How history repeats itself: the “failed” Japanese warrior perspective

By James L. Secor, Ph.D.

We are quite fond of saying history repeats itself. Then we conveniently find no real pertinent examples and forget out it. And then we go out and repeat those same historical mistakes. Whence the learning?

There is, however, another kind of repetition, much more edifying, found in Japanese history. This is the myth of the failed hero, first chronicled by the late Ivan Morris, penultimate scholar of Japanese history. It seems that the greatly revered heroes of Japan were "failed" heroes, heroes who were not successful. As the samurai ethic, through Confucianism, has survived into the modern times, so has the failed hero. In the modern era, the failed hero has not ended his fight in death, however.

Perhaps the greatest of all heroes is Minamoto no Yoshitsune (Yo-SHIT-su-nay), younger brother to Yoritomo who ushered in the age of samurai rule with the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1192. Yoshitsune was a brilliant young general who, basically, won the Gempei Wars by defeating the Minamoto (Genji) enemy Taira (Heike) at Dannoura. (Combining the "Gen" of Genji and the "Hei" of Heike results in the name of the conflict, Gempei, spelling altered for ease of pronunciation.).

Yoshitsune was immensely popular and somewhat given to flamboyance. He was drawn to Kyoto (then Heian-kyo) while Yoritomo set up his bakufu (literally, tent government) in Kamakura just south of Edo (now Tokyo). Due to this and well-placed rumors by a trusted councilor who had it out for Yoshitsune, the young man was accused of treason and hounded by his paranoid brother. So paranoid was Yoritomo that he killed off his entire family line. His position as shogun and the running of the government passed on to his wife's family, the Hojo, a branch of the Taira (Minamoto enemy). For the majority of the Kamakura Shogunate's tenure, into the 14^th century, the Hojo were the actual rulers.

Yoshitsune was forced to flee with a few loyal retainers, including the most famous of all, Musashibo Benkei. A great deal of The Tale of the Heike follows the travails of Yoshitsune's flight and there are several Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku plays about his exploits. He was pursued to Shikoku and then through the length and breadth of Honshu until he was betrayed and forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). It is his valiant fortitude and the loyalty of his followers that have been praised and it is from this tale that many of the characteristics of the samurai were fully developed. They did not, however, devolve from Yoshitsune himself but his loyal followers, especially Benkei.

The most well known story is Benkei's exploits at the Ataka Barrier when he donned his priestly vestments (Benkei was an ordained monk) and disguised Yoshitsune as a baggage carrier. When it seemed that his ruse was to be uncovered, Benkei beat Yoshitsune--an act punishable by death--for being a slow servant and thus saved his life. The guard, even though sure the beaten baggage carrier was Yoshitsune, let him go because any servant who would beat his master and therefore face certain death must not only be an exceptionally loyal retainer but must also be serving a most worthwhile man, Yoshitsune, of course, did not kill Benkei for his rash, impious act.

At the demise of the Kamakura Shogunate, there was a split at Court into Northern and Southern factions. The Emperor Godaigo rebelled against the tyrannical, power hungry and corrupt Hojo. Godaigo took refuge in the Yoshino Mountains outside Nara. His champion, though treated ill by him, was Kusunoki Masashige. Masashige was perhaps an even more astounding tactician than Yoshitsune. He invariably defeated his Northern enemies, though always outnumbered. There is a statue of Masashige in Tokyo. Again, through is loyalty and exploits, he was instrumental in building the samurai ethic. In Japan, he is known as the Samurai of Loyalty.

Ashikaga Takauji's forces hounded him but he was never on the run as was Yoshitsune. Masashige's tactics are the prototype of guerrilla war tactics. The stories concerning his heroics are rampant and, like Yoshitsune, have been immortalized in literature and theatre. It must be remembered, though, that Takauji was Godaigo's general in the Emperor's successful bid to end the Hojo Regency and return Imperial rule. Takauji, as was his wont, before siding with Godaigo he was the hero of the Hojos, switched sides and thus divided the country in what has come down to us as the Nambokucho Jidai (era).

Although Takauji had power and the Ashikaga Shogunate lasted until the 16^th century, when the Century of The Country at War overcame the country and brought us the samurai heroes we in the West are familiar with, the family's hold on the other samurai was tenuous at best. The Ashikaga spent most of their time putting down one rebellion after another.

The thorn in Takauji's side was Kusunoki Masashige, who continually outwitted him in every encounter. The WWII Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, followed in Masashige's steps in that he, like Masashige, advised the Emperor and his military advisors that their plans for an all-out war with the enemy would be a mistake. Nevertheless, both acquiesced to their superiors' wishes and died in battle.

Here stands Kusunoki's exemplary loyalty: that he remained as his emperor's general in the face of certain failure--and death. This last incident in Masashige's career is cited as the ultimate example of a samurai's willingness to die. We do not know why Godaigo decided on a pitched battle when Masashige's guerrilla tactics were gradually winning the day. The cost to the Ashikaga was tremendous: to prestige, to resources and to men.

Perhaps the most famous of Masashige's exploits was his use of straw and garbage dummies dressed to look like samurai. These were used to draw the Ashikaga forces into revealing their position. These dummies also impeded progress and allowed Masashige's immensely outnumbered--ten to one--forces to rain arrows on his attackers and eventually, over a period of days, win the day.

Later, the Ashikaga general gloated over cutting the ropes from Masashige's castle to the net mountain, cutting the recalcitrant rebel from his water supply. Masashige had long since seen the problems inherent in his position and had rigged up a pulley system to lower buckets down the cliff side of the castle to the river below. Fooling the attacking troops into believing that all in the castle had killed themselves, Masashige's forces cut the Ashikaga to pieces as they stormed up the narrow roadway to capture the spoils of war - and Masashige's prized head.

Near the end of WWII, as the USMC was overrunning Saipan, another Japanese hero emerged. Also on the losing side, he was an era twin to Masashige. Captain Oba Sakae (Sa-KA-ay), "the last samurai," would not accept the decision to launch a fatal suicide attack on the Americans and secreted his men, numbering never more than 200 including civilians, into the hills. While ranking officers declared that a final "banzai" attack (gyokusai) would be the ultimate in loyalty and sacrifice to the Emperor, Oba figured that the best way to serve the Emperor was to stay alive and carry on a guerrilla campaign until reinforcements arrived. A dead soldier was no help to the cause in his estimate.

So, he removed his officer's insignia and gathered around him the demoralized remnants of various units, as well as fleeing peasants. He moved his headquarters as necessary, holing up in caves in the mountains. Only once or twice did he come into contact with the invading arm--and then only accidentally on reconnaissance. At one point, he came across two infants concealed in a battered village. Unable to take them with him, their eventual cries would alert the enemy to his position, he wrapped them warmly, fed them as best he could and then put them in a place where the US soldiers would find them.

The one concerted effort by the Marines to seek out Oba led to the Captain's hiding his entire force, military and civilian, on a Takoyama cliff face, virtually in plain sight of the frustrated American soldiers. Oba's own Benkei, a yakuza gangster by the name of Horiuchi, drew the Americans off whish his last dying effort. He was already seriously wounded and could not travel with the rest of the Japanese troops.

As the year wore on, supplies diminished. Oba made sorties to the POW camp to get food and gain information. More than once he joined the POWs for a day or so, even assuming the identity of a dead soldier at one time. He was able to do this due to the racial prejudice of the Americans: all Japs look alike. Another soldier, Tsuchiya, also undertook like exercises in intelligence. Later, Tsuchiya was to be the go-between in surrender talks.

Even after the war was over, Oba had received the news, he would not bring his guerrillas down out of the hills for fear the GIs and their leaflets may just be a ruse. Finally, in order to discover the truth, Oba sent Tsuchiya into the American camps. He returned saying it was true. Although Oba believed him, he still would not surrender on his own. Oba even met with Major Herman Lewis but would only come down when the island's Japanese commander, Brig. Gen. Umahachi Ano, had given the order. And so it was arranged. On 1 December 1945, Oba and his remaining 46 soldiers came out of the hills and surrendered. Oba handed his sword over to Col. Howard Kurgis.

I certainly hope Kurgis and his family never auction off this sword, though Kurgis could give it back to Oba; but the government of Japan, because of a policy harkening back to Tokugawa times, would desecrate a hero's weapon. Who better than the American commander (who could not better him) to treasure it?

Oba Sakae, a rogue Captain who outwitted the enemy for nearly 18 months, is the 20^th century's version of Japan's failed hero, his war, his cause, lost. But unlike warriors of the past, Oba did not die. This is, perhaps, significant in the historical development of the country's cultural myth (identity). Every country has one.

In the modern world, it would appear that it is not necessary for a hero to die fighting for his beliefs. What, though, does his life mean for the rest of the culture? How is the country to view this living failed hero? Is he a hero? He certainly fits the requisite characteristics: loyalty, sincerity - willingness to die? He was ready to save the civilians on the ridge and draw enemy fire as the soldiers passed beneath his tree limb but, like Benkei before him, Horiuchi saved the day.

Oba defines the new samurai, the new warrior who does not have to die for his principle and so can, with his life, redeem his honor. "The Fox," as the Marines called him, would have been awarded the Meal of Honor if he had been an American.

[For a complete history of Capt. Oba, read Don Jones' Oba, The Last Samurai, Presidio Press, 1986.]

Jim Secor is a freelance writer who has traveled extensively overseas, especially Japan and China. Jim received a Master's from Johns Hopkins and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas before studying at the National Puppet Theatre of Japan (Bunraku), the first foreigner ever to do so. He has published in all genres and produced several plays over the years and has taught theatre, writing and literature in three countries. Jim is now teaching at Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University in China, and is a columnist for MWC News.