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AN ACCOUNT OF MY HUT, BY CHÔMEI

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KENKÔ's ESSAYS IN IDLENESS

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NOH DRAMA

H. Paul Varley :: Now, what kind of soldiers or what kind of warriors were the Japanese warriors who brought the country into feudalism? Warriors, of course, are called samurai — that's the term that we know.

The best source, the richest source of knowledge about warriors in this ancient age and also in early medieval times, beginning in the late twelfth century, is a genre of literature called the war tales. These war tales are mixtures of fact and fiction, but they tell us in very vivid, detailed, graphic terms the behavior of these warriors. We see them on their horses in their battles. We see them esteeming honor, seeking fame, concerned about face, literally alarmed at the prospect they might be subjected to shame.

[Excerpt from The Tale of the Heike, compiled in the 14th C.]

Seeing that his father was in danger... Kanetsuna... came to his aid. He galloped back and forth, fighting desperately so that his father would be able to retire in peace... Now as he fought an arrow from the bow of the Captain of the Imperial Guard... grazed the edge of his helmet and struck him in the forehead. As Kanetsuna staggered from this, Jiro-maru... whipped his horse toward him. As they passed each other, they grappled and fell heavily to the ground. The wound inside Kanetsuna's helmet was deep, but he was a man of great strength. He seized young Jiro-maru... and struck off his head. Kanetsuna rose to his feet, but fourteen or fifteen mounted soldiers...fell upon him, and finally he was slain.

Excerpt from The Tale of the Heike, Hiroshi Kitagawa and Bruce T. Tsuchida, trans. (Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1975), pp. 270-271.