stipend/honoraria, 210–211
education projects, teaching at Okinoerabu, 152–155
exile
Amami Oshima, 125, 128–137, 154–155, 155
Okinoerabu, 143, 144–149, 151–157, 164–165
Tokunoshima, 142–143
Kagoshima rebellion, 6–7, 217–221, 223–247
Kawakami Takeshi on, 263–264
last stand, 271–284
Nagai village council of war, 257–260
retreat, 248–261, 262–270
Wadagoshi battle, 252–253
personal life
and Aikana, 131–132, 134–137, 143, 165
character, 3, 180, 291–293, 297–298
childhood poverty, 10–11
death, 278–284, 288–289
education, 26, 28, 30–32, 34–39
first marriage/divorce, 45
and Gessho, 96–97, 100, 103–104
health issues, 200–201, 261, 264–265, 278
heroism, 6–7, 35–37, 50, 111–112, 186–187, 263, 286, 288–298
and Iwayama Ito, 171
Jigen-ryu injury, 34
Kinko Bay incident, 118–125, 155
and “Mito learning,” 91–94
name changes, 125
peoms, 260
philosophy, 154–156
poems, 153, 165, 188, 204, 210
and “Princess Pig,” 171
Revere Heaven, Love Mankind (keiten aijin), 156, 196, 257
posthumous reputation
rehabilitation, 286–289
semidivinity, 153–154, 285–286, 288–296
statues, 154, 290–291
Saigo Takamori Lodging Place Museum, 256–261
Sakada Bunkichi, 265
Sakaguchi, 122
Sakamoto, Morotsuka, Saigo’s retreat, 267
Sake Yoshinobu, 83
Sakurajima “Cherry Island” [island volcano], 4–6, 33, 41
samurai (in general)
bows (yumi), 12–15
culture to 1600, 15–25
families, Satsuma province, 45
modern media and, 2–3
reform, 188–189, 190–192
and shogun power limitation, 138–142
status, 10, 11–12
stipends issue, 195, 213–214
swords. see swords (katana)
during Tokugawa peace, 109–117
Sanjo Sanetomi, acting head of state, 195
Saoda Tomio, 145–147, 148, 151, 154, 156–157
sati (suttee), 82
Sato Issai, 155
Satow, Ernest, 151, 157–162
and Saigo, 175–178
Satsuma province, 39–41. see also Kagoshima; Kyushu (Satsuma)
and Aizu, 163, 167
army
and Boshin War, 183–187
Saigo’s reorganization, 174–175
Tadayoshi’s reorganization, 191–192
and Choshu, 163–164, 166–167, 169–170, 172, 174–178
and Meiji Restoration, 163–164
samurai families, 45
success feared in Tokyo, 192
and Tokyo edicts, 213–214
and Tosa, 179–180
scholarship
demand for, 26
samurai and, 114
schools projects, Saigo and, 210–212
self-image, 17–18
Sengan’en gardens, 41, 50
seppuku (ritual suicide), 47, 77–87
Saigo and, 278–281, 289
Sesshu Province, 108
Seven Samurai, The, 2
Shanghai, British raid, 44
Shimatomi (cook), 165
Shimazu family, 31, 39–41, 103, 120, 122, 136, 153, 175, 217, 279
Shimazu Mitsuhisa, 41
Shimazu Nariakira, Satsuma daimyo, 46–53
death, 104–105, 118, 126
industrialization, 49–53
journey to Edo, 66–68, 74–75
and Saigo, 47, 52–53
Shinto temple of, 50–51
and shogun, 92–96
supporters, rehabilitation efforts, 133
Shimazu Narioki (father of Nariakira), 47
Shimonoseki meeting, 141–143
Shimonoseki Strait, 68
Shinagawa district, Edo, 89–91
Shingakuji temple, 122
Shinichi Arima, 161–162
Shintoism, 50–51, 187–188, 216
maidens, 50–51
revival, 51
and sword making, 61
Shiromi, Saigo’s retreat, 268
Shiroyama mountain, 6, 50, 159, 211, 222–223
Saigo’s last stand, 269n3, 271–284, 287–290, 298
Shishido, reconnaissance volunteer, 233
Shogitai (League to Demonstrate Righteousness), 185
Shodai Ryu (swordplay technique), 59
shogunate
and British compensation demands, 157
collapse, 162–164
Hisamitsu’s confrontation plans, 138–142
power struggles, 24–25
removal, Saigo & Okubo and, 180–183
role, 15–16
Shugendo Buddhist sect, 258–259
Siebold, Philipp von, 46–47
Singapore, and opium trade, 43
Skywalker, Luke, 1–2
smuggling, Nagasaki, 173–174
snowfall, and Kagoshima rebellion, 222, 224–225
Soejima Taneomi, 202
Song philosophy, 28
Springfield rifles, 173
Star Wars, 1–2, 3
steel-forming, katana, 56–58
street gangs, American, 18–19
students, Kagoshima rebellion, 217–221
no surrender, 258–261
Su Wu, 204
Suizen temple, Kumamoto, 244
Suki, Saigo’s retreat, 268
sumo wrestlers, Perry and, 73
Sun Zi (Sun Tzu), The Art of War, 142
surrender debate, Kagoshima rebellion, 257–258
swords (katana), 12
development, 54–62, 64–65
making, Shintoism and, 61
names, 60–61, 61–62
swordsmiths’ craft, 55–60, 64–65
Tabaruzaka battle, 235–238, 242–243, 246–247
Tadayoshi, Nariakira’s heir, 105, 133, 138, 179, 181
Taiheiki (Chronicle of Grand Pacification), 77–78
Taira family, 15
Taisuke Yamazaki, 260
Taiwan crisis, 198–199, 213
Takachiho (Kirishima), Saigo’s retreat, 269
Takachiho (Mitai), Kagoshima rebellion retreat, 265–266
Takamasa, 22–23
Takanabe, Kagoshima rebellion retreat, 252
Take, Mr., 145, 148
Takehiko Ideishi, on Kumamoto battle, 155, 229–233, 239–240, 242–246
Takenori, 76
Takezaki Suenaga, 21–24
Taki Zenzaburo, seppuku, 85–87
Tani Tateki, 229
tanto (short sword), 62
Tatsugo Bay, 128
tea and opium trade, 42–43
territory, and honor cultures, 18–19, 19–20
terrorism, samurai, 163
Tofuku, 103
Tokaido, 74
Tokio Times, The, on Tabaruzaka battle, 238
Toku (friend of Saigo), 134
Tokugawa family, 25, 91
expelled from Edo, 186
peace, 59, 64, 108–117
Shimazu family and, 39
Tokugawa Tadakichi, 83
Tokunoshima, Saigo exiled to, 142–143
Tokyo
Eastern Capital, Edo as, 186
edicts, Satsuma and, 213–214
government, response to Kagoshima rebellion, 231
Tosa, and Satsuma, 179–180
transliteration, xv
Tsuchimochi Masateru (Saigo’s guard), 151–152, 156, 165
Tsugumichi (Saigo
’s brother), 184, 192, 213
Tsunenori, and Yoriyoshi, 16–17
Tsuru (wife of Glover), 173
Tsurumaru, defenses, 38
Tsurumine Shigenobu, 30
Tsushida, on Saigo’s retreat, 267
Tsuyoshi Takayanagi, 269n3
Tsuzurabara, 145
Tycoon (Taikun) title, 182
Uchimura Kanzo, on Saigo, 294–295
Ueno Park, statue, 290
Ueno temple, Yoshinobu at, 185
Unequal Treaties, revision negotiation, 194–195
vendettas, 89–91, 112
violence, licensed, 112–114
vipers (habu), Amami Oshima, 127–128
Wadagoshi battle, 252–256
Wadomari, Saigo’s life at, 144–149, 151–157
Wang Yangming, Neo-Confucianism, 35, 155
warlords, 15–18
Western technology, Hashimoto on, 93
women
and honor culltures, 18, 19
Saigo and, 101–102
teeth protection, 73–74
xenophobia
League of the “Divine Wind,” 216
“Mito learning” on, 91–92, 93–94
Yakushima National Forest, 249–251
Yamagata Aritomo, General, 192, 234–235
at Kagoshima, 271–278, 289, 291
and Kagoshima rebellion, 253, 258, 265, 266, 269–270
Saigo and, 205
Yamaguchi Morio, 224–225, 276, 277, 280, 287
Yamano Kauemon, 58
Yamanoda Ichinosuke, 276
Yamato no Kami Yasusada, 58
Yan Zhenqing, 204
Yang Ming, 294
Yangzi, British raid, 44
Yasuda, Mr. on Saigo, 128
Yasutsugu, on Kinko Bay incident, 123
Yasutsuna of Hoki (swordsmith), 60
Yates, Charles, 155, 192
Yojimbo [film], 2
Yokogawa, Saigo’s retreat, 269
Yokohama, Perry meets with Japanese, 72–75
Yoshimitsu, Saigo’s retreat, 269
Yoshinobu (Keiki), 93, 95, 104
and Boshin War, 183–185
resignation, 180–183
as shogun, 178
Young, Colin, on katana, 58–59
Yura, Nariakira’s mistress, 92
Zatoichi, 2
Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi), 28, 35, 155
Zusho Hirosato, 47
ALSO BY JOHN MAN
Gobi
Atlas of the Year 1000
Alpha Beta
The Gutenberg Revolution
Genghis Khan
Attila the Hun
Kublai Khan
The Terracotta Army
The Great Wall
The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan
Xanadu
Ninja
CREDITS
Cover design by Adam Johnson
Cover photographs: Samurai © by Presselect/Alamy; background writing courtesy of the Library of Congress
P.S.
About the author
Meet John Man
Read on
An Excerpt from Ninja, John Man’s Previous Book
Have You Read? More by John Man
About the author
Meet John Man
JOHN MAN is a British historian and travel writer with a special interest in Asia. A graduate of Oxford who also studied at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Man has written acclaimed biographies, including Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, and Kublai Khan, as well as Alpha Beta, on the history of the alphabet; The Gutenberg Revolution, on the invention of printing; and Ninja, on the infamous stealth assassins of Japan. He lives in England.
Read On
An Excerpt from Ninja, John Man’s Previous Book
Origins
Make yourself resolute with the idea that you will win whenever you go on a mission, and you can win even if it is not so realistic.
Ninja instructional poem
JAPAN’S “SHADOW WARRIORS” rose to fame at a particular time, roughly 1400–1600, in a particular region, and in particular circumstances. But they did not spring into existence fully formed. To find their roots, look far away and long ago, to China, almost eight hundred years earlier.
In the early seventh century, Tang dynasty emperors emerged as rulers of a powerful empire and a great culture. The Japanese, precariously united under their own ambitious emperors, wanted to know its secrets. Court officials, students, teachers, monks, and artists visited, were vastly impressed, and returned with the “new learning,” which was in effect all the main elements of Chinese civilization—Confucianism, medicines, textiles, weaving, dyeing, the five-stringed lute, masks, board games, and whole libraries of books on scripture, history, philosophy, and literature, all in Chinese.
One thing China knew a lot about was war. For centuries, it was armed conflict that divided the nation, yet it was war—and ultimately conquest—that, in 221 BC, brought peace and unity. China’s military wisdom had been summarized some hundred years earlier (or more, no one knows for sure) by the great military theoretician Sun Zi (Sun Tzu in the old Wade-Giles orthography). His Art of War was already one of the great classics. Sun Zi was a professional through and through. He spelled out the “five fundamentals”—politics, weather, terrain, command, and management—and went on to analyze details such as the cost of entertaining envoys and the price of glue. He was not concerned with glory; he was interested in fast and total victory, for as he said, “There has never been a protracted war which benefited a country.” Only by quick victory can more war be avoided. Today’s generals study him. Politicians ignore him at their peril. George Bush might have had second thoughts about invading Iraq, let alone boasting of “mission accomplished,” had he pondered one of Sun Zi’s aphorisms: “To win victory is easy; to preserve its fruits, difficult.” The lessons were clear: Don’t engage unless sure of victory; Avoid risks; Better to overawe your opponent than to fight. But if you have to fight, do it my way! Learn the rules of military leadership, logistics, maneuvering, terrain, and, in particular—he saves this for last—deception.
It is the final chapter that interests us in our pursuit of the ninja’s origins:
All warfare is based on deception. Therefore when capable of attacking, feign incapacity; when active in moving troops, feign inactivity. When near the enemy, make it seem that you are far away; when far away, make it seem that you are near. Hold out baits to lure the enemy. Strike the enemy when he is in disorder. Prepare against the enemy when he is secure at all points. Avoid the enemy for the time being when he is stronger.
Only in this way can you gain the essential—speedy victory.
Of all the weapons vital for a speedy victory, the most vital is information. “The reason a brilliant sovereign and a wise general conquer the enemy . . . is their foreknowledge of the enemy situation. This ‘foreknowledge’ cannot be elicited from spirits, nor from gods, nor by analogy with past events, nor by astrologic calculation. It must be obtained from men,” namely, spies.
There are five types of spies, he says: native, internal, double, doomed, and surviving. In brief, your own people, the enemy’s people, double agents, expendables, and ninja-like spies who can penetrate enemy lines, do their job, and return. All these men are vital for victory. None should be closer to the commander, and none more highly rewarded, and “of all matters none is more confidential than . . . spy operations.” He who is not sage, wise, humane, and just cannot handle them, “and he who is not delicate and subtle cannot get the truth out of them. Delicate, indeed! Truly delicate,” for if plans are divulged prematurely, the agent and all those to whom he spoke must be put to death.
An example of what Sun Zi was talking about occurred when Zheng of Qin, the future first emperor, was halfway through unifying what would in 221 BC become the heart of modern Ch
ina. The first emperor, brilliant, ambitious, and utterly ruthless, was the target of several assassination attempts. Like many heads of state today, he took care to protect himself at all times. When traveling he was particularly vulnerable, as we know from an archaeological find made near his grave site close to Xian, and also near the tomb’s greatest treasure, the several thousand life-size soldiers that make up the Terra-cotta Army.
In 1980 archaeologists working at the western end of the tomb mound found a pit divided into five sections, in one of which were the remains of a wood-lined container, crushed beneath the fallen earth. Inside lay what have become the crown jewels of the Terra-cotta Army Museum: two four-horse, two-wheeled carriages, in bronze, half life-size, complete with their horses and drivers. The carriages had been smashed into fragments, but after eight years’ work they were restored to full working order, perfect down to every rein and harness and free-spinning axle flag.
One chariot is an outrider, with a driver standing on a canopied platform. The other is the emperor’s. It has a front section for a charioteer and a second, enclosed section for the emperor, with a roof of silk or leather waterproofed with grease. In the windows there is mosquito netting—all this rendered in bronze, of course—and, on the side windows, a little sliding panel so the emperor could see out, get air in, and issue orders without his august person being seen.
But Zheng’s chariot is not exactly a tank. It had to be relatively lightweight for easy movement and was therefore vulnerable to heavy-duty arrows or swords, such as might be carried by would-be assassins. The solution, as Sun Zi knew, was deception, which meant exactly the same solution as adopted by many a head of state today: decoy vehicles. The emperor traveled in any one of several identical carriages. At least one assassination attempt failed because the assailant attacked the wrong carriage. Possibly, another four decoy carriages remain to be found, so that a would-be assassin had only a one-in-five chance of attacking the right carriage.
So to get at Emperor Zheng, a conventional approach would be useless. What was needed, in effect, was a ninja.
In what became one of the best-known incidents in Chinese history, Emperor Zheng conspirators against Zheng employed a proto-ninja for the job. The episode has become a popular subject for film and TV dramatization (most effectively in the 1998 epic The Emperor and the Assassin, directed by Chen Kaige). The source is the grand historian Sima Qian, whose account, written a century after the event but based (he says) on eyewitness accounts, is as vivid as a film synopsis.
One of Emperor Zheng’s generals, Fan Yuqi, defected, and is now under the protection of the prince of Yan, a rival province. Zheng has offered a reward of a city plus 250 kilos of gold for his head. The emperor’s troops are massing on Yan’s border, and the only way to stop Zheng’s meteoric rise is to find an assassin to kill him. A young adventurer named Jing Ke is chosen for the task. He is a man with nerves of steel and high intelligence, who likes “to read books and practice swordsmanship”—in brief, the essence of the true ninja. He refuses to quarrel; if offended, he simply walks away. Jing Ke is too smart to agree at once, but his reluctance is overcome when he is made a minister and given a mansion.