Bushido: Torii Mototada's last statement

As covered in a previous post Torii Mototada is a legendary Samurai in Japanese folklore, perhaps committing the most famous act of Seppuku - the Samurai form of honourable suicide. He chose to stay at Fushimi castle and allow his master Tokugawa Ieyasu time to prepare troops while an opposing warlord brought an army of 30,000 + against his 2,000 men and he fought till the end, as this is the way of the Samurai which he believed in.

Tokugawa's act of bravery drastically changed the course of Japanese history as Tokugawa Ieyasu was the shogun and leader of a clan which ruled Japan for a few centuries

Before facing his death he wrote this moving last statement to his son, Tamadasa:

Quotes:

"Rather, I will stand off the forces of the entire country here, and without one one-hundredth of the men necessary to do so, will throw up a defense and die a resplendent death."


" It is not the way of the warrior to be shamed and avoid death even under circumstances that are not particularly important. It goes without saying that to sacrifice one’s life for one’s master is an unchanging principle."


“After I am slain you must lovingly care for your younger brothers…….”


"I am now 62 years of age. Of the number of times I have barely escaped death since the time I was in Mikawa I have no Idea. Yet, not once have I acted in a cowardly way……"


"The foundation of man’s duty as a man is in “truth”. Beyond this, there is nothing to be said”



Original statement
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1600
Recently, there has been the report of an uprising in the Kamigata area, and that a large number of rebel daimyo who have fallen into the evil scheming of Ishida Mitsunari will first lay siege to this castle and are now making such preparations with large forces.
For myself, I am resolved to make a stand within the castle and to die a quick death. It would not take much trouble to break through a part of their numbers and escape, no matter how many tens of thousands of horsemen approached for the attack or by how many columns we were surrounded.

But that is not the true meaning of being a warrior, and it would be difficult to account as loyalty. Rather, I will stand off the forces of the entire country here, and, without even one one-hundredth of the men necessary to do so, will throw up a defense and die a resplendent death. By doing so I will show that to abandon a castle that should be defended, or to value one's life so much as to avoid danger and to show the enemy one's weakness is not within the family traditions of my master Ieyasu.

Thus I will have taken the initiative in causing Lord Ieyasu's other retainers to be resolved, and in advancing righteousness to the warriors of the entire country. It is not the Way of the Warrior to be shamed and avoid death even under circumstances that are not particularly important. It goes without saying that to sacrifice one's life for the sake of his master is an unchanging principle. As this is a matter that I have thought over beforehand, I think that circumstances such that I am meeting now must be envied by people of understanding.

You, Tadamasa, should understand the following well. Our ancestors have been personal vassals of the Matsudaira for generations. My late father, the governor of Iga, served Lord Kiyoyasu, and later worked loyally for his son, Hirotada. My older brother, Genshichiro, manifested his absolute loyalty and was cut down in battle at Watari.

When the present Lord Ieyasu was a child and sent to Suruga, the Governor of Iga accompanied him as a guardian. later, at the age of 19, Ieyasu returned to Okazaki, and the Governor of Iga served him with unsurpassed loyalty, living more than 80 years with unswerving steadfastness. Lord Ieyasu, for his part, regarded the Governor as a matchless vassal. When I was 13 and Lord Ieyasu seven, I came before his presence for the first time, and the blessings I have received since must not be forgotten for all the generations to come.

Because Lord Ieyasu is well aware of my loyalty, he has left me here in charge of the important area of Kamigata as Deputy of Fushimi Castle while he advances toward the East, and for a warrior there is nothing that could surpass this good fortune. That I should be able to go ahead of all the other warriors of this country and lay down my life for the sake of my master's benevolence is an honor to my family and has been my most fervent desire for many years.

After I am slain, you must lovingly care for all your younger brothers, beginning with Hisagoro, in my stead. Your younger brothers must earnestly look to you as they would to their father, and must never disobey you.

As they grow up, they should one by one present themselves to the Lord Ieyasu, make efforts with their own various talents, do whatever they are commanded, be on friendly terms with one another, and remain forever grateful to their ancestors, by whose blessings our clan was established and its descendants succored.

They must be determined to stand with Lord Ieyasu's clan in both its ascent and decline, in times of peace and in times of war; and either waking or sleeping they must never forget that they will serve his clan, and his clan alone. To be avaricious for land or to forget old debts because of some passing dissatisfaction, or to even temporarily entertain treacherous thoughts is not the Way of Man.

Even if all the other provinces of Japan were to unite against our lord, our descendants should not set foot inside another fief to the end of time. Simply, in no matter what circumstances, unify with the heart of one family - of elder and younger brothers - exert yourselves in the cause of loyalty, mutually help and be helped by one another, preserve your righteousness and strive in bravery, and be of a mind never to stain the reputation of a clan that has not remained hidden from the world, but has gained fame in military valor for generations, especially since the days of the Governor of Iga.

At any rate, if you will take it into your mind to be sincere in throwing away your life for your master, you will not have the slightest fear or trembling even with the advent of innumerable impending calamities.

I am now 62 years of age. Of the number of times that I have barely escaped death since the time I was in Mikawa I have no idea. Yet, not once have I acted in a cowardly way. Man's life and death, fortune and calamity are in the fate of the times, and thus one should not search out after what he likes. What is essential is to listen to the words of the older retainers, to put to use men of skill and understanding, to not commit acts of adolescent self-will, and to receive the remonstrance's of your retainers.

The entire country will soon be in the hands of your master, Lord Ieyasu. If this is so, the men who served him will no doubt hope to become daimyo by his appointment. You should know that if such feelings arise, they are inevitably the beginning of the end of one's fortunes in the Way of the Warrior.

Being affected by the avarice for office and rank, or wanting to become a daimyo and being eager for such things ... will not one then begin to value his life? And how can a man commit acts of martial valor if he values his life? A man who has been born into the house of a warrior and yet places no loyalty in his heart and thinks only of the fortune of his position will be flattering on the surface and construct schemes in his heart, will forsake righteousness and not reflect on his shame, and will stain the warrior's name of his household to later generations. This is truly regrettable. it is not necessary to say such a thing, but you should raise the name of your ancestors in this world yet a second time. Moreover, as I have already spoken to you about the management of our clan's affairs, there is no need to speak of that again. You have already seen and heard of what has been regulated from years past.

Be first of all prudent in your conduct and have correct manners, develop harmony between master and retainers, and have compassion on those beneath you. Be correct in the degree of rewards and punishments, and let there be no partiality in your degree of intimacy with you retainers. the foundation of man's duty as a man is in "truth." Beyond this, there is nothing to be said.


Torii Mototada
1539 -1600

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Badass of the week: Torii Mototada

Badass indeed. this is a bit of background I've found on a Samurai warrior called Torii Mototada who served under his master called Ieyasu. Ieyasu's castle was going to be invaded by a force of soldiers far outnumbering Mototada's. Instead Mototada chose to serve his master while facing almost certain death. He allowed Ieyasu to flee and faced the thousands of soldiers with a few hundred of his own.

Imagine the movie 300, but real. Mototada is definitely a badass I'm going to cover in my legendary warriors booklet.

Before he died he wrote a last statement to his son, urging him to serve his master and to life the way of the warrior, with honour and peace, Bushido. I'll post this up too. It's readily available.

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Article: http://www.badassoftheweek.com/mototada.html





Badass of the Week.


Torii Mototada

"For myself, I am resolved to make a stand within the castle and to die a quick death. It would not take much trouble to break through a part of their numbers and escape, no matter how many tens of thousands of horsemen approached for the attack or by how many columns we were surrounded.

But that is not the true meaning of being a warrior, and it would be difficult to account as loyalty. Rather, I will stand off the forces of the entire country here, and, without even one one-hundredth of the men necessary to do so, will throw up a defense and die a resplendent death. By doing so I will show that to abandon a castle that should be defended, or to value one's life so much as to avoid danger and to show the enemy one's weakness is not within the family traditions of my master Ieyasu."



To those of us in the West, seppuku is a pretty difficult concept to understand. Sure, nearly every red-blooded military aficionado of European descent can appreciate a good, brutal last stand every now and then, where a great hero goes down completely surrounded in a chest-deep pile of freshly-disemboweled corpses, but as far as most of us are concerned, being forcibly taken prisoner after putting up a valiant, super-bloody defense isn't really a sign that you're a spineless dishonorable loser who brings nothing but crushing, inescapable shame on your entire clan for all eternity. If anything, being captured alive means that a real hardass can continue fighting, plan a daring escape, shank a dude in the prison yard for no reason, or really do any number of badass things available to you once you're locked-down in some bullshit military clink. In Japanese culture, however, this isn't really the case – to those who follow the code of Bushido, being captured alive by your enemies is the greatest dishonor you could possibly suffer. If you're going to allow your good name to befall such an inglorious end by falling into the possession of your enemies, you may as well just go all the way and turn your family coat of arms into a giant bag of douches because you fucking suck and are a miserable excuse for a soldier. To the samurai, the only way to preserve anything even remotely resembling honor was by gloriously stabbing yourself in the abdomen with a sharp object and ruthlessly cutting out your own guts like a badass.

So, by this rationale, if seppuku is one of the most honorable last acts a warrior can undertake, then the guy responsible for committing the most widely-respected seppuku in Japanese history would be pretty much awesome. Here's a fun historical fact: He was.

Torii Mototada was one of the chief generals of a super-powerful Japanese feudal lord named Tokugawa Ieyasu. If the name Tokugawa seems vaguely familiar to you somehow, that would probably be because this guy was the founder of a powerful Japanese Shogunate that would rule the land for over two and a half centuries – a task that was made possible in no small part by the inexhaustible head-cleavery of Torii Mototada. Torii and Tokugawa were very close friends dating back to their youths, having served together in combat for the entirety of their careers, and Torii had made a badass name for himself as a tough-as-shit warrior in a battle when he led 2,000 cavalrymen in a rearguard action against 10,000 enemy samurai and somehow smashed his way through the enemy ranks like a Cerebral Bore drilling into someone's cranial cavity at a very high RPM rate. Torii was also present during the siege of Ueda Castle, which was commanded by a famous samurai dude known as "The Crimson Demon of War", and unflinchingly attacking someone with a nickname like that can only help your reputation for being a pretty hardcore badass. As a token of respect for Mototada's friendship, duty, and military asskickery, Tokugawa rewarded his friend by granting him command of the ultra-important fortress of Fushimi Castle in southwest Japan:




Now during this particular time in Japanese history (1600 AD), two major factions were vying for ultimate iron-fisted supremacy over the countryside –Tokugawa's already-in-control army, and the remnants of the forces loyal to the now-deceased badass Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Commanding the garrison at Fushimi Castle was a big deal not just because it blocked the only path leading from Hideyoshi territory to the Tokugawa-controlled capital, but because it also used to be Hideyoshi's personal residence, and sleeping on the bed that once belonged to the leader of your enemies is just kind of kickass in principle alone. However, being awesome in this regard also meant that Fushimi was going to be the first fortress attacked in the inevitable war between the Tokugawa and the Hideyoshi armies – when someone's in ur house eatin ur f00ds you don't fuck around when it comes to dislodging them with flaming arrows and multi-pointed steel-plated stabbing-ness.

The attack finally came in August of 1600, when Torii Mototada received word that 40,000 of Hideyoshi's men were rapidly approaching with the intent of crushing Fushimi Castle to rubble with their nuts and then teabagging the corpses of Mototada's favorite lieutenants and concubines. Torii, knowing that his impossibly-small garrison had absolutely no chance to survive (some sources cite the number of defenders as just over two thousand), resolved to die with honor in a badass fiery last stand rather than pull back and give up the castle like a non-seppuku-committing punk. When word came down of this surprise invasion, Tokugawa was all the way off on the other side of the country subjugating barbarians by shoving his katana through their heads, so Mototada knew that he would best serve his lord by holding out as long as possible and giving Tokugawa a chance to about-face his giant army, tear ass back across the countryside, meet the enemy before they reached the capital, and righteously whip the pants off those Hideyoshi bastards once and for all.




Knowing that the fate of Japanese history was hanging in the balance, Torii Mototada made the bold decision to make an awesome last stand and turn Fushimi Castle into the Japanese Alamo. He would stand, hold out as long as possible, wreak as much nut-crunching devastation as his two thousand sword-swinging samurai psychos could muster, and make sure that his ridiculously hardcore struggle against impossible odds would serve as an inspiration to the rest of the Tokugawa army about what it means to be a badass. He wrote his final letter, stating his desire to be remembered as a warrior of honor, and then immediately set about making sure the Hideyoshi invaders would pay for every inch of land with a fire hose-like explosion of over-the-top arterial blood spray.

On 27 August 1600, the battle flags of Hideyoshi commander Ishida Mitsunari appeared over the rise outside Fushimi Castle. The army Ishida brought with him was ridiculous – easily ten to twenty times the size of the castle garrison – but Torii Mototada couldn't have given a flying fuck at a rolling donut. Toriiordered his archers and musketeers to the battlements, opened fire on the attackers, and then withstood a tremendous, unstoppable onslaught of wave after wave of spear-slinging samurai warriors.

For a week the defenders of Fushimi Castle raged against their attackers. Even as the defenses, walls, and battlements were crumbling around them and they continually moved back to interior positions, they never showed any fear or cowardice, or any emotion other than blood-rage and the undying desire to beheat as many of their attackers as humanly possible. Even after the garrison retreated to the main tower, the last bastion of defense for Fushimi Castle, and then the tower was then set on fire, Mototada's men continued to hold out against the attack of steel and flames.




On the eighth day of the siege, Mototada's force had been reduced to just 200 brave men surrounded by a battle-hardened army of 35,000. The castle burning, and the men all wounded and exhausted, Torii Mototada's chief lieutenant asked if it was time to call it quits and commit seppuku. Fuck that. These guys hadn't come this far just to throw in the towel like a bunch of bitches, and as long as they had some semblance of a military they were going to just keep stabbing fools in the nards with longswords until they died. Mototada led five badass, balls-out charges from the castle tower right into the balls of the enemy formation, cutting down everyone in his way, which is insane. Most people would be lucky to last five seconds commanding two hundred men against thirty-five thousand, but I guess this guy was just that extreme.

Repeatedly sending your men on insane suicide charges is great and all, but it does eventually tend to take a toll on your forces. Finally, on the tenth day of the siege, Torii Mototada and his ten most hardcore samurai were all that remained, battling ferociously as their now-worthless castle burned around them. Torii, pressed on all sides by spear points and samurai swords, finally collapsed from an epic number of spear, arrow, and sword wounds. An enemy samurai named Saiga Shigetomo rushed up, spear poised for a kill-shot, but Torii found just enough strength do raise his arm and yell, "Hold up motherfucker! Just give me a sec here." Amazingly, the guy stopped dead in his tracks, presumably cowed in the presence of Mototada's insane steel-tempered ballsack. Mototada, already half-dead, pulled himself up onto his knees, drew his dagger, and died an honorable and appropriately-gory death through seppuku. The Siege of Fushimi Castle had cost the invading Hideyoshi army three thousand men, and, more importantly, ten days that they couldn't afford to waste. Tokugawa Ieyasu would arrive shortly thereafter with an army of 90,000 warriors, crush the Hideyoshi at the Battle of Sekigahara, and establish a dynasty that would go on to rule Japan for two and a half centuries.




Links:

The Last Statement of Torii Mototada

Samurai Archives

Wikipedia

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Ink & Brush

I plan on having black drawing ink and a japanese nib and brush included as part of the package as a huge part of Martial Arts, Zen Buddhism and the Bushido culture is to live a life of peace and serenity, through visual expression to contrast with the times they have to partake in violence. One of the ways they did this was through beautiful calligraphy and a symbol of Japanese design so I want to also push this through my product.


Looking around at ink, obviously there's the parker and Quink black ink and indian ink but a more suitable addition maybe sumi ink, carbon based ink often used for Japanese calligraphy with a thick opaque black texture. If this is too hard to get hold of I plan on getting hold of Indian ink for the opaque and bold feel.


Supplying ink in the product is one thing but I also plan on using ink myself to create artwork, especially when it comes to exposing ink for that authentic hand-drawn feel to merge with my own design sensibilities I want to merge with traditional Japanese design.

Sumi ink calligraphy set, comes with 5 quaint brushes, red ink, brush holder, solid ink,?, ready to carve stamp, mixing plate and a little ink bowl

Sumi ink packaging

Sumi-ink grinding stone

This looks effective as a set and the idea of rolled up elements is appealing especially for posters and the like.

Packaging an ink well like the one here would be perfect along with ink brushes. The hinged box is effective too with the inner lining. I'm still not sure what visual direction to go in, I don't want to go too 'traditional' and basically just have a go at doing some Japanese design myself but want to create a balance between contemporary design and Japanese design and my own sensibilities.

##Brushes

I plan on including a bamboo pen for finger artwork and a brush for thicker calligraphy and expressive stuff

Bill Zuchman is a leading brand at the moment when it comes to tools for ink

Bamboo pen

 

Brush pen

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Boxes & Protective packaging

I want to go down the road of making some kind of protective packaging for the overall range of products I'm going to work on, exactly what is still unclear but through engaging with research I'm sure I'll get closer and closer to it being a logical decision.

Making a boxset is also interesting for me as I want to explore laser-cut and make a more 'permanent' kind of graphic design rather than paper and print, so this is exciting.

Some existing examples of protective packaging and boxes related to the Japanese theme and Martial Arts

Japanese bento box packaging, often used for displaying, packaging and consuming food. A bento box could be a cool way of packaging small ephemeral objects such as fountain pens, brushes and ink?

The way this closes and seals itself is pretty interesting, although this looks forced to be closed this way but designing something to be closed this way and the artwork on the stock also relating to this form of sealing would be interesting

This is definitely relevant and I think it's visually appealing and relevant to the subject although the stock probably needs to be thicker to hold the stuff I'm planning on holding at the moment, ink, brushes, booklets and fold-out posters and maybe more.

I like the way it's a complete box but there's separate compartments in quite an odd way which could be interesting as a consideration

Matchbox style box?

Up until now I've been imagining the box to be like this with a slide in lid and a strong and durable wood as the casing with an engraved element to it

The way this opens out could be interesting and I feel it could really be referenced and refined for the subject and theme in terms of stock, colour and graphics but the items within probably won't like being in a package like this, everything will be thrown around

This is very relevant, a latched holder would be really cool similar to a briefcase, it adds luxury and mystery to a product, even padded casing for each product to be held snug is something I might definitely consider but at the same time considering the subject, I feel padding is a bit too 'modern'. 

Looking at existing examples out there definitely helped gauge what I want and dimensions etc are a definite consideration, Once I know what I want to make and at what scale and size, I can then decide how I want each product to be laid out and placed within the box, draw that out and then I'll know what size and format the box will be in

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Morihei Ushiba - The Art of Peace

I've ordered The Art Of Peace by Morihei Ushiba, it's a philosophy book on Bushido and Martial Arts philisophy by a legendary Aikido practitioner who lived his life by the ideals of Bushido, such an interesting guy! Sounds like some kind of movie, but it's all real.

I hope to read this in order to gain a better understanding of Bushido and philosophy, as this product range will most likely be aimed towards enthusiasts and practitioners, I don't want to go down the route of putting in weapons and fight wraps, I want to make it inspiration and meditative, as a an enthusiast and (sometimes) martial arts practitioner too I find this the most valuable and something I'd keep, read and enjoy for inspiration and perspective on life and others.

Morihei Ueshiba is referred to by the practitioners of Aikido as O-Sensei, "The Great Teacher". The following quotations from the Art of Peace have been compiled from O-Sensei's collected talks, poems, and calligraphy, and from oral tradition.

Quotes from the book:

"The Art of Peace begins with you. Work on yourself and your appointed task in the Art of Peace. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment. Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter."

"When life is victorious, there is birth; when it is thwarted, there is death. A warrior is always engaged in a life-and-death struggle for Peace."

"The Art of Peace is medicine for a sick world. There is evil and disorder in the world because people have forgotten that all things emanate from one source. Return to that source and leave behind all self-centered thoughts, petty desires, and anger. Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything."

"Now and again, it is necessary to seclude yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to the source of life. Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe; breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside. Next, breathe up all fecundity and vibrancy of the earth. Finally, blend the breath of heaven and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself." 

"Those who are enlightened never stop forging themselves. The realizations of such masters cannot be expressed well in words or by theories. The most perfect actions echo the patterns found in nature." 

The book will be full of this stuff and I'm excited to get my hands on hopefully by the end of this week, it should help me lay the foundations for what I want to say.





##More about Morihei Ushiba

Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969)

Ushiba is the founder of the Japanese Martial Arts discipline of Aikido.

He is often referred to as "the founder" Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生), "Great Teacher"

Growing up Ueshiba actually grew up in quite a priveleged environment, but he was quite weak and frail. His father urged him to take up Sumo wrestling and swimming and shared stories of his great-grandfather Kichiemon who was considered a very strong samurai in his era.

The need for strength was reinforced when he witnessed his dad being attacked by followers of a rival politician.

Morihei trained in a wide variety of martial arts growing up but not extensively - including learning his art at the Yagyū Shingan-ryū (柳生心眼流), a traditional martial-arts school. Ueshiba trained in Judo, under Kiyoichi Tagaka in 1911.


Only after moving to the northern island of Hokkaido, with his wife in 1912 did his martial arts training really begin to evolve and gain importance in his life. 

"At about the age of 14 or 15. First I learned Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū Jujutsu from Tokusaburo Tozawa Sensei, then Kito-ryu, Yagyu-ryu, Aioi-ryu, Shinkage-ryu, all of those jujutsu forms. However, I thought there might be a true form of budo elsewhere. I tried Hozoin-ryu sojitsu and kendo. But all of these arts are concerned with one-to-one combat forms and they could not satisfy me. So I visited many parts of the country seeking the Way and training, but all in vain. ... I went to many places seeking the true budo. Then, when I was about 30 years old, I settled in Hokkaido. On one occasion, while staying at Hisada Inn in Engaru, Kitami Province, I met a certain Sokaku Takeda Sensei of the Aizu clan. He taught Daito-ryu jujutsu. During the 30 days in which I learned from him I felt something like an inspiration. Later, I invited this teacher to my home and together with 15 or 16 of my employees became a student seeking the essence of budo.

Did you discover aikido while you were learning Daito-ryu under Sokaku Takeda?

No. It would be more accurate to say that Takeda Sensei opened my eyes to budo."

Ueshiba searched the country to find the "Way" and not interested in one-to-one combat and a bit disillusioned.

Met Sokaku Takeda Sensei of the Aizu clan, who taught Daito-ryu Jujutsu, in 30 days he was inspired.

'Budo' is a japanese term of Martial Ways. Or Martial Arts. Translated literally it means The Way of The Spirit or Spirit of The Warrior.

Budo

Sensei Takeda had a huge influence on Ueshiba and together they formed the basis of Aikido, an art based off Takeda's discipline of Daito-ryu Jujutsu.


Although disputed by some, the ledger books of Takeda clearly show that Ueshiba spent a great deal of time training in Daitō-ryū between 1915 and 1937. He received the majority of the important scrolls awarded by Takeda at this time including the Hiden Mokuroko, the Hiden Ogi and the Goshin'yo te. Ueshiba received his kyoju dairi certificate, or teaching license, for the system from Takeda in 1922.



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The real birth of Aikido came as the result of three instances of spiritual awakening that Ueshiba experienced. The first happened in 1925, after Ueshiba had defeated a naval officer's bokken (wooden katana) attacks unarmed and without hurting the officer. Ueshiba then walked to his garden and had a spiritual awakening.


I felt the universe suddenly quake, and that a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one. At the same time my body became light. I was able to understand the whispering of the birds, and was clearly aware of the mind of God, the creator of the universe.

At that moment I was enlightened: the source of budo is God's love – the spirit of loving protection for all beings ...

Budo is not the felling of an opponent by force; nor is it a tool to lead the world to destruction with arms. True Budo is to accept the spirit of the universe, keep the peace of the world, correctly produce, protect and cultivate all beings in nature.

His third experience was in 1942 during the worst fighting of WWII, Ueshiba had a vision of the "Great Spirit of Peace

"The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter – it is the Art of Peace, the power of love."





##LEGACY

In an interview Shoji Nishio, a Japanese Aikido teacher reported : "At that time, a former Karate sensei of the Butokukai named Toyosaku Sodeyama who was running Konishi Sensei’s dojo and also teaching there came up to me and said: “I met someone who is like a ‘phantom’. I couldn’t strike him even once.” I was amazed that there was someone that even Sodeyama Sensei couldn’t strike. It was O-Sensei." (Ushiba)


To this day, Ōmoto-kyō priests oversee a ceremony in Ueshiba's honor every April 29 at the Aiki Shrine in Iwama. Omoto-Kyo. 

Ueshiba has taught hundreds of notable Aikido practitioners in 4 generations, some of them were Uchideshi - live-in students:

First (pre-WW2) generation:

Second (WW2) generation:

Third (Post-WW2) generation:

Fourth (last) generation:








##PERSONAL TRAITS

Morihei Ueshiba regularly practiced cold water misogi, as well as other spiritual and religious rites. He viewed his studies of aikido in this light.

Misogi -Ritual purification. It varies from medication, to fasting, to exhuastive periods without sleep, food etc, almost as a form of detox. Ueshiba was into bathing in ridiculously cold water.

As a young man, Ueshiba was renowned for his incredible physical strength. He would later lose much of this muscle, which some believe changed the way he performed aikido technique.

Ueshiba was said to be a simple but wise man, and a gifted farmer. In his later years, he was regarded as very kind and gentle as a rule, but there are also stories of terrifying scoldings delivered to his students. For instance, he once thoroughly chastised students for practicing jō (staff) strikes on trees without first covering them in protective padding. Another time, as students sneaked back into the dojo after a night of drinking and brawling, he smashed the first one through the door over the head with a bokken (wooden practice sword), and proceeded to scold them.

Morihei Ueshiba played the game of Go often. During one game with Sokaku Takeda, Takeda utilized the Goban as a weapon against a man he mistook for an assassin. The "assassin" was actually a friend of Ueshiba, and had arrived in a scarf due to bad weather. The scarf hid the man's identity, triggering Takeda's paranoia as, at the time, many people actually were trying to kill him.

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Bushido Quotes

Here are really interesting Bushido quotes which reflect "The Way Of The Warrior" in martial arts and particularly Samurai culture. I don't want to just focus on honourable and glorious deaths and violence, Bushido was much more to life than just combat, here are ones I've picked out

My favourite quotes are in bold
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"The way of the Samurai is in desperateness. Ten men or more cannot kill such a man." - Tsunetomo Yamamoto - Hagakure

"It is not the Way of the Warrior [i.e., bushido] to be shamed and avoid death even under circumstances that are not particularly important. It goes without saying that to sacrifice one's life for the sake of his master is an unchanging principle. That I should be able to go ahead of all the other warriors of this country and lay down my life for the sake of my master's benevolence is an honor to my family and has been my most fervent desire for many years." Torii Mototada's last statement

"Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive in the battle and you will surely meet death.  When you leave the house determined not to see it again you will come home safely; when you have any thought of returning you will not return" Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) on Uesugi Kenshin's beliefs

"There is no nation in the world which fears death less." - St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552) Jesuit leader.

Samurai were expected to be cultured and literate, and admired the ancient saying "Bun Bu Ryo Do" (文武両道, lit., literary arts, military arts, both ways) or "The pen and the sword in accord."

If a man does not investigate into the matters of Bushido daily, it will be difficult for him to die a brave and manly death" Kato Kiyamasa

"Yesterday they were enemies but today they are no longer so. If we cannot think of them as no longer enemies, then it cannot be said that we truly understand the spirit of bushido" - Nakayama Hakudo (1872 - 1958)

To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter — it is the Art of Peace, the power of love

When facing the realm of life and death in the form of an enemy's sword, one must be firmly settled in mind and body, and not at all intimidated - Morihei Ushiba (1883 - 1969)

In China there was once a man who liked pictures of dragons, and his clothing and furnishings were all designed accordingly. His deep affection for dragons was brought to the attention of the dragon god, and one day a real dragon appeared before his window. It is said that he died of fright. He was probably a man who always spoke big words but acted differently when facing the real thing. - Tsunetomo Yamamoto - Hagakure

The impossible becomes possible if only your mind believes it. - Chris Bradford, Way of The Sword

Each mistake teaches you something new about yourself. There is no failure, remember, except in no longer trying. It is the courage to continue that counts.” Chris Bradford, The Way of The Sword

“A samurai must remain calm at all times even in the face of danger.”  Chris Bradford, The Way Of The Sword

“Impatience is a hindrance. As with all things if you attempt to take shortcuts, the final destination will rarely be as good and may even be attainable.”  - Chris Bradford, The Way of The Sword

“Anyone can give up; it is the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, now that is true strength.”  Chris Bradford, The Way of The Sword

“In the Kamigata area, they have a sort of tiered lunchbox they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. The end is important in all things.”  Yamamoto - Hagakure

“Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.”  Yamamoto - Hagakure

"seven times down, eight times up" - Chris Bradford, The Way of The Warrior

There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succesion of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the present moment. - Yamamoto - Hagakure

When an opponent comes forward, move in and greet him; if he wants to pull back, send him on his way. - Morihei Ushiba

"When facing the realm of life and death in the form of an enemy's sword, one must be firmly settled in mind and body, and not at all intimidated"

"Revenge is self-defeating. It will eat away you until there is nothing left." Chris Bradford, The Way Of The Warrior 

“Tomorrow’s victory is today’s practice.”  - Chris Bradford, The Way Of The Warrior

Rectitude is one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right. 

Men must grudge money, for riches hinder wisdom. - Nitobe Inazo (1862-1963)

Fall down seven times, stand up eight 

Selected quotes 

"Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive in the battle and you will surely meet death." Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966)


"Yesterday they were enemies but today they are no longer so. If we cannot think of them as no longer enemies, then it cannot be said that we truly understand the spirit of bushido" - Nakayama Hakudo (1872 - 1958)


When facing the realm of life and death in the form of an enemy's sword, one must be firmly settled in mind and body, and not at all intimidated - Morihei Ushiba (1883 - 1969)


“Anyone can give up; it is the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, now that is true strength.”  Chris Bradford, The Way of The Sword


When an opponent comes forward, move in and greet him; if he wants to pull back, send him on his way. - Morihei Ushiba




Men must grudge money, for riches hinder wisdom. - Nitobe Inazo (1862-1963)



Fall down seven times, stand up eight 

Source:
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=samurai&commit=Search
http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/275268-hagakure

http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/6221747-the-way-of-the-warrior
http://satsubatsu.forumotion.com/t158-bushido-philosophy-quotes
http://artofmanliness.com/2008/09/14/the-bushido-code-the-eight-virtues-of-the-samurai/

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Woodblock printing - Notes/Process/Formats

My notes:

• Used to print books before movable type
• Moku hanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks
• Water-based inks provide great transparency and vivid colours
• Books in woodblock printing were most likely monochrome one colour prints, sometimes art prints were 2-3.
• Drawing was drawn on paper, usually "washi", Japanese paper, and then glued onto wood, usually cherry and cut around accordingly.
• Very similar to letterpress, except the methods very temporary and manual. The press is obviously wood and not brass/metal.
• Sumizuri-e - the name to the first layer of monochrome, black ink
• Aizuri-e - adding added colours which aren't black, for example red or indigo
• Benizuri - e - added handpainted elements, for example red signatures
• Urushi - e - Thickening and emboldening the ink using glue
• Nishiki - e - Technical printing with seperate shapes and "screens" in the form of seperate blocks to colourise individual layers for a complicated finished piece
• Kento - the name given for registration marks to align woodblocks! Pretty ahead of their time.
• Edo Period sheet sizes - Chūban, Chūtanzaku, Hashira-e, Hosoban, Kakemono-e, Ōban, Ō-hosoban, Shikishiban
• Kakemono is the common size for hanging sheet paintings/prints.
• Tata-e = portrait
• Yoko-e = landscape

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Woodblock printing in Japan (Japanese: 木版画, moku hanga) is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-eartistic genre; however, it was also used very widely for printing books in the same period. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only widely adopted in Japan surprisingly late, during the Edo period (1603-1867). Although similar to woodcut in western printmaking in some regards, the moku hanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks—as opposed to western woodcut, which often uses oil-based inks. The Japanese water-based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency.

y the eleventh century, Buddhist temples in Japan produced printed books of sutras, mandalas, and other Buddhist texts and images. For centuries, printing was mainly restricted to the Buddhist sphere, as it was too expensive for mass production, and did not have a receptive, literate public as a market.

Not until 1590 was the first secular book printed in Japan. This was the Setsuyō-shū, a two-volume Chinese-Japanese dictionary.

rinting equipment brought back by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army from Korea in 1593 had far greater influence on the development of the medium. Four years later, Tokugawa Ieyasu, even before becoming shogun, effected the creation of the first native moveable type, using wooden type-pieces rather than metal. He oversaw the creation of 100,000 type-pieces, which were used to print a number of political and historical texts. As shogun, Ieyasu promoted literacy and learning, contributing to the emergence of an educated urban public.

An edition of the Confucian Analects was printed in 1598, using a Korean moveable type printing press, at the order of Emperor Go-Yōzei. This document is the oldest work of Japanese moveable type printing extant today. 

 By 1640 woodblocks were once again used for nearly all purposes.

The medium quickly gained popularity among artists, and was used to produce small, cheap, art prints as well as books. 

Woodblock printing, though more tedious and expensive than later methods, was far less so than the traditional method of writing out each copy of a book by hand; thus, Japan began to see something of literary mass production.

The content of these books varied widely, including travel guides, advice manuals, kibyōshi (satirical novels), sharebon (books on urban culture), art books, and play scripts for thejōruri (puppet) theatre. Often, within a certain genre, such as the jōruri theatre scripts, a particular style of writing became standard for that genre. For example, one person's personal calligraphic style was adopted as the standard style for printing plays.

Technique

The technique for printing texts and images was generally similar. The obvious differences were the volume produced when working with texts (many pages for a single work), and the complexity of multiple colors in some images. Images in books were almost always in monochrome (black ink only), and for a time art prints were likewise monochrome or done in only two or three colours.

The text or image was first drawn onto washi (Japanese paper), then glued onto a plank of wood, usually cherry. Wood was then cut away, based on the drawing outlines. A small wooden hard object called a baren was used to press or burnish the paper against the inked woodblock to apply the ink to the paper. Although this may have been done purely by hand at first, complex wooden mechanisms were soon invented and adopted to help hold the woodblock perfectly still and apply proper pressure in the printing process. This was especially helpful with the introduction of multiple colors that had to be applied with precision over previous ink layers.

The stages of this development follow:

• Sumizuri-e (墨摺り絵^?, "ink printed pictures")—monochrome printing using only black ink
• Benizuri-e (紅摺り絵^?, "crimson printed pictures")—red ink details or highlights added by hand after the printing process；green was sometimes used as well
• Tan-e (丹絵^?)—orange highlights using a red pigment called tan
• Aizuri-e (藍摺り絵^?, "indigo printed pictures"), Murasaki-e (紫絵^?, "purple pictures"), and other styles in which a single color was used in addition to, or instead of, black ink
• Urushi-e (漆絵^?)—a method that thickened the ink with glue, emboldening the image. Printers often used gold, mica, and other substances to enhance the image further.Urushi-e can also refer to paintings using lacquer instead of paint. Lacquer was rarely, if ever, used on prints.
• Nishiki-e (錦絵^?, "brocade pictures")—a method of using multiple blocks for separate portions of the image, using a number of colors to achieve complex and detailed images. A separate block was carved to apply only the part of the image designated for a single color. Registration marks called kentō (見当) were used to ensure correspondence between the application of each block.

FORMATS & SIZES

There were a number of standard sizes for prints in the Edo period, some of which follow. (All centimeter measurements are approximate.)

• Chūban (中判, middle size)(26x19cm)
• Chūtanzaku (中短冊)(38x13cm) - also known simply as tanzaku; half of an ōban, cut lengthwise
• Hashira-e (柱絵)(68-73 x 12–16 cm) - a narrow, upright format often called "pillar prints"
• Hosoban (細判)(33x15cm) - several hosoban was cut from an ō-ōban (大大判, large large size); hosoban was the smallest of the common sheet sizes.
• Kakemono-e (掛物絵)(76.5x23cm) - large, upright format comprised approximately of two ōban arranged one above the other. Kakemono also refers to hanging scroll paintings.
• Ōban (大判, large size)(39x26.5 cm) - the most common sheet size.
• Ō-hosoban (大細判)(38x17cm) - also known as Ō-tanzaku
• Shikishiban (21 x 18 cm) often used for surimono

The Japanese terms for vertical (portrait) and horizontal (landscape) formats for images are tate-e (立て絵) and yoko-e (横絵), respectively.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodblock_printing_in_Japan

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