Japanese Fighting Heroes: Warriors, Samurai and Ronins

By Jamie Ryder

From the demon-killing Minamoto no Yorimitsu to the immortal poet Ono no Komachi, find out about the fascinating world of Japanese warriors and folk-heroes.

Japanese mythology is filled with stories of larger-than-life characters that shaped the landscape of Japan. They are the folk heroes who slayed monsters, fought in epic battles and reflected the most complicated emotions of the people who created them. Through a mix of essays, short stories and anecdotes, Japanese Fighting Heroes follows the lives of samurai, warriors, outliers and iconoclasts who forged their own paths. 

Legendary fighters like the demon-killing Minamoto no Yorimitsu, philosophising samurai Miyamoto Musashi, and the One-Eyed Dragon Date Masamune. Creative heroes like the father of Japanese short stories Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the immortal poet Ono no Komachi, the hilarious Sei Shonagon and her insight into human nature. Trailblazers who broke down barriers like the feminist Hiratsuka Raicho, the statesman Fukuzawa Yukichi, the photographic genius Hiroshi Hamaya. 

These Japanese folk heroes led fascinating lives that provide insight into our own through the principles and practices they lived by. They struggled with universal ideals of honor, duty, courage and kindness, helping them transcend their culture. 

Whether you’re looking to learn about Japanese history, fall down a philosophy rabbit hole or pick up new mental health habits, these heroes can teach us timeless lessons. Japanese Fighting Heroes captures the essence of what it means to be human in any culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Apr 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9781399057080

Book preview

Note on Japanese Names and Chapter Headings

In Japan, it’s traditional for family or clan names to appear before first names. When introducing a historical figure or person for the first time, I’ve chosen to refer to them with the most popular arrangement of their name, e.g. Miyamoto Musashi and Tomoe Gozen.

After the full title has been mentioned, each character is referred to by one name, e.g. Musashi and Tomoe. This has been done to limit confusion and to make the book as accessible as possible for readers. Another personal choice borne of simplicity was to refer to the samurai Date Masamune as ‘Masamune’ and the swordsmith Goro Masamune as ‘Goro’ to make it clear these two figures aren’t related.

The chapter headings aren’t official titles or nicknames of the people in the book. I chose titles and descriptions that capture the essence and characteristics of the mythology surrounding each person.

With that said, there are a few exceptions like Date Masamune, who was known as the One-Eyed Dragon in his time and Ryunosuke Akutagawa, whose literary work earned him the moniker of the father of the Japanese short story. Masataka Taketsuru also has the distinction of being called the father of Japanese whisky.

For help with name pronunciation, see Appendix on page 183.

Introduction

If you’re not part of a culture, are you qualified to talk about it? That was the first question I asked myself when setting out to write this book. (I’m from rainy Manchester in the UK and have yet to travel to Japan.) The conclusion I came to is that you don’t have to travel to a place to feel an indescribable sense of connection to it. Because no matter where you are in the world, you’ll have a perspective that’s unlike anyone else and learning about life experiences that are so different to your own is the way to expand your horizons. To be immersed in a different culture is to show respect for its customs and traditions, which galvanised me to want to explore the experiences of people who lived very different lives than I have and tell their stories in a nuanced way.

Because every culture has stories about heroes, larger-than-life characters who performed incredible feats and are at the centre of great historical events. In Western civilisation, examples like King Arthur or Abraham Lincoln come to mind, figures held up as examples of greatness and who embody traditional traits associated with heroes like valour, resilience and a strong moral backbone. The stories of these heroes get retold and reworked, added to by generation after generation until they have become a part of legend and cultural mythology.

The same is true of the Japanese and the role of heroes in Japan. The Land of The Rising Sun is a culture founded on a complex mythology that’s forever being added to, with much of that mythology being painted by and through some of the characters in this book.

They are heroes like Kintaro, who wrestled bears and giant carps with his bare hands. They are beautiful princesses like Kaguya, sending awestruck warriors on quests to win her hand. They are legendary fighters like the demon-killing Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

They are real people who fought to decide the fate of Japan – famed samurai like the wily Date Masamune, the wise philosopher Miyamoto Musashi, and the loyal ronin Oishi Yoshio. If all that sounds overly romantic, that’s deliberate on my part because Japanese Fighting Heroes: Warriors, Samurai and Ronins isn’t an academic text. Not in the traditional sense and there are many wonderful books you can refer to in the endnotes and bibliography that analyse Japan’s political and historical landscapes.

This book is an exploration of the mythology and stories of the heroes that Japan has created for itself. It’s looking at the psychology of cultural storytelling, the bone-deep fascination with flawed and nuanced people and why they echo the human condition no matter where you’re from.

It’s about respecting the historical context in which these characters lived and showing why they became woven into the fabric of Japanese folklore, for better or worse. It’s drilling into the work of creatives like Sei Shonagon, Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Ono no Komachi to showcase what made them human.

It’s reframing stereotypes of heroes and warriors for the modern day, pens being mightier than swords, standing for something instead of standing for nothing, applying philosophy rather than talking about it.

These Japanese fighting heroes led fascinating lives that provide insight into our own through their own greatest struggles and triumphs. They wrestled with universal ideas of honour, duty, courage and kindness, helping them transcend the culture they were created by.

Ultimately, Japanese Fighting Heroes is a book of timeless lessons framed against the backdrop of Japanese society and how stories are shaped, and I’ve endeavoured to research and present historical context where possible. Any mistakes are my own. Before meeting the colourful characters mentioned here, it’s important to understand how folklore makes legends of people and how it’s expressed in Japanese culture.

What is a folk hero?

A folk hero is generally categorised as a person whose deeds and exploits have become deeply rooted in the collective psyche of a people or society. They are real or fictional and their lives have been exaggerated to a mythical status, often becoming a symbol for a cause, an ideal or as a justification for committing political acts.

There are several tropes associated with a folk hero:

•An ordinary person transformed by tremendous life events became inspired to fight for a cause greater than themselves.

•A member of the working class who decided to defend the innocent against corruption and oppression.

•A highly principled or moral agent of change.

•A dashing rogue living outside the law, protecting the little guy and dispensing social justice.

•A creative soul who becomes the face of a movement or school of thought.

The psychology of Japanese mythology

These tropes are present in Japanese mythology, a complicated web of stories, grand tales and religious beliefs that contradict and harmonise with each other. We can imagine that early in the history of Japan there was a strong tradition of oral storytelling, though it wasn’t until the Nara period (eighth century AD) that the first written records of Japanese myths were recorded.¹

The two definitive texts of the period are the Kojiki and Nihonshoki, chronicling creation myths and the divine genealogy of the Japanese imperial line. The Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) focuses on the creation of the world through the Gods of Heaven siring two siblings – Izanagi and Izanami – who then had children like the goddess of the sun Amaterasu, the moon god Tsukuyomi and the god of the sea Susanowo.² The Kojiki carries on down the imperial line until the reign of the thirtieth ruler of Japan, Empress Regent Suiko. This godly connection goes all the way back to Amaterasu, indicating how members of the imperial court justified their rule.

We see a similar process in the Nihonshoki (The Chronicles of Japan), a sprawling text of thirty books that go deeper into the backgrounds of how the gods and royal family are entwined. In the work, every ruler’s lifespan is categorised by year, month and date, making the Nihonshoki seem more like a historical text than a fictional narrative.

Many historians and scholars see the Kojiki and Nihonshoki as political books designed to legitimise the aristocracy. But it’s worth noting how the storytelling and epic tales of the gods took root in the minds of the early Japanese. As far as eighth-century Japanese readers were concerned, both books were historically accurate and taken at face value.

Japanese religion and myth

Japanese folklore has also been impacted by the various religions throughout the country, shaping the way in which stories are told and we’ll concentrate on Japan’s two main religions: Shinto and Buddhism.

Shintoism

Shinto (the way of the gods) is Japan’s only native religion. Unlike traditional religions, it lacked any written doctrines or divine texts for much of its early history and the main source of worship has remained the same.

The religion centres on the worship of kami, a complicated word with many meanings. In one sense, kami refers to the gods like Amaterasu and Susanowo, who represent natural forces like the sun and sea.³

In another sense, any object or location has the capacity to be seen as a kami. Rivers, mountains, animals and objects like swords can all be seen as kami with good and evil characteristics. These forces are a manifestation of musubi, the energy of the universe that binds everything together and that humans should strive to be in harmony with.

In short, the idea of kami is nuanced, and the main point is it doesn’t matter what a kami is so much as where it is. For example, a kami living on Mount Fuji might decide to cause a storm on the mountain because that is where it lives. The kami can’t control anything outside of its immediate area.

The locations of kami are often marked by shrines featuring torii gates, which act as thresholds between the mundane and the sacred. Within these sacred spaces, the rules of Shinto are observed, with purity being one of the main components.

In this context, purity is the cleanliness of the living world and no aspects of death can be present in the Shinto space. This includes vomit, excrement, blood, rotting food etc. For this reason, a washbasin is usually placed at a Shinto shrine so visitors and worshippers can cleanse physically and spiritually.

Buddhism

Buddhism originated in India in the fifth century BCE from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha (awakened one). The Buddha’s teachings developed into what have been called the four noble truths:⁴

•The truth of suffering.

•The truth of the cause of suffering.

•The truth of the end of suffering.

•The truth of the path that frees suffering.

Simply put, these principles teach that suffering exists: it has a cause, an end and the means to provide that end. In Buddhism, all beings, including gods, are locked into an endless cycle of rebirth. The religion explores questions of the nature of reality and issues of morality.

Through the centuries, Buddhism split into different schools known as Mahayana and Theravada, with the former finding a strong foothold in China. Mahayana Buddhism emphasises that it’s possible to attain enlightenment in a single lifetime; it spread to Korea and across to Japan in the sixth century.

The core principles of Buddhism became complementary to Shinto, absorbing the kami into a wider system of belief, with Buddhist places of worship becoming known as temples to differentiate them from Shinto shrines. The two religions have become so connected that despite there being several attempts throughout Japanese history to separate Shintoism and Buddhism, they still impact each other’s legends and stories in the modern day.

The connections between Shinto and Buddhism

Since the earliest days of Buddhism arriving in The Land of The Rising Sun, the Japanese were aware of its foreign quality. That didn’t stop them from making Buddhism their own and placing its moral doctrines as a dominant way of thinking. The organised system of texts and records around Buddhism also influenced the categorisation of kami, turning Shinto into a more formalised religion.

Throughout the ninth century, religious leaders campaigned to make the kami and Buddhist bodhisattvas (beings or gods that have attained enlightenment) the same in a concept called honji suijaku.⁵

This idea came from China and was based on the kami acting as ‘traces’ or ‘aspects’ of the ‘original’ Buddhist gods. In other words, a Japanese kami like Amaterasu was the same as the bodhisattva Kannon, as both were goddesses who represented light and compassion.

The next major development occurred in the fourteenth century when honji suijaku was reinterpreted by a group of priests centred around the Watarai family of Ise in modern Mie prefecture.

The Watarai reversed the connection between the Buddhist deities and kami, arguing the Japanese gods were the originals and the bodhisattvas were the traces. This was done to put Shinto back on equal footing with Buddhism, which had dominated the theological landscape of Japan for hundreds of years.⁶

Fast forward to the seventeenth century and a school of thought called kokugaku (nativist) built on the Watarai philosophy of returning to the core of Japanese values. This school was made up of scholars from various backgrounds leading a collective effort to refocus study away from Chinese and Buddhist texts in favour of classical Japanese stories.

During this time, the term shinbutsu-shugo was created, meaning the ‘synchronisation of Shinto and Buddhism’ and that both religions were two sides of the same coin. This concept is embodied in the various temple-shrines throughout Japan, such as the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, Kinpusenji Temple in Nara prefecture and Seiganto-ji Temple in Wakayama prefecture.

The harmony between Shinto and Buddhism was broken during the Meiji Restoration, when Japan opened to the outside world and began a rapid modernisation. A new government was formed in 1868, marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate that had ruled for over 200 years and restored power to the imperial line and the position of emperor. Historically, the title of Japanese emperor had been a ceremonial role, with the acting monarch being controlled by political figures and court processes. The title of shogun originally meant commander of the army and was given to various generals in the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries. It took on new meaning in the Kamakura period when Minamoto no Yoritomo⁷ (a descendent of the renowned Minamoto no Yorimitsu whom we’ll meet in a later chapter) became the acting ruler of Japan after defeating the Taira clan during the Genpei War. This led to the association with the shogun title of wielding absolute power, expressed through three regimes: Kamakura, Ashikaga and Tokugawa. However, there are exceptions as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the man credited with being the second great unifier of Japan after Oda Nobunaga, ruled under the title of Imperial Regent as his humble origins as a peasant made him unsuitable to be called shogun.

The Meiji Restoration continued the tradition of using the emperor as a figurehead to kickstart a series of national reforms, one of them being the separation of Shinto and Buddhism that started in 1872. The Meiji government desired to create a state religion to bind the country together, so they proclaimed Shinto the national religion, developing new texts and doctrines to create a fresh system of belief called State Shinto. This retained the name ‘Shinto’ so the government could make it seem as if the practices had always been a part of Japanese history.

The tenants of State Shinto included that the emperor was to be worshipped as a living god, new holidays were celebrated based on stories from the Kojiki and Nihonshoki, and historical figures were given makeovers and baked into school curriculums to educate the next generation of Japanese thinkers and contributed to the rise of Japanese militarism.

Consequently, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines that had coexisted for over a thousand years were disrupted in favour of the shrines. In some instances, temples were destroyed to make way for bigger shrines.

After The Second World War, the American occupation of 1945–1952 dismantled State Shinto, drawing a line between government ideology and the ancient practices of Shinto. While books and holidays were revised once more, State Shinto has had a lasting impact on modern Japanese culture and storytelling.

The impact of Chinese philosophy

While Shinto and Buddhism became the main religions in Japan, we can’t discount the impact Chinese philosophies such as Confucianism and Taoism had on Japanese folklore because the Japanese modelled a lot of their cultural values on China.

Confucianism

Confucianism originated in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE from a philosopher called Kong Qui, who became Confucius because of the Latinisation of European missionaries. Confucius was a travelling scholar who advised different Chinese leaders in the time before China was a single empire and his teachings were perceived as a philosophy or a religion depending on point of view. Confucius became worshipped as a religious figure and temples sprang up across China with their own priesthoods, while his lessons could also be used as an ethical guide for living a good life.⁸

The core of Confucianism is living by a strong moral code and adhering to hierarchies. These hierarchies may be father to son, king to subjects or elder sister to younger sister and they must be protected and revered at all costs to stop society from crumbling.

Another strand of Confucianism is there aren’t any gods or literal representations of heaven. Instead, heaven is a conceptual place and acts as the ideal mirror to earth. To ensure that heaven and earth are in balance, a devoted Confucian must act righteously.

Japan assimilated Confucianism as both a religious and philosophical pursuit. With its moral focus and lack of emphasis on religious characters, it became a welcome companion to Buddhism.

Taoism

Taoism or Daoism is a Chinese philosophy inspired by an assortment of perspectives that urges practitioners to live by The Way. While this phrase has multiple meanings, it generally means living in balance with nature. Taoism is associated with magic, fairytales and Chinese astrology.

The philosophy appeared around the same time as Confucianism and while there are similarities, Taoism teaches that the earth is perfect as it is and doesn’t need to be brought into alignment with heaven. It’s people that are imperfect and to live by The Way, Taoists must be ready to give up wealth and power to create a sense of harmony.⁹

Taoism features lots of mystical characters and lesser-known gods, like The Eight Immortals. These Immortals were people who embraced The Way so fully that they transcended normal human existence and gained unique powers such as being able to predict the future, change shape and heal any wound.¹⁰

Given the magical focus of Taoism, it’s understandable why the philosophy could be merged into the Japanese worldview and influence the lore that would define Japan’s greatest heroes and warriors.

Defining Japanese folk heroes

Now that we’ve investigated some of the mechanisms and motivations behind Japanese folklore, we can see how the stage can be set for the folk heroes who’ve become synonymous with popular culture.

All the characters in the book are connected by similar characteristics and circumstances that signify the spirit of Japan across different time periods. A mixture of religious dogma, foreign influences and local legends paint vivid pictures of complex life experiences that mirror the attitude of the Japanese and the glorious messiness of being human at the deepest level.

The attributes that define a Japanese folk hero include:

•Descending from a well-known house or clan.

•Being in possession of great fighting skills and intellect.

•Otherworldly powers such as superhuman strength.

•Embodying the concept of bushido (the way of the warrior common in the romanticised myth of the samurai).

•A pride in one’s country and identity.

•Acting as a window into a specific aspect of Japanese society, e.g. philosophy or poetry.

In Japanese Fighting Heroes, we’ll see these characteristics play out and contradict each other. We’ll see these exemplars of Japanese ideals cross over into each other’s stories, and classic stories such as The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter will be retold to demonstrate the fluidity of folktales.

In the telling of these tales, I’ve borrowed from different narratives and my aim is to remain true to the heart of what makes these characters so memorable. Every chapter can be read separately like a short story collection with an underlying theme that glues each one together as part of a wider narrative.

Chapter One

The Japanese Hercules and the Meaning of Strength

The day is calm in the foothills of Mount Ashigara, the giant, silent guard watching the borders between Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures. The morning sun bathes the mountain’s slopes in a warm glow, at odds with the fear and uncertainty of a lonely traveller at the base of the mountain.

Her name is Princess Yaegiri and she’s been running for days, running to find her true place in the world. The princess stops to catch her breath, reflecting on everything she’s left behind. Her father Shiman-choja, whose wealth has granted her a better lot than most. The village of Jizodo, where she has lived a sheltered life. Her husband Sakata, squabbling and battling with his uncle. She had to leave. It was the only way to protect the most precious thing to her in all of Japan.

Yaegiri feels movement at her breast and she clutches the swaddle closer to her chest. She hums a tune from her childhood as she moves, climbing higher and higher, steep plains transforming into vast woodland forests shimmering with the light of Amaterasu. The princess follows the light until she can see the whole country streaming at her feet, rolling in the distance.

Yaegiri sits in the grass, gently puts down the swaddle and looks into the bright eyes of her baby, who burbles happily, his red cheeks glowing. She smiles at the boy for a final time, convinced that he will be protected on the mountain, that the gods will show their favour. The princess sets off the way she came, unsure of where she will go next.

Days pass and a yama-uba wanders through the woods, collecting fruit for her next meal. The mountain witch hears the cries of a child and finds the boy wrapped in his swaddle. The mountain witch has never seen anything like the boy before, his skin as red as blood. The only way the mountain witch can think to stop the child from crying is to show her face, ugly and gaunt. The shock has silenced many men.

When she picks the baby up, he stops crying. He makes a happy gurgling noise and the mountain witch feels emotions she’s never felt before. Light flickers through the trees, sparking the bib that the child wears, accentuating the single kanji symbol for gold.

The mountain witch doesn’t know how or where this golden boy has come from, or why they have been brought together. All she knows is the ugliness of loneliness and the feeling that the child is special beyond words. She will not leave this baby alone. She will not leave her Kintaro.

This origin story is one of many variations of our first hero Kintaro. In one story, he’s the son of a beautiful princess called Yaegiri who flees from her samurai husband’s enemies to Mount Ashigara¹ where she leaves the boy to be found by a mountain witch who becomes his guardian. In another story, the yama-uba is his birth mother and raises him in the wilds of the mountain, while another tale insists that Kintaro’s mother became pregnant when she was struck by thunder, courtesy of a red dragon living on Mount Ashigara.

What all the stories agree on is that Kintaro possessed extraordinary strength, performing incredible feats that etched his name into legend. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

A date with destiny

Growing up in the wilderness, Kintaro learned to communicate with animals and there is another famous story about his companionship with his four favourite animals: the