Arts of War in Times of Peace.

Archery in Honchō Bugei Shōden

Author(s): John M. Rogers
Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 45, No. 3 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 253-260
Published by: Sophia University
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 Artsof War in Timesof Peace
Archeryin Honcho BugeiShoden

T
by JOHN M. ROGERS

nHEHonchoBugeiShoden JN is theoldestsurvey workon the

historyandtraditions of theclassicalJapanesemartialarts.Written in
1714 by Hinatsu ShirozaemonShigetaka H9MVEWMA. , and pub-
lishedin 1716,thebook is comprised of tenchapterscovering ninedifferent
martialarts(two chaptersare devotedto swordsmanship). Each chapteris
dividedintoa numberof sectionsdevotedto an illustrious founderor expo-
nentofa particularmartialart.Thetextmentions onehundred andfiftypromi-
nentwarriors theartsof military
practicing scienceand strategy(heiho_Q?A;),l
militarydecorum(shitsukeML),2 archery(shajutsu#f4), horsemanship (baju-
tsu . swordsmanship (tojutsuiq4f), the art of the spear(s`jutsu M4M),
firearms(h-jutsuTr4i),armedclosecombat(kogusoku'J>aJ), and unarmed
combat(jujutsu t4q). Popularlyknownas Kanjo ShOdenfH&t'fi, Bugei
Shoden AfIjNf+, and Kanjo Bugei Shoden Tat.1'fI, the textenjoyedwide
intheEdo periodandhasappearedindigestversions
circulation suchas Bugei
ShOdenBassho , and BugeiShodensho 'I'tP, editedby later
writers.
OthermajorEdo historiesof the martialartsrelyheavilyon Hinatsu's
ofHinatsu'stwo
work.GekkenSodanI0t-:A, 1790,is basicallyan expansion
chapterson swordsmen,whileBujutsuRyusoRoku A,tft&, 1843,is little
morethana regrouping of thematerialby schoolratherthanby exponent.
Another importantwork,BujutsuKeifuRyakuAM,*=X, 1790,followsHina-
tsu'stextverbatim
formanyofthebriefexplanations thatappearinitslineage
charts.
THE AUTHOR is an assistant in sport logisticsof troop and supplydeployment.
philosophyat the Nippon College of Physical 2 The termshoreiis read herewithfurigana

Education, Tokyo. He wishes to expresshis as shitsuke,and refersto the decorumof the

gratitudeto Dr Okada Meiken Pi W H1mfor
his advice in the developmentof the present
article.
1 Heiho is in fact a more encompassing
scienceand spans frompurephilosophyto the
Ise fk and Ogasawara 'jVJq schools. It is
the science of how a bushi should act, talk,
and interactwith others in everydaylife,
formal situations,and especiallyin military
situations.

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254 MonumentaNipponica, 45:3
HonchoBugeiShodenwasfirst publishedinmoderntimesinShisekiShuran
tgR, volume90, 1883. The texthas been includedin severallateran-
thologiesof the martialarts,such as BujutsuSosho AATR (1915),Zoku
Kendo Shugi OqLat- (1923)byYamada Jirokichi , NihonKendo
ShiryoH*$IJ1E6*4 (1943),and NihonBugeiShodenHtAfJNfn byWatatani
Kiyoshi#, 1962. In 1920theDai-Nippon ButokukaiX E t, published
it as an independent work.
The son of a naginata*jj grandmaster, Hinatsucollectedand evaluated
popularstoriesaboutthewarriorsand foundersof thedifferent schoolsof
themartialartsandweighed themagainsthistoricalrecordsandaccountssuch
as AzumaKagami , KoyogunkanWR;t,, Hojoki k and GikeikiA
9. He also read popularworks, the written and
traditions scrollsof the
various schools, and the Chineseclassics.While nota few of histheoriesand
explanations havebeendisproven by documents madepublicaftertheMeiji
Restoration, BugeiShodenis recognized foritsgeneralaccuracyand presents
an unsurpassed pictureof howtheoriginsofthemartialartswereseenbythe
literatiin themid-Edoperiod.Eventodaythetextremainsthestarting point
foranyresearchon thesubject.
The textconsistsof introductions of prominent in themartialarts,
figures
oftenfollowedbya briefcommentary in whichHinatsudiscussesconflicting
versions(sometimes quotingbriefpassagesfromimportant texts),afterwhich
hepresents hisowninterpretations. in
Thebodyofthetextis literary Chinese;
thecommentary {)t<; quotationsaremadeintheiroriginal
is in kana-majiri
style.The original1716textis widelyavailableand thereis littlevariation be-
tweentheeditions.
HonchoBugeiShodenmakesa considerable contributiontoourunderstand-
ing of Edo thought.Widelyread and quoted,its information formedthe
educatedman'sunderstanding ofthemartialartsforthefollowing twoand a
halfcenturies untilthevariousschoolsfirstmadepublicprimary historical
documents afterthePacificWar.
Littleis knownaboutHinatsu.Mostrecordsagreethathewastheeldestson
ofHinatsuYoshitadaH b d. 1688,theseventh grandmaster oftheTendo-
ryui styleof naginataTAR.j71n. WhyShigetakadidnotsucceedhisfather is
notknown.3 He servedMatsudaira Kii-no-kami Nobutsune FKCf q, , lord
ofSasayamaCastleinTamba,untilthelatter'sdeathin 1717,whenhewentto
servetheHouseofSakai 'R4. He diedinEdo attheageofseventy-two andap-
parently wasburiedin Seiganji . It is ironicthatso littleis knownabout
3 According to the inscription on his Edo in theprovinceof Musashi,wherehe died
gravestoneat Sairenji fi;, Hyogo prefec- and is buried.'
ture, Yoshitada had three sons and one MitamuraKunihikoX BtIM , Dai-Nippon
daughter. NaginatadoKyohanX EX *i71A4, Shfibun-
The inscriptionreads, 'The oldest son, do, 1939, pp. 533-34.
Shigetaka,was heirto thefamily. . . but fora 4 Originallylocatedin Yoyogi,Seiganjiand
certainreason left Sasayama and traveledto itsgravesweretransferred to thepresentsiteat

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 ROGERS: Arts of War in Times of Peace 255

a warriorwhospentmuchof hisliferesearching and recording forposterity

thelivesof otherwarriors.
We do knowthathe was bornintoan influential
martial-artsfamily,
readwidely,and was reasonably
welleducated.One can
imagineHinatsuas a manwhoselifefromchildhoodrevolved aroundthemar-
tial artsyetforsome reasonhe was not destinedto take overhis father's
school.
In addition,Hinatsualso wroteotherworkson themartialarts:Honcho
Burin Genshi *U4JtR#A0-,
Heika Sawa n and Heika Monogatari CS

THE periodinwhichHinatsuwasactivecoincidedwiththelullbeforethelate-
Edo revivalofthemartialarts.It hadbeensomeseventy yearssincethedeaths
of prominent figuressuchas MiyamotoMusashiW9*Ai,Ono Tadaaki'>Mf,
N,and YagyuMunenori , and followedtheGenrokuperiod,theex-
cessesofwhichwereinsharpcontrast to thevirtuesandmoralcodesexpound-
ed bythesamuraiclass.Duringtheprolonged periodofpeacethecustomsand
traditionsof the samuraiwereeitherforgotten or performed by rote,their
no longerunderstood.In his commentary
significance on archeryHinatsu
deploresbowmenwhoare onlyinterested in shootingforrecordsratherthan
applyingthemselves to studying properformand tradition. Similarly, in his
chapterson swordsmanship themenofhisdaywhowereobsessed
he criticizes
bythesupernatural andexotic;he also deplorestheconductofthosewhocon-
cealedthenameof theirrealteachersin orderto deceiveothersforprofit.
Hinatsuwas nottheonlymanappalledbytherapiddeclinein thebushi's
self-image.In Hagakure j, 1716, his work on the ethicsof bushido,
YamamotoTsunetomoo4jcg complains thatthesamuraiofhisdaywerein-
onlyin discussing
terested money,clothes,andwomen,andthattheyhad lost
in theWayof thewarrior.5
interest
The Kyohofg reforms, in thetimeof TokugawaYoshimune 8)II+i, en-
couragedmartialartsin orderto raisethemoraleofthebushiclass.A practi-
tionerand patronof variousmartialarts,Yoshimuneoftenattendedsword
and spearmatchesat Edo Castle.In 1718,he issueda proclamation exhorting
hisretainers
to learnswordsmanship, to associatewithotherretainers accord-
ingto thecorrectmilitary etiquette,and procureall necessaryprovisions re-
quiredbytheirstation.

Archery
A principalmartialartand, likeswordsmanship,thesymbolof theJapanese
warrior,archerycan be broadlydividedintotwo streams,ceremonial and
Thesecan be further
military. subdivided forarcherson foot
intotechniques
Hatayama at the time of the Russo-Japanese 5 Yamamoto Tsunetomo, The Hagakure:
war. Hinatsu's graveis not at thenew siteand A Code to the Way of Samurai, Hokuseido,
was eitherlost or removedaround thattime. 1980, p. 58.

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256 MonumentaNipponica, 45:3

and those on horseback.6Ceremonialarcherywas practicedfromthe

Kamakuraperiodbythenobility andhigh-rankingwarriors, andincludedfor-
mal shootingon ceremonial occasionssuchas theNew Year,thebirthof a
child,and dispellingevil spirits.Hinatsuaddressesceremonial archeryand
discussestheOgasawara'J>4; and Ise f# stylesin Chapter2, whichdeals
withmilitary decorum.Ofthenumerous schools,mostprominent werethesix
Heki Ht schoolsthatfromtheOei period,1394-1428, becamethearchery of
theaveragebushi.In latertimesof peace,military archery changedand com-
petition fordistance(toya -- ) andcontinuous shooting (toshiya59) became
popular.
Toshiyais saidto havebegunin thetwelfth century at Tokuchoju-in -AW
R in Kyotoand latershifted to theSanjusangen-do6 themainhall
of thenearbyRengeo-in gRV . rcherskneltat thesouthendof the 120-
meterverandaand shotnorthto see iftheycouldmaketheirarrowscoverthe
entiredistancewithouthitting ceiling,floor,wall, or pillars.The roofpre-
sentedan additionaldifficulty becauseit prevented thearchersfromusinga
simplearc to makethedistance.
Firstundertaken bythebushias a self-evaluation oftheirskill,toshiyawas
revived severaltimes,first
intheSengokueraandthenagainintheEdo period.
Recordswerekeptandverified bya panelofsixofficials (domiS) fromeach
of thebranchesof theHeki school.
Therewerebasicallythreedifferent waysto shootattheSanjtusangen-do. Ar-
cherscouldchooseto shootan unlimited numberof arrowsfortwenty-four
hours(oyakazu ;A),or fromdawnuntildusk(hiyakazuH FR), to seehow
manytheycouldshoottheentire length ofthehall.Theycoulddetermine what
percentage ofa fixednumber ofarrows,usuallya hundred ora thousand,they
couldshootthelengthofthehall.Boyswhohad notyetundergone gempuku
7-EW couldelectto shootfromhalfway downthehall (hando _T).8
In the1600s,toshiyabecamea popularcompetition, andthetitle'BestAr-
cherin Japan'was awardedto thearcherwho shotthegreatest numberof
arrowsin a fixedperiodoftime.The function centered on theHekistyle,and
especiallytheChikurin-ha iiAg, theonlyone ofthesixbranches oftheHeki
to chooseitsheadbyskillrather thanbyfamily. In oneoftheearlyEuropean
references to Japanesemartialarts,Engelbert Kaempfer, whovisitedKyoto

6 There are some exceptions.Designed for juisangen-do.The buildingsof both temples

the average foot soldier,the Heki-ryuiEi E
styleof archeryis based primarilyon 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 KiyomoriiL
buildin 1164. One of thebuildingsof Rengeo-
in was a Kannon-do WI 4t knownas the San-
werelaterdestroyedby earthquakesand fires,
but the Sanjuisangen-dowas later rebuiltin
1266 by RetiredEmperorGo-Toba ,%M.
8 For an arrowto be countedsuccessfulin
toshiya,it onlyhad to travelthe lengthof the
Hall withouthittingthewalls,pillars,roof,or
floor. Althougha large hoshimakuMI was
set up about two ken from the end of the
veranda,it was not reallya targetbut simplya
backstop. Okai, p. 148.

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 ROGERS: Arts of War in Times of Peace 257

/1 -

Archeryat the Sanjusangendo

Kaempfer,
Engelbert The Historyof Japan

therowsof Kannonstatuesin
duringhis 1690-1692stayin Japan,describes
He thenmentions,
theSanjuisangen-do. 'Without thetemplepeoplediverted
themselves wonderat theabilityof a
withshootingof arrows,'and expresses
singlearcherto shoot 'severalthousandarrows. . . in a day's time.'9
A hall similarto theSanjuisangen-do was builtin Asakusa,Edo, in 1642,
andwaslaterreconstructed inFukagawa.Thetitleoffered to recordholdersin
Edo was 'BestArcherin Edo'. On thebasisof official and schoolrecordsfor
hallshootings,itis possibleto calculatethatbytheendoftheEdo period823
archershad officiallyshotat Sanjuisangen-do and 543 at theEdo hall.10
The trendin theseventeenth centuryto setrecordsbeforeadmiring crowds
was not limitedto archery.Ihara Saikaku4;qNM held several haikai %E-
gatheringsbetween1675and 1684,and on suchoccasionscomposedanything
froma thousandto 23,500 versesin a singletwenty-four-hour session.
Saikaku,in fact,namedone collectionof suchpoemsOyakazu 5 1681,
afterthearchery competition of thesame name at theSanjfisangen-do.11

9 Engelbert Kaempfer, The History of Ishioka, 'Edo Sanjiusangen-doToshiya no

Japan,MacLehose, Glasgow, 1906, 3, p. 197. BunsekitekiKenkyu', in ibid., 1972, 4, pp.
10 Ishioka Hisao 1 'Kyoto San- 25-39.
jusangen-do Toshiyano BunsekitekiKenkyui' 11Donald Keene, World Within Walls:
M -+ FWIAYe- Eb Et, in Kokugaku- Japanese Literatureof the Pre-ModernEra,
in Daigaku TaiikugakuKenkyiushitsu Kiyo 1 1600-1867, Holt, Rinehart& Winston,New
*F 1969, 1, pp. 5-17; York, 1976, p. 47.

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258 MonumentaNipponica, 45:3

The riseof toshiyacan be tracedto severalcauses.Two technicalfactors

madethesessionsphysically possible.Japanesearchery tendsto havea rather
flattrajectorythatmakeslong-distance shootingpossiblewithout resorting to
shooting in an arc. In addition,Japanesearchers gripthebowwelltowardits
base and thisallowsshootingfroma kneeling or crouching position; 12in this
wayitwaspossibleto increasesignificantly thearcofthearrow'sflight in the
confined space.
Whytoshiyabecameso popularis moredifficult to explain.The general
trendtowardrecordsetting and publicdisplayof skillwas one factor.An in-
creasedinterest in themartialartsin generaland especially in theirpotential
forre-instilling bushiideals,thenin decline,certainly helpedobtainofficial
sanction.No longerof anypracticaluse a weaponof war,military archery
neededto developina newdirection. Thegrowing ofsamuraito find
difficulty
gainfulemployment was possiblyanotherfactorin maintaining interest in
toshiya,as settinga newrecordwouldinsureinstantfameand income.In
earlierdaysthepatronageof outstanding rulerswas yetanotherfactor.Oda
NobunagaMSB , ToyotomiHideyoshie :, andToyotomiHidetsuguX
f:-At were all students of the Heki-ryuiChikurin-ha, and thelasttwowere
fondof toshiya. Theirinterestwas continued by the House ofMaeda inKaga
and theKii and Owaribranchesof theTokugawafamily, whichencouraged
thepracticeby sponsoring archersfromtheirfiefsto compete. 13
WhileHinatsudulynotestherecordsand featsat theHall, he closesthe
chapteron a critical note-and notwithout reason.Atthepeakofitspopular-
ityshooting at theHall becamea graceless performance, moreof a displayof
endurancethana demonstration of skillor form.Wasa Daihachiro'sfott1k
ApF 14 featin 1686of shooting13,053arrowsin twenty-four hoursaverages
about six hundredshotsper hour(allowingtimeforbreaks),or one arrow
everysixseconds.15
Ratherthandwelling on isolatedfeatsof endurance and strength, Hinatsau
devoteshisattention, intypicalJapanesefashion, tothesuccession andlineage
of theschools-whichteachertaughtwhichstudents, whowas thelegitimate
successor,whathe choseto callhisstyle,whether or not a certain disciplehad
beenled into'trueunderstanding of theinnermysteries' oftheart.To Hina-

12 Shooting at the Sanjfisangen-do was thiestfiefscould affordsuch sponsorship.

originallydone from a squatting position,
then later while seated on a low box. Okai,
p. 156.
13 Expenses involved in sending even a
singlearcherto tryhis skill at the Hall were
high. In addition to buying the bows and
thousands of arrowsto practicethis type of
shooting,it was necessaryto inviteHeki-ryui
Chikurin-hamasters,and makers of bows,
strings,arrows, and gloves. Only the weal-
14 WhileHinatsurefers to himas Daihachi,
the plaque commemorating his recordat the
Hall giveshis name as Daihachiro.
15 Accordingto Nendai Yakazu-cho*N5Q
RKfi8,133of thearrowstraveledthelengthof
theHall. Kyudo Jiten A, [=KJ], p. 1886.
Kyudo Jitenformsvolumes9-11 of Kydido
Koza, cited in n. 17, below, and is especially
helpfulin providingdefinitions, readingsfor
names, and furtherinformation.

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 ROGERS: Arts of War in Times of Peace 259
tsu,theschoolsarenotdivisive bycertain
innovations butrather
individuals a
of
catholicprogression orthodoxtradition.

Translation
Thefollowing dealswitharchery
ofthreechapters
translation andswordsman-
ship;theseformthecoreof Hinatsu'sbook and accountforjustoverhalfof
reflects
thetext.Thisdisproportion realityof Japanesemartial
thehistorical
arts,forthebow and arrowwas thewarrior'smainweaponin theHeianand
Kamakuraperiods,onlyto be replacedby bladed weapons (uchimonoUtTt)in
theNambokuand Muromachiperiods.Otherchaptersin Hinatsu'saccount
tendto be brief;thesectionon armedclosecombat,forexample,listsonly
fournamesand runsto lessthana singlepage of text.
Thetranslation is basedon theversionincludedinthe1968editionofBuju-
tsuSosho.16The readingsof namesof archersand schoolsfollowtheKyuddo
Koza. 7 A textof thissortcan lenditselfto excessive and forthe
annotation,
purposesof thepresentarticlenoteshavebeenaddedonlyto aid understand-
ingof Hinatsu'saccount.
Distancesin thechapteron archery areusuallymeasured in kenrE,approx-
imately1.8meters. Occasionally Hinatsurefersto 'kenmeasuredintheKyoto
fashion'(kyoma >M),% approximately 1.95 meters.Long-range shootingis
measuredin cho flj,approximately109 meters,and tan R, or 10.9 meters.

16 BujutsuSosho , Jimbutsu
Orai- 17 Kyu?do
Koza EA.29, Yfizankaku,1941,
sha, 1968, pp. 7-108. 11 vols.

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260 MonumentaNipponica, 45:3

The Major Schools of MilitaryArchery:The Heki Tradition.

Heki-ryfi Heki-ryui
|~ ~ ~~~~~F tEL
W 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

AdaptedfromIshiokaHisao & IrieKohei,NihonBudo Taikei,Doho, Kyoto,1982,4, p. 27.

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