number of ways the steel could be assembled, which often varied considerably from smith to smith.[3] Sometimes the hagane is "drawn out," (hammered into a bar), bent into a 'U' shaped trough, and the very soft shingane is inserted into the harder piece. Then they are forge welded together and hammered into the basic shape of the sword. By the end of the process, the two pieces of steel are fused together, but retain their differences in hardenability.[2][3] The more complex types of construction are typically only found in antique weapons, with the vast majority of modern weapons being composed of a single section, or at most two or three sections.

Another way is to assemble the different pieces into a block, forge weld it together, and then draw out the steel into a sword so that the correct steel ends up in the desired place.[4] This method is often used for the complex models, which allow for parrying without fear of damaging the side of the blade. To make honsanmai or shihozume types, pieces of hard steel are added to the outside of the blade in a similar fashion. The shihozume and soshu types are quite rare, but added a rear support.

[edit] Geometry (shape and form)

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A range of Japanese sword types, from left to right: Naginata, Tsurugi or ken, Tantō, Uchigatana and Tachi.

As Japan entered the bronze age, the swords found in Japan were very similar in shape to those found in continental Asia, i.e., China or Korea, and the Japanese adopted the Chinese convention for sword terminology along with metallurgy and swordmaking technology, classifying swords into the (either straight or curved) single-edged variety called tou 刀 and the (straight) double-edged variety called ken 剣. There is some small overlap in that there were some double-edged curved swords such as Tulwars or Scimitars which were called Tou, because the curvature meant that the "front" edge was used in the overwhelming majority of instances.

Over time, however, the single-edged sword with its characteristic curvature became so dominant a style in Japan that tou and ken came to be used interchangeably to refer to swords in Japan and by others to refer to Japanese swords. For example, the Japanese typically refer to Japanese swords as 日本刀 nihontou ("Japanese tou" i.e. "Japanese (single-edged) sword"), while the character ken 剣 is used in such terms as kendo and kenjutsu. Modern formal usage often uses both characters in referring to a collection of swords, for example, in naming the The Japanese Sword Museum 日本美術刀剣博物館 .

The prototype of the Japanese sword was the chokuto 直刀, or "straight (single-edged) sword", a design that can be fairly described as a Japanese sword without any curvature, with a handle that is usually only a few inches long and therefore suitable for single-handed use only, with a sword guard that is prominent only on the front (where the edge is pointed) and back sides and sometimes only on the front side of the sword blade, and with a ring pommel. This design was moderately common in China and Korea during the Warring States and Han Dynasties, fading from popularity and disappearing during the Tang Dynasty. A number of such swords have been excavated in Japan from graves dating back to the kofun period.

As the chokuto evolved into the Japanese sword as it is known today, it acquired its characteristic curvature and Japanese style fittings, including the long handle making it suitable for either one-handed or two-handed use, the non-protruding pommel, and a tsuba sword guard that protruded from the sword in all directions, i.e., that is not a cross piece or a guard for the edge or edge and back sides of the blade only but a guard intended to protect the hand on all sides of the blade. The shape of the Japanese tsuba evolved in parallel with Japanese swordsmithing and Japanese swordsmanship. As Japanese swordsmiths acquired the ability to achieve an extremely hard edge, Japanese swordsmanship evolved to protect the edge against chipping, notching, and breakage by parrying with the sides or backs of swords, avoiding edge-to-edge contact. This in turn resulted in the need to protect the sword hand from a sliding blade in parries on the sides and backs, i.e., parts of the blade other than the edge side, forming the rationale behind the Japanese styled tsuba, which protrudes from the blade in every direction.

This style of parrying in Japanese swordsmanship has also resulted in some antique swords that have actually been used in battle, exhibiting notches on the sides or backs of blades.

[edit] Heat treating

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A katana, showing the hardened edge. The inset shows the nioi, which is the bright, wavy line following the hamon. The nioi is made up of niye, which are single martensite crystals surrounded by darker pearlite.

Having a single edge also has certain advantages, one of the most important being that the entire rest of the sword can be used to reinforce and support the edge, and the Japanese style of sword making takes full advantage of this. When finished, the steel is not quenched or tempered in the conventional European fashion i.e. uniformly throughout the blade. Steel’s exact flex and strength vary dramatically with heat treating. If steel cools quickly it becomes martensite, which is very hard but brittle. Slower and it becomes pearlite, which bends easily and does not hold an edge. To maximize both the cutting edge and the resilience of the sword spine, the technique of differentiated tempering, first found in China during the first century BC, is used: the sword is heated and painted with layers of clay—the mixture being closely guarded trade secrets of the various smiths, but generally containing clay and coal ash as the primary ingredients—with a thin layer or none at all on the edge of the sword ensuring quick cooling to maximize the hardening for the edge, while a thicker layer of clay on the rest of the blade causing slower cooling and softer, more resilient steel to allow the blade to absorb shock without breaking.

This process also has two side effects that have come to characterize Japanese swords—first, it makes the edge of the blade, which cools quickly and forms evenly dispersed cementite particles embedded within a ferrite matrix (typical of tempered martensite), which will actually cause the edge part of the blade to expand while the sword spine remains hot and pliable for several seconds, which aids the smith in establishing the curvature of the blade. Second, the differentiated heat treatment and the materials with which the steel comes into contact creates different coloration in the steel, resulting in the Hamon 刃紋 (frequently translated as "tempering line" but really better translated as "tempering pattern"), that is used as a factor to judge both the quality and beauty of the finished blade. The differentiated Hamon patterns resulting from the manner in which the clay is applied can also act as an indicator of the style of sword making, and sometimes also as a signature for the individual smith.

[edit] Decoration

Antique Japanese wakizashi sword blade showing the horimono of a chrysanthemum.

A section of an antique Japanese katana showing two grooves hi and the temper line hamon.

Almost all blades are decorated, although not all blades are decorated on the visible part of the blade. Once the blade is cool, and the mud is scraped off, the blade has designs and grooves cut into it. One of the most important markings on the sword is performed here: the file markings. These are cut into the tang, or the hilt-section of the blade, where they will be covered by a hilt later. The tang is never supposed to be cleaned: doing this can cut the value of the sword in half or more. The purpose is to show how well the blade steel ages. A number of different types of file markings are used, including horizontal, slanted, and checked, known as ichi-monji, ko-sujikai, sujikai, ō-sujikai, katte-agari, shinogi-kiri-sujikai, taka-no-ha, and gyaku-taka-no-ha. A grid of marks, from raking the file diagonally both ways across the tang, is called higaki, whereas specialized "full dress" file marks are called kesho-yasuri. Lastly, if the blade is very old, it may have been shaved instead of filed. This is called sensuki. While ornamental, these file marks also serve the purpose of providing an uneven surface which bites well into the tsuka, or the hilt which fits over it and is made from wood. It is this pressure fit for the most part that holds the tsuka in place during the strike, while the mekugi pin serves as a secondary method and a safety.

Some other marks on the blade are aesthetic: signatures and dedications written in kanji and engravings depicting gods, dragons, or other acceptable beings, called horimono. Some are more practical. The presence of a so-called "blood groove" or fuller does not in actuality allow blood to flow more freely from cuts made with the sword. Fullers neither have a demonstrable difference in the ease of withdrawing a blade nor do they reduce the sucking sound that many people believe was the reason for including such a feature in commando knives in World War II.[12] The grooves are analogous in structure to an I beam, lessening the weight of the sword yet keeping structural integrity and strength.[12] Grooves come in wide (bo-hi), twin narrow (futasuji-hi), twin wide and narrow (bo-hi ni tsure-hi), short (koshi-hi), twin short (gomabushi), twin long with joined tips (shobu-hi), twin long with irregular breaks (kuichigai-hi), and halberd-style (naginata-hi).

Furthermore the grooves (always done on both sides of the blade) make a whistling sound when the sword is swung (the tachikaze太刀風). If the swordsman hears one whistle when swinging a grooved katana then that means that just one groove is making the whistle. Two whistles means that both the edge of the blade and a groove are making a whistle, and three whistles together (the blade edge and both grooves) would tell the swordsman that his blade is perfectly angled with the direction of the cut.

[edit] Polishing

Japanese sword blade, sharpening stone, and water bucket at 2008 Cherry Blossom Festival, Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington.

For more details on this topic, see Japanese sword polishing.

When the rough blade is completed, the swordsmith turns the blade over to a polisher called a togishi, whose job it is to refine the shape of a blade and improve its aesthetic value. The entire process takes considerable time, in some cases easily up to several weeks. Early polishers used three types of stone, whereas a modern polisher generally uses seven. The modern high level of polish was not normally done before around 1600, since greater emphasis was placed on function over form. The polishing process almost always takes longer than even crafting, and a good polish can greatly improve the beauty of a blade, while a bad one can ruin the best of blades. More importantly, inexperienced polishers can permanently ruin a blade by badly disrupting its geometry or wearing down too much steel, both of which effectively destroy the sword's monetary, historic, artistic, and functional value.

[edit] Mountings

For more details on this topic, see Japanese sword mountings.

In Japanese, the scabbard for a katana is referred to as a saya, and the handguard piece, often intricately designed as an individual work of art — especially in later years of the Edo period — was called the tsuba. Other aspects of the mountings (koshirae), such as the menuki (decorative grip swells), habaki (blade collar and scabbard wedge), fuchi and kashira (handle collar and cap), kozuka (small utility knife handle), kogai (decorative skewer-like implement), saya lacquer, and tsuka-ito (professional handle wrap, also named emaki), received similar levels of artistry.

After the blade is finished it is passed on to a mountings-maker, or sayashi (literally "Sheath Maker" but referring to those who make fittings in general). Sword mountings vary in their exact nature depending on the era, but generally consist of the same general idea, with the variation being in the components used and in the wrapping style. The obvious part of the hilt consists of a metal or wooden grip called a tsuka, which can also be used to refer to the entire hilt. The hand guard, or tsuba, on Japanese swords (except for certain twentieth century sabers which emulate Western navies') is small and round, made of metal, and often very ornate. (See koshirae.)

There is a pommel at the base known as a kashira, and there is often a decoration under the braided wrappings called a menuki. A bamboo peg called a mekugi is slipped through the tsuka and through the tang of the blade, using the hole called a mekugi-ana ("peg hole") drilled in it. This anchors the blade securely into the hilt. To anchor the blade securely into the sheath it will soon have, the blade acquires a collar, or habaki, which extends an inch or so past the hand guard and keeps the blade from rattling.

The sheaths themselves are not an easy task. There are two types of sheaths, both of which require exacting work to create. One is the shirasaya, which is generally made of wood and considered the "resting" sheath, used as a storage sheath. The other sheath is the more decorative or battle-worthy sheath which is usually called either a jindachi-zukuri, if suspended from the obi (belt) by straps (tachi-style), or a buke-zukuri sheath if thrust through the obi (katana-style). Other types of mounting include the kyū-guntō, shin-guntō, and kai-guntō types for the twentieth-century military.

[edit] Modern swordsmithing

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Traditional swords are still made in Japan and occasionally elsewhere; they are termed "shinsakuto" or "shinken" (true sword), and can be very expensive. These are not considered reproductions as they are made by traditional techniques and from traditional materials. Swordsmiths in Japan are licensed; acquiring this license requires a long apprenticeship. Outside of Japan there are a couple of smiths working by traditional or mostly-traditional techniques, and occasional short courses taught in Japanese swordsmithing.[13] The only two Japanese-licensed smiths outside of Japan are, Keith Austin (art-name Nobuhira or Nobuyoshi) died in 1997, and 17th Generation Yoshimoto Bladesmith Murray Carter.[14]

A very large number of low-quality reproduction katana and wakizashi are available; their prices usually range between $10 to about $200. These cheap blades are Japanese in shape only—they are usually machine made and machine sharpened, and minimally hardened or heat-treated. The hamon pattern (if any) on the blade is applied by scuffing, etching or otherwise marking the surface, without any difference in hardness or temper of the edge.[15] The metal used to make low-quality blades is mostly cheap stainless steel, and typically is much harder and more brittle than true katana. Finally, cheap reproduction Japanese swords usually have fancy designs on them since they are just for show. Better-quality reproduction katana typically range from $200 to about $1000 (though some can go easily above two thousand for quality production blades, folded and often traditionally constructed and with a proper polish [16]), and high-quality or custom-made reproductions can go up to $15000-$50000.[17] These blades are made to be used for cutting, and are usually heat-treated. High-quality reproductions made from carbon steel will often have a differential hardness or temper similar to traditionally-made swords, and will show a hamon; they won't show a hada (grain), since they're not often made from folded steel.

A wide range of steels are used in reproductions, ranging from carbon steels such as 1020, 1040, 1060, 1070, 1095, and 5160, stainless steels such as 400, 420, 440, to high-end specialty steels such as L6 and D2. Most cheap reproductions are made from inexpensive stainless steels such as 440A (often just termed "440").[18] With a normal Rockwell hardness of 56 and up to 60, stainless steel is much harder than the back of a differentially hardened katana, (HR50), and is therefore much more prone to breaking, especially when used to make long blades. Stainless steel is also much softer at the edge (a traditional katana is usually more than HR60 at the edge). Furthermore, cheap swords designed as wall-hanging or sword rack decorations often also have a "rat-tail" tang, which is a thin, usually threaded bolt of metal welded onto the blade at the hilt area. These are a major weak point and often break at the weld, resulting in an extremely dangerous and unreliable sword.[19]

Some modern swordsmiths have made high quality reproduction swords using the traditional method, including one Japanese swordsmith who began manufacturing swords in Thailand using traditional methods, and various American and Chinese manufacturers. These however will always be different from Japanese swords made in Japan, as it is illegal to export the Tamahagane jewel steel as such without it having been made into value-added products first. Nevertheless, some manufacturers have made differentially tempered swords folded in the traditional method available for relatively little money (often one to three thousand dollars), and differentially tempered, non-folded steel swords for several hundred. Some practicing martial artists prefer modern swords, whether of this type or made in Japan by Japanese craftsmen, because many of them cater to martial arts demonstrations by designing "extra light" swords which can be maneuvered relatively faster for longer periods of time, or swords specifically designed to perform well at cutting practice targets, with thinner blades and either razor-like flat-ground edges or even a hollow ground edges.

[edit] Commercial folded steel swords

In recent years, as the public has become more aware of the Japanese style of sword making, many companies have begun to offer folded steel swords, typically marketing them as "damascus" swords, which usually command higher prices than their non-folded equivalents. Many people are willing to pay a premium for such blades in the belief that any folded blade will be superior in performance and quality to any non-folded blade, but in fact it is just the reverse—a low quality folded sword is actually much more likely to contain metallurgical flaws than a sword made from a single piece of steel that came off the line in a modern steel plant, and any flaws would significantly increase the likelihood of breakage at the moment of contact. Add to this the lack of differentiated heat treatment, which already renders the blade brittle compared to a traditional Japanese sword or even a Western-style sword (which would typically not be tempered to as high a hardness due to expectations of striking metal armor), and the result is a sword that would be much more likely to break or shatter at the moment of contact, even for demonstration or "test" cutting, making the use of such a sword potentially highly hazardous to the wielder and any bystanders, as any breakage at the moment of contact will result in sharpened metal flying at unpredictable directions with the force of the blow.

Sword manufacturers marketing such low end folded swords tend to choose softer steels such as 1020 or 400 for this purpose, since they are easier to work and fold, and will also often attempt to enhance the appearance of the folding layers by making comparatively few folds (thus leaving thicker folds), folding soft iron with steel, folding stainless steel with non-stainless steel, using an acid wash to blacken the folds that are less corrosion resistant, or some combination of these techniques, resulting in a blade with extremely prominent folding marks. Where the acid wash technique is used, the blade will be various shades of gray and black. and frequently exhibit no hamon tempering line. All swords made by the traditional Japanese method, regardless of the quality or assembly type, results in a bright and shiny blade upon completion, and therefore any blade that is black or gray in color when new absolutely cannot have been made in the traditional manner of the Japanese swordsmiths.

Commercial folded steel swords can also made by stamping. In this method, steel is heated and folded in a sheet large enough to make multiple swords from, and then cut or "stamped" into long "blanks" somewhat resembling the shape of the blade. The blanks are then ground down to form the edges, exposing the folds. Due the comparative ease of manufacturing and greater efficiency (in the sense that less of the sheet tends to be lost during the stamping process), this method is most commonly seen in the manufacture of straight "damascus steel" swords such as sword canes and what are often called "double-edged samurai swords" but which are really just Chinese-style ken swords with Japanese-style fittings. The physical act of the stamping alters the molecular structure at the location of the cut, which can cause deterioration in the quality of the steel in subtle ways. While it is possible to adjust for this by simply grinding down the edges further and removing the portion of the blade that has had its molecular structure thus disturbed, it is doubtful that a manufacturer that has sought to reduce cost and production time by stamping folded sheet steel would then go through such additional efforts and costs to improve the quality of the blade. In any case, even if the stamped edge is ground away, what one is left with is still a low quality blade.

Regardless of the price or the production method of the sword, it is worthwhile to remember that the choice of materials and manufacturing techniques based on the desired appearance, rather than the performance of the resulting product will predictably result in swords which are serviceable for display only in the vast majority of instances.

Long before the term "samurai" came into usage, Japanese fighters were skilled with the sword and spear. These warriors included some women, such as the legendary Empress Jingu (c. 169-269 A.D.), pictured here leading an invasion of Korea.

According to the stories, Jingu was married to the fourteenth emperor of Japan, Chuai, who reigned between 192 and 200. After his death, she ruled as a regent for her young son. To pass the time, she invaded and conquered Korea (without shedding a drop of blood, according to the legend).

"Female Samurai"

Linguistic purists point out that the term "samurai" is a masculine word; thus, there are no "female samurai."

Nonetheless, for thousands of years, certain upper class Japanese women have learned martial skills and participated in fighting.

Between the 12th and 19th centuries, many women of the samurai class learned how to handle the sword and the naginata (a blade on a long staff) primarily to defend themselves and their homes. In the event that their castle was overrun by enemy warriors, the women were expected to fight to the end and die with honor, weapons in hand.

Some young women were such skilled fighters that they rode out to war beside the men, rather than sitting at home and waiting for war to come to them.