Arts of War in Times of Peace.

Archery in Honch Bugei Shden

Author(s): John M. Rogers
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 45, No. 3 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 253-260
Published by: Sophia University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2384902 .
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Arts of War in Times of Peace
Archery in Honcho Bugei Shoden
by JOHN M. ROGERS
T nHE Honcho Bugei Shoden JN is the oldest survey work on the
history and traditions of the classical Japanese martial arts. Written in
1714 by Hinatsu Shirozaemon Shigetaka H
9MVEWMA. , and pub-
lished in 1716, the book is comprised of ten chapters covering nine different
martial arts (two chapters are devoted to swordsmanship). Each chapter is
divided into a number of sections devoted to an illustrious founder or expo-
nent of a particular martial art. The text mentions one hundred and fifty promi-
nent warriors practicing the arts of military science and strategy (heiho _Q?A;),l
military decorum (shitsuke
ML),2
archery (shajutsu #f 4), horsemanship (baju-
tsu . swordsmanship (tojutsu iq4f), the art of the spear (s`jutsu
M4M),
firearms (h-jutsu
Tr4i),
armed close combat (kogusoku 'J>aJ), and unarmed
combat (jujutsu t4q). Popularly known as Kanjo ShOden fH&t'fi, Bugei
Shoden AfIjNf+, and Kanjo Bugei Shoden Tat.1'fI, the text enjoyed wide
circulation in the Edo period and has appeared in digest versions such as Bugei
ShOden Bassho , and Bugei Shodensho 'I'tP, edited by later
writers.
Other major Edo histories of the martial arts rely heavily on Hinatsu's
work. Gekken Sodan
I0t-:A,
1790, is basically an expansion of Hinatsu's two
chapters on swordsmen, while Bujutsu Ryuso Roku A,tft&, 1843, is little
more than a regrouping of the material by school rather than by exponent.
Another important work, Bujutsu Keifu Ryaku AM,*=X, 1790, follows Hina-
tsu's text verbatim for many of the brief explanations that appear in its lineage
charts.
THE AUTHOR is an assistant in sport
philosophy at the Nippon College of Physical
Education, Tokyo. He wishes to express his
gratitude to Dr Okada Meiken
Pi
W H1m for
his advice in the development of the present
article.
1 Heiho is in fact a more encompassing
science and spans from pure philosophy to the
logistics of troop and supply deployment.
2
The term shorei is read here with furigana
as shitsuke, and refers to the decorum of the
Ise
fk
and Ogasawara 'jVJq schools. It is
the science of how a bushi should act, talk,
and interact with others in everyday life,
formal situations, and especially in military
situations.
254 Monumenta Nipponica, 45:3
Honcho Bugei Shoden was first published in modern times in Shiseki Shu ran
tgR,
volume
90,
1883. The text has been included in several later an-
thologies of the martial arts, such as Bujutsu Sosho AATR
(1915), Zoku
Kendo Shugi Oq Lat- (1923) by
Yamada Jirokichi , Nihon Kendo
Shiryo H
*$IJ1E6*4
(1943), and Nihon Bugei Shoden H tAfJNfn by Watatani
Kiyoshi #, 1962. In 1920 the Dai-Nippon Butokukai X E t, published
it as an independent work.
The son of a naginata
*jj
grandmaster, Hinatsu collected and evaluated
popular stories about the warriors and founders of the different schools of
the martial arts and weighed them against historical records and accounts such
as Azuma Kagami , Koyogunkan
WR;t,,
Hojoki k and Gikeiki
A
9.
He also read popular works, the written traditions and scrolls of the
various schools, and the Chinese classics. While not a few of his theories and
explanations have been disproven by documents made public after the Meiji
Restoration, Bugei Shoden is recognized for its general accuracy and presents
an unsurpassed picture of how the origins of the martial arts were seen by the
literati in the mid-Edo period. Even today the text remains the starting point
for any research on the subject.
The text consists of introductions of prominent figures in the martial arts,
often followed by a brief commentary in which Hinatsu discusses conflicting
versions (sometimes quoting brief passages from important texts), after which
he presents his own interpretations. The body of the text is in literary Chinese;
the commentary is in kana-majiri {)t<; quotations are made in their original
style. The original 1716 text is widely available and there is little variation be-
tween the editions.
Honcho Bugei Shoden makes a considerable contribution to our understand-
ing of Edo thought. Widely read and quoted, its information formed the
educated man's understanding of the martial arts for the following two and a
half centuries until the various schools first made public primary historical
documents after the Pacific War.
Little is known about Hinatsu. Most records agree that he was the eldest son
of Hinatsu Yoshitada H
b d. 1688, the seventh grandmaster of the Tendo-
ryui style of naginata TAR.j71
n. Why Shigetaka did not succeed his father is
not known.3 He served Matsudaira Kii-no-kami Nobutsune
FKCf q, , lord
of Sasayama Castle in Tamba, until the latter's death in 1717, when he went to
serve the House of Sakai 'R4. He died in Edo at the age of seventy-two and ap-
parently was buried in Seiganji . It is ironic that so little is known about
3
According to the inscription on his
gravestone at Sairenji fi;, Hyogo prefec-
ture, Yoshitada had three sons and one
daughter.
The inscription reads, 'The oldest son,
Shigetaka, was heir to the family. . . but for a
certain reason left Sasayama and traveled to
Edo in the province of Musashi, where he died
and is buried.'
Mitamura Kunihiko X
BtIM
, Dai-Nippon
Naginatado Kyohan X EX *i71A4, Shfibun-
do, 1939, pp. 533-34.
4
Originally located in Yoyogi, Seiganji and
its graves were transferred to the present site at
ROGERS: Arts of War in Times of Peace 255
a warrior who spent much of his life researching and recording for posterity
the lives of other warriors. We do know that he was born into an influential
martial-arts family, read widely, and was reasonably well educated. One can
imagine Hinatsu as a man whose life from childhood revolved around the mar-
tial arts yet for some reason he was not destined to take over his father's
school.
In addition, Hinatsu also wrote other works on the martial arts: Honcho
Burin Genshi
*U4JtR#A0-,
Heika Sawa n and Heika Monogatari CS
THE period in which Hinatsu was active coincided with the lull before the late-
Edo revival of the martial arts. It had been some seventy years since the deaths
of prominent figures such as Miyamoto Musashi W9*Ai,
Ono Tadaaki '>Mf ,
N, and Yagyu Munenori , and followed the Genroku period, the ex-
cesses of which were in sharp contrast to the virtues and moral codes expound-
ed by the samurai class. During the prolonged period of peace the customs and
traditions of the samurai were either forgotten or performed by rote, their
significance no longer understood. In his commentary on archery Hinatsu
deplores bowmen who are only interested in shooting for records rather than
applying themselves to studying proper form and tradition. Similarly, in his
chapters on swordsmanship he criticizes the men of his day who were obsessed
by the supernatural and exotic; he also deplores the conduct of those who con-
cealed the name of their real teachers in order to deceive others for profit.
Hinatsu was not the only man appalled by the rapid decline in the bushi's
self-image. In Hagakure j, 1716, his work on the ethics of bushido,
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
o4jcg
complains that the samurai of his day were in-
terested only in discussing money, clothes, and women, and that they had lost
interest in the Way of the warrior.5
The Kyoho
fg
reforms, in the time of Tokugawa Yoshimune 8)II+i, en-
couraged martial arts in order to raise the morale of the bushi class. A practi-
tioner and patron of various martial arts, Yoshimune often attended sword
and spear matches at Edo Castle. In 1718, he issued a proclamation exhorting
his retainers to learn swordsmanship, to associate with other retainers accord-
ing to the correct military etiquette, and procure all necessary provisions re-
quired by their station.
Archery
A principal martial art and, like swordsmanship, the symbol of the Japanese
warrior, archery can be broadly divided into two streams, ceremonial and
military. These can be further subdivided into techniques for archers on foot
Hatayama at the time of the Russo-Japanese
war. Hinatsu's grave is not at the new site and
was either lost or removed around that time.
5
Yamamoto Tsunetomo, The Hagakure:
A Code to the Way of Samurai, Hokuseido,
1980, p. 58.
256 Monumenta Nipponica, 45:3
and those on horseback.6 Ceremonial archery was practiced from the
Kamakura period by the nobility and high-ranking warriors, and included for-
mal shooting on ceremonial occasions such as the New Year, the birth of a
child, and dispelling evil spirits. Hinatsu addresses ceremonial archery and
discusses the Ogasawara 'J>4; and Ise
f# styles in Chapter 2, which deals
with military decorum. Of the numerous schools, most prominent were the six
Heki H t schools that from the Oei period, 1394-1428, became the archery of
the average bushi. In later times of peace, military archery changed and com-
petition
for distance
(toya
--
)
and continuous
shooting (toshiya 59) became
popular.
Toshiya is said to have begun in the twelfth century at Tokuchoju-in -AW
R
in
Kyoto
and later shifted to the
Sanjusangen-do 6 the main hall
of the nearby Rengeo-in gR V
. rchers knelt at the south end of the 120-
meter veranda and shot north to see if they could make their arrows cover the
entire distance without hitting ceiling, floor, wall, or pillars. The roof pre-
sented an additional difficulty because it prevented the archers from using a
simple arc to make the distance.
First undertaken by the bushi as a self-evaluation of their skill, toshiya was
revived several times, first in the Sengoku era and then again in the Edo period.
Records were kept and verified by a panel of six officials (domi
S)
from each
of the branches of the Heki school.
There were basically three different ways to shoot at the Sanjtusangen-do. Ar-
chers could choose to shoot an unlimited number of arrows for twenty-four
hours (oyakazu
;A),
or from dawn until dusk (hiyakazu
H F
R),
to see how
many they could shoot the entire length of the hall. They could determine what
percentage of a fixed number of arrows, usually a hundred or a thousand, they
could shoot the length of the hall. Boys who had not yet undergone gempuku
7-EW
could elect to shoot from
halfway
down the hall
(hando _T).8
In the 1600s, toshiya became a popular competition, and the title 'Best Ar-
cher in Japan' was awarded to the archer who shot the greatest number of
arrows in a fixed period of time. The function centered on the Heki style, and
especially the Chikurin-ha iiAg, the only one of the six branches of the Heki
to choose its head by skill rather than by family. In one of the early European
references to Japanese martial arts, Engelbert Kaempfer, who visited Kyoto
6
There are some exceptions. Designed for
the average foot soldier, the Heki-ryui Ei E
style of archery is based primarily on non-
equestrian archery. Okai Mitsuru fMiI in
Gendai Kyudo Koza . Yuzan-
kaku, 1969, 3, p. 145.
7
Tokuchoju-in was located close to
Rengeo-in, which Retired Emperor Go-
Shirakawa
1bigJ had Taira Kiyomori iL
build in 1164. One of the buildings of Rengeo-
in was a Kannon-do
WI 4t known as the San-
juisangen-do. The buildings of both temples
were later destroyed by earthquakes and fires,
but the Sanjuisangen-do was later rebuilt in
1266 by Retired Emperor Go-Toba ,%M.
8 For an arrow to be counted successful in
toshiya, it only had to travel the length of the
Hall without hitting the walls, pillars, roof, or
floor. Although a large hoshimaku MI was
set up about two ken from the end of the
veranda, it was not really a target but simply a
backstop. Okai, p. 148.
ROGERS: Arts of War in Times of Peace 257
/1
-
Archery at the Sanjusangendo
Engelbert Kaempfer, The History of Japan
during his 1690-1692 stay in Japan, describes the rows of Kannon statues in
the Sanjuisangen-do. He then mentions, 'Without the temple people diverted
themselves with shooting of arrows,' and expresses wonder at the ability of a
single archer to shoot 'several thousand arrows . . . in a day's time.'9
A hall similar to the Sanjuisangen-do was built in Asakusa, Edo, in 1642,
and was later reconstructed in Fukagawa. The title offered to record holders in
Edo was 'Best Archer in Edo'. On the basis of official and school records for
hall shootings, it is possible to calculate that by the end of the Edo period 823
archers had officially shot at Sanjuisangen-do and 543 at the Edo hall.10
The trend in the seventeenth century to set records before admiring crowds
was not limited to archery. Ihara Saikaku 4;qNM
held several haikai
%E-
gatherings between 1675 and 1684, and on such occasions composed anything
from a thousand to 23,500 verses in a single twenty-four-hour session.
Saikaku, in fact, named one collection of such poems Oyakazu 5 1681,
after the archery competition of the same name at the Sanjfisangen-do.11
9
Engelbert Kaempfer, The History of
Japan, MacLehose, Glasgow, 1906, 3, p. 197.
10 Ishioka Hisao 1 'Kyoto San-
jusangen-do Toshiya no Bunsekiteki Kenkyui'
M -+ FWIAYe- Eb Et,
in Kokugaku-
in Daigaku Taiikugaku Kenkyiushitsu Kiyo 1
*F 1969, 1, pp. 5-17;
Ishioka, 'Edo Sanjiusangen-do Toshiya no
Bunsekiteki Kenkyu', in ibid., 1972, 4, pp.
25-39.
11
Donald Keene, World Within Walls:
Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era,
1600-1867, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New
York, 1976, p. 47.
258 Monumenta Nipponica, 45:3
The rise of toshiya can be traced to several causes. Two technical factors
made the sessions physically possible. Japanese archery tends to have a rather
flat trajectory that makes long-distance shooting possible without resorting to
shooting in an arc. In addition, Japanese archers grip the bow well toward its
base and this allows shooting from a kneeling or crouching position; 12 in this
way it was possible to increase significantly the arc of the arrow's flight in the
confined space.
Why toshiya became so popular is more difficult to explain. The general
trend toward record setting and public display of skill was one factor. An in-
creased interest in the martial arts in general and especially in their potential
for re-instilling bushi ideals, then in decline, certainly helped obtain official
sanction. No longer of any practical use a weapon of war, military archery
needed to develop in a new direction. The growing difficulty of samurai to find
gainful employment was possibly another factor in maintaining interest in
toshiya, as setting a new record would insure instant fame and income. In
earlier days the patronage of outstanding rulers was yet another factor. Oda
Nobunaga
MSB , Toyotomi Hideyoshi e :, and Toyotomi Hidetsugu X
f:-At
were all students of the
Heki-ryui Chikurin-ha,
and the last two were
fond of toshiya. Their interest was continued by the House of Maeda in Kaga
and the Kii and Owari branches of the Tokugawa family, which encouraged
the practice by sponsoring archers from their fiefs to compete. 13
While Hinatsu duly notes the records and feats at the Hall, he closes the
chapter on a critical note-and not without reason. At the peak of its popular-
ity shooting at the Hall became a graceless performance, more of a display of
endurance than a demonstration of skill or form. Wasa Daihachiro's fott1k
ApF
14
feat in 1686 of shooting 13,053 arrows in twenty-four hours averages
about six hundred shots per hour (allowing time for breaks), or one arrow
every six seconds.15
Rather than dwelling on isolated feats of endurance and strength, Hinatsau
devotes his attention, in typical Japanese fashion, to the succession and lineage
of the schools-which teacher taught which students, who was the legitimate
successor, what he chose to call his style, whether or not a certain disciple had
been led into 'true understanding of the inner mysteries' of the art. To Hina-
12
Shooting at the Sanjfisangen-do was
originally done from a squatting position,
then later while seated on a low box. Okai,
p. 156.
13 Expenses involved in sending even a
single archer to try his skill at the Hall were
high. In addition to buying the bows and
thousands of arrows to practice this type of
shooting, it was necessary to invite Heki-ryui
Chikurin-ha masters, and makers of bows,
strings, arrows, and gloves. Only the weal-
thiest fiefs could afford such sponsorship.
14
While Hinatsu refers to him as Daihachi,
the plaque commemorating his record at the
Hall gives his name as Daihachiro.
15
According to Nendai Yakazu-cho
*N5Q
RKfi 8,133 of the arrows traveled the length of
the Hall. Kyudo Jiten A, [=KJ], p. 1886.
Kyudo Jiten forms volumes 9-11 of Kydido
Koza, cited in n. 17, below, and is especially
helpful in providing definitions, readings for
names, and further information.
ROGERS: Arts of War in Times of Peace 259
tsu, the schools are not divisive innovations by certain individuals but rather a
catholic progression of orthodox tradition.
Translation
The following translation of three chapters deals with archery and swordsman-
ship; these form the core of Hinatsu's book and account for just over half of
the text. This disproportion reflects the historical reality of Japanese martial
arts, for the bow and arrow was the warrior's main weapon in the Heian and
Kamakura periods, only to be replaced by bladed weapons (uchimono UtTt) in
the Namboku and Muromachi periods. Other chapters in Hinatsu's account
tend to be brief; the section on armed close combat, for example, lists only
four names and runs to less than a single page of text.
The translation is based on the version included in the 1968 edition of Buju-
tsu Sosho.16 The readings of names of archers and schools follow the Kyuddo
Koza.
7 A text of this sort can lend itself to excessive annotation, and for the
purposes of the present article notes have been added only to aid understand-
ing of Hinatsu's account.
Distances in the chapter on archery are usually measured in ken rE, approx-
imately 1.8 meters. Occasionally Hinatsu refers to 'ken measured in the Kyoto
fashion' (kyoma
>M),%
approximately 1.95 meters. Long-range shooting is
measured in cho flj, approximately 109 meters, and tan R, or 10.9 meters.
16
Bujutsu Sosho , Jimbutsu Orai-
sha, 1968, pp. 7-108.
17
Kyu?do Koza EA.29, Yfizankaku, 1941,
1 1 vols.
260 Monumenta Nipponica, 45:3
The Major Schools of Military Archery: The Heki Tradition.
Heki-ryfi Heki-ryui
|~ ~ ~~~~~F W tEL F i-Ei
Yoshida-ryfi Yasumatsu-ryfi
Yuge-ryfi
Sekka-ha Izumo-ha Chikurin-ha
IIII I I
Jutoku-ha Daishin-ha Insai-ha Yamashina-ha
I
Sakon'emon-ha
I
Okura-ha
Adapted from Ishioka Hisao & Irie Kohei, Nihon Budo Taikei, Doho, Kyoto, 1982, 4, p. 27.