Boston Public Library 7r.:5 book is to be returned Library on or before the date last
tc
sta
.
THE
.
.
.
JAPANESE SCHOOL
OF
JU^JITSU. Chief I list I'll dors
MIYAKE
Mr.
and Mr. TANI.
Iiistnictoi's
EIDA
Mr.
:
:
and Mr.
KANAYA.
Assistant Instructors
Messrs.
:
COLLINGRIDGE, McDONNELL AND HOBDAY. Instructor for Ladies
Miss
The School According
will
:
ROBERTS.
be open for lessons from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
hour of the day there
to the
will
be two or three
or four instructors at work.
The day is do so
divided into lesson periods.
may book
in
advance
(at the
any particular period with any particular
M.
Pupils
who
desire to
School or by telephone) instructor.
ALLERDALE GRAINGER, Secretary.
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN
D
t:
—
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN THE TRAINING AND EXERCISES OF THE SAMURAI
F. J.ATE IITH
NORMAN
J.
AND I4TH HUSSARS,
r.ATK
JAPAN
INSTRUCTOR
CIVIL
IN
GOVERNMENT COLLEGES OF
AND MILITARY
IflTH 32 ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON ARP|IIB>1LIX aONia-ABLH, &" ^u '"
CO Ltd
BRADBURY, AONEW,
«&
CO. LD., PRINI'KRS,
LONDON AND TONBRIDGE
INTRODUCTION The
author of the following brochure
an old soldier,
is
has been for many years resident in Japan. that country as an instructor in
who
AVhile acting in
some of the leading
colleges,
both military and civilian, he has had what are, perhaps,
making
unrivalled opportunities of
The author has gone
so far as
is,
he
is
The
education.
has led him
heitjiitsii
aware, the
at all deeply into these
and systematic
a thorough
study of the two " noble sciences " of
first
and
jiijutsK.
Occidental
who
two branches of Jaj^anese
from their pursuit
benefit he has derived
to the conviction that
much advantage might
accrue to his native country from the introduction of exercises so admirably calculated to improve the physique and also the
morale of
its
youth and manhood.
young England few,
owing
The
favourite
games
of
are necessarily restricted in practice to the
to the expensive nature of the requisite ajipliances,
the time-expenditure involved, and the cost of preparing the
ground.
The majority can enjoy them only
spectators.
but neither
Lookers on, yy/or«Zr
and looking on
is
it
is
said, see
most
in the rnJr of
of the
game;
nor physique are thereby greatly benefited,
apt to degenerate into a dull pastime unless
relieved by betting.
No
in connection with these
such costly appliances are required
Japanese exercises,
participate, without risk or danger to
with great benefit both to body and vii
life,
in
which
all
can
purse, or limb, but
spirit.
The following
INTRODUCTION brief notes ou
and
Jicnjatsu
the historical
and practical side of jujntsu
make no pretence
to being exhaustive,
having
been written rapidly with the express object of illustrating the general ideas and aims of the Japanese school of jajntsii.
The
author
members
was
unexpectedly
summoned
to
assist
of this school in giving a public demonstration
the art of ju.jutsu in
Great Britain.
The time placed
the of
at his
disposal for writing and issuing the following brochure was limited,
and he claims the indulgence of
its
readers both on
that score and in consideration of the fact that the ground he
has covered has hitherto been practically untrodden.
CONTENTS CHAPTER
I
COMMEXCEIIENT OF JAPANESE MILITARY IIlSTORY
CHAPTER
...
PAGK 1
II
The Education of the Japanese Military and Naval 16
Officers, etc
C!HAPTER "
III
Kenjutsu," or Japanese Fencing
32
CHAPTER IV Japanese Wrestling; JUJUTSU
— Sumo
and Jujutsu
.
.
.
.57
LIST A Group
OF ILLUSTRATIONS
of Officers axd Instructors at the Imperial
Naval College, them
with the Author among
Etaji.ma.
Frontispiece
Prince Yamatodake, one of the most famous of Ancient Warriors of Japan
the
.
A Medieval Warrior
A
....
o
9
Vessel built bv Will Adams for the J VPANESE about 1600 A.D
A Fight A\
14
to the
Death
15
.
Eta.tima Cadet
19
A Cavalry Lieutenant of the Imperial Bodyguard
27
A
Samurai about to perform Seppuki'
35
A
S.vMTMiAi IN
Ceremonial Costume
Ill-timed Point and Eesult
37 39
.
The Author and Umezawa-san
40
A
41
I.
Side-slip,
and what would Happen
Onoda
43
MKMIiKRs OF the TaKANAWA FENCING SCHOOL
45
Prior to the Salute
47
The Engage
^9
Corps a Corps a la Japonaise
51
Kaw.\.dsu-no-Saburo and AEatano-no-Goro,
Wrestlers of Old
Two celebrated 58
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE
MiGI-YOTTSU, OR " FoUR GeIPS."
RiGHT HANDS INSIDE
.
A
Posturing Exercise for Strengthening Muscles
A
Group of Budding Aspirants for Pal^stral Honot^rs, WITH A Young Umpire standing among them
the
Thigh GO
.
Tachi-ai, or
"Watching for an Opening"
Do-HYo-iRi, OR "Ceremonial Apron," as class Japanese Wrestlers SiKi-KABURi.
A Back Throw
59
.
.
worn by
.
.
62
.63
first65
Foiled
66
A Group
of Famous Wrestlers, including Ex-champion AND Present Champion of Japan .67
KO-MATA-DORI, OR " LeG-PULL ThrOW Kata-sukashi,
a
Side-slip
'.
.
.
.
"
followed
69
by
a
Neck-grip
Throw
70
Setting-to
71
Tai-otoshi, or
"Standing Side-throw"
HiKi-OTOSHi, or "Pull-do-u'n
Kekaishi, or " K1CK-B.-1CK
.
.
.
Throw"
.72 74
Throw"
76
Miss Roberts, Lady Instructress, the Japanese School of JiijKtsii, applying the "Arm-break Lock" .78 .
.
;
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN CHAPTER
Commencement
I
Japanese Military
of
History Theke would appear
to be little
doubt tbat tbe two main
causes contributing toward tbe figbting and sea-faring instincts
— first
of tbe Japanese are
of
all,
blood tbat runs in tbeir veins
;
tbe strong strain of Malay
and secondly, tbe favourable
wbicb tbey bave been bred and
climatic conditions under
tbem
brongbt up.
Tbe Malay
necessar}^
bravery and dasb for tbe calling of warriors
tbe
to
fire,
second or
climatic
qualifications witbout so little avail. 1 for
strain bas given
cause
tbey owe
wbicb tbe advantage
As regards tbe
evidently tbe
tbose pbj^sical
of race is often of
peculijir discipline
and loyalty
wbicb tbe Japanese bave now become so famous, tbese
traits
would appear
blood and teacbings
to ;
be tbe outcome of tbeir Mongoli;in
for if tbere is
one tiling for wbicb Far
Orientals are distinguisbed more tbau anotber
marked deference and
it
is
witbout wbicb discipline can rest on no sure basis. J.
tbat
to tbe wisbes of a superior,
loyalty
1
It
B
was
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN the introduction of
Buddhism
into the country, however, that
gave the finishing touch to the character and ways of the
Japanese warrior, as evolved in the shape of the samurai. Buddhistic teaching civihsed and made a gentleman and a scholar of him, hut never succeeded in spoiling
rougher
for the
life
For
of camps.
him
a century or so,
altogether it is
true,
the Japanese warrior appears to have been quite content with
the newer ideas and teachings brought over from the main-
land by the disciples of Shaka, yet, thoroughly and
manly rule;
at heart,
and
so,
always
he eventually got disgusted with their priestly
taking the government of the country into his
own hands
again, he set to
knowledge
to the feudalising of the national institutions.
With
work applying his newly-gained
the introduction of feudalism into the country, the
study of military arts and sciences spread apace among the " soldier gentry " of old Japan, and that
samurai of old were.
just what the
Japan has always turned
to
China
for
and instruction upon the higher planes of thought
initiation
and sentiment.
went
is
And
so
was
it
to
China that the samurai
in order to perfect themselves in their studies, but
it
was not long before they improved upon the teachings and
methods
of their models.
been so
may
be
And
just
from
gathered
why
the
Chinaman says: "One does not make good
iron,
say:
Hanaira sakura
among
fact
that
have
while
a
a horse-shoe out of
nor a soldier out of a good man,'jfthe Japanese hito
wa
flowers, so the husJti is
— the cherry blossom being, the purest and noblest is
this should
huslii; or,
What
among men." Or
the cherry
in other
is
words
in the estimation of the Japanese,
among flowers,
the purest and noblest
"
among men 2
so the huslii, or warrior,
COMMENCEMENT OF JAPANESE MILITARY HISTORY As
a result of such high ideas, hushido, or " the way of the
warrior," soon became, as
But about
soldier and official.
considered
it
we
maxim
it
with the
the weakness and
to resort to devices of the
on the other hand, held to
love and war,"' and scrupled not
most dishonourable kind
And
duty, never prevented a
comparing
women and
hioilii,
all is fair in
gain a desired object.
for,
European knight
his duty to respect
that "
;
find that while the
unpreparedness of a foe, the the
factor
this ssimehnsliido a great deal
of nonsense has been written of late
chivalry of the West,
most important
a
and training of the Japanese
guidance
the education,
ill
still is,
it
in order to
then, again, his sense of giri, or
biisJii
from committing an
evil act if
such an act were only done in the service of his feudal lord.
And much
the same sort of thing held good even
samurai women
:
when
as for instance
younger children
to
daughter consented
save
to
sell
the
life
a
among the
sacrificed her
of her first-born,
or a
her chastity in order to pay the
debts contracted by a dissipated father. similar acts, were, and are
mother
still,
be said, indeed, of our Japanese
All such, and
allowable in Japan. allies
many
It
may
that the}' are firmly
convinced that "the end justifies the means." Until lately the
husJii
or sauiiirai
were easily distinguish-
able from the remainder of their fellow-countrymen, not less
by their peculiar carriage of the body, begottenjbj thej;onstant practice of martial exercises, than
those girdle public. bushi's
The
by the two swords stuck in
sashes without which they never appeared in longer of these two swords, the katana, was the
main weapon of
oft'ence
and defence, and the shorter,
the wakizasJii, or dirk, with a blade of from eight to twelve
inches in length, was what they committed hara-kiri with. 3
B 2
— ;
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN [For an explanation learning
how
and in jiijiifsu
many
weapons and
how
in order,
thirst,
hushi under-
all
how
to
How and
to bear pain, heat
put up
how
were, also, taught
a boat, to swim, and to ride a horse.
Avith
Beside
III.]
in archery, the use of the halberd
while
;
Chapter
swords aright
to wield their
went instruction
see
this
of
and
lance,
to handle
to keep
their
cold, starvation
the fewest possible wants
these are a few of the subjects of instruction included in the
education
physical
every
of
true
Along with his
J)tisJii.
instruction in all these soldierly accomplishments every ])ushi
received a scholastic and literary education, and in the case of
many
At
first,
of
them
was by no means of an
this
as has already been noted,
it
was Buddhism and
teaching that attracted their allegiance
Chinese became the classical language Confucian
its
but later on, as
;
of the country,
"Four Books"
the
Classics,
inferior order.
and
the
the
"Five
Canons " took the place of the Sutras, and so continued to do
With the
European ideas and
advent of
the
until
arrival of
Mendez
and discoverer of Japan,
in
Pinto, the Portuguese navigator
1542, the Japanese
the use of firearms and fortifications. to
they
were
why
the
fact
been
little
was so
it
the
harquebus of
if
at all
superior to
seem
may have been
the Japanese respects
in
to have
to
be
those a
had
superior, but
bow possessed
to that
taking
may perhaps
that
as the Japanese
alone
chary
decidedly this
first
fortifications,
the
musket
explained
well-strung bow, at that it is
by
could have
days
time.
such
In range
as likely as not that
qualities superior in
many
cumbersome and slow loading and 4
learnt
But while they appear
have readily adopted the Western sj'stem of
and
civilisation.
other firing
COMMENCEMENT OF JAPANESE MILITARY HISTORY shoulder piece.
The
precise character of the defensive works
employed by the Japanese before 154'2
is
wrapped up
in a
good deal of mystery, though judging from the remarkable skill
with which they now handle their wonderfully effective
PRINCE YAMATODAKE, ONE OP THE MOST FAMOUS OP THE ANCIENT WARRIORS OP JAPAN
timbers, baml)oos, and vines, and considering their Malay origin,
it
is
most probable that stockades played a by no
means unimportant lands, but
i)art
nowhere have
in
I
them.
I
have been in
many
seen a country folk so clever in
handling and rough-dressing timbers, and in making lashings 5
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN out of creepers, as the Japanese, and certainly no creeper I
have yet come across
and generally useful
so effective
is
this last purpose as the wild wistaria of Japan. it
of
is
as pliable as a
hempen
cord,
for
Freshly cut
and when a lashing made
has dried and hardened, then steel bands alone are
it
superior to
it.
wit may, perhaps, be in order to
means
just as well to hark back here a
show that the
gift of
military organisation
little
by no
is
a newly acquired art so far as the Japanese are con-
cerned.
For leaving out accounts dealing with the more recorded of the aptly
apocryphal times,
it is
Jingo, that she
organised and
200
Korea
in the year
97-31
B.C., is said to
a.d.
named Empress
an expedition against
led
But though the Emperor
Sujin,
have paid considerable attention to the
subject of shipbuilding, yet there appears not to have been a sufficiency of sea-going craft in existence in
set to
work building a perfect navy of transports
they were like
it
is difficult to say,
Jingo Kogo's son Ojin, who
one hundred
and
is
it
of
feet long.
said to
faster than a
God
War,"
When
"have been
man
is is
that
;
just what
though there can be no
doubt none of them were propelled by
the " Spirit or
at
Nothing daunted, she
for the warlike lady's purpose.
time
Japan
sail
power.
now worshipped
in
Japan as
reported to have built a ship
completed
able to
it
was
go through the water
could run on shore," and
for this
was named Kanino, or the "Light One."
timbers gave signs of giving out
it
tried at sea,
veason
When
its
was broken up, and with
the exception of one piece, which was
made
into a koto, the
so-called Japanese harp, the remainder was used as fuel
for
the production of sea-salt, the proceeds being applied to the 6
COMMENCEMENT OF JAPANESE MILITARY HISTORY building of
new
According
vessels.
Japanese records
to
there were at this time, upon one memorable occasion, no less
than
hundred vessels collected
five
Muko, but the
tribute-bearer from Shiragi, one of the ancient
divisions of Korea, that
Jingo, set
them on
fire
had been subdued
—
accidentally,
anxiety to assist in repairing the servant, the
harbour of
in the
King
is
it
clever naval architects.
From
the dauntless ;
and in his
mischief caused by his
of Shiragi sent over to
"
b}'
said
Japan a number of
that time," say those
records, " the art of naval architecture
same
became much improved
and largely extended in Japan."
With the exception
of a few short
intervals of internal
peace the Japanese appear to have passed their time, from the days of Jingo
among
Kogo
to the year 1'275 a.d., in fighting
themselves, with the result that while families rose
rapidly to power others sank no less rapidly.
But
in that
year the Mongol Tartars, under Kublai Khan, having over-
thrown the reigning dynasty of China, and obtained the submission of
all
the surrounding states,
haughty and unjust demands treating
Eightly
them with the contempt they deserved, the plucky
islanders set to
The
commenced making
upon the Japanese.
first
work preparing
for the
threatened invasion.
made by the Mongols was upon Tsushima,
attack
but as this appears to have been repulsed without either side
having incurred it
much
loss, it
was nothing more than
may
be taken for granted that
a feint in order to see of
the defenders were made.
task of the most formidable character, Kublai a
number
unknown
of warships to be built, of sizes to
the
Japanese,
what
stufi'
Realising that he had to face a
Khan caused
and armaments
and collecting an army of a 7
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN hundred thousand fighting men he approached,
month
of the year 1281, the castle
in the fourth
town of Daizafu.
Nothing
daunted, the Japanese attacked him, and, helped hy a mightj^
typhoon, which drove a number of the Mongol ships ashore,
Of the whole
they literally wiped out the great armada. invading force,
China
said,
it is
that only three
men
returned to
So great was the renown won by the
to tell the tale.
Japanese as the result of
tbis, that,
with the exception of a
few European and American marines, Japan has never since then been offended by the sight of a successful invader.
For the next two and a half centuries, until the
Mendez
arrival of
Pinto, the Japanese busied themselves with fighting
among themselves, each But
law unto himself. scene, that
feudal lord in his fastness being a the arrival of Hideyoshi
Napoleon of Japan as he has been
upon the
called, resulted
in the centralising of the authority of the State in a single
person.
The many
years' civil
war had, however,
armed men, inured
let loose
upon the country
a host of
and too proud
work, with the result that something had
to be done,
to
to fighting,
and so tbe sapient and masterful Hideyoshi
decided upon an invasion of Korea, as a preliminary to an
What
invasion of China. realised from
tiie
his undertaking
was
that over half a million of
fact
part in his Korean adventure, and that this
kept the
field
for over
harassed and devastated
may
men
immense
two years, during which time the country that
died, in 1592, his generals to return to Japan.
like
be
took force it
so
when Hideyoshi
were only loo glad of an excuse
Following this event a series of
civil
wars again broke out in the country, and were only brought to
a
conclusion
at
the
great 8
battle
of
Sekigahara, when
COMMENCEMENT OF JAPANESE MILITARY HISTORY lyeyasu, in reins
1603, having defeated
of power.
For over two and
seized
the
half centuries
the
bis foes,
all
a
Tokugawas, as lyeyasii's family name was, ruled Japan with a sufficiently strong
hand
to prevent
any undue disturbances
A MEDIEVAL WAIiUIOU
breaking out. to ensure this
Among
one of the
was the forcing the
many means they
daiinj/os, or feudal
to repair to their capital once a year,
there while absent from
it.
9
devised
and
to leave
lords,
hostages
THE The
their
Europeans
arrival of
impetus
to the art of
nature,
in the
country gave an immense
shipbuikiing in Japan
but, true to
;
Japanese employed their newly
the
knowledge more and their
man of japan
fi(;hting,
gained
for other
purposes than for peaceful pursuits,
piratical raids
upon Chinese shipping and along
the China and Korean coasts developed to such an extent, that,
to
avoid
rupture
a
with the
governments of those
two countries, the Shogun lyemitsu, grandson of lyeyasu, promulgated a law forbidding the building of ships above
Had
a certain tonnage.
this law not
been rigorously put
into force, there is no saying what the Japanese empire
now have
Siam,
been.
instance,
for
was
might
some years
for
completely under the rule and guidance of certain Japanese
them even had the temerity
adventurers, and a party of carry
of
oft"
into captivity the
them made
others, joining
their
way
Dutch governor to
of Batavia.
to
Some
Madagascar and India, while
hands with the Chinese pirates of Formosa,
simply ruled that island and the waters about these Vikings of the Far East w^ere dreaded plified
by the numerous watch towers that
of the
North China
the existence of
coast,
many
is
still
and also from the
it.
Just how^
amply exemdot the whole
fact that despite
otherwise advantageous positions,
the coast towns and villages in Korea are
—
to use
all
an Irishism
— situated a few miles inland.
-
That the Spanish, Dutch, and other vessels which
visited
armed with cannon, may be
Japan from time
to time were
taken for granted
but, curiously enough, the Japanese do not
;
appear to have taken to these weapons or ordnance so readily as might have been supposed.
Hideyoshi's troops certainly
did use both large and small guns in their expedition against 10
COMMENCEMENT OF JAPANESE MILITARY HISTORY the Koreans, tut Leyond mentionin*:^"
of the old
Japanese
not, however, lose sight of the fact that the
have always been keen in-fighters, and that while battles
We
give satisfactory accounts of their so doing.
records
must
none
tlie fact,
their old
all
opened with discharges of arrows from both
sides, this
was invariably and quickly followed up by an advance skilled in the use of the spear, halberd
and sword.
men
of
Later on,
toward the end of the seventeenth century, cannon were most effectually
employed against the Christian rebels sheltering
in the castle of
served
(to their
Shimabara, but the guns in question were
shame be
it
by the Japanese authorities
The Perry,
arrival of the
1853,
in
for this special
evolutions
its
commander
Japanese should have every of
the
Far Orient
and gunnery practice,
the
where
immense own
superiority ;
factories were at once established at
for the
the
care
seeing, opened the
facility for
to
good
very
took
Occidental methods of warfare over their
was that
purpose.
American squadron under Commodore
and
which that astute
eyes
by Dutch gunners engaged
said)
of
and the result
Yedo and
else-
manufacture of arms and ammunition on the
Some
Western plan.
wealthier
of the
content with the slow progress
made by
feudal
not
lords,
these local houses in
turning out arms and munitions of warfare, secretly purchased a quantity from the foreign
business in Japan.
and recognising that much tive
merchants then commencing
profit
compatriots by cultivating
commenced
a
series
of
might accrue
it,
do
for
to their respec-
the foreign representatives
negotiations
Shogun's government applying of military
to
Perceiving the trend of Japanese thought,
which ended
the
and obtaining the services
and naval instructors from abroad. 11
in
The
first
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN military mission
was entirely French
excellent service,
and undoubtedly
but
;
tliougli
it
did
the foundation for
laid
the present-day Japanese army, yet the revolution of 1868
and the disastrous result of the war of 1870 colours induced the imperial
French
to the
authorities —-who
had by then
taken the place of the Shogunate in the government of the
empire
—
engage German instructors
to
contracts of
its
various
members
in their place as the
That these
lapsed.
last did
their duty tbere can be no doubt, but they achieved nothing liive
the success that has been so generally claimed for them,
for there
can be no disputing the fact that the Japanese army
gained greater advantages from the swarm of
officers sent to
study in Europe than from any instructions
may
received fi-om
its
German
to
is
And
imported instructors.
Japanese army tactics or
organisation
advance a claim that
it
are
to say tbat tbe
copies
absurd
is
ever have
;
of
for if
the
they
have not adopted more from the French, they certainly have
much from
adapted so that the
German
other and various continental armies
share in
it
is
but a fraction of the whole.
Fighters and military organisers the Japanese have always been, as I have endeavoured to show learn,
and so
;
all
they had to
though that certainly was all-important, and yet not
how
so difficult considering their military instincts, was
employ
to the best advantage the
How
adopted by them.
quickly and
picked up the knack of so doing fact tbat
when the
and Buugo,
boat Slancij, barkation
rebellious
in 1866, the
new arms and
how
may
tactics
to
then
intelligently they
be gathered from the
Nagato forces invaded Buzen
commander and
officers of the
gun-
who witnessed the embarkation and disem-
of the
force,
declared 12
afterward
that
"
it
was
COMMENCEMENT OF JAPANESE MILITARY HISTORY executed in a maimer that would have done credit to the
all
best European troops."
Contrary to generally-accepted ideas upon the subject, to
must be
the Dutch, and not to the English,
credited the first
foreign attempt at training a Japanese naval force; though, at
the same time, to the Portuguese and Spanish friars of the
century must be
sixteenth
the
credited
first
instructions
given to the Far Easterners in the art of ship-building, as
understood in the West, and in the science of navigation.
What may
justly be considered as of peculiar interest to
Englishmen
all
countryman was
1600,
of
the
fact
that
theirs,
who
landed
is
retained
the
at
Court
as
sort
a
how
of
agent
diplomatic
Japan
in
of
Shogun, as a ship-builder, instructor
Dutch
Adams, a
AVill
lyeyasu, of
much
tions, help,
when other
then
P^iiglish
and and
Considering
the Japanese are indebted to British instruc-
and advice
Avith regard to
their naval matters,
it
is a curious coincidence, surely, that Will
at
Hemi,
is
April,
the
navigation,
traders began to arrive in the country.
very
fellow-
in
Adams's
grave,
situated on the heights overlooking the present
great naval yard of Yoliosuka.
Not
until two years
after
the abolition of feudalism,
in
1869, did the Japanese think of organising a national navy,
though
just before this both the
Shogun's government and
the leading Daimyos possessed navies of their own. these were composed of
all
from those of purely native
sorts
But
and conditions of vessels^
style to others of
and armament, though when of the
European build
latter they
were seldom
other than converted merchant ships and steamers.
One
or
two possessed by the Shogun were, how^ever, specially-built 13
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN war
vessels,
and the
first
that was so built for
him was the
" Kaiyo-maru," a composite gun-hoat of about one thousand In 1858 the steam-yacht
tons burden, built in Holland.
"Emperor
"
was presented
to the
Shogun by Lord Elgin, on
behalf of the British Government, "as a token of ship
and
goodwill "
upon the signing of the
between England and Japan.
Ten years
its friend-
first
treaty
the United
later
A VESSEL BUILT BY WILL ADAMS FOR THE JAPANESE ABOUT 1600 A.D. States
Government handed over
to
the
newly- constituted
Imperial Government the iron-clad frigate " Stonewall Jackson " as a sort of sop for the scandalous treatment meted out to the then late
Shogun, who had prepaid certain American
contractors for a ship-of-war
Japan the Japanese quarter of the
sum
;
when
this
authorities, seeing
it
vessel
was not worth a
advanced, refused to take 14
arrived in
it
over,
and
COMMENCEMENT OF JAPANESE MILITARY HISTORY getting no redress from the United States representative in
Japan, sent a mission to the aforegoing result.
New York
about the matter, with
That there was some very unpleasant
scandal behind the whole affair there can be no doubt, for is difficult to
it
understand how the United States Government
was reimbursed the difference between the value of the two ships.
^
A FIGHT TO THE DEATH
15
>.
vt i^
^
CHAPTER
The Education
II
of Japanese Military and
Naval Officers. Leaving
out
of
the
considei-ation
knowledge
little
the
Japanese picked up of navigation from their early Portuguese, Dutch, and English visitors during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries,
it
was not
until the early part of the
late eighteen-sixties that a small naval
by the Shogun's government
members
to
mission was despatched
Holland, and
it
was the
some Dutch
of this mission, assisted by
officers
and men, who brought the "Kaiyo-maru," already mentioned, to Japan. for
In 1867 the same Shogun's government applied
and obtained the services of a number of British
and men as naval instructors.
mission, under the leadership of
had
to be
officers
Unfortunately, however, this
Commander
Tracey, R.N.,
wdthdrawn by the British authorities because of the
revolution which broke out a few
months
after its arrival in
Japan, leading to the effectual overthrow of the Shogun's
power.
During
the
troublous
following the revolution,
times
to follow, certain of the great
Daimyos
their forces, naval as well as military.
Professor Chamberlain
antecedent
when no one knew set to
"
to
and
exactly what was
work organising
One
of them," as
says, " the Prince of Hizen, eager to
possess a navy of his own, engaged Lieutenant Hawes, of the 16
EDUCATION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL OFFICERS Royal Marines,
named
the
'
tlie
and
;
may
training of marines,
this
on board a vessel
who had an
officer,
and who occupied himself,
Kan
Ptyuj*"'
'
many matters
with
positions,
'
instructor
for organisation,
board
on
Kan
Ryilj'")
nnusual talent both
guuiiery
as
and
'
besides
on
later
in
other
gunnery and
the
be considered the real father of
the Japanese navy."
When
had
matters
somewhat quieted down, the new
government, the Mikado's in
contradistinction to the late
Shogun's, applied to the British authorities for the services of a second naval mission, and as a result of this a party
and
of officers
men under Commander Douglas,
out for and arrived in Japan in 1873.
formed officers
at
Tokyo,
and
and men had
after
a
certain
A
R.N., set
naval college
number
was
of picked
received the necessary instructions in
gunnery, seamanship, &c., they were taken for a cruise to Australia and the islands between
it
done was decidedly good, but needless
to
say some
and more especially so with regard
structed,
For
discipline.
it
way, were very different to what they years'
and
matters of
service in
now
enough
in their
are.
After putting
Japan, this second
naval mission
returned to England, leaving officers
to
must here be explained that Japanese
ideas of discipline at that time, though good
six
little
arose at times between the instructors and the in-
friction
in
The work
and Japan.
petty-officers
behind, however, one or two
employees of
as
the
Japanese
government. In the early eighties the Naval College was removed to Etajima,
in
the
Inland
College, for officers, J.
Sea,
and an
was established 17
at
Academy,
Tokyo
or
Staff
at the
same
c
— ;
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN time, while gunnery and torpedo schools were also organised.
Candidature to the Naval College at Etajima
male subject of the
Mikado, with
regards
age, character
between
fifteen
limitations
as
Aspirants must
be
certain
and ph^ysique.
and twenty years of age, and
the authorities with the
open to every
is
after furnishing
requisite "character certificates"
they are called upon to undergo a physical examination at the hands of a committee of naval surgeons, after which the
entrance examinations take place. aspirants
make at
annual
ticularly
demands
the
work the competition between them
entrance
keen.
the majority of such
thoroughly coached at schools which
have been
a speciality of such
the
As
From 20
of the
examinations
25 per
to
is
cent,
par-
invariably fail
satisfy
to
and of the remainder only
doctors,
about 10 per cent, succeed in passing the entrance examination.
Having taken
many such examinations
a part in
:
can
The
safely state that they are absolutely fairly conducted.
compulsory subjects are
I
— Under the head of mathematics
arithmetic, algebra, plane geometry, and plane trigonometry
under the head of Japanese under the head of English tion of Japanese into
;
literature
and composition
grammar, conversation,
;
;
transla-
English and English into Japanese
under the head of physics physical geography
—
—
— chemistry,
natural history and
under the head of drawing and sketching
— draughtsmanship both freehand and mechanical.
There are
number
of optional subjects, such as the Chinese,
French, German,
and Russian languages, marks awarded
besides a
for
which help the candidate
— not
so
much
to pass
the College as to secure a good position on successful candidates.
into
list
of
Once entered the College no cadet
is
18
the
EDUCATION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL OFFICERS allowed to resign under any pretext whatsoever
but should
;
the authorities find one of the cadets wanting either physically or in character
and
ahilitv, that cadet is at
AX in
my
KTA.IIilA
once dismissed, and
CADET
three years' experience of Etajima I only
two of them being so dismissed the College. two were discharged failing eyesight,
for
physical reasons
;
remember
Both these
one because of
and the other because the surgeon in charge 19
c 2
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN thought he detected signs of consumption in him.
was wrong,
as a matter of fact, the surgeon u particuhivly nice lad,
now
A
went
tlien
for
But,
young Beppu, army, and
is
than Etajima
it
in for the
an artilleryman of great promise. better
situation for a Naval College
would indeed be
difficult to
as the termination to its
find, for, in
name
Etajima Bay
though
yet so placed as to
So irregularly shaped
be well off the beaten track. that
first place, it is,
implies, an island, and
Kure and Hiroshima,
within easy reach of
island
the
is
this
well-nigh land-locked, and the
is
College stands in ample grounds, with hills to the north, south, and east of
The
it,
and the waters of the bay and instructors
staff of officers
In
President being an admiral. four-year one, but
During the
first
it
is
my
to the west.
particularly large, the
days the course was a
has now been reduced to three years.
year four hours a week are given to gunnery,
four to seamanship, one to engineering, six to English, five to physics, six to
mathematics, making a Besides
hours' study a week.
an hour's
drill a day,
all this
total of twenty-six
the cadet has at least
and receives instructions in jujutsu,
fencing, gymnastics, rowing, &c.
He
will be required to get
up within half-an-hour of sunrise, and
will be
served with
breakfast at 7.80, lunch at noon, and dinner at 5.30 p.m. All
work and studies are carried out
in clean
and neat white
Only on Sundays are the cadets allowed out of
slop suits.
the College grounds, and even then for never
more than three
hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon.
Each
has
class
usually a
its
own club
outside the College grounds,
farm house, where members of
indulge in a
little
it
may and do
extra feeding, drinking and smoking, and,
20
EDUCATION OF MILITAIIY xVND NAVAL OFFICERS what
is
not allowed
them whilst
in the College
The
discipline kept
the reading of newspapers.
good, though to an average English youth
beyond
measure.
Etajima
it
decidedly
would be irksome
Considering the advantages existing at
but
:
then
in for a little shooting
Japanese
the
On one
inclined people.
see that his heart
more remarkable,
was never
to
sportingly-
it
was easy
to
and this was the
in the sport;
from time
a
I took a cadet
me, but
such children of the
for
as I took out
are not
two occasions
or
or two out shooting or fishing with
girls,
is
certainly is curious (and perhaps instructive) that
none of the cadets ever think of going or fishing
it
grounds, in
officers,
boys or
time simply revelled in
the delights of a day's shooting or fishing.
During the
cadets' second year four hours a
week are given
to guimery, three to seamanshi]), one to torpedo instruction,
three to navigation, three
physics,
to
three to engineering,
and
third, or final, year, three hours a
four
to
seamanship,
four
to
English,
During the
mathematics.
to
five
six
week are given
to
gunnery,
torpedo instruction, seven to
to
navigation, one to engineering, six to iMiglish, and three to
Under the heading
mechanics.
seamanship are included
of
instructions in the international rule of the
shipbuilding,
signalling,
provisioning
and
road at other
sea,
kindred
matters, and under the head of navigation the cadet has to
study meteorology, surveying and the the
cadet
will
international
up
from time
and
mostly while
civil
studying
launches, boats, the
jima are
all
to
law
:
time his
attend naval
English.
battery and
Beside
like.
all
lectures
history he
The
training
this
upon gets ship,
the model rooms at Eta-
thoroughly " u[)-to-date," and the instructions 21
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN conveyed
medium
their
tlirougli
and
practical
are
to
the
point.
Passing out of the College the cadet
shipman, and posted
to
my
promoted
is
mid-
to
his class-mates,
of
one of the cruisers specially In
purpose.
numher
with a
then,
is
up
fitted
for
days the two cruisers that were so
the
fitted
up were the " Hiyei " and the " Kongo," but as the classes have now grown from sixty to two hundred three vessels are detailed for this purpose: the "
shima
"
When
and
all
from six
ready these vessels
is
eight
to
midshipmen
Two
Matsnshima," the " Itsuku-
the " Hashidate," sister ships of
are
start
months, and on returning
among
distributed
ships
very good points to be here
certain
number
of
civilian
4, '200
noted
to
in
Japan the
commission.
are that while a
instructors are
attached to the
College the greater part of the i)istructional work
by naval
out
three
its
officers,
worked with them
is
carried
and that when a class has finished
course
years'
tons.
on a cruise lasting
at the
number
a
of
officers
College accompany
who have
them on
their
finishing cruise.
At the end to
a
of a year or two the
prescribed examinations. is
midshipman
is
promoted
sub-lieutenancy, but only after having passed certain
A
Japanese naval sub-lieutenant
perhaps as hard worked an individual as
only has he to take his
but he
is
exit^ts,
for not
share of watches and
full
drills,
constantly being called upon to write reports and
essays upon
all
but despite this
sorts of matters, professional last fact it is
the Japanese naval
officer is
and otherwise
truly remarkable
how
;
little
capable of discussing subjects
other than purely professional ones.
EDUCATION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL OFFICERS two
111
lieutenancy, and ably be
is
in bigber
time
four years'
to
a wbile be
if after
sent to tbe Naval
naval
sub-lieutenant yets bis
tlie
reported upon favour-
is
Academy
Tokyo
at
lieutenants go
Specially selected
duties.
course
for a
tbrougb a two years' course called " Kosbu," and as tins
done witb a view tbe
studied
subjects
military
fortitications
;
gation
;
economy
political
;
ofticers are sent
manoeuvres, to
wben
— naval
law
international
tbe
from time
to
;
gunnery
being
are
tori)edo
;
coniprebensive
course
inspected by
experts.
Otlier
one year, during tbe course of
wbicb tbey go
study of gunnery,
lasting
in
for
tbe
and navigation duties.
torpedo
idea governing tbis course is to turn out specialists in
some one
of
tbe subjects named.
certain
subjects
" Senka," but benefit
only so
by so doing.
ability for
a,
allowed
are
if it
is
to
commanders
Captains,
and senior lieutenants wbo bave become attend
a
little
rusty in
course
called
tbey will
truly
a
considered
Sliould an officer
sbow
special adapt-
certain subject, and yet be lacking in otliers
tbat migbt otberwise is
tbe
naval stations and factories
named " Otsusbu,"
Tbe
navi-
Wbile undergoing
lieutenants go tbrougb a course
bigber
;
time to take part in various
visit sbi})s, forts,
same
;
and
military and naval
sbip building, and engineering.
remarkably tborougli and
tbis
;
is
staff,
tactics
;
and bistory
law and di])lomatic usages administration
and
strategy
are
naval bistory
;
employment upon tbe
after
to tlieir
tit
bini for a
staff
appointment, be
put tbrougb a course called " Kosbiuka."
courses officers and practical courses
men
Besides tbese
are constantly being put
at tbe scbools
Yokosuka, and in addition
to
23
of all
tbrougb
gunnery and torpedo tbis,
special
at
courses are
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN formed
for
instruction
new
in
and
weapons
scientific
instruments for use with the same.
The non -executive branches
Navy
of the
are particularly
well provided for as regards instruction by special schools of their own.
rules
The Engineers' College
regulating entrance to
there,
are based on lines
it,
Yokosuka, and the
at
and the course of studies those that hold good
similar to
Yokosuka
with respect to the Naval College at Etajima.
being a great dockyard and arsenal the College
Candidates for the Paymaster's
well situated for its purpose.
Department
are
therefore
is
mainly recruited
from
graduates
of
the
Imperial University, and after passing a course at the Paymaster's Training School at Tokyo they are
posted to
first
ships in commission and later on to such as the exigencies of the service
may demand.
otherwise smart
Petty officers and men,
and useful but lacking
in
who
are
education, are
Paymaster's Training School
also sent for a while to the
for educational 2:)urposes, as also are writers, cooks, etc.
While the
officers
of
Japanese Navy are recruited
the
mainly from the best families in the empire, the recruited from
its fisher folk,
and the result
that
And though
indeed. at
is
times
among
its
is
is
of a very high order
a good deal of heart-burning
a large section of the commissioned class, due
to the all-predominating influence of the
yet on the other
hand one never hears
Satsuma element,
of those disgraceful
bullyings and scenes among the seamen that
among
are
sea-faring and farming classes,
personnel
there
men
the Mikado's soldiery.
This
is
are only too rife
probably due to the
fact that while the bluejackets are all recruited
same type of men, his soldiers are taken from 24
from all
much
the
sections of
EDUCATION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL OFFICERS Japanese
and so
life,
the sailors than
less
among
doubt, and the result the
men
in
it
A
conscripts.
That the Navy
the soldiers.
the service
favom-ite hranch of
fearful
is
the
Japan there can be no
in
that a very goodly proportion of
is
volunteers and
are
among
cause for friction exists
lot
of
Army)
the
not (as in
gush and nonsense has been
written recently of the joy with which the Japanese conscripts join headquarters of the land
much
;
but
know only
all
who have
lived
among
the people
too well that this joy is too often very
put on, and that while the majority of the bluejackets
go back
to civil life with
some
useful calling learnt while
serving their time, the average soldier returns to
and
dissatisfied
man.
The education thorough as
and
is
him,
like
the
of
too,
he
Unlike the naval
first
to
him
;
for
officer,
as
many
however, he has
He may commence
recognised Cadet Schools
or by graduating out of any Middle School,
and recognised by the government
licensed
is
gaining a commission, at
stages of his career.
by graduating out of one of the of the empire
officer
mainly recruited from the better class
is
more than one way open during the
Japanese military
the education of his comrade in the navy,
samurai families.
least
a spoilt
it
or
;
if
he can
produce an educational certificate of the same value as that of a graduate's
from a Middle School.
nomination from the corps he so,
and
is
is
commanding
desirous of joining.
last
two
the regiment or
Should he succeed
in
doing
otherwise qualified, he then joins his regiment or
corps as an to
officer
In both these
commission must obtain a
cases, however, an aspirant for a
" officer candidate,"
put in at least
tw'elve
and as such
months' service 25
in the
is
required
ranks in order
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN /
to gain a complete
and practical experience of
of a soldier.
Having done
commanding
officer
he
so to the entire satisfaction of his
next be drafted to the Military
will
Tokyo, for an eighteen months' course in military
<.'ollege,
and sciences, and should he
arts
the duties
all
by a committee of
officers
he
it
be approved
will be granted his
commission
While serving
as a sub-lieutenant.
end of
at the
his twelve
months
in the
ranks the "candidate " has to perform his share of guards,
common
but instead of living and messing in a
drills, &c.,
barrack room he
will share
one with other " candidates," and
though drawing no pay during the whole of that time he be supplied with
the necessary
all
kit,
will
rations, &c., at the
government's expense.
The in
Military College
is
divided into a
each of which special attention
is
number
of sections,
devoted to a certain
branch of the service, such as infantry, cavalry, fortress
artillery,
candidate
"
engineeriug
and
train,
the
joining that section representative
particular branch.
field
The " candidate students,"
and
" officer
of his
own
as they are
then called, are divided into three companies, each under the
command
of a captain,
and each company
sections with lieutenants in charge.
The
is
divided into six
sections are from
" twenty-live to thirty strong, and each " candidate student in
it is
in his turn
head or chief of
it,
and the extraordinary
seriousness and earnestness with which they then perform their duties
the drill
must be seen
to be duly appreciated.
While
and exercises, &c., taught are in keeping with that
branch of the service the " candidate student " aspires to be a
member
of, all
the candidates alike study tactics, topo-
graphy, military administration, 26
field
hygiene, &c., but no
EDUCATION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL OFFICERS foreign
language in particular, as
comrades of the navy.
At the
A CAVALUY I.TEUTEXANT OF
graduating ceremony
is
held,
is
the case
with
their
close of every year a grand
Till:
I.MI'HUIAL
BODYGUAKD
which the Emperor and
high ofticers of state malce a point of attending.
all
his
THE FICHTINCI MAN OF JAPAN After two
service as sub-lieutenant
years'
promotion
officer receives his
to a lieutenancy,
have shown special keenness and aptitude
there
comprehensive one,
Staft'
he
is
College.
three years' one, and a remarkably
a
is
and should he
for his calling
then sent for a course of study to the Alilitary
The course
Japanese
the
too, the officers
going through
it
being
attached from time to time to branches of the service other
than
their
Those that pass
own.
with
success
receive
diplomas and distinctive badges that they wear ever after-
wards
these badges distinguish
;
their brother officers ordeal.
From
army
recruited
is
signally
Besides the
and then there
Staff"
stall'
late war.
own
its
of
particular school of instruction,
them the Toyama
non-commissioned
through courses of
tactics,
But while
so
officers
their training at
Alllitary College,
and men
iire
put
gymnastics, fencing, musketry,
much
is
done
and training of the combatant ranks the are not forgotten.
similar
a
of the Japanese
College each branch of the service in the
is for all
officers,
gunnery, &c.
thus the
with what happy results has been most
shown during the
Japanese army has
where
who have not gone through
officers trained ;
them most markedly from
for the education
non-combatants
Military surgeons for instance complete
Army Medical
the
College, and this after
graduating from the Medical College, Imperial University.
The veterinary surgeons Agricultural College,
educatiou at the intendants
and
are recruited from graduates of the
Komeba,
Army
receiving an after and finishing
Veterinary School, Tokyo.
paymasters
are
trained
at
Military
the
Military
Administration College.
With regard
to the
training of the rank and
28
tile
of the
EDUCATION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL OFFICERS Japanese army and navy, or
no attention
is
it
may
paid by the
here be pointed out, officers
the teaching of
to
parade and show movements to their men, or to what generally and so falsely termed
perhaps more especially so suc-li
is
smartness" among
'"
this the case
is
invariably
their
Japanese soldiers or
rule,
sailors
squad of our guardsmen,
and away
and
may
Women
it
to
and plenty of
though
so,
a
squad
of
not be able to go th rough
same precision
will certainly
a greater proportion of
the weapons they are
in
and
us,
when we come
F^oose play
the sword or bayonet exercise with the
do
so
is
matters as relate to the instructions given the recruit in
the use of the sword and bayonet. it
little
them
as a
be found that far
will
know how
armed with better and more
to
use
effectively.
not occupying the position in Japanese society they
the West,
little or
no pains are taken by the military
authorities of the ]Mikado to cater for their
the result
is
amusement, and
one never sees any "Agricultural Hall tomfoolery""
in Japan.
Having decided,
in
18()(S,
upon Westernising the govern-
mental institutions of the empire, the Japanese Government there and then adopted the continental system of universal conscription.
What
a bold
step
to
take this was
may
be
realised by appreciating the fact that, not only did the
samurai
own
peculiar
of those days regard the following of arms as their
prerogative, but the country, as a result of the abolition of
feudalism, was over-run of martial occupation for themselves,
l)y
hordes of these men, whose chances
seemed gone
for ever.
Unfortunately
however, not only were the lower class sdiiuirai
averse to the bearing and use of Western arms,
were also so imbued with the clan 29
spirit
but they
and jealousies of the
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN time that the gathering together of a numher
oi
them
iu
barracks would inevitably have resulted in fights and quarrels
imiumerable.
And
non-commissioned
so
came about that while the
solely
army
men were mostly arose,
as a
;
but as the necessity for a
result of the French,
1895, merchants and even the
drawn upon
national
recruited from the sturdy farmer
German and
Russian interference over the Liaotung Peninsula
classes were
and
from the ranks of the better-class
and artisan classes of the land larger
officers
the newly organised
of
officers
army were recruited samurai, the
it
much
affiiir
of
despised actor and other
to supply the necessary
number
of
recruits for the Mikado's army.
Sent on service for the
first
time in 1876-77, to suppress
the Satsuma rebellion, the newly organised national army did not do quite so well as might have been supposed, but then, it
must be remembered,
soldiers
of
it
was
called
the same race as the
upon
to face veteran
men composing
it,
and,
moreover, "veteran soldiers" belonging to the most warlike of all the clans of old Japan,
and with
successful revolution behind them,
sympathy
all
the prestige of a
and with
of the nation to encourage them.
much
The
of the
result
was
that as the newly-raised troops had not then learnt either to
shoot straight or to use their bayonets aright, the Satsuma
swordsmen them. for
often proved themselves
more than a match
for
Perceiving this, and being fully alive to the necessity
taking
enlisting a
prompt measures, the government commenced
number
of the old-time style of Japanese swoi'ds-
men, and these with the
police,
who were
all
sdiiuinii,
and
therefore good swordsmen too, soon put an end to the revolution and the lives of thousands of their plucky but misguided
30
EDUCATION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL OFFICERS fellow-countrymen.
A
few years
did remarkahly well in the
account
1900,
is
it
gave of
now
itself in
later,
Formosan China
in
a matter for history
;
however, the new army affair,
and what a good
1894-95, and again in its
recent
doings against the Russians have gained for
renowned fame
it
so well deserves.
31
it
marvellous the world-
CHAPTER " Kenjutsu," or
III
Japanese Fencing much
In few countries has the sword had so
honour paid origin,
it
veracity
it
as in
Japan
;
for
and
regarded as being of divine
has been worshipped as such.
it
attention
must further be admitted
In the interests of
swordsmen
that few
in
other lands have, from a European standpoint, so deliled their blades as those of Japan.
common last
For instance,
it
was
(|uite
a
occurrence, even so lately as the seventies of the
century,
for
a
samurai, or gentleman soldier of
old
Japan, to pay a small fee to the public executioner for the privilege of being allowed to test his blade
of a criminal, and even at times
And some Japanese swordsmen, went farther than
this,
upon the
upon the carcase
living
body of one.
with the same object in view,
and hesitated not
to
what
resort to
they so expressively termed " cross-roadcutting," the victim in
such a case being generally a beggar it
— man, woman, or
child,
mattered not which to them.
The very old-time Japanese sword, different sort of
and on sale
weapon
at curio
to
the tsiinigi, was a very
what one now sees
shops in England.
It
in
had
museums a straight,
double-edged blade, some three feet or more in length, and
was not so unlike the sword of the Western knight of
The
kataita, the mediieval
much
lighter
and modern sword of Japan,
and shorter weapon, with 32
old. is
a
a single-edged blade
V
— "
KENJTTTSU," OR JAPANESE FENCING
slightly curving toward
but of
b}'
with the hataiia,
and
to twelve inches in length,
from eight
that
Worn
the point.
miniivai alone, was the icahizasJti, a dirk with a blade
the hara-kiri,
"happy
or
dispatch,"
was with
it
as
it
this
has been
termed, was performed. Cm'iously enough the word hara-kiri, though
two Japanese words, hara ox belly and
No
European invention.
/./;•/
made up from
or cutting, is of
Japanese, except in joke and at the
expense of the foreigner, ever thinks of using the term, always preferring the
synonym
scppiilni.
seppnku, — obligatory
and
There were two kinds of and
voluntary,
Professor
as
Chamberlain says, in his " Things Japanese," wdth respect this
— "The subject: who
government,
former was
boon granted by the
a
permitted
graciously
criminals
Samurai
class to destroy themselves instead of being
over
the
to
common
officially notified to
Time and
executioner.
the
of
handed
place
were
the condemned, and officials were sent to
witness the ceremony.
This custom
tary Itara-Liri was practised by
men
out of loyalty to a dead superior."
is
quite extinct.
Volun-
in hopeless trouble, also
And
then the Professor
goes on to give some well-known examples of this last " Examples of this class in the
]\[ay.
take place
;
one was mentioned
That of a young man called Ohara Takey-
which occurred
in the
still
:
newspapers of April of this very year, 1901, and two
others in oshi,
to
Yezo
militia,
in 181)1, is typical.
He was a
lieutenant
and ripped himself up in front of the
graves of his ancestors at the temple of Saitokuji, in Tokyo.
Following the usual routine in such cases, Lieutenant Ohara left
a paper setting forth
innovation
the motives of his act, the
being that this
document was directed
only to
be
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN forwarded to the Tokyo the newspapers.
The
News Agency
writer,
years over the likelihood
it
for publication in all
seems, had brooded for eleven
Eussian encroachment
of
the
in
northern portion of the Japanese empire, and feeling that his
were doomed to fruitlessness, resolved
living
words and
to try
what bis death might
efforts
no result was obtained. its
In this particular instance
effect.
Nevertheless, Ohara's self-sacrifice,
origin in political considerations,
and the expectation that
an appeal from the grave would move men's hearts more surely than any arguments urged by a living voice
was
—
all
Japanese ways of thinking.
in complete accord with
government had no sooner yielded
to the
this
The
demands of France,
Eussia, and Germany, by giving up the conquered province of
men committed
Liaotung, than forty military
Even women
ancient way.
suicide in the
are found ready to kill themselves
for loyalty and duty, but the approved method in their case
cutting the
Nowise
throat.
Japanese ideas, was
it
that
strange,
when,
in
but
admirable
1895, the
is
to
news of
Ijieutenant Asada's death on the battle-field, was brought to his
young
wife, she
at once,
resolved to follow him.
and arrayed herself
in
husband's
portrait in
before
cut her
it,
wedding
and with her father's consent,
Having thoroughly cleansed the house her costliest robes, she placed her the alcove,
and prostrating herself
throat with a dagger that had been a
gift."
Just what gave rise to the custom of to
say, but
quished
it
its
sc2)pi(hii it is difficult
origin in the desire of van-
warriors to avoid the humiliations of falling into
their enemies' in the
probably had
many
hands
alive.
This was, undoubtedly, the case
instances one heard of at the 34
commencement
of
"KEN.TUTSLT,"
OR JAPANESE FENCING
the late war in the Far East,
scppukn
committed
when Japanese
by hundreds
prisoners of war by the Russians. old, besides learning
also taught
how
to
how
to
use
to
officers
escape
and men
made
being
The young samurai his
of
weapons aright, was
perform scppakii in the approved fashion,
which was as follows f Having bathed and taken leave of :
.!
-r^
A SAMURAI ABOUT To rEKFOU.M SIU'PUKU
his friends,
the would-be suicide then spread a rug or sheet
or something of the sort on the sitting
down
matted
floor of his
he then unclothed the upper portion of his bod}' the
waist.
room, and
in front of the alcove, facing his family tablets,
— down
to
Tucking the disengaged garments under and
behind his thighs, he then took his icakizashi, and unsheathing
it,
pressed the blade to
his
forward, and toward the tablets.
35
forehead while he bowed
Then grasping
the dirk by D 2
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN the right hand he plunged the blade deeply into his belly,
and with the assistance of the across
left
hand, helped to draw
The disengaged garments tucked under
it.
it
his thighs
prevented his falling backwards when he could no longer
sit
upright through pain and weakness, that being considered
anything but a proper way
The women's
for a scuxurai to fall.
sq)2mLu was carried out more by a stab in the throat than a
and
direct cutting of
it,
fastened around
by a cord as
in their case their
minimise
to
the same ^becoming dissarranged struggles. ,
ll''
aiiil
garments were so chances
all
during their
final
of
death
J
Cherished by the samurai as almost part of his own considered by the
common
people as their
self,"
protector
against violence, what wonder," says Mr. McClatchie, "that
we should
find
[the sword] spoken of in glowing terms by
it
Japanese writers as
'
the precious
possession of lord
vassal from time older than the divine period,' or as
^oul of the samurai
'
? 'J
And
again,
me
by
my
and
the living
what wonder that
Japanese should have many a good sword story told
'
to tell.
tl:
One
old fencing master is not only interesting and
amusing, but also thoroughly
grim humour
illustrative of the
of the samurai with regard to the testing of sword blades,
and
is
as follows
:
According to him, there lived
by a certain daimi/o, or feudal
lord,
service presented lately finished. for the crack
him with
Desirous of seeing
him
it
hawker wdio chanced
a swordsmith in his
had bat just
tested the daimyo sent
his retainers,
to test the blade
days gone
a great patron of
a beautiful blade he
swordsman among
arrival ordered
who was
One day
swordsmiths and swordsmen.
in
and upon his
upon the body of
a fish
to be passing along a road lying within 3C)
"KENJUTSU," OR JAPANESE FENCING the precincts of the castle. in the
place of his own,
A SAMURAI
Putting the sword iu his girdle
which he
left heliind
IX CERJ^MOXIAL
in
the
COSTUME
charge of a friend, the great swordsman strutted road,
him
oft"
down the
met and passed the fish-hawker, and then returned 37
to
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN his feudal lord
by another and shorter road.
him the
asked
daiini/o
him
tions given
did,
not carried out the instruc-
Begging his lord
?
swordsman asked him he came
why he had
to
to
have patience, the
watch the fish-hawker carefully when This he
to a certain sharp turning in the road.
and
wondering surprise saw him collapse
to his
to the story
all
of
while the upper portion of his body toppled
a sudden, for
over one way the lower half
fell
The moral
another.
of course, that not only
is,
unusually fine one, but
the
attached
was the sword an
swordsman who wielded
dexterous, and with so true an edge had he it
Furious with
made
it
so
his cut, that
only required the twisting swing of the fish-baskets to
finish his job.
I
Up
to
1876
particular
all
mark
samurai wore two swords, that being their of distinction,
and
the
difterent
ways of
Men
carrying the weapon indicated the rank of the wearer. of
high birth wore theirs with the
upwards
;
common
the
people,
wear one sword, and then theirs stuck
too, only
horizontally in
hilt
pointing straight
who were when on
only
allowed to
a journe}^
wore
the ohi, or girdle-like sash of
the Japanese; while ordinary saiinirai wove theirs in a position about half-way between the other two.
sheath
of one's sword
To
against that belonging to
person was held to be a grave breach of etiquette sheath in the belt, to a challenge
;
clash the
as though about
to draw,
;
another
to turn the
was tantamount
while to lay one's weapon on the floor of a
room, and to kick the guard with the foot in the direction of
was a deadly insult that generally resulted in a
anyone
else,
combat
to the death.
It
was not even thought
polite to
draw
a sword from its sheath without beggins' the permission of
38
"KENJUTSU," OR JAPANESE FENCING
A
any other person present.
most intimate keeper of the
friend, invariably left his
house,
trust each other.
As
another, even though he might he his
calling on
okl school
Japanese gentleman of the
so
little
the
ILL TIMHI) POINT
first
AM)
study of Japanese swordsmanship,
Tokyo
;
my
commenced study
experiences
and so to begin
lished in Tokyo,
of
apparently,
|
I believe that I was
I here describe
sword with the door-
such men,
did
:
the
in
may the
of
be
Kciijiitsii,
my or
of interest
if
fencing schools of
1888 found
and as the sedentary nature
to tell on
a
KESlM/l'
it
summer
make
Occidental to
of
me
estab-
my
duties
health, I decided to take
Japanese
fencing.
up the
Getting into
touch with the authorities at the Keishicho, or head police 39
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN Umeza-
station of Tokyo, I soon secured an introduction to
wa-san, the fencing master of
the Takanawa
and then quite one of the best swordsmen
Police Station,
Never
in Japan.
THE AUTHOK AND UMHZAWA-SAX. take
did a maitve tVavnicH
pupil than
Umezawa
commendable fencing
in
interest
and
did in me, and this was
on his
masters
more
part,
Tokyo
becanse
the
looked upon
Japanese swordsmanship as a 40
sort
pride all
a
the more
majority his
in
of the
teaching
of renegade act.
me The
"KEXJUTSU," OR JAPANESE FENCING first
dozeu lessons or so were given
in front of
daily
my
at the
house, but after
on the
WHAT
little
lawn
while I used to attend
Takanawa fencing-room, and
A SIDE-SLIP. AND
months
a
me
for
a couple of
WOl'Ll) HAI'PKX
or so fenced with, or rather took instructions from,
the best fencers attending there. sufficiently
advanced
Umezawa
set
When he thought I was me to fence with some of
the more indifferent and harder hitting swordsmen, but was
always close at hand
to
give 41
instructions
and
to
correct
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN Writing as an old cavalry man, with
faults.
experience of regimental
can
that
say
safely
swordsmanship
far
is
of
grounds and gymnasiums, I
drill
system
Japanese
the
plenty
and away superior
teaching
of
ahsurd sword-
to the
exercise system in vogue in the British army, and that for
rough dismounted work the Japanese system of two-handed
swordsmanship
A
Europe.
much
is
first-class
superior to any of the systems of
French or
Italian duellist would,
more
than prohably, heat a first-class Japanese swordsman, but only so if fighting on
ground thoroughly suitable
On rough
style of sword-play.
to his
ground, on a
own
peculiar
hill side, or
on
ground covered with impedimenta, the Japanese swordsman
would more
than
likely
have the advantage
;
or in other
words, in positions where a rough-and-tumble fight on,
and where men want
much
attending too
As
weapon
a
to
and
to kill,
details of
kill
going
is
quickly, Avithout
form over
it.
of oft'ence and defence a Lafaiia is
ah
infinitely
superior one to the ridiculous, single-handed sword with its
36-inch blade, with which British infantry officers are armed,
and with slight modifications could be rendered
blade
is
still
more
considerably shorter
in its
efi^ective.
— from ten men
allowing for the majority of
ment
;
for
scabbard inclined
nobody can deny that is
a horrible nuisance,
man
it
is
make and use In the
the liatiDia
first place, its
to fifteen inches
— thus
greater freedom of move-
to a
dismounted man a long
and that
to
an absolute incumbrance.
shortishly-
a
But though
shorter in the blade the katami has a longer grip, and
when
what
little
one has learnt length of reach
to
use
it
is lost.
aright
it is
truly wonderful
This great length of grip permits of
the use of both hands for the purpose of delivering a crushing
42
"KENJUTSU," OR JAPANESE FENCING blow or cut
and, moreover, after practising the Japanese
;
style of fencing, a
swordsman becomes quite ambidextrous.
How very disconcerting men
are fully aware,
katana play
this last is to an
and when
to this is
opponent
superior one to
—a
is less is
it
for the
an infinitely
one and great purpose of a fight to
French or Italian swordsman's play ostentatious art and ceremony about
just as
it is
It certainly is not so taking to the eye as
the death.
swords-
a closer play than that of the cut-and-thrust
is
sword of the Occident, it must be admitted that
say
all
added the fact that
much
science,
and
it
may
also be
;
—
let
us
but while there
it,
there certainly
added as much,
if
not more, deadly intent.
Among
the
many swordsmen who used
to put in their daily
who
attendance at the Takanawa fencing-room was one early attracted
some
my
attention.
respects a finer
duced him
to
me
He
swordsman than Umezawa, who
one day as his soisri or teacher.
was his name, and though he was exceedingly 43
very
was an elderly man, and
tall
in
intro-
Onoda for
a
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN Japanese he was quite the best built one I have come across.
For a long time
I
could gather nothing more about him than
that he did not like foreigners, and that if
I did not thrust
my
it
would be just as well
acquaintanceship upon him.
Later
on I learnt that he was, or had been, the hereditary fencing master
to the late Shogiin or
this, of course,
or
helped to arouse
more forbidding-looking
sensei; and so what was
old
my
had begun learning
after I
" generalissimo " of Japan.
my
man
All
grimmer
curiosity, but a
never lived than Onoda-
surprise when, keiijntsii,
some
six
he came up
to
months
me
one
afternoon and, presenting his card, as shown on page 43, offered to take
me
on
Delighted at the thought, I w^as soon
for a bout.
ready, but no sooner did the other fencers in the
what was going
making
to
room
happen than they stopped fencing
knew
;
quite a ring round us, stood looking on Avith what I
could not help thinking were quite troubled faces.
my
see
and,
well
that
Onoda-san
had
highly
disapproved
being admitted to the fencing-room, and I
but that some of them did not think be numbered.
my
They
am
of
not sure
days were about to
They were quite wrong, and Onoda-san and
myself got on so well after this that, instead of keeping aloof
me any longer, he rather sought me out than otherwise my company. In his way, he was a most peculiar old
from for
fellow^ a sort of
Buddhist puritan, and when he found out I
had spent some years questions about
it,
its
in
India he was for ever asking
me
He
did
people and their religions, &c.
a thing one day I never
knew another
(though I have known one or two of
among them do
a similar thing),
adult Japanese to do,
my
fellow-countryman of his for being rude to 44
very young friends
and that was
to reprove a
me and
calling out
"KEXJUTSU," OR JAPANESE FENCING after
me
Being an old samuyal, with an excep-
in the streets.
tionally tine presence
and manner, he did this
in a
way that
sent that erring individual literally grovelling in the dust of
the road.
With such
a
man
MEJIBEUS OK THE
as
swordsmen
my own with
the average good
Tokyo, and remarkably useful I found the power
of being able to do so, for class of
friend and instructor, I
TAKANAWA FENCING SCHOOL
soon was more than able to hold of
my
it
Japanese that few,
brought
if
me
into contact with a
any other foreigners have ever
had the chance of becoming acquainted revert to the kenjutsu.
45
\\\i\\.
However, to
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN The
many
kahuto, or helmet, is in
respects superior to the
mask worn by the
sabre-players of Europe, but while
ample protection
to the face, neck,
and throat,
it
gives
it
does not
sufficiently protect the sides of the head, nor yet its top or
crown.
It sits
much
firmer, however, than do
any of our
fencing helmets or masks, being tied, or rather lashed, on
Under
to the head.
it is
invariably
worn
a tenmiui, or small
native towel, wrapped round the head in turban-like fashion,
as
shown
The reason
the side of Umezawa-san.
am
which I
in the photograph, in
seen standing by
for this is of a
cleanly or sanitary nature, and the result
is
purely
that no Japanese
helmets ever have an unpleasant odour.
The
and
do, or corselet, is a lighter, cooler,
far superior chest
and body protector
European sabre-players.
It is
in every
way a
to the leather jerkins of
made
of slips of the very best
and soundest of bamboos, strung perpendicularly together the
required
shape,
in
and trimmed and strengthened with
fastenings of leather, silk, or
hemp.
The
best do are lac-
quered with the mon or crest of the owner, and remarkably
handsome some what
of
them
loosely, being
cords of cotton or
They
are.
worn hanging some-
are
suspended from the shoulders by
silk,
soft
but never so loosely as to prove a
nuisance to the swordsman.
The kusadzuri,
or taces, is a light
and
efficient
enough
protector for the lower part of the body, but hardly as good as those in use in British
made
of a tough cotton or
gymnasiums.
hempen
of about nine inches in length
lying
under,
quilted, and
and three
and four
outside.
in width,
Each
bound round the edges with 46
These are generally
canvas, cut in five strips
of the
a leather.
two strips strips
is
Though
"KENJUTSU," OR JAPANESE FENCING handuff loose the
strips are fastened to a
the waist of the fencer, but in a his
movements
The
much
hand, wrist, and forearm guard,
kote, or gauntlet, is a
many
superior, in
seen
cotton or
in
way that does not impede
in the slightest degree.
respects, to anything of the sort to
I'UIUi;
be
band that encircles
TU
Till;
A
our gymnasiums.
hempen
SALUTE Lotc
canvas, lined with
is
made
bamboo shavings
horse-hair, and trinnned and strengthened with a like leather.
One
great advantage the Japanese
over our gauntlets
is
that
its
size
of strong
loife
or
soft, kid-
possesses
can be regulated up to
quite an appreciable degree by the loosening or tightening of the lacing running along
The
sldiiai, or practice
bamboo, and though
it
and inside
sword,
is
its
forearm portion.
made from
four strips of
undoubtedly looks clumsy enough 47
at
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN The length and weight
not so by any means.
first, it is
of
shinai vary according to the taste of fencers, there being no rule laid
down about
which forces
this
men
all
— surely a
to
method than
fit
The
and strength.
four strips of
each other are then brought together,
and over the grip or handle end of the sldnal leather covering.
ours,
to use the same-sized practice sword,
irrespective of their stature
bamboo being cut
fairer
The grip may be
of
drawn
a strong
any length, say from
From
eight to sixteen inches, or more.
is
the guard end of
this covering runs a leather or gut sti-and to the point of the
shinai, and is there fastened to a leather cup-like covering
that keeps together the ends of the four bamboos, and forms
The
a button over their points.
runs
is
line
along which the gut
considered the back of the sword, and as the sliiuai
is
strengthened and kept together by a fastening of leather at its
cutting point, advantage
through
The
it,
and so help
to
taken of this to run the gut
is
keep
it all
the tauter in
tsuha, or guard, is a circular piece of stout leather, wdth
a hole in its centre to permit of its being passed
the grip until
it
reaches the
where
hilt,
from the
Sometimes, but not
often, a fencer will use a
made
sliiiiai
little
more.
secondary
fswfca,
an inch, or a
of thin leather and padded like a cushion.
between his hand and the ordinary tsuha.
ments
up and over
forms a circular
it
S'uard, standinii' out
lie
its place.
of
my
that I stand but a
trifle
But over
The measure-
:
blade, twenty-six inches,
it
must be pointed out here
favourite shinai are
and grip fourteen inches.
This will
five feet six
inches, and have
somewhat small hands.
The hakama, comfortable
or divided skirt of the samurai,
article
which, while
of clothing,
48
\
it
is
a
most
affords
a
"KENJUT8U,' OR JAPANESE FENCING amount
certain
of protection to the legs
and lower parts of
the body, does not in the least impede a fencer's movements. It
light,
is
airy,
and
and might, with very great
cool,
advantage, he introduced into England, in a modified form,
use of young
for the
girls.
Japanese fencing-rooms are
THi:
same
phin,
to this.
It
its
feet or so
huilt
on
KNGAGK
was ahout
Two
thirty feet in length
of its sides were
opened
and about half to the air,
and
other two sides ran a raised i)latform, a couple of
above the
floor of the
fencing arena.
The platform
was furnished with mats, and on cold days with
and was used indiscriminately dressing and resting-rooms J.
the
nioi'c or less
and the Takanawa fencing-room was no exception
that in width.
along
all
as galleries for spectators or
for the fencers.
49
fire-boxes,
Such men E
as
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN liked to keep their fencing gear there coukl do so, hanging-
Here
the same up on pegs ak)ng the side of the gallery.
must be pointed out that
all
it
Japanese fencers have their own
special kit, the fencing-room supplj'ing nothing.
Two men
agreeing to have a bout
kit, step into
donning their
will, after
the arena, and squatting
down
in front of each
other, at about eight feet apart, will then proceed to salute
Rising slowly they will put them-
one another by a bow.
selves into position with sliiiial crossing at engage, as
shown
in the illustration.
To go a
article,
and points of
into details over all the cuts, guards,
Japanese fencer's repertoirv but
it
the
object
one of the best sworsdmen in Japan
me
use
— took the
is
deliver a point except at the throat
by the
— though
idea, I fancy,
Another remarkable point about the
it.
Japanese system of«swordsmanship
to be explained
this
remember seeing only one
use of a real back-handed stroke, and he
from seeing
of
point out here that during a fifteen
is well to
years' -experience of kenjiitsu I
man make
not
is
that ;
its
votaries never
but this
is,
fact that until the seventies
largely used by them.
This point even
a lunging thrust, and is
is
more
perhaps,
armour was
of a job than
delivered from below upwards, with
the very evident object of getting in between the gorget and the upper part of the breastplate. kenjutsu
is
a very
Though
rough-and-tumble
absolutely free from parade and
wonderfully practical withal.
all
swordsmen
of
sort
As Japanese
resort to certain
chivalry all is fair
is
most
in war,
methods which
highly reprehensible from our point of view. 50
sword-play,
theatrical touches, but
uncompromisingly based upon the idea that so Japanese
highly scientific,
Such
are
a thing
"KENJUTSU," OR JAPANESE EEXCING as giving anotlier
heads
;
and
so,
man
a chance never appears to enter their
should a fencer lose his
sJtuiai,
or fail in any
way, his adversary immediately takes advantage of this
push home
to
his attack with all the greater vigour.
CORPS A CORPS A LA JAPOXAIS1-:
The
cuts
most
in
favour with Japanese swordsmen are
mainly of the chopping order, and mostly delivered head and right wrist.
Some
few, however,
attention to their adversary's stomach, and,
men, these are the most difdcult 51
to tackle.
at the
pay particular
if skilful
The
swords-
cuts at the E 2
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN head and wrist can be delivered from the engage position,
and
in the case of the former this is
done by slightly raising
the sldnai, stepping sharply forward, and as sharply bringing the
s]ii)iai
The
carries on.
with,
if
wrist cut
is
made by
a disengaging cut-over,
necessary, a sharp side tap against the adversary's
shinai to throw
by
adversary's head with a chop that
down upon the
it
Both these cuts can be parried
out of line.
a slight raising of the sliinai
and an outward twist of the
and from both parries return cuts can be made
wrist,
either head or wrist.
much
closer to
Japanese fencers
Ordinarily
men
are very fond of keeping well away, and,
mode
to close quarters, resort to
of attack,
consisting mainly
it is
good native swords-
Some on
require for a fight to the death.
and brought
stand
each other than do those of Europe, and
truly remarkable what little space a couple of
at
if
the contrary
not followed up
a widely
of slashing
different
cuts,
first
with one hand and then with the other, the changes being carried out with wonderful rapidity.
The
principal swinging
cut can be delivered for either side of an opponent's head, but if
he
is a
to, for
good swordsman
he can reply
at the head.
to
to
a sufficient height
one form
men, and
of it is
it
The guard
it is
a
somewhat risky one
to resort
by either a stop thrust or a stop cut for it is a
and
mere raising of the sword
in the right line.
hanging guard seldom resorted
known to, for it
to
There
Japanese
is
only
swords-
makes a smart return
a matter of great difficulty.
The Japanese inhabiting
a
mountainous country have from
time immemorial accustomed themselves to fight more on foot
than on horseback, while our knights of
differently
situated, never fought
old,
being
on foot except and only
"
when
KENJUTSU,"' OK JArAXESE FENCING
absolutely obliged by circumsfcauces to do so.
Tbafc tbe
western systems of swordsmanship of the present day are relics of the old knightly days there can be
The sword then was
it
to be of real use to
should be of a goodly length,
mounted man can use effect
mounted man,
the weapon of the
one-handed swordsman, and necessary
no manner of doubt.
man
and advantage, a dismounted
succeeding knightly ways,
to fight
as
it
was
but while
a
a fairly lieavy sword with considerable is
distinctly handi-
capped by being armed with such a weapon.
made swords, but
him
of a
it
men
was
then took to wearing lighter considered more honourable
still
on horseback than on
Courtly ways
foot,
and as men could not
for
ever be changing their swords, and as a thrusting sword was
newer conditions ruling the non-
just as effective under the
wearing of armour, so the rapier eventually came more and more into use in the West.
With the
rapier
came the great
reliance
the European swordsman puts on the point, and with
came the necessity
for
it
also
fighting on strictly straight lines in
contradistinction to lines which enable and permit the breaking of
ground by a rougher
style of
point to the best advantage a lunging thrust to
deliver a lunging
thrust aright
ground underfoot should be a plane.
The
To use the
swordsmanship.
free of
it
is
is
required, and
essential that
existence of such conditions cannot, however,
be relied upon, and the consequence
is
the
more the sword
approaches the rapier in construction the less suitable for use
on rough ground.
Now
well on rough as on
smooth and
wonderfully
weapon
nor
is
the
impedimenta, and also on
efi'ective
katana-play alone
—
it is
is
the katatia can be used as
level ground, but
though a
by no means a perfect one,
pure and simple 53
it
— a perfect
system
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN Such can only be arrived
of swordsmanship.
new
sword and instituting a new style of sword-play,
style of
combining
by making a
at
them
in
that
all
best in the swords of the
is
and the swords of the Far East, and
in the
West
methods employed
in their use.
Some
of the
best points about keiijiitsu are, that from
guard or parry some two or more different returns
eve^-y
made, and that such guards or parries are more
can be
allowing
returns
the
than
order
fending-off
of a
Again,
guards with less exertion. of reach
length as
nor
strength
kenjutsii
and degrees of strength are brought
of varying sizes
footings
of
they would
system
is
majority of a
And
systems
our
a
much
men
less
less
knowledge of
when
equality
greater
be with us.
as
scientific
up
neither
the
find
such great advantage in
are of
thus
they are in our Western systems of sword-play, and so
men on
ones,
made more quickly
be
to
stopping
strictly
of
the
sword-play,
than
time would
required
be
Japanese
and so with
one,
artificial
the
picking
for
it.
among the Japanese, but is
it
then again, while just as
Very naturally a good swordsman
smith
practising
perhaps more so
is
held in high repute
curiously enough :
good sword
a
and the names of such
Amakune, Kamige, Shinsoku, and Amaza
men
as
of the very olden
days, and Munechika, Yasutsuna, Sanemori, Yukihira, and
Yoshimitsu of the middle ages, are known subjects of the Mikado hiro,
;
and then as
for
to all
educated
Masamune, Yoshi-
and Muramasa, their names are household words
every homestead of the land.
The two
best
swordsmen
have met in Japan were Sakakibara and Henmi. 54
The
in
I
first
"KENJUTSU," OK JAPANESE FENCING was a
tall,
rather slightly built man. but though a grand
somewhat
swordsman,
inclined
play
to
Henmi-san, on the other hand, was a individual, standing about tive-feet-one,
graceful
moving man
I
have ever seen
among
bara had a greater following
Tokyo, there
man
of the two.
I
the
gallery,
and quite the most but though Sakaki-
:
the general public
Heumi was
doubt
little
is
to
most unobtrusive
of
the better swords-
have seen him, while fencing with a
first-class
swordsman, stop
and then
invite the
all
of a sudden, drop his sJthiai,
But
other to attack him.
try as this
other might, he could seldom get a cut into him, for where
Henmi was
the fraction of a second before, the spot would be
vacant.
The Japanese have always been very fond to their swords,
circumstance
such names being usually derived from some
connected
mowing sword,"
for
with
their
the
instance,
career.
most
wood
fire
threatened to
mowed down
the
it
may
— 131
his
saved
his
prized
when
of
a brush-
army, Yamato Take
intervening brushwood with
stopped the flames and
71
destroy
" Grass-
The
liiglil}'
the swords of Japan, was so called because,
all
names
of giving
troops.
it,
and so
Yamato Take,
here be mentioned, was the son of the Emperor Keiko, A.D.
The " Hige
Kiri " and "
Hizamaru
"
were
two famous swords belonging to the Minamoto family, and
owe
their
names
to the fact that
when they were
tested on a
couple of criminals sentenced to decapitation, one cut through the
hi'je
or beard of the victim after severing the head from
the body, while the second cut through the
Itiza
or knee of
the other luckless wretch as he sat or squatted to receive his
death blow. 55
—
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN The following among other mottoes
are
eiigraved on the hilt of Japanese swords
C " There's nought fear
who
'twixt
sometimes fonnd
:
heaven and earth that man need
carries at his helt this single blade."
" One's fate
is in
the hands of heaven, but a skilful fighter
does not meet with death." " In one's last days one's sword becomes th^ wealth of sone's posterity,
j
5G
—
CHAPTER
IV
Japanese Wrestling
Sumo and
Jujutsu
Few
people are so keen about wrestling as the Japanese,
have
for centuries past practised
As
jujutsK. it is
two distinct kinds
who
siiiiid
and
regards the difference existing between the two,
worth noting that this
something more than
is
difference of style as between
For while the votaries
of
two schools of
siiino
rely as
a
mere
the same
much upon
art.
their
personal strength and weight of body as upon any knowledge
they
aim
may
possess of scientific grips and
yieldings of to
those ofjiijtitsu
falls,
solely at overthrowing an ojiponeiit by highly reasoned-out self,
strength."
essentially
or as a Japanese would put
And then
again,
while
wrestlers,
})rofessional
the
among
" by yielding sin)intori
mainly
recruited
the lower strata of Japanese society, jaintsii
it,
are
from
the devotees of
muster men of birth and education, and often,
too,
of high social position and standing.
Without going
into
wrestling in Japan,
undue
it
until thirty years ago
may
details as regards the history of
here be as well to point out that
the siiDidfori ranked
next in social
matters to the sdiimrdi, the soldier nobility of old Japan, for it
was considered that their profession was a semi-military
one.
Now, however,
lives of ease
and
all this is
liououi-
changed, and, instead of living
under the protecting 57
regis of
some
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN great feudal lord or high dignitary of State, the sumotoii
of to-day have to content themselves with dangling after the
KAWADSU-NO-SABURO AND ATANO- NO-GORO, TWO CELEBRATED WRESTLERS OF OLD l\I
Leels of some one of their country's erstwhile despised
or ''merchants." aiDitn,
But fortunately
the "Wrestlers' Gnild
'"
is
for
slioiiiii,
them and the cause
still
well to the fore,
of
and
not only helps and suceonrs them in trouble and sickness, hut r),s
JAl^ANESE WRESTLING •exercises over
them and
tlieir calling a
beneficent despotism
not unlike that exercised by the Jockey Chib over horseracing in England.
many
privileges
In days gone by the stinnltori enjoyed
— such
as
immunity from bridge and
'immmM
ferry
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN The " Wrestlers' Guild and the
officers
in charge of
recruited from the retired
Both
siinidtori
" has its headquarters in
list
its
ufiairs
Tokyo,
have always
of old wrestlers
heeii
and umpires.
and umpires enter upon their calling when
A roSTUKI^G EXEKCISK FOK
STltllNdTil
KNlXd THE
THIGH MU>SCLES quite young, and in the generality of cases start
in
life
to
the
wrestler or umpire.
owe
their first
benevolent infiuence of some
Once
fairly started
upon
famous
their career,
however, they then come under the orders of the guild, and
without the sanction of that august body no wrestler 60
may
JAPANESE WRESTLING compete
in
any tournament or match, with the result that
such a
thiu<,'
among
the
their
'"
as
siniinftiri
match
a
selling
"
an unknown thing
is
While the umpires
of Japan.
retain
family nomenclature, the wrestlers have professional
names bestowed upon "Great Gun,"
them,
Nishi-no-Ume, or " W^estern
&c.,— all
indicative of great size
^nmdtori,
it
may
Taiho,
instance,
for
as,
Ocean," &c.,
For the
and strength.
here he remarked, are
or
huge men, almost
all
giants in comparison to the ruck of their fellow-countrymen,
and yet despite rolls
of fat
of their great
that
encase
paunches and the lumps and
their
they
bodies,
enormously strong, but active withal. the training of the sumdtori
is
in
are
not
only
Curiously enough, opposition to
strict
all
theories held upon such subjects by English athletes and trainers, for not only do they eat
and drink excessively, but
also any kind of food or liquor they
may
as regards their work outside of the ring, in butting at posts with their shoulders lifting aiul flinging
and the
a good deal of posturing with of
And
then,
consists mainly
it
and chests, and
in
about and catching weights in the shape
of sacks of rice, sand,
suppling
fancy.
their
limbs,
and,
like.
a
'J'hey also
go through
view to the loosening and
perhaps, too,
as
a
sort
of
balancing practice.
A
budding aspirant
member tions,
for
umpire honours
is
generally a
of a family that has followed that calling for genera-
and commences his study of pahestral matters under
the supervision of a thoroughly trustworthy senior.
deemed
sutticiently
practice
bouts
and
promotion according
advanced he the bouts
be
of novices,
to vacancies
61
will
put
to
When umpire
and he gets his
and his own competency.
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN According
to
Japanese records, the
first
great umpire
was
Shiga Seirin, who umpired the wrestling matches fought out before the
type
Emperor Shonin
wiekled by an umpire
office ;
similarly antique
is
(7'2-i-749 a.d.).
is a
his
The baton of
fan of the okl time military
costume.
His orders and
ASJ:'1UA^'TS FOR PAL^STRAL HONOtTRS, WITH A YOUKG UMPIRE STANDING AMONG THEM
A GROUP OF BUDDJNa
injunctions to the wTestlers and his address to the spectators, are given in a peculiarly high-pitched tone, very dramatically
Ranking next
and very penetratingly. often one, an umpire
is
to a
samurai, and
allowed to wear a sword, and at
all
great matches he invariably does so.
According to their classes,
skill
so the HU))totori are divided into
weight having nothing to do with the matter, and 62
JAPANESE WRESTLING the
classifying
guild.
of
them
is
altogether in the hands of the
Their examinations for class
honours are carried
out twice a year, in January and May, within the famous
temple grounds of Ekoin,
enthusiasm among
all
in
Tokyo, and excites immense
classes of that great city's population.
For days hefore the contest the streets are made noisier than
TACHI-AI, OR •'WATCUINIl FOR
usual by
men
""
beating drums, announcing the day and hour
upon which the matches this, a great
AX OPEXIXO
drumming
are to is
kept
commence, and, besides u})
all
on a specially prepared
tower called a YcKjHra, standing some forty feet high and
immediately in front of the wrestling booth. theatre having been erected, in the centre of arena, and in the centre of this again
63
is
An amphi-
it is left
built
a square
up an eighteen
THE FIGHTING MAN OF square structure to a
feet
above
the
roofed
of from two to four feet
lieiglit
This
of the ground.
level
over,
the
JAP^\N
though
unrailed,
is
roof being
supporting the
pillars
firmly
planted at the four corners, and in the exact centre of
all
is
pitched the wrestling ring, twelve feet in diameter, marked
out by
straw
plaited
a
adorned with draperies, turn-out makes quite
When retired
all
is
a'
or elder from
tosliij/ori,
the
into
and the
two parties, then hie into is
it
members
finished
of each party
the
declares
the
who
divided
into
from opposite
filing
among
arena and
siundttni,
invariably called the east and
when they have
and the whole
brave show.
steps
meeting opened,
and roof are
pillars
flags, bannerets, S:c.,
ready a
wrestlers,
The
rope.
the in
are
One party
sides.
other the west, and
they squat down, the
Two
on their own side of the arena.
of the least skilful of the contestants then step into the ring,
one from each who,
after
professional
side,
being ushered in by a junior umpire,
introducing
them
names and
status, orders
to
the
spectators
them
to
commence.
Being low down the grade of wrestlers, they, as half-a-dozen
or
couples
so
that
follow
by their
also the
immediately
after,
dispense with preliminaries, as much, perhaps, because of their ignorance of so,
them
as for any
more
Not
valid reason.
however, their seniors, who, after having been ushered
into the ring and introduced to the spectators by an umpire
of an equal status to themselves, proceed to go through
some
of the most fantastic and extraordinary posturings and preliminaries imaginable, winding
and tossing the same
up by taking a pinch of
in the air as
an oblation to Nomi-no-
Sukune, the tutelary deity of the wrestlers of Japan. 64
salt
JAPANESE WRESTLING
A
mawasJri, or "loin cloth,"
is all
that covers a sumdtovi's
nakedness while actually engaged in a bout.
It is generally
made
may
of
hemp, but sometimes
white or red in colour.
i)l)-llV()-ll;l.
(lU
••
of silk, and
The aprons
be either
Avorn during posturing
CEUK.MUMAL APKU.N. AS WOK.V JAPANESE WRESTLERS "
IIV
P^IRST-CLASS
and preliminaries by the highest ranked sitmOtori are the Japanese equivalents of a British pugilist's richly embroidered in gold and silk
and being
sometimes cost as much
1,000 yen, equal to about £100.
as
belt,
Siundtori
invariably
allow their hair to grow as long as possible, shaving J.
65
V
oft",
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN however, a portion of a queue fasten
When they take
it
it
in
front,
and tying
it
back into
on the top and back of their heads.
both wrestlers have done with their prehminaries
up
SIKI-KAIU'RI.
of the ring. opening, and
and on opposite sides
their positions within
A BACK THROW FOILED
S(|uatting on their haunches the}^ watch for an
when one
of thcnii sees
it
a dart at the other, but the chances
not recognise
it
as a
fail'
start.
he immediately makes arc;
This
his opponent will
may
occur over and
over again, but once fairly started a Japanese wrestling bout 6G
JAPANESE WKESTLIXG is
a
very short-lived
affair
minute, and the reason alViiid to
is
seldom lasting over a
indeed,
that the
men
are as often as not
grapple for fear of heing pushed, butted, or thrown
A GltOUP OF FAMOUS WRESTLERS, INCLUDING EX-CHAMPTON. AND PRESENT CHAilPIOX OF JAPAN
out of the ring before they have well commenced.
For, as
has been already pointed out, the ring
feet in
is
but twelve
diameter, and the least possible throw, step or push outside of
it
loses a siDUdtori his bout
status also, and this
and perhaps his rank and
means money
their rank and status so the
men 67
to
him,
for
according to
are paid. F 2
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN There are forty-eight
recoiyv.'
coping with an antagonist, and'
remained unchanged
for
methods or hands
\
r^'^-
for
-apanese claim they have
In addition to these,
centuries.
there are a hundred and sixty-eight possible or subsidiary
The orthodox hands
hands.
are classified into throwing,
grappling, twisting and bending, each having twelve hands,
but these do not, of course, exhaust a good wrestler's which,
sources,
within
quickness of eye and decision.
methods dangerous
to life
Should
and limb he
and should he do so again he
with
it
wrestler employ
a
is at
once admonished,
promptly ejected from out
is
the arena and the guiJd, and this
re-
bounds, depend upon his
certain
is
a
punishment that
carries
penalties similar in all respects to the suspension of
a jockey
by the Jockey Club of England.
In the
first
rank of the
Sekiwaki and Komusubi.
siiniotori
stand the Ozeki, then the
Following them come seven grada-
tions or classes of Mayegashira.
himself superior to
promoted
all
his
Should an Ozeki prove
rivals of
the same rank he
Hinoshita Kaizan, carrying with
to
it
is
the privilege
of wearing the yohozuka, or " side rope," a belt in the form of a rope.
A*ccording to Japanese accounts Akashi Shigeno-
suke was the
1624
A.D.,
first to
have this honour conferred upon him, in
and since his time there have been only sixteen
kaizan, the latest being Hitachiyama, the present champion of Japan.
Jujutsu As
before explained, jujutsu is a very difl'erent art to suino,
ranking considerably higher than
more
aristocratic portions of
it
in
the esteem of the
Japanese society. 68
Its principles,
JAR like so
down
many
other
•^E
WRESTLING >anese,
thi)
as a sort of esotei
et
were until
lately
handed
from one great master of the
art to another, and, unlike as in the case of stimn, there are
many art,
schools or styles of JKJKtsii.
and
mean
in the feudal
It is essentially a militar}'
days instructions in
part in the education of a
KO-IIATA-UOKI, UK
••
young
it
it
was going
to
become one
place,
and
at present it is
of the Mikado's subjects.
under various names, such l-('i)ipn
For some
sanitimi.
LEG-l'U J>L THliOW
time after the abolition of the feudal system
for the future prospects of
formed a no
of the
many
it
lost arts,
looked as
if
but happily
Japanese manhood a revival took
extremely popular among JiijutnK is -as
known
all
to the
classes
Japanese
Judo, yunuira, taijutsK, JiOfiusokn,
and haliuda, but jndo, jujutsu and jiatrara are the 69
THE FIGHTING MAN OF JAPAN terms most commonly used.
which
it
Considering the high esteem in
has always been held,
books there are upon
it,
and
it is
still
really wonderful
there are have not dealt as fully with
Such books,
it
as they
or rather pamphlets, as have dealt with
generally so done from the particular standpoint of
many
schools of
jiiJiitHK,
and there
is
as
might have.
KATA-SUKASHI, A SIDE-SLIP FOLLOWED BY A NECK-GKIP
of the
what few
more wonderful that such
it
have
THROW
some one
absolutely no
doubt the originators of certain new schools have made history to suit their
doubt that, while
own purpose.
hofiii^oLti
Still,
little
and koiipo were originally two
distinct arts, the former the art of seizing art
there seems
and the
of fiaiuinfi victory hy pliduci/, the two were
70
latter the
afterwards
JAPAN KSE WKESTLINC undue
this is gained without any
hardeuin
and mis-shaping-
of the muscles.
In conckision, is
it
may he
hy no means necessary
to
as well here to point out that
for
an intending student oi jujiitsu
he an athlete, rather the other way
unfortunately,
when commencing
inclined to rely fatal
mistake
ficiency
in
if
the
it
overmuch on
a
;
for
course
their strength
such athletes, of jnjntsu,
and
are
activity,
a
one hopes to attain to any degree of pro-
Unlike those muscle-trying exercises
art.
which necessitate the use of developers, dumh-hells, barhells,
&c. (from the sale of which such enormous profits are
derived
by the proprietors of certain
much-vaunted and
advertised schools of physical culture), jujutHti art,
of
is
a natural
an unartificial exercise, and one which, partly by reason its
superiority to all
extraneous appliances, affords the
very healthiest fun, emulation, and exercise in existence.
THK
lAl'liUKV, AGNJav,
it
to.
l.n.,
EXI)
PlilNI'KltS,
LONDON AM)
T0^1lilUlH;^
A JU=JITSU BOOK. has suffered from
JU-JITSU
somewhat low
of a
a false idea of
its
and make valuable
its
exploitation
by
a.
literature
There has been spread abroad
type.
nature and of the reasons which justify
its
introduction
among
the
games and
sports of England. It has become desirable, therefore, that a Ju-Jitsu book with some claims to common sense should be obtainable, and the
School
is
therefore preparing a carefully written
illustrated
elementary work on the subject.
and carefully
This
will
be no
which
collection of cut-and-dried recipes, the perusal of
will
enable sedentary persons to encounter and overco.me large and violent
men armed
Ju-Jitsu, the game.
put on paper. instruction
in
It
with knives. It will
will
Ju-Jitsu
It will
endeavour
be a book that,
can be
material for
much
places where no
in
may
obtained,
together by two or three people, and from to extract
to outline
be the daily teaching of the School
it
be
studied
they will be able
sport and contest and healthy
exercise.
Details as to price and date of publication will be sent to enquirers.
THE JAPANESE SCHOOL OF 305,
OXFORD STREET,
JU=JITSU, W.
A^
3 9999 06561 285 3
Boston Public Library Central Library, Copley Square Division of
Reference and Research Services
The Date Due Card
in the pocket indi-
which this book should be returned to the Library. cates the date on or before
Please do not remove cards from this pocket.
cB
1 3 iy34
u..J.y^^^
-,;
J.
,
