them to arm themselves and protect their personal possessions during such chaotic events.
Although not specifically prohibited from carrying ko-wakizashi, law-abiding ch
Samurai status
The sword was venerated by the bushi (warrior class) and even during the relative peace of the Edo period was worn as a badge of samurai status. The sword was considered the “the soul of a samurai,” and no self-respecting bushi would be seen outside his home without his daish
Although all members of the samurai class wore the two swords during the Edo period, some did so more out of custom than for functional purposes. The samurai of the Edo period were mostly bureaucrats and administrators, not the warriors of their more violent medieval past. As descendants of soldiers and hereditary members of the military class, they were forced to reconcile the sometimes contradictory roles of being warriors in a time of peace.
Continuing in their martial tradition, many young samurai trained in kenjutsu (swordsmanship) and maintained their overall proficiency with various other weapons. Hundreds of d
With swords worn primarily for public display, many descendants of the samurai class were less concerned with proficiency and weapons expertise. During the peace of the Tokugawa sh
Kirisutegomen (killing and going away)
Popular fiction has often portrayed the samurai as extremely violent and quick to cut someone down at the slightest provocation. With a rigidly enforced and unquestioned social hierarchy, some samurai did tend to be rather dismissive, even arrogant and abusive toward the lower classes. It is a popular misconception, though, that most samurai swaggered about the streets of Edo or rural highways indiscriminately killing one another or some unfortunate ch
It is true that the convention of kirisutegomen (killing and going away) was formally recognized under the Tokugawa sh
Any samurai involved in such a killing, however, would certainly have been held by officials while an investigation was conducted. The Tokugawa sh
Wasteful actions such as kirisutegomen, and especially tsuji-giri, were generally frowned upon by all clan and government officials. Although it may have been allowed legally, such behavior was definitely considered intolerable according to commonly accepted religious, moral, and ethical values. The government, realizing it was dependent upon the common people for both produce and taxes, would not risk further alienation by allowing such excesses. Even if an investigation did fail to find any infraction of these respective guidelines, no samurai could afford a reputation for such needless killings.
According to common law of this period, any citizen, regardless of class, was also allowed to defend himself from unprovoked attacks. Thus, a commoner was allowed to kill a samurai if assaulted. If successful, he was likely to be released from any murder charges by authorities if the killing was committed in self-defense. Obviously, samurai were not as prone to indulge in practices such as kirisutegomen and tsuji-giri when commoners were armed and capable of offering resistence.
Fukushu (blood feud) and ada-uchi (legal vendetta)
Killing another samurai, even a lower-ranking bushi, might easily spark a fukushu (blood feud) with another clan, resulting in many other members of either house being killed. No self-respecting bushi would dare put his fellow clan members in such a dangerous position without considering these possible consequences.
Slaying any individual, regardless of class, might also initiate an ada-uchi,11 a legal vendetta, by members of the victim’s family. According to the strict rules of ada-uchi, retaliation could be directed only against the murderer and then only by a person of equal or lower social status. An ada-uchi required registration with local officials. Once a permit was issued, the right or wrong of the original death was considered irrelevant. Anyone killing another without a properly registered ada-uchi, though, was subject to punishment for murder.
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