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A Samurai Kills the Provincial Governor and Cuts Him in Two Halves with His Sword

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A Samurai Kills the Provincial Governor and Cuts Him in Two Halves with His Sword Cover: A samurai kills the provincial governor and cuts him in two halves with his sword. From „Horie-monogatari-emaki“ (堀江物語絵巻), th by Iwasa Matabei (岩佐又兵衛), Edo period (17 century) – 1 – – 2 – Markus Sesko Legends and Stories around the Japanese Sword 2 © 2012 Markus Sesko Print and Publishing: Lulu Enterprises, Inc. eBook Version – 3 – – 4 – Contents Preface 7 1. The Tsubokiri no tsurugi 9 2. The Kogarasu-maru 17 3. From women, geese, and naginata 32 4. The curse of Muramasa 37 5. Divination on the basis of sword blades 48 6. The life of a royalist swordsmith 52 7. The swords of Takeda Shingen 58 8. The Yoshimoto-Samonji 68 9. The Takemata-Kanemitsu 76 10. The bean matter 84 11. The Gokotai-Yoshimitsu 88 12. The case of Kiyomaro 90 13. The tragic love story of Hosokawa Tadamasa 101 14. The Kuronbogiri-Kagehide and other Date swords 104 15. The Furiwakegami-Masamune 110 16. The Tsurumaru-Kuninaga 113 17. The spears of Katō Kiyomasa 119 18. The tantō Uraku Rai Kunimitsu 129 19. The Tsuriganekiri-Kuniyuki 133 20. The Nagashino and other Ichimonji 136 21. Kotetsu´s career 142 22. Yasutsugu and the short phenomenon of nanban-tetsu 154 Map of the old provinces 163 Glossary 165 References 168 Index 170 – 5 – – 6 – Preface This is now the second volume of my book „Legends and Stories around the Japanese Sword“ published about one and a half years ago. Once more I try to bring the reader closer to the Japanese sword and dig deeper into the matter by the means of legends, stories and anecdotes about famous swords and their swordsmiths. Like in the first volume, I introduce several famous meitō or meibutsu and the same rule applies here too, namely that many of the legends described in this book are, as the name already suggests, legends, that means there are often several versions going round. Also, the historical sources and records are often more or less divided, but this will be mentioned when required for the understanding of a certain handed down legend. The names in this publication are quoted 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 or jisumei, 実名) which was adopted after the coming of age (genpuku, 元服). In the case of Takeda Shingen the syntax of his Japanese name would be: „Takeda (myōji) Shinano no Kami (shōgō) Tarō (zokumyō) Shingen (nanori)“ (武田 信濃守太郎信玄). September 2012 Markus Sesko – 7 – – 8 – 1. The Tsubokiri no tsurugi Let me begin with the Japanese Imperial Court, or more precisely with the crown prince. His personal sword for self defence – which is called a „mamorigatana“ (守り刀) – is the Tsubokiri no tsurugi (壷切剣). The history of this sword can be traced back to the time of emperor Daigo (醍醐天皇, 885-930, r. 897-930). First of all, the origins of the swords are somewhat unknown and in old documents it is referred to by different names like, for example, „Kiritsubo no tsurugi“ (斬壷剣), „Kiritsubo no tsurugi“ (切壷剣), „Tsubokiri no tsurugi“ (壷斬剣) or with the aforementioned characters (壷切剣). From the meaning of the characters it can be assumed that at one time a kind of jar (tsubo, 壷) was cut through (kiri, 斬り・切り) with the sword. Incidentally, there is the theory that the first and initial nickname of the sword was „Kiritsubo no tsurugi“ (斬壷剣). An old legend says that the sword was once owned by Chōryō (張良, chin. Zhang Líang, 262-189 BC), a famous tactician of the Chinese Hàn dynasty (漢, 206 BC to 220 AD). But this is a mix-up with Fujiwara no Nagara (藤原長良, also read as „Fujiwara no Nagayoshi“, 802-856) based on the similarity of characters (張良 → 長良). The most accepted history of the sword states that the Tsubokiri no tsurugi went from the possession Nagara into that of his younger brother Fujiwara no Yoshifusa (藤原良房, 804-872) who bequeathed it to his adopted son Fujiwara no Mototsune (藤原基経, 836-891). By the way, Mototsune was the natural third son of Nagara. But we do not know from which Fujiwara it went eventually into the possession of the emperor or the crown prince. Because of the complexity of the subject and for a better understanding we have to examine briefly the connection of the Fujiwara family with the then Imperial Court. – 9 – Picture 1 from left to right: Fujiwara no Nagara, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, Fujiwara no Mototsune. The portraits were made by Kikuchi Yōsai (菊池容斎, 1781-1878). From 1825 to 1836, he compiled in the „Zenken-kojitsu“ (前賢故実) publication a collection of more than 500 monochrome portraits of historical figures. When the Imperial capital was transferred from Nara to Heiankyō (平安京, present-day Kyōto) in 794, the then emperor Kanmu (桓武天皇, 737-806, r. 781-806) introduced new government offices which gave more direct power to the emperor and his closest aides. This resulted in a stable government for almost half a century, at the same time the Fujiwara family was also able to gain supremacy over all the aristocratic families. At the end of this development the emperor was once again reversed to a mere representative role, as it was the case in the Yamato era. In 857 emperor Montoku (文徳天皇, 827-858, r. 850-858) appointed the aforementioned Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, previously his aide, as chancellor (daijōdaijin, 太政大臣). The latter eventually managed to set his own minor grandson on the throne as emperor Seiwa (清和天皇, 850-881, r. 858-876). Yoshifusa himself took the title of „regent“ (sesshō, 摂政), a post which literally translates as „governing additionally“. This set a precedent; it was namely the first time that a person other than a prince had taken the post of regent of an underage emperor. But what was more controversial for the then imperial family and the other aristocrats was the fact that Yoshifusa continued his regency even after Seiwa became of age. – 10 – Yoshifusa´s successor, Fujiwara no Mototsune, changed the name of his inherited post of „sesshō“ to that of „kanpaku“ (関白). This later became the common title for a regent of an emperor of age to rule. Mototsune acted as kanpaku regent for emperor Kōkō (光孝天皇, 830- 887, r. 884-887). From then on the Fujiwara family held the monopoly of the combined post of sesshō-kanpaku, i.e. to govern an underage emperor and an emperor of age. This led to two hundred years of Fujiwara dominance at the Imperial Court, earning the nickname „Fujiwara Era“. But let us return to the Kiritsubo no tsurugi. Today it is assumed that the sword passed from Mototsune to emperor Uda (宇多天皇, 867-931, r. 887-897). Uda was the son of Kōkō. Kōkō made use of a „trick“ known since the 8th century AD aimed at reducing the political influence of his sons and to end the disputes in the succession to the throne by granting them family names. These given clan names like „Minamoto“ (源), „Tachibana“ (橘) and „Taira“ (平) – in the case of Uda it was „Minamoto“ – still marked the sons as members of the aristocracy but they lost their claim to the throne. However, their direct descent from the imperial line committed them to loyalty. Later, when it was time to pick a successor to Kōkō´s throne, the choice fell anyway on Uda again. Well, there is also another approach regarding the Kiritsubo no tsurugi, namely that it had passed from Fujiwara no Yoshifusa to emperor Montoku. This assumption is based on the following legend: when the sickly Montoku was again close to death, the imperial family sent for a Yin-Yang master (onmyō-ji, 陰陽師). Spiritual advisers were common practice back then for healing diseases. They gave the Kiritsubo no tsurugi to the master, whose name is not known, in order to use the swords inherent power to pray for the emperor’s recovery. But it did not help, Montoku died at the young age of 32, and the Yin-Yang master fled taking the sword with him. Later it was rediscovered – according to transmission entirely intact and unharmed – during excavations around Kyōto´s Shinsen´en garden (神泉苑).*1 It is said that this took place before the fifth year of Ninna (仁和, 889). *1 The garden, located south-east of Nijō Castle, was rearranged during the Meiji era. – 11 – So the first handing over of the Kiritsubo no tsurugi as mamori- gatana for the crown prince probably took place in the fifth year of Kanpyō (寛平, 893) when emperor Uda´s son Daigo – mentioned at the beginning of this chapter – was officially nominated as crown prince. Daigo´s mother Taneko (胤子) was a Fujiwara and there is the transmission that the Fujiwara imposed a condition on the Kiritsubo no tsurugi, namely that it should only be handed over to a crown prince whose mother was a Fujiwara on her father’s side. The first difficulties emerged with the later emperor Go-Sanjō (後三条天皇, 1034-1073, r. 1068-1072) whose mother was „only“ a maternal Fujiwara. So the Fujiwara boycotted the handing over of the sword and also the succession to the throne of Go-Sanjō. But because the previous emperor Go-Reizei (後冷泉天皇, 1025-1068, r. 1045-1068) had no sons, his brother Go-Sanjō was the next legitimate candidate. The distrust of the Fujiwara turns out not to be unjustified because Go-Sanjō paved the way for a dissolution of the kanpaku regency. He abdicated in 1072 due to illness and retired to a monastery (in, 院), but because of his death in 1073 he didn’t have the time to exercise power in the name of his son Shirakawa (白河天皇, 1053-1129, r.
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