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Samurai Bows Down to Receive His Reward in the Form of a Sword. from the „Horie-Monogatari-Emaki“ (堀江物語絵巻) by Iwasa Matabei (岩佐又兵衛), Edo Period (17Th Century)

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Cover: Samurai bows down to receive his reward in the form of a sword. From the „Horie-monogatari-emaki“ (堀江物語絵巻) by Iwasa Matabei (岩佐又兵衛), Edo period (17th century) – 1 – – 2 – Markus Sesko Legends and Stories about the Japanese Sword © 2012 Markus Sesko eBook published by Lulu Enterprises, Inc. – 3 – – 4 – Contents Preface 1. The Dōjigiri-Yasutsuna 2. Onimaru, Hizamaru, Higekiri, and the big „sword renaming“ 3. Tokugawa Ieyasu and the sohaya no tsuruki 4. The maladies healing Ōtenta-Mitsuyo 5. Tegai Kanenaga and the Bodhisattva Monju 6. The „demonic“ Yukihira 7. Ishida Mitsunari and two Masamune less 8. Kannagiri- and Daihannya-Nagamitsu 9. Tōshirō Yoshimitsu 10. Gō Yoshihiro 11. The lost writing-box lid 12. The thousand spears of the Kikuchi 13. Fireflies and swords? 14. Thou shalt not shorten me 15. The Nikkari-Aoe 16. The expulsion of two kasha 17. A giant snake as swordsmith 18. The Yamaubagiri-Kunihiro 19. The daily problems of the giant snakes 20. The Kogitsune-maru 21. Juzumaru-Tsunetsugu and Ichigo-Hitofuri Yoshimitsu 22. Detective work on the Tenkyūwari-Kunimune 23. The Heshikiri-Hasebe 24. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak... 25. The legendary sharpness of Kotetsu´s blades 26. Sword prices and income of the samurai – 5 – – 6 – Preface In the last years and decates, several publications and translation about the Japanese Sword have been published in the West. In this way, the historical backgrounds, the characteristics of the blades, smiths, and schools, as well as the art of sword forging, and the sword fittings were introduced and explained. The aim of this publication is now to bring the reader closer to the role of the Japanese sword – the nihontō (日本刀) – it played in the warrior class and the Japanese society, namely by the means of legends, stories, and anecdotes about famous swords and their swordsmiths, embedded in an explanation of the backgrounds and other relevant facts. In the end, the reader should have an idea about the high value that was placed on this proverbial legendary weapon over more than thousand years of Japanese history (and even still today as an object of art). It was tried to perform a balancing act between an easy access to beginners and detailed facts for confirmed enthusiasts. With the former in mind, a small glossary was added at the end of this book, even when most of the terms are in the meanwhile easily accessible in other publications and on the internet. It must be noted that many of the legends described here are as the name already suggests legends, that means there are mostly several versions going round. Also the historical sources and records are often more or less divided but this was mentioned when required for the understanding of a certain handed down legend. The names in this publication are quoted in the Japanese way, namely: family name (myōji, 苗字), title (shōgō, 称号), common name (zokumyō, 俗名), and the actual name (nanori, 名乗 oder jisumei, 実名) which was taken after the coming of age (genpuku, 元服). In the case of Takeda Shingen the syntax of a Japanese name would be: „Takeda (myōji) Shinano no Kami (shōgō) Tarō (zokumyō) Shingen (nanori)“ (武田信濃守 太郎信玄). June 2011 Markus Sesko – 7 – – 8 – 1. The Dōjigiri-Yasutsuna The first story is about the conquest of the theving mountain demon Shutendōji (酒呑童子) and the sword which subserved this task. The origins of this legend are hidden in the darkness of history but according to the definition of a „legend“, it is probably based on certain real-existing actions which were later transformed and extended by dramaturgical tricks to keep it fresh and vital. At the time of the origins of this legend – we are in the middle of the 11th century (which corresponds to the middle Heian period) – many robbers and highwaymen terrorized the routes leading to Kyōto and it was reported that again and again women and young girls were kidnapped. The Neo Confucian scholar and philosopher Kaibara Ekiken (貝原益軒, 1630-1714) pointed out in his examinations on this subject that the legend might go back to an adaption of the „Legend of the White Monkey“ (白猿伝, jap. „Hakuen-den“, chin. „Báiyúan-yún“) of the Chinese politician and author Jiang Zōng (江総. jap. Kōsō, 519- 594). In this story, a white monkey kidnapped the wife of a traveller. The latter went searching for her and came eventually to the hidden cave of the monkey. The traveller came back the next day with wine and a rope, made the white monkey drunk, tied him up and killed him. The oldest extant written or rather pictorial record of the Legend of Shutendōji is the so-called „Ōeyama-ekotoba“ (大江山絵詞, „Illustrated Story on Mt. Ōe“), which dates to the Nanbokuchō period (1336-1392) and is now preserved in the Itsuō Museum (逸翁美術館, Ikeda, Ōsaka Prefecture). Before we enlarge on the actual sword mentioned in the heading of this chapter, I would like to relate the „Legend of the Conquest of Shutendōji“ („Shutendōji-monogatari“, 酒呑童子物語). As mentioned, it deals with a thieving demon who terrorized the mountainous area of the Ōeyama in Tanba province to the north of Kyōto. – 9 – Thus the complaints of the local people reached even the emperor who ordered Minamoto no Yorimitsu (源頼光, 948-1021)*1 to deal with this situation. Just as a passing remark, Yorimitsu had already finished several robbers, rebells, and rogues upon order from the emperor. So he took his four generals, the so-called „shitennō“ (四天王) Sakata no Kintoki (坂田公時), Watanabe no Tsuna (渡辺綱), Urabe no Suetake (卜部季武), and Usui Sadamitsu (碓井貞光), and set out to the Ōeyama. The party was joined en route by Fujiwara no Yasumasa (藤原保昌) and all six climbed up the path disguised as Buddhist mountain ascets. During ascent they came across three old men who – as it turned out later – were actually likewise disguised Shintō deities.*2 From them they received three magic items: a helmet, a rope, and a bottle of anaesthetizing vine. When they reached the top of the mountain, Shutendōji held a huge banquett for his vistors, in the course of which human flesh and blood was served. But they tried not to get exposed and thus ate the horrifying meal, and at the end of the „dinner“, Yorimitsu offered Shutendōji and his men some of the vine they brought. Soon they fell asleep, Shutendōji was tied up, and the party started to kill the thievy gang. When Shutendōji was decapitated by Yorimitsu, his head flew through the air and tried a last time to bite Yorimitsu in the head, but the magic helmet withstood this demonic attack. And so the sword with which Yorimitsu killed the demon got its name „dōjigiri“ (童子切, lit. „Dōji Cutter“ or „Dōji Slayer“). And today it designated as national treasure (kokuhō, 国宝) under the name „Dōjigiri-Yasutsuna“. *1 The characters of his first name can also be read as „Raikō“ *2 Another version of this legend sais that the six went before to a pilgrimage to the three shrines Iwashimizu-Hachimangū (石清水八幡宮) in Kyōto, Sumiyoshi-taisha (住吉大社) in Ōsaka, and Kumano-jinja (熊野神社) in Wakayama Prefecture where they got the three magic items from the local deities. – 10 – A written evidence for the very name „Dōjigiri-Yasutsuna“ is already found in one of the oldest extant sword books, the „Nōami-hon mei-zukushi“ (能阿弥本銘尽).*3 Therein it is written that Sakanoue Tamuramaro (坂上田村麻呂, 758-811) once offered the blade to the grand shrine of Ise and that Yoritomo had a dream that he was allowed to use the blade especially for the task to kill the Shutendōji. Well, the blade bears the signature of the swordsmith Yasutsuna (安綱) from the province of Hōki who is quoted in all old sword records ad having been active in the Daidō era (大同, 806-810). But from the point of view of workmanship and from comparisons to other early smiths it becomes obvious that it dates much later, likely to the early 11th century. This would agree completely with the dates of Yorimitsu but Yorimitsu but not with Sakanoue, and so the legend of Yorimitsu´s dream and his reference to the sword and him being „chosen“ for this task proves to be a mere fiction. However, the whereabouts of the sword after Yorimitsu´s „act“ are unclear. But the swordsmith Ōmura Kaboku (大村加卜) who worked for Matsudaira Mitsunaga (松平光長, 1616-1707) – later more about him – tells in his essay „Kentō-hihō“ (剣刀秘宝)*4 quite a phantastic story: „Yasutsuna himself once decided to offer the sword to the seafloor ´Palace of the Dragon King´ (ryūgū, 竜宮), threw it into the waters, but it was swallowed by a whale. Several hundred years later the sword was found in the belly of the whale, in some miraculous way not rust! Again some several hundred years later it came into the possession of Nitta Yoshisada (新田義貞, 1301-1338), the general of the Nanbokuchō period who was a loyal retainer of the Southern Dynasty. *3 This work was compiled by Nōami Shinnō (能阿弥真能, 1397-1471) an published in the 15th year of Bunmei (文明, 1483). His successors copied, edited, and enlarged it until Eiroku twelve (永禄, 1569). *4 Lit. „Secret Treasure Swords“. It was also published under the name „Tōken-hihō“ (刀剣秘宝). – 11 – Yoshisada mounted the sword in his campaign against Kamakura but when he was en route to the latter, he was thwarted by the flood at Inamuragasaki (稲村ケ崎) which lais to the southwest of Kamakura. In order to move faster, he offered his beloved sword to the sea to return it to the Palace of the Dragon King, and lo and behold, the flood drew back spontaneously for about ten chō (~ 1.1 km) So he was in the end able to occupy Kamakura.“ It is likely that Ōmura Kaboku mixed the sword up with the „onikiri“ (鬼切, lit.
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    THE GODDESSES' SHRINE FAMILY: THE MUNAKATA THROUGH THE KAMAKURA ERA by BRENDAN ARKELL MORLEY A THESIS Presented to the Interdisciplinary Studies Program: Asian Studies and the Graduate School ofthe University ofOregon in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Master ofArts June 2009 11 "The Goddesses' Shrine Family: The Munakata through the Kamakura Era," a thesis prepared by Brendan Morley in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program: Asian Studies. This thesis has been approved and accepted by: e, Chair ofthe Examining Committee ~_ ..., ,;J,.." \\ e,. (.) I Date Committee in Charge: Andrew Edmund Goble, Chair Ina Asim Jason P. Webb Accepted by: Dean ofthe Graduate School III © 2009 Brendan Arkell Morley IV An Abstract ofthe Thesis of Brendan A. Morley for the degree of Master ofArts in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program: Asian Studies to be taken June 2009 Title: THE GODDESSES' SHRINE FAMILY: THE MUNAKATA THROUGH THE KAMAKURA ERA This thesis presents an historical study ofthe Kyushu shrine family known as the Munakata, beginning in the fourth century and ending with the onset ofJapan's medieval age in the fourteenth century. The tutelary deities ofthe Munakata Shrine are held to be the progeny ofthe Sun Goddess, the most powerful deity in the Shinto pantheon; this fact speaks to the long-standing historical relationship the Munakata enjoyed with Japan's ruling elites. Traditional tropes ofJapanese history have generally cast Kyushu as the periphery ofJapanese civilization, but in light ofrecent scholarship, this view has become untenable. Drawing upon extensive primary source material, this thesis will provide a detailed narrative ofMunakata family history while also building upon current trends in Japanese historiography that locate Kyushu within a broader East Asian cultural matrix and reveal it to be a central locus of cultural production on the Japanese archipelago.
  • Vegetable Production and the Diet in Rural Villages by Ayako Ehara (Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Kasei-Gakuin University)

    Vegetable Production and the Diet in Rural Villages by Ayako Ehara (Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Kasei-Gakuin University)

    Vegetables and the Diet of the Edo Period, Part 2 Vegetable Production and the Diet in Rural Villages By Ayako Ehara (Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Kasei-Gakuin University) Introduction compiled by Tomita Iyahiko and completed in 1873, describes the geography and culture of Hida During the Edo period (1603–1868), the number of province. It contains records from 415 villages in villages in Japan remained fairly constant with three Hida counties, including information on land roughly 63,200 villages in 1697 and 63,500 140 years value, number of households, population and prod- later in 1834. According to one source, the land ucts, which give us an idea of the lifestyle of these value of an average 18th and 19th century village, with villagers at the end of the Edo period. The first print- a population of around 400, was as much as 400 to ed edition of Hidago Fudoki was published in 1930 500 koku1, though the scale and character of each vil- (by Yuzankaku, Inc.), and was based primarily on the lage varied with some showing marked individuality. twenty-volume manuscript held by the National In one book, the author raised objections to the gen- Archives of Japan. This edition exhibits some minor eral belief that farmers accounted for nearly eighty discrepancies from the manuscript, but is generally percent of the Japanese population before and during identical. This article refers primarily to the printed the Edo period. Taking this into consideration, a gen- edition, with the manuscript used as supplementary eral or brief discussion of the diet in rural mountain reference.