A collection of samurai stories of battles, strategy, conflict, and intrigue—featuring some of the greatest warriors and military leaders of the samurai era Martial artist and samurai scholar Pascal Fauliot has collected and retold twenty-eight wisdom tales of the samurai era. The tales are set in the golden age of bushido and represent the pinnacle of traditional Japanese culture in which aristocratic tastes, feudal virtues, and martial skills come together with the implacable insights of Zen. Some of the stories—like “The Samurai and the Zen Cat”—are iconic; others are obscure. They feature notable figures from samurai history and legend: military leaders and strategists such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu; sword masters; ronin; the warrior monk Benkei, and the ninja-samurai Kakei Juzo, among many others.   These samurai stories are pithy and engaging, and include tales of battle, strategy, loyalty conflicts, court intrigues, breakthroughs in a warrior’s development, and vengeance achieved or foregone. Each tale reveals a gesture or an outcome that represents greater insight or higher virtue. PASCAL FAULIOT is a martial arts teacher and storyteller who specializes in retelling traditional Japanese martial arts and Zen wisdom tales and legends. He has written eighteen books, published by Albin Michel and Seuil in France. Samurai Wisdom Stories Tales from the Golden Age of Bushido By Pascal Fauliot, Sherab Chödzin Kohn Shambhala Publications, Inc. Copyright © 2011 Éditions du Seuil All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-61180-413-3 Contents Introduction, ix, Making the Cuckoo Sing, 1, The Duel on the Gojo Bridge, 3, The Samurai and the Zen Cat, 9, The Three Bonsai, 13, The Courtesan and the Torturer, 19, The Arrows of the Mori, 23, The Art of Winning without a Fight, 25, The Tiger of Kai and the Dragon of Echigo, 29, The Cherry-Tree Branch, 39, In the School of the Gentleman Bandit, 43, The Second Arrow, 51, The Strategy of the Gods, 55, The Daimyo and His Bodyguard, 61, The Revenge of the Samurai Wife, 65, The Invisible Target, 73, Hideyoshi's Eighth Thought, Trial by Horse, The Challenge of Flowers for Tea, The Apparition of the Buddha, The Return of the Ronin, The Shogun and the Ninja, The Archery Contest, The Shogun and the Assassin, The Song of the Nightingale, Master Banzo's Bamboo Stick, Judge Ooka and the Statue ofJizo, Asari's Shadow, The Samurai and the Young Emperor, Glossary, Acknowledgments, Sources and Credits, CHAPTER 1 Making the Cuckoo Sing One day the three great men who had reunified Japan at the end of the sixteenth century were sitting in a garden. They were Oda Nobunaga, the lord of the province of Owari; Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of his generals; and Tokugawa Ieyasu, his powerful ally. A hototogisu, a bird of the cuckoo family, landed on the branch of a cherry tree. Someone proposed to the three great strategist that they engage in a poetry contest on the theme of "how to make a bird sing" Each of them replied with a haiku that revealed his true nature and presaged the future. Nobunaga came out with his verse first: Hototogisu If you won't sing I will wring your neck! The daimyo of Owari was known for his hot-headed temperament. He was called the Demon King. A tactician who slaughtered his enemies mercilessly, he had succeeded in conquering several provinces. He was betrayed by one of his vassals and had to commit hara-kiri before he was able to finish reunifying Japan. Then Hideyoshi, with a malicious smile, recited the following: Hototogisu, I will find a way To make you sing! Hideyoshi had the nickname saru, the monkey, and he was as sly and ugly as a macaque. Despite being the son of a poor farmer, he rose to an exceptional position in a Japan that was entirely based on class hierarchy. He was cunning and intrepid, a gifted speaker, and a politician of subtlety. It was he who finished reuniting Japan and obtained the supreme power for himself. Finally, Ieyasu recited his poem: Hototogisu I will wait Until you feel like singing. And in fact this young lord of high lineage proved very capable of waiting for his moment to arrive. He was a man of patience, shrewdness, and caution. His nickname was furu tanuki, the Japanese equivalent of "old fox." In the end, he took power from Hideyoshi's son and completed the pacification of Japan. He founded the dynasty of the Tokugawa shoguns, which ruled the country for more than two centuries. CHAPTER 2 The Duel on the Gojo Bridge In Kyoto, on the Gojo Bridge, the formidable monk-warrior Benkei stood waiting. He was a formidable figure, as big and broad as a sumo wrestler. Each night, brandishing his battle pike, his naginata, he barred the way over the wooden span to any samurai who might be bold enough to try to cross it. His custom was to provoke the samurai he met on the bridge into duels, and when he defeated them he confiscated