prominence changes through history, and to examine closely how these weapons were actually used in the time when skill meant survival, and failure, death.
This work is a revised version of an earlier book of mine, The Lone Samurai and the Martial Arts, which has been out of print for many years. The text has been thoroughly reworked and augmented by many new illustrations. Much new material has become available since the late 1980s, and a whole new generation of scholars has been producing excellent work from primary sources, which has raised questions about many established notions about samurai warfare. For example, the calling out of pedigrees and the issuing of personal challenges in the heat of battle, often regarded as the stock in trade of the samurai, has been called into question. I also acknowledge the high-quality research into the structure and design of Japanese armor undertaken at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, by Ian Bottomley. I also wish to acknowledge the cooperation of the Maniwa Nen-ryū dōjō and other martial arts institutions in Japan.
—Stephen Turnbull
Chapter 1
SWORDS AND HEROES
The most enduring traditional image of the samurai is that of the lone wanderer, owing allegiance to none but himself, and relying for his continued survival on his skills with the sword. This is a powerful picture, and one that has tended to dominate the perception of the archetypal Japanese warrior. However, as the following pages will show, this image owes as much to the peaceful years of the Tokugawa period (1603 – 1867) as it does to the preceding years of war. It is also a far cry from the reality of the earliest samurai warriors, who were aristocratic mounted archers rather than swordsmen. These men relied far less on the sword than on the bow. Nor did they hold allegiance only to themselves. Instead, they were part of a vast web of dependent feudal links, with their ultimate loyalty being to the lords who led them into battle. Their fierce sense of pride and personal honor, and their individual prowess at the martial arts, were the only features they had in common with their later popular image. Yet their exploits with horse, bow, and sword set the standard by which future generations of samurai would be judged.
The Sword and the Kami
The first use of the word “samurai” dates back to the eighth century ad, but this was preceded by many centuries of myth, legend, and history. Japan’s long military tradition, in fact, goes back over two millennia, and at the very beginning of time—according to the creation myths that explain the origins of the Japanese islands—we find the image of a weapon. This is the “Jewel-spear of Heaven” that Izanagi, the father of the kami (deities), plunges into the ocean, and from whose point drips water that coalesces into the land of Japan.1 Later in the same work (the Kojiki, c. ad 712) we see a reference to the most enduring Japanese martial image of all, when Izanagi uses a sword to kill the fire god, whose birth has led to the death of his wife, Izanami.
Swords also played a part in the stories about the two surviving children of Izanagi: Susano-M, the thunder god, and Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun. The Kojiki tells us how Susano-ō destroyed a monstrous serpent that was terrorizing the people. He began by getting it drunk on sake (rice wine) and then hewed off its heads and tail. But when he reached the tail, his blade struck something it could not penetrate, and Susano-ō discovered a sword hidden therein. As it was a very fine sword, he presented it to his sister, Amaterasu, and because the serpent’s tail had been covered in black clouds, the sword was named Ame no murakomo no tsurugi, the Cloud Cluster Sword.2 Amaterasu in turn gave the sword to her grandson, Ninigi, who was to descend from heaven and rule the earth. Ninigi eventually passed it on to his grandson Jimmu, identified as the first tennō (emperor) of Japan, whose traditional dates are 660–585 bc. Jimmu Tennō kept this sword as one of the “crown jewels” of the Japanese emperors.
Taira Shigehira, the classic samurai mounted archer.
The legendary Prince Yamato is the first of a long line of individual samurai swordsmen who meet a tragic death. In reality, Yamato is probably a composite character (Yamato is an early name for Japan), but the tales of his exploits give a fascinating insight into the attitudes of these early times.
Disguised as a woman, with the Cloud Cluster Sword concealed beneath his robes, Prince Yamato carried out an assassination. He joined in with the merrymaking at the rebel leader's banquet, and then at the right moment pounced on his victim.
Historical figures blend with the characters of mythology in the other early chronicle, the Nihon Shōki, which gives us many details about the early emperors, including several individuals renowned for their prowess at the martial arts. But the character who can be regarded as the first of the long line of brave individual swordsmen is Prince Yamato. Yamatotakeru-no mikoto, to give him his full title, is probably a composite character (Yamato is an ancient name for the Japanese nation), because his heavenly exploits make a statement about the very earthly struggles that were then going on in Japan. The descendants of the “sun line” of emperors by no means ruled unopposed, and had to strive to assert the authority of their uji (clan) against challengers.
Prince Yamato was the third son of Emperor Keikō, and began his career inauspiciously when he murdered his elder brother. As a punishment, he was dispatched on a series of missions to quell rebels to the throne, thus bringing into the story some elements of the “wandering swordsman” image. Like the later stereotypes, Prince Yamato was forced to journey to a distant land where he could put his warrior skills to positive use by opposing the enemies to the imperial line. It is, however, fascinating to note that Yamato’s first victory against a rebel chieftain was accomplished, not solely by the honorable use of a sword, but by employing skills that in later years would be considered techniques of nin-jutsu: the arts of stealth and invisibility. Yamato’s trick consisted of disguising himself as a woman, with the Cloud Cluster Sword concealed beneath his robes. He joined in with the merrymaking at the rebel leader’s banquet, and then at the right moment pounced on his victim.3 Not long afterwards, another sword appears in a story, but once more it is involved in a trick. Prince Yamato fashioned an imitation sword out of wood, challenged his victim to a duel, and sportingly suggested that they should exchange swords for the fight. The outcome may be guessed at.4
So far, the legend of Prince Yamato also conforms to another alternative samurai stereotype: that of the warrior as a deceitful trickster—the genesis of the image of the ninja. However, the conclusion of the Yamato story places the hero in a much more acceptable light. Before setting off on his final campaign, Prince Yamato called in at the Great Shrine of Ise, where he was presented with the sword called Ame no murakumo: the Cloud Cluster Sword, which Susano-ō had wrested from the tail of the serpent. Armed with this miraculous weapon, the hero set about defeating the rebels.5 The Cloud Cluster Sword also proved useful in an unconventional way when Prince Yamato was invited to join in a stag hunt near Mount Fuji, and realized very quickly that he was to be the quarry. The hunters set fire to the long, dry grass, with the aim of either burning Yamato to death or driving him in confusion toward their ambush. The prince took the sword and cut his way through the burning grass to freedom, so that the Cloud Cluster Sword became known as Kusanagi, the “Grass-Mowing Sword.” Here again is a powerful samurai image: that of the warrior slashing wildly about him with his sword. But a stranger enemy was lying in wait, in the shape of a huge serpent, which stung Yamato in the heel. This brought on a fever from which the prince died. The Yamato legend concludes with his death from the fever, after which he was transformed into a white bird.
It is interesting to follow the Yamato legend just a little further, because the sword Kusanagi was already revered as the sacred sword of Japan, and with a sacred
