葉隠に 散りとどまれる 花のみぞ 忍びしひとに 逢ふ心地する 西行
Hagakure ni chiri todomareru hana nomizo shinobishi hito ni au kokochi
suru Saigyo
ENG:
The flowers blooming quietly
hidden among the leaves
make me feel like
I've met a woman
hiding her love
Hagakure is a representative work of bushido theory from the early modern
period (1770s).Tsunetomo Yamamoto, who served the Nabeshima clan (a samurai
family in present-day Saga Prefecture), retired after the death of his
lord, Naoshige Nabeshima, and Tsuramoto Tashiro, a samurai from the same
clan, visited Tsunetomo's retreat, listened to his thoughts, and compiled
them into a book.
The book's philosophy is expressed in a condensed form: "Bushido is
the way of death." Behind this philosophy is the dreamlike view that
humans are trapped by "fame and profit," and that the world they
see is nothing more than a fleeting dream. However, those who have completely
abandoned "fame and profit" are able to see the true nature of
this world. Since this is such a fleeting life, it is important to live
in truth.
Living in truth is "dying." By devoting oneself to one's life every morning and evening, one develops a quiet strength that overpowers
others, not in terms of physical strength, in one's appearance, posture,
movements, speech, and words. "Hagakure" is often understood
as an extreme philosophical book that denies attachment to life, but the
underlying idea is that of a pure and ideal samurai.
There are several theories about the origin of the title "Hagakure."
"Hagakure" means to be hidden in the shade of leaves and not
be seen, so it means "to serve one's lord in the shadow," as
well as "there was a persimmon tree called 'Hagakushi' in Yamamoto
Tsunetomo's retreat, and so the book was named after it," and "it
was named after a waka poem by the poet Saigyo."
The chapter on "Hagakure" introduces waka poems written by Japanese
samurai and their lives.
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Shoin Yoshida 1830-1859
[Waka]Shoin Yoshida:
かくすれば かくなるものと 知りながら やむにやまれぬ 大和魂 吉田松陰
Kaku sure ba kaku naru mono to shiri nagara yamuni yamarenu Yamato damashii ：Shoin
Yoshida
ENG:
I knew that
If I acted like that
It would have this kind of result.
I couldn't help but do it
It's the Japanese spirit
[Biography]
A thinker and educator from the end of the Edo period. A samurai of the
Choshu Domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture). Born in Hagi (present-day
Hagi City) as the second son of his father, Sugi Yurinosuke Tsunemichi,
and mother, Taki. At the age of five, he was provisionally adopted by his
uncle, Yoshida Daisuke Masayoshi, who served the Mori family of the Choshu
Domain as a Yamaga-ryu military science instructor, and the following year,
he inherited the Yoshida family upon his uncle's death.
Shoin was a gifted child from an early age, becoming a military science
instructor for the domain at the age of ten, and giving a lecture to the
domain's lord, Mori Yoshichika, at the age of eleven. The Edo Shogunate's
policy of national isolation, which had lasted for over 200 years, came
to an end due to diplomatic pressure from Western countries including the
United States, and in the midst of the political upheaval that led to the
opening of the country, Shoin faced various political issues head-on and
dedicated himself to them, but was tried by the Shogunate as a political
prisoner.
In 1857, he retired to Hagi (present-day Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture)
and taught many young people at the Shoka Sonjuku school, who became the
driving force behind the Meiji Restoration, which overthrew the shogunate
and established the modern Japanese nation. However, in November 1859,
he was executed at Tenmacho Prison in Edo.
[Waka]Shoin Yoshida:
親思ふ 心にまさる 親こころ けふの音づれ 何ときくらん 吉田松陰
Oya omou kokoro ni masaru oya gokoro kyō no otozure nanto kiku ran ：Shoin
Yoshida
English:
More than a child's concern for his parents
parents must be worried about their children
I wonder how my father and mother feel
when they hear the footsteps
coming to tell me of my death.
[Dedicated to Shoin Yoshida]
知ることは 行ふことと 知るならば やむにやらざる 大和魂
Shiru koto ha okonau koto to shiru naraba yamuni yarazaru Yamato damasii
Eng:
To know is to act
and if you know
you will have no choice
but to do the Japanese spirit
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Sanai Hashimoto 1834-1859
[Waka]Sanai Hashimoto:
けふよりは 幼心を 打捨て 人となりにし 道もふめかし 橋本佐内
Kyō yoriwa osanakokoro o uchisute hitoto narinishi michimo hukameshi ：Snanai
Hashimoto
ENG:
From today on
I will cast aside my childish mentality
concentrate on my studies
set my sights
become a respected person
and master the way of the samurai
[Biography]
A thinker of the opening-up movement in the late Edo period. A samurai
of the Fukui Domain (present-day Fukui Prefecture). Born on March 11, 1834,
in Fukui (present-day Fukui City), as the eldest son of Hashimoto Hikoya
Nagatsuna, who served the Fukui Domain as a surgeon, and his mother Umeo.
He was a gifted child from an early age, and at the age of 15, while studying
under the Fukui Domain scholar Yoshida Toko, he wrote "Enlightenment
Records," which listed five virtues, such as "Leave your childish
mindset behind," "Be trembling," "Have aspirations,"
"Study hard," and "Choose your friends."
At the age of 16, he went to Osaka to study Dutch studies and Dutch medicine,
but eventually went to Edo, where he studied a wide range of Western studies.
With the support of Matsudaira Shungaku, the lord of the domain, he worked
to reform the Edo Shogunate and lead it away from its closed-off policies
and toward opening up the country, but he was arrested as a political prisoner
and executed in November 1859 in the same Tenmacho prison as Yoshida Shoin.
[Dedicated to Sanai Hashimoto]
自らの 戒めとした 五の徳を 引き継ぐものは 何を学ばん
Mizukara no imashime toshita go no toku o hikitsugu monowa nani o manaban
ENG:
The Five Virtues
What will those who follow his teachings
which they have made
their own commandments, learn?
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Yoichi Nasu Date of birth and death: Unknown
[Waka]Sanetomo Minamoto:
もののふの 矢並つくろふ 籠手の上に 霰たばしる 那須の篠原 源実朝
Mononou no yanami tsukurou kote no ueni arare tabashiru nasuno shinohara ：Sanetomo
Minamoto
ENG:
Hail falls on the gauntlets
of a warrior preparing
his hunting arrows
Shinohara, Nasu
A samurai from the late Heian period (1180s). His birth and death years
are unknown. He was born as the 11th son of Nasu Sukeyasu, a powerful lord
in Shimotsuke Province (present-day Nasu County, Tochigi Prefecture). Though
a small soldier, he was known as a skilled archer, and in February 1185,
during the Genpei War, he accompanied Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the commander-in-chief
of the Minamoto clan, to the Battle of Yashima. During that battle, he
shot down a fan-shaped target set up on a small boat belonging to the Heike
clan with a single arrow, drawing praise from both allies and enemies.
This famous scene is well-known and depicted in the "war tales"
"The Tale of the Heike" and "The Rise and Fall of the Genpei."
[Dedicated to Yoichi Nasu]:
汐風に 矢羽を定め 荒波の しぶきを分ける 那須の若武者
Shiokaze ni yabane o sadame aranam ino shibuki o wakeru nasuno wakamusha
ENG:
Feeling the salt breeze
the young warrior of Nasu
selects his arrow feathers and advances
through the spray of the rough waves
where his target awaits
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Yoshiie Minamoto 1039-1106
[Waka]Yoshiie Minamoto:
吹く風を 勿来の関と 思へども 道もせに散る 山桜かな 源義家
Fuku kaze o nakoso no sekit o omoe domo michimose ni chiru yamazakura
kana ：Yoshiie Minamoto
ENG:
The wind that blows tells me
that I have come a long way
this is Nakosano Pass what are
the wild cherry blossoms scattering by
the roadside?
A military commander in the mid-Heian period. Born in March 1039 in Ishikawa-gun,
Kawachi-gun (present-day Osaka Prefecture) as the eldest son of Minamoto
no Yoriyoshi and his mother, Taira no Naokata's daughter. At the age of
seven, he underwent his coming-of-age ceremony at Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu
Shrine in Yamashiro Province (present-day Kyoto Prefecture), and was given
the name "Hachiman Taro."
He gained recognition as "the greatest warrior in the world"
for guarding the court nobles and maintaining public order, and for settling
conflicts with other countries. He is well known as the head of the Minamoto
clan, which rivaled the Taira clan of samurai aristocrats.
After his death, the power of the genji declined, but his descendant, Minamoto
no Yoritomo, later founded the Kamakura Shogunate, which continued as a
samurai government for nearly 700 years until the Edo Shogunate was overthrown
in 1867 and Japan became a modern nation with the Meiji Restoration.
[Dedicated to Yoshiie Minamoto]:
横わたわる つわものどもの 背をよぎり 行方も告げぬ 風の音かな
Yoko tawaru tsuwamono domo no se o yogiri yukue mo tsugenu kaze no oto
kana
ENG:
The sound of the wind
blows over the backs of
the soldiers lying on the battlefield
with no telling
where they are going
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Naozane Kumagai (Rensho)1141-1208
[Waka]Naozane Kumagai:
浄土にも 剛のものとや 沙汰すらん 西にむかいて うしろみせねば 熊谷直実（蓮生）
Jyoudo nimo gō no mono toya sata suran nishi ni mukaite ushiro miseneba ：Naozane
Kumagai "Renshō"
ENG:
A samurai from the late Heian to early Kamakura periods. A retainer of
the Kamakura Shogunate. Born on March 24, 1141, in Kumagaya-go, Musashi
Province (present-day Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture) as the second
son of Naosada Kumagaya, the feudal lord of Kumagaya-go. His childhood
name was Yumiyamaru(yumi：bow、ya:arrow), and he is said to have been an
expert archer.
In 1184, during the Genpei War at Ichinotani, he followed Minamoto no Yoshitsune,
the general of the Minamoto clan, and competed with his colleague Hirayama
Sueshige to be the first to reach the vanguard, defeating Taira no Atsumori
of the Taira clan. However, Naozane regretted this, as Atsumori was a boy
close to the age of his son, and this was one of the reasons he later became
a monk. During the Genpei War, his performance as a vanguard led Minamoto
no Yoritomo, the general of the Minamoto clan, to call him "the strongest
man in Japan."
Later in life, he was embroiled in a territorial dispute, and due to his
impulsive nature, he was dissatisfied with the decisions of the Kamakura
Shogunate, so he handed over the family headship to his eldest son and
became a monk. He became a disciple of Honen Shonin, the founder of the
Jodo sect of Buddhism, who taught him to "live like a lotus, which
blooms beautiful flowers even in this muddy world," and was given
the name "Renshō(Ren：lotus、sho：live)". It is said that he became
a dedicated Buddhist monk who preached liberation from killing.
[Dedicated to Naozane Kumagai]
先駆けの 誉も今や 夢ならん 月に向ひて 時を偲べば
Sakigake no homare mo imaya yume naran tsukini mukaite toki o shinobeba
ENG:
The time when being the vanguard
was an honor seems like a dream now
When I look at the moon in the night sky
and remember those days...
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Shigetada Hatakeyama 1164-1205
[Waka]Shigetada Hatakeyama
時ならぬ 岸の小笹の 鶯は 浅瀬たずねて 鳴き渡るらん 畠山重忠
Toki naranu kishi no kozasa no uguisu wa asase tazunete naki wataruran ：Shigetada
Hatakeyama
ENG:
In the midst of a terrible downpour
the river is raging
and I can't go home even if I want to
But the nightingale chirps to let me know
that I can cross this shallow area
as if to guide me
[Biography]
A samurai from the late Heian period to the early Kamakura period. Born
in 1164 to the daughter of Hatakeyama Shoji Shigeyoshi, a vassal of the
Kamakura Shogunate and the lord of Musashi Province (present-day Fukaya
City, Saitama Prefecture), and his mother, Miura Daisuke Yoshiaki. He served
Minamoto no Yoritomo, who later became the Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate,
and played an active role in the Genpei War. He was highly praised for
his bravery and his upright character earned Yoritomo great trust, and
he was even praised as the "model of Kamakura samurai."As a typical
example of a brave and upright Kamakura samurai, many stories of his heroism
and beauty are told in the Kamakura Shogunate's history book, "Azuma
Kagami."
In March 1186, Shizuka Gozen, who had parted ways with Minamoto no Yoshitsune,
was taken to the Kamakura Shogunate, and in April, when she performed a
poetry and dance in the corridors of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Shigetada
was also blessed with musical talent, as seen in his playing the “dobyosi(cooper
cymbals)”. Furthermore, in September 1192, when Yoritomo was building Eifuku-ji
Temple in Kamakura, he carried a large rock into the pond by himself and
set it down during the garden construction, impressing those around him
with his incredible strength.
However, after Yoritomo's death, he was defeated in a battle with a large
Hojo army at Futamatagawa in Musashi Province (present-day Asahi Ward,
Yokohama City) due to an internal conflict with the Hojo clan, who held
real power in the Kamakura Shogunate.
[Dedicated to Shigetada Hatakeyama]
安らかな 郷の川音の せせらぎに 久しき過苦も 忘れせしめん
Yasuraka na sato no kawane no seseragi ni hisashiki kaku mo wasure seshimen
ENG:
Rest in peace amid the murmuring
of the river in your hometown, until you
who lived as a fine warrior
forget the suffering of this world that has passed
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Yoshitsune Minamoto 1159-1189
吉野山 嶺の白雪 踏み分けて 入りにし人の 跡ぞ恋しき 静御前
Yoshino yama mine no shirayuki humi wakete irinishi hito no atozo koishiki ：Shizuka
gozen
[Biography]
A military commander from the late Heian to early Kamakura periods. Born
in Kyoto in 1159. His childhood name was Ushiwakamaru. His father was Minamoto
no Yoshitomo, head of the Minamoto clan, and his mother was Tokiwa, a maid
who served aristocratic women, as the ninth son. He was the half-brother
of Minamoto no Yoritomo, founder of the Kamakura Shogunate. After his father
Yoshitomo was killed, Yoshitsune was sent to Kurama Temple (present-day
Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City) at the age of 11, but later escaped and was protected
by Fujiwara no Hidehira, lord of Hiraizumi in Oshu (present-day Hiraizumi
Town, Iwate Prefecture).
In August 1180, when his older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo raised an army
to overthrow the Taira clan, Yoshitsune rushed to his brother's side, and
thereafter, he fought in various battles and became the greatest contributor
to the overthrow of the Taira government. However, the Kyoto court noble
government, fearing the expansion of Yoritomo's power, used Yoshitsune
as an enemy force against Yoritomo, and the court noble government's betrayal
led Yoshitsune and his retainers to be cornered by Yoritomo.
On his journey to escape Kyoto, he said goodbye to his concubine Shizuka
Gozen at Mount Yoshino and fled to Hiraizumi in Oshu, once again seeking
refuge with Fujiwara no Hidehira. When Hidehira died in October 1187, his
eldest son Yasuhira succumbed to the oppression of the Kamakura Shogunate
and attacked Yoshitsune at his residence in Kinu River (present-day Hiraizumi,
Nishiiwai County, Iwate Prefecture) on April 30, 1189, and Yoshitsune died
at the age of 31 together with his wife and children.
Dedicated to Yoshitsune Minamoto
嵯峨野山 粉雪降りしく 京の地に 残りしひとの 舞ぞかなしき
Sagano yama koyuki hurishiku kyō no chi ni nokorishi hito no mai zo kanashiki
ENG:
A light snow falls gently
on the Saga Mountains
The woman left behind in Kyoto
dances with a sense of sadness
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Sizuka gozen Date of birth and death: Unknown
しづやしづ 賤のをだまき 繰り返し 昔を今に なすよしもがな 静御前
Shizu ya shizu shizu no odamaki kurikae shi mukashi o imani nasu yoshimogana ：Shizuka
gozen
Eng:
"Shizu," "Shizu,"
I can still clearly remember
that person calling my name
over and over again
it doesn't seem like
it was that long ago
[Biography]
A master of poetry and dance in the late Heian period. Lover of Minamoto
no Yoshitsune. Her father is unknown, but her mother was also a master
of poetry and dance, "Iso no Zenji." In November 1185, when Minamoto
no Yoshitsune was targeted for assassination by the Kamakura Shogunate,
which was ruled by his brother Yoritomo, she accompanied him when he fled
from Kyoto, but she was captured on her way back to Kyoto after parting
ways with Yoshitsune and his party in the mountains of Yoshino.
In March 1186, she was sent to the Kamakura Shogunate and interrogated
about Yoshitsune's whereabouts. In April of the same year, at the request
of Yoritomo and his wife, she performed a poetry and dance at Tsurugaoka
Hachimangu Shrine, which impressed the people. At that time, she composed
the following poems: "Yoshinoyama minenoshirayuki humiwakete irinishihitono atozokoishik,"
and "Shizuyashizu shizunoodamaki kurikaeshi mukashiwoimani nasuyoshimogana"
Yoritomo was displeased by this poem, but his wife, Hojo Masako, is said
to have appeased him by mentioning the couple's past.
In July of the same year, she gave birth to a boy in Kamakura, but because
the child was Yoshitsune's, he was killed on the same day. In September
of the same year, she returned to Kyoto. Nothing is known about her life
after that. In later generations, she became widely known and loved by
people through the "Yoshitsune-ki," the Noh play "Yoshino
Shizuka," "Futari Shizuka," and the fourth act of the Joruri
play "Yoshitsune Senbonzakura."
[Dedicated to Shizuka gozen]
左様ならと 言へぬ想いひが 詩となり 神にささげた 白拍子の舞
Sayonara to ienu omoi ga uta tonari kami ni sasageta Shirabyōshi no mai
ENG:
"I can't say SAYONARA"
Her feelings
became a poem
and a Shirabyoshi dance dedicated to God.
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