Hello, I’m Simon Whistler, you are watching TopTenz Net and today we are looking at the
top ten horrifying facts you didn’t know about samurai warfare.
This video will focus on Japan’s 16th century when warfare was at its height however, all
the facts have been taken from two 17th century records from a war-master to Kishu-Tokugawa
family but more about that at the end.
(Holds book up)
10 The primary aim of the samurai on the field
of battle was head collecting One of the lesser highlighted facts about
the samurai is that they were primarily a head cult.
Their warrior culture focused on the capture, collection, identification and displaying
of decapitated human heads.
Their society was based on the accruement of agricultural land or the financial gain
from controlling land.
In return for captured enemy heads, a general would dole out new portions of wealth to his
men.
The higher the status of the enemy head or the level of the achievement needed to obtain
it, the greater the rewards would be.
A Japanese battle may see champions leaving the field with bags known as kubibukuro – which
were net or cloth sacks that held the heads they had taken.
Also, a samurai on horseback may have heads tied to cords which hung from the rings of
the saddle.
9 Providing proof that an enemy head had not
been falsified With a reward system based on decapitated
heads, it became apparent that some samurai of lesser scruples would try to cheat the
system and use lesser heads as higher ranking ones for financial gain and prestige.
To combat this the samurai had certain ways of identification.
If there was another trustworthy samurai to vouch for the kill his word could be taken.
Alternatively, a samurai would need or to bring back one of the neck plates of a samurai
helmet or even his sword which would show it was taken from a warrior.
If bringing in a general’s head, a samurai would need to have his war baton which was
used to command troops otherwise the kill of such a high priority target could not be
confirmed.
Furthermore, some samurai were thought to have killed women and monks and presented
their heads for reward.
Therefore, if a head was deemed suspicions in any way it was known as onna-kubi – a
female head or a yamai-kubi – an improper head.
If a head was confirmed as reliable then it was recorded in the kubichō – the book
of heads.
8 The displaying of decapitated heads and cries
of war If in a skirmish a new head had been taken,
the victor was to lift it up with his left hand and let forth a mighty battle-cry to
which any allies in the vicinity would lift any heads they had captured and join in with
the cry.
Heads would then be taken off the battlefield by the samurai or even their servants, however,
even at this point a samurai had to be careful, other servants or even samurai would snatch
heads from people who were not concentrating.
To help prevent this the samurai would place a cord through the mouth of the head and out
of the throat and wear it like a handbag to keep it safe or as said before keep it in
a head bag.
After the battle, a ceremony known as jikken – the head inspection was conducted.
This involved the picking of good enemy heads to be presented to the lord, where he would
seated in armour with spell-casters and bowmen to defend him from evil spirits or he would
be on horseback where he moved along lines of gibbeted heads.
Heads of high ranking warriors would be placed in a box with Buddhist spells upon it and
wrapped in a cloak with an arrow pushed through the top where the cloth ties, at which point
it would be sent back to the enemy in respect.
7 Samurai would create oaths of bonding before
going to war The word of the samurai was stronger than
iron according to the documents we are using today and such an oath was truly binding.
Samurai used different types of oath, this could be keppan – the blood oath which was
a promise given to the gods and sealed in blood or it could be the shichimai-gishō
– the seven sheet oath, where a promise is given seven times on seven sheets of paper
to different gods.
However, not all samurai were honest.
Samurai would get themselves into small groups and make pledges that if any of them fled
and left the battle then their: houses, property, wives and children would belong to the rest
of the group.
This was done to ensure bravery.
The samurai then made their servants swear oaths, saying that if they served them well
they would reward them, but if they were to abandon them in battle then they would be
hunted across all of Japan and their entire family line would be put to death for their
crimes.
It is unknown how much of a reality this is, but records show that such promises were put
in place.
6 Samurai prayed to the gods of war for victory
and some wore the costume of death Samurai prayed to gods such as Hachiman and
Marashiten.
Before war, samurai would roll their flags up and prepare themselves at a holy place
dedicated to Hachiman – because the ideograms used for flag and Hachiman have a connection.
The samurai believed in a host of war gods and some believed that the hole in the top
of a samurai’s helmet was installed so that the 98,000 gods of war could enter into them
allowing them to be godlike in battle.
In truth the hole is a vent to allow air to escape but some samurai did believe this.
If an army was scattered they would take a flag called the Dragon banner to a height
on a hill so that the army could regroup, they thought that the gods of war rested in
high places and that the spirit of war would pull the men back together – however some
samurai said it was simply easier to see the banner at a height.
Also, any samurai who wanted to die in the upcoming battle would wear the costume of
death.
This meant that they would cut the ends of any of the cords of their armour, such as
the helmet or arrow cape as it signified that they could not retie them, meaning that they
are not going to prepare for battle again and that they would either be victorious in
battle or be left dead on the field.
5 Bellicose language was the order of the day
For a samurai even language had to correctly represent a warrior attitude as they could
be frowned at or questioned if they used the wrong verbs to describe different actions
in war.
This point is based in subtle plays in the Japanese language and as we are talking in
English they are not evident, but for us it is similar to the feeling of screaming “flee
for your lives!
And “let’s make a tactical withdrawal”.
Thus, a samurai should loosen his bow string but never say remove, he should never fold
a flag but roll it away, samurai never cut down bamboo to make poles for war banners,
they hunt bamboo for war banners.
There are many examples of this but they are steeped in an understanding of Japanese but
to encapsulate this idea remember that a samurai is never killed in battle he simply achieved
death to say otherwise would be a disgrace to his memory.
4 If a new sword is given on a campaign of war
it must be bathed in blood This one shows one of the conundrums of being
a samurai leader.
Many know of the rumour that a Japanese katana must taste blood if it is drawn – but this
is a simplification of the historical reality as there are many instances where a samurai
sword is drawn but does not take blood.
Ancient scrolls tell us that when a leader of a troop or captain has done well he may
be rewarded with a new sword by the general or lord, but this puts him in a tight spot.
It is a rule that samurai leaders do not enter into combat unless the battle has gone wrong
and that the task of the leader is to lead and direct his men, but it is also a tradition
that when a new sword is given in war it must be bathed in the blood of enemy kills, a baptism
of blood if you will.
So for a leader to accept this sword he must either forsake the correct way of the captain
or step down from his position so he can take the sword into battle.
To get around this the samurai could either decline the new sword or ask that it be entrusted
to the lord’s squire until the end of the campaign.
3 Skinning a human face
As we learned before, samurai culture is based on head taking and is possibly one of the
largest head cults in history, but what happens when there are just too many heads to take?
If the amount of heads is too many for the samurai and servants to carry, a samurai can
ask permission of his captain to engage in the activity of hana o kaku – cutting off
enemy noses.
A samurai could use a nose instead of a head to show he had achieved victory in battle
and these are much easier to carry as they are placed between the chest and the breastplate,
but remember a samurai needs to prove that it is not an improper head.
To do this there are two main ways: if the nose is cut off from the bridge then the cut
must go down and around the mouth and back up to the bridge of the nose, then the lower
part of the face is peeled off, the reason for this is that samurai would often wear
a moustache or have stubble and thus prove that it was at least a male head.
If the nose was cut from the base of the nostrils then the cut had to go up and over the eyebrows
and then the skin was peeled off.
This is because women shape their eyebrows differently to men and again the sex of the
head could be identified.
To this day there is a shrine in Kyoto Japan where tens of thousands of noses taken in
the Japanese invasion of Korea in the 16th century are buried.
However, many of these are civilian because Toyotomi Hideyoshi - the leader of the invasion
and Japan - ordered that everyone, men women and children should be killed.
2 Taking the head of your friends while under
fire As we have seen taking an enemy head was of
extreme importance but it was also important not to allow your own head or a friends head
to fall into enemy hands.
Therefore, if a samurai force was losing a battle or skirmish, brave people would engage
in an action known as shingari – to defend the retreat.
These people helped injured comrades while under enemy fire or would decapitate their
already dead allies who were lay on the ground.
However, to ensure that the samurai was not accused of foul play and for killing their
own allies they would try to have a servant do the task.
However, if the warrior was famous for his loyalty and bravery his word would not be
questioned and it was ok for him to take the allied head.
That being said a samurai could not guarantee that his head would not end up on an enemy
spike, so some samurai perfumed their helmets to make sure their decapitated head was well
presented.
Also, if allied heads were brought back or for those fallen in a siege then their teeth
may be stained black to elevate their social rank in death.
1 Samurai did not fight fairly
The idea of a samurai as an enlightened warrior who was chivalric and noble is a half myth
with some elements of truth.
The common thought that a samurai would declare his name on the battlefield and find an equal
in rank, who would then pair off in a fair fight is a leftover from ancient times in
the earlier parts of samurai history.
By the 16th century the first person to clash on a battlefield was called ichiban yari – the
first spear and that person should exclaim their name to the opponent, but after this
the armies entered into general melee.
Samurai would have two types of people with them when at war, a form of man-at-arms who
may assist them in combat and also servants who were preferred not to join in the fight
but who would help remove their master’s gear from the field of battle.
However this means that those men that help in combat may often shoot, stab or slash the
enemy from the side and make it a two on one combat or even a two on two situation.
There is also the case of the action of the old hawk teaching the young hawk where an
elder, father or uncle with take a young samurai into the battle, help him kill a target and
then return with the head.
But best of all is the promise between samurai to form death squads, this is where one warrior
would face the enemy, another warrior would defend the area from people trying to interfere
and the last warrior would come up on the enemy from behind and cut his throat and if
the group did this multiple times the entire team would gain a head.
Not so chivalric after all.
Outro I hope that you enjoyed the video.
If you found these facts interesting you may like to read the original scrolls which have
been translated into this (holds up book) The Book of Samurai by Antony Cummins and
Yoshie Minami.
It is the first in a series of books that will be published in the future.
A link to the book can be found in the description below.
For those who would like a free download on samurai skills that can also be found below
with information on Antony Cummins and his team.
For those who liked this video remember to click like and subscribe.