Traces of Bushido: 400-Year-Old Samurai Blood Stains at the Yogen In Temple
In the year 1600, the largest army in Western Japan left Osaka and started moving north to fight against Tokugawa. The Fushimi Castle of Kyoto, which was controlled by a Tokugawa ally Mototada, was on the way. Mototada’s castle was surrounded by this army who is the enemy of Tokugawa but put still up a big fight. They resisted for days with no help from outside. However, the castle eventually fell and Mototada was killed. His men, around 380 samurai, did not want to surrender. So they ended their lives in a Bushido way. So many samurais committed seppuku (harakiri) in the same room.
Yogen In Temple
Traces of Bushido: 47 Samurai Who Died for the Honor of Their Master
The “oniga-wara” on the roof tiles of the Sengakuji temple. The temple is near the Shinagawa bullet train station.
The cemetery of the 47 ronin who were forced to commit seppuku. The cemetery is in the Sen-gokuji Temple.
Asano’s 47 men sworn an oath to avenge their master knowing that all of them would be executed if they touched Kira. At the same time, they were suspect-ed to do something for revenge and they were followed by the spies of Kira. The leader of the 47 samurai spent some time in Kyoto and reportedly visited the Ichiriki Chaya Geisha House on Hanamikoji Street. After waiting a year and a half, the 47 samurai finally attacked Kira’s residence in Edo. They captured Kira and killed him with the same word used for their master’s seppuku. They returned themselves in and the government decided all of them must end their own lives by committing seppuku (harakiri).
The youngest ronin was let go to maintain the samurai blood and to tell what happened in Edo to the people of Ako. The graves of the ronins are located in the Sengakuji temple near the Shinagawa station of Tokyo. Every year in mid-December there is a special commemoration event held at the temple.
Hagakure the book of the Samurai By Yamamoto Tsunemoto
“If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that “All abilities come from one mind” sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment, one can accomplish any feat.”
“Human life is truly a short affair. It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.”
“The Way of the Samurai is found in death. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one’s body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears, and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one’s master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. This is the substance of the way of the samurai.“ (From the movie Ghost Dog referring to the book Hagakure)
”It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this.“ (From the movie Ghost Dog referring to the book Hagakure)
”There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do and nothing else to pursue.” (From the movie Ghost Dog referring to the book Hagakure)
名誉 : HONOR, LOYALTY, HONESTY, RESPECT, COURAGE, JUSTICE, MERCY
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