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Re: Sword Is The Soul Of The Samurai? (was RE: [samuraihistory] R e

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#7842 [2005-10-13 12:53:25]

RE: Sword Is The Soul Of The Samurai? (was RE: [samuraihistory] R e: h itokiri kawakami gensai?)

by ninaboal21044

Uhhhh!!! Heh, heh, heh!!! Hard questions...

Have you seen the film SEPPUKU? If you haven't, do so at your earliest
opportunity. There is a new Criterion edition out with subtitles in English.
Is English your native language, or is it Spanish? Don't know if a Spanish
sub-titled edtion is out.

At any rate, in this film, an impoverished ronin is torn between the choice
of selling his sword blades to raise money to feed his wife and child. If he
did not do this, then his family would get sick and starve. So he sells the
sword blades. And ends up being brutally punished for this "sin" by some
clan samurai who see him as being utterly dishonored. I personally see the
man who sold his swords to try and keep his family from starving as having
far more honor than the judgmental people who heaped blame upon him. As the
man's father-in-law states later on in the film, "even a samurai cannot live
on air."

I'm in the middle of writing a piece of fiction that deals with somewhat
similar themes. I try and ask,"what is a sword and what is the soul? Is a
sword simply a metal object or is it a part of your being?." There is an old
Zen saying, I do not know who wrote it, "I have no sword; I make my mind my
sword."

I studied kendo for ten years and I know personally about how a sword or a
bamboo shinai can become an actual extension of your body. I own a single
Nihonto, a 400 year old wakizashi without signature on the tang (it used to
be a katana but was cut down) and when I handle this sword, I know that it
is more than merely metal. So also, I know that when a samurai was forced to
give up or sell his sword to feed his family, it probably was agony for him.
But he might have had to do it and this was tragic.

I don't know if I made much sense here.

Cheers, Nina

-----Original Message-----
From: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com [mailto:samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of federico trejos
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 2:54 PM
To: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Sword Is The Soul Of The Samurai? (was RE: [samuraihistory] Re:
h itokiri kawakami gensai?)


Good afternoon.
Nina why do you always brings this hard to answer questions ??? jajajaja !!!
Ok, I think that it was something philosophical and spiritual.
Some one once told me that there is two senses in life that you can not
ingnore : first one is when your death time is getting close and second one
is when you are hungry !!! Then I understand why he brought out
his blades. Katana was considered the soul of the
samurai since it was considered what ebodied bushido.
This is interesting, a samurai think that his sword is an extention of his
body. So he consider his sword
a part of it. Besides, it was his primary weapon,
his life depends on it ( think about this carefully ).
The katana is that, a weapon !!! And the samurai
more than any one else new that.
Something funny about this is that there is anything on the Bushido code
that have to do with weapons !!!
It is a moral and correct conduct code. Then I
think that all this is a romantic tale out of some
Noh.
Now, if you tell me that a samurai fells something special and spiritual for
his sword, I will be with
you in a 100%.

Best regards.

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[Next #7850]

#7850 [2005-10-14 10:18:17]

RE: Sword Is The Soul Of The Samurai? (was RE: [samuraihistory] R e: h itokiri kawakami gensai?)

by ninaboal21044

Back to film discussion, as I don't have access to actual records of real
people. There is an intersesting set of situations in the film TASOGARE
SEIBEI aka TWILIGHT SAMURAI, an excellent film which I believe is based on a
novel. It takes place in the late Edo/early Bakumatsu period. Here we have
as the main character, Seibei, a clan samurai who is very low-paid and he
struggles to survive and support his family. He is widowed and must support
several children plus his mother who has become senile. The film portrays
him as being up to his ears in debt, which actually was the fate of many
samurai and even daimyo during the Edo period. As a samurai, he serves his
lord in an accounting office every day. But at night, he must supplement his
meager income (50 koku of rice per year, which was about as low as a
samurai's stipend could get); he has to take in craft piecework to make and
sell to a wholesaler -- which was a common way for samurai or ronin to make
money, though the income was usually paltry. Seibei makes insect cages,
which are very intricate and he uses quite a lot of skill to piece these
together. But he only gets paid by the piece, and in a scene with the
wholesaler, the wholesaler explains that the market for insect cages just
isn't all that great these days, so he will continue to receive only a
pittance for his cages.

****SPOILER ALERT*** Don't read this paragraph if you haven't seen the film
and don't wish to know what happens at the end.

It turns out that Seibei is quite skilled as a swordfighter. He is
challenged to a "live" duel by another in his clan. He shows up at the
agreed site with a bokken (wooden practice sword), stating that he'll use
this against his opponent's live katana. He defeats the opponent. Because of
his skill, Seibei's lord orders him to kill a renegade former clansman who
has run off to join one of the factions in the civil uprisings that occurred
during this period. He ends up facing the man inside a deserted house, where
the two have a discussion. Seibei explains that his expertise is with the
wakizashi. But also explains that he sold his katana some time earlier to
pay for his wife's funeral, and thus wears a bamboo katana -- which is why
he had used a bokken for the earlier duel; he had no katana. The duel takes
place, with Seibei using his wakizashi, and he kills his opponent and
returns home to live out his days serving his clan until he loses his life
(still serving his lord) in one of the bakumatsu uprisings.

****END SPOILER ALERT***

This is a very good film on many layers. Among other things, it explores the
martial ethic of a late Edo period low-ranked, impoverished samurai.

Nina

-----Original Message-----
From: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com [mailto:samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of james wilson
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 6:59 PM
To: samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Sword Is The Soul Of The Samurai? (was RE: [samuraihistory] Re:
h itokiri kawakami gensai?)

Ha Ha u struck again Ms Boal thats an awesome question and depends on how u
look at it. If we treat martial arts or life in general as living to make
the lives of others better than how is there a lose in honor for n e thing
of a sort of selling to help provide for ones family. However, if u wanna
tie Pride and Honor together then thats totally something else.

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