The Samurai Swordsman by Turnbull Stephen

Author:Turnbull, Stephen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Frontline Books
Published: 3008-02-19T16:00:00+00:00

A frame from the comic Lone Wolf, showing yōjimbō guarding a house. They are armed with the wooden staff, or bō.

Isaburo was drinking sake in a restaurant along with his men. For some reason, the mouth of the sake bottle cracked, which his followers thought to be a bad omen. With all his henchmen surrounding him for protection, Isaburō left the bar after dark and went to the Chorakuji Temple, which Kunisada Chūji had already surveyed for a possible ambush. He had observed that there were two doors to the south from which one could escape, while the way to the north was across low ground and through a flooded rice field. That was where Chūji caught Isaburo as he approached. Chuji’s followers surrounded the house and caused a commotion. The tall Isaburō was wearing a padded kimono with big crisscrosses on it, and was instantly identifiable. It had started to rain, and he had a lantern in one hand and an umbrella in the other, which made it difficult for him to get hold of his sword in the case of a sudden attack. When he passed a hedge, Chūji and Bunzō and ten others came out from behind it. Isaburō was killed in one second by a rapid slash across the chest.

By the time that the yoriki arrived on the scene, Chūji had gone, leaving nothing behind him but Isaburō’s body. Chūji then took over his victim’s sphere of influence, and his territory began to grow widely. But by so cold-bloodedly murdering a rival, he had set himself clearly outside the law. It was soon no longer safe for Chūji to stay in Kōzuke Province, so he set off on a journey, not as a warrior on a pilgrimage, but as a fugitive. Travel from one province to another in the Edo period was, however, rendered very difficult by the existence of toll-barriers at every crossing point. Chūji determined to flee to Shinano Province, where he could hide among its vast mountains, and he broke down the barrier at Oto to make his exit from Kōzuke, an act that earned him as much notoriety and popular fame as the murder.

He eventually settled in Shinano Province, where he rented a temple and opened a gambling den within it. Here he lived a life of great lawlessness. In 1836, he killed a man from the Tamura family, followed by the man’s brother six years later. In the same year, he killed a police spy who had been sent to gain information about him. Feuds developed among his erstwhile followers until Shinano became too uncomfortable for him, and he unwisely returned to Kōzuke, where he was still a wanted man. The yoriki arrested him soon after his return. His punishment, death by crucifixion, was a savage one, and it is surprising that such an unlikely candidate for heroism should have become a romantic figure.

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