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Old Japan Redux 3 Old Japan Redux 3 Edited by X. Jie YANG February 2017 The cover painting is a section from 弱竹物語, National Diet Library. Old Japan Redux 3 Edited by X. Jie YANG, February 2017 Content Poem and Stories The Origins of Japan ……………………………………………… April Grace Petrascu 2 Journal of an Unnamed Samurai ………………………………… Myles Kristalovich 5 Holdout at Yoshino ……………………………………………………… Zachary Adrian 8 Memoirs of Ieyasu ……………………………………………………………… Selena Yu 12 Sword Tales ………………………………………………………………… Adam Cohen 15 Comics Creation of Japan …………………………………………………………… Karla Montilla 19 Yoshitsune & Benkei ………………………………………………………… Alicia Phan 34 The Story of Ashikaga Couple, others …………………… Qianhua Chen, Rui Yan 44 This is a collection of poem, stories and manga comics from the final reports submitted to Japanese Civilization, fall 2016. Please enjoy the young creativity and imagination! P a g e | 2 The Origins of Japan The Mythical History April Grace Petrascu At the beginning Izanagi and Izanami descended The universe was chaos Upon these islands The heavens and earth And began to wander them Just existed side by side Separately, the first time Like a yolk inside an egg When they met again, When heaven rose up Izanami called to him: The kami began to form “How lovely to see Four pairs of beings A man such as yourself here!” After two of genesis The first-time speech was ever used. Creating the shape of earth The male god, upset Izanagi, male That the first use of the tongue Izanami, the female Was used carelessly, Kami divided He once again circled the land By their gender, the only In an attempt to cool down Kami pair to be split so Once they met again, Both of these two gods Izanagi called to her: Emerged from heaven wanting “How lovely to see To build their own thing A woman like yourself here!” Upon the surface of earth The first time their love was matched. That was unique amongst others Amaterasu Thus the male god pierced The kami pair’s first daughter The earth’s ocean with his spear The goddess of light Thousands of islands The symbol of purity Formed from the water droplets And good in the world That fell from his divine spear 3 | P a g e Old Japan Redux 3 ‘Twas this goddess’s The male god cared not That ran through the veins of the What happened between his kin Emperor’s family For Izanami The first mortal being of Was his reason for living This newly created land All things he did was for her The second daughter, Their fifth and last child Born the goddess of the moon, God of wild fire Tsuki no kami, Brought Izanami Governed this land at night time Great pain and injury, she When Amaterasu slept. Fled to the nether regions. The third born a son The male god followed But was considered crippled Not wanting to be away When he could not walk From the female god Placed in a basket to die But when he saw her body In the ocean at age three It had already decayed The fourth was healthy He surfaced to earth Sosanoo no mikoto And cleansed himself in the sea Born to be their true first son Which created gods Grew up to cause much trouble From the impure essences Only to be banished away Created from the nether He loved to play pranks It was then he saw On the goddess of the sun The world covered in darkness. But he went too far Amaterasu? When he threw skin of a horse He wondered where she could be. While she was weaving He thought she would never leave. Amaterasu That is how he learned Frightened, went into hiding Of what his son, Susanoo, In a cold, dark cave Did to his sister And covered the entrance with Of the eight hundred thousand kami With a bolder that could not move All, trying to lure her out Without her sunlight Infuriated The earth was engulfed in night Izanagi went to her Letting Susanoo To try and save her. Run as free as he wanted Only to find his daughter Causing even more trouble Smiling and laughing again P a g e | 4 Banished, Susanoo So he rose her up Placed on top of a catfish head Placed her on a pedestal Sent away to sea, Up in Heaven’s clouds Him, cursing at his father, So she can safely govern Swearing his revenge on him. The land of the rising sun. Amaterasu, Must protect the sun goddess So the land that he And Izanami had made Can prosper under her light April Grace Petrascu is a 3rd year student as a East Asian Language Studies Major, with a concentration in Japanese. April loves to learn many different languages; other than learning the Japanese language, she is also currently learning Mandarin Chinese and Korean. She fell in love with Japanese culture while learning about Japanese history and myths. Her goal is to become a multilingual person who is able to tell many stories in many different languages. 5 | P a g e O ld J apan R edux 3 Journal of an Unnamed Samurai Myles Kristalovich 1268 年 XX 月 XX 日 Word has come from the bakufu today. An emissary of the Yuan arrived in the capital with a message for the emperor. The message he delivered speaks of unity and friendly relations between our people. However, the truth behind this message is clear, “Submit and send tribute or face our wrath.” The emperor’s court would have us negotiate, to pay heed to these barbarians. The shogun, Hojo Tokimune, however, is not so weak-willed as our cowardly emperor. They found no quarter with him and were sent back, without so much as even a glance to show for their efforts. Our country may be “small”, as the Yuan say, but we are strong, and we will not be “fathered” by any other. The Yuan will surely not be pleased with our response and, as such, the preparations for our defense have already begun. Hoko Masamura has been placed in charge, I could think of few a wiser general for the job. I wait now for when I will be called to the frontline, so that I may defend my country with honour. Japan has never faced a threat like this before and, though I am filled with dread at what the future may hold, my will as samurai will not allow this threat to pass unabated. 1272 年 XX 月 XX 日 The Yuan army is advancing ever further with their preparations and the bakufu is answering in kind. All Kyushu vessels have been ordered to return to their estates and send their armies to man the country’s western defense. Not only this but, another emissary recently arrived and was again sent back without reply. I am sure we have sufficiently tested Kublai Khan’s patience at this point, but Japan, nor I, will be not deterred. My lord calls and I now move to answer. For this, I must leave my family behind, my wife and our young son. Will this be the last time I glance upon their shining faces? I know they will be in good hands should I not return, my family will support her and ensure our child grows to be a proper man. I, at least, have this small comfort to keep me focused as I march into battle and an uncertain fate. 1272 年 11 月 19 日 The reputation of the Yuan surely proceeds them. Today, they landed in Hakata Bay aboard hulky warships as barbaric as their army itself. Our enemies poured out and quickly subdued the town of Hakata. My heart is filled with sorrow and rage thinking of the fates of the town’s citizens. We’ve all heard of the barbaric practices of the foreigners, only the gods know what I would do if such a fate befell my own wife and child. We quickly moved to engage them but their methods of P a g e | 6 war are unlike anything I have ever seen before. They fight without honour, as our strongest warrior walked into the middle ground and attempted to call out for a dual as one would against an enemy from our own land he was quickly shot down in a manner one can only call disgusting and brutal. They cowardly hid behind their shields as they pushed forward with their spears, refusing to clash blades in a manner befitting a true warrior. Their archers used short bows that were unlike any of those found in Japan. Again and again they would let loose waves of arrows so great that, at times, it seemed as if the sun disappeared from the sky. Sometimes they would unleash bolts of fire and others would not unleash their flames until impact, maiming any man unlucky enough to be close. The savages even employed the use of poison. One of my dearest friends barely avoided taking an arrow to the shoulder, only to collapse, writhing in pain minutes later from the most seemingly insignificant of scratches. When we were not being volleyed by arrows, we were being bombarded with balls of fire-filled stone. These not only possessed the power to easily kill multiple men but also had the unfortunate effect of sending our cavalries’ horses in disarray. It is a small grace that their own massive cavalry force was hindered as well, without enough room to be used to the utmost of their ability. This is not to say we did not put up a fight.
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