Here’s part 2 of our discussion on Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and the continuation on analyzing his skills and techniques. A bigger conversation than his sword fighting techniques or types of weapons owned falls on his iconic strategies used during his military career. Since the battles he and his followers took place in are seen as revolutionary and unsurpassable for it’s time, much attention has been placed on studying them. In fact, it can be said that they inspired other generals and strategists to follow in suit and use similar tactics throughout Japan’s history.
This article will cover the military tactics Yoshitsune used in actual war campaigns, as described in novels and memoirs from the past. Along with this will be writings that set the foundation of his prowess, as well as how other groups pay tribute to his tactics within their own methods.
HIGHLIGHTS OF YOSHITUNE’S TACTICS USED IN BATTLE
The following tactics are from Yoshitsune’s life experience through warring against the Taira clan. These have been recorded and retold through sources such as “Heike Monogatari” (平家物語), “Azuma Kagami” (吾妻鏡), and “Gikeiki” (義経記).
- Ambushes & surprise attacks: An example of Yoshitsune relying on guerilla-style warfare can be seen during the battle at Ichi-no-tani (一ノ谷) in the 3rd month of 1184, where he and his army ambushed an already defeated Taira clan from a prior skirmish. While the opposition was descending down a rather steep side of a mountain heading towards the western coast to board their ships and regroup, Yoshitsune’s surprise attack was swift and unexpected, as he and his group hid in areas around the mountain that appeared untouched for ages, then storming out from these unexpected angles. He also incorporated fire attacks around the mountain, adding to the chaos. Caught off guard, the Taira clan retreated hastily down the cliff in an effort to escape and rushed to their ships, with those unfortunate either being slain by the ambush, or drowning to death.
- Deception tactics: In the 2nd month of 1185, the Minamoto and Taira were set to go into battle against each other at Yashima (屋島). In preparations against the Taira’s much larger army whom tried to embark on the island quietly, Yoshitsune set ablaze the homes in a town called Furutakamatsu (古高松) not too far from the opposing side, and raised many white flags. This was all to make it seem that the Minamoto had a very large army of their own. The Taira force fell for this deception, causing them to retreat back to their boats and flee for their lives.
- Advantageous retreats: During the 4th month of 1185, the Heike and Minamoto clashed in their final battle in the sea at Dan-no-Ura (壇ノ浦). Each side were locked in grueling fights while on small boats. At one point, Yoshitsune is challenged by the a fierce opponent named Taira no Noritsune (平教経), who makes his way onboard. Not taking the chance, Yoshitsune retreats by leaping from his boat onto another comrade’s boat. He supposedly repeated this until he gained enough distance from Noritsune, around 8 times. Along with putting distance between them, Yoshitsune forces Noritsune to venture deeper within the Minamoto side, if he chooses to follow. This amazing feat is nicknamed “Hassō Tobi” (八艘飛び), or “8-Boats Leaping”¹.
- Breaking protocols of war: During the sea battle at Dan-no-Ura, the Taira forces used local oarsmen to pilot their small boats while the warriors focused on fighting as they closed in on the warriors of the Minamoto army, giving them the advantage. There was an unspoken rule to not attack non-combatants, which included oarsmen. However, Yoshitsune ordered his troops to aim for the oarsmen and shoot them dead with their bows. This order was carried out, eliminating Taira’s mobility, and forcing them to deal with the unyielding close quarter skills of the Minamoto force. This unethical tactical approach is nicknamed “Kinji Te” (禁じ手)².
These four battlefield strategies are seen as not only revolutionary at the time of use, but they go against the grain in what was considered standardized, universally expected protocols when going into war. To many, Yoshitsune’s methods were seen as unrefined, barbaric, and dirty. Yet, they demonstrate an intellectual, free-minded approach that got the job done for the greater purpose. In the end, the strategies of Yoshitsune are said to have a strong influence on the development of warfare in Japan years after his death³.
THE SECRET CONTENTS OF TORA NO MAKI
Another highly acclaimed source of knowledge goes to one called “Tora no maki” (虎の巻)⁴. This is said to be a documentation of important methods for success. While this is normally referenced to while speaking about Minamoto no Yoshitsune, there are some points that need a bit of clarity, not only to get the full picture of this secret knowledge, but to properly understand which of these is being referenced. There are actually two Tora no maki documents that are connected to him, one while he was at Kurama Temple, and another after his accomplishments.
#1. Yoshitsune’s Secret Teachings on War Strategies
Let’s talk about the one that comes after his success as a general first. A documentation bearing numerous titles including “Yoshitsune Tora no Maki” (義経虎の巻), and “Hyōhō Tora no Maki” (兵法虎の巻)⁵, this documentation has a great emphasis on esoteric methods such as the use of Kuji no hō (九字の法) and Jūji (十字). To elaborate further, Kuji no hō, or “9-Hand Seals”, is a method of energy-attuning through the use of 9-syllable mudras and mantras, while Jūji, or “10th-Seal” is a tenth component of this method to activate the desired result. These are methods widely associated with Mikkyō (密教) and Shugendō (修験道), both a form of esoteric Buddhism, while different groups have made use of these methods, which includes military commanders, strategists, and practitioners of ninjutsu.
The ritualistic methods of using Kuji no hō is for the sake of protection, as well as preparing for battle that coincides with how the Japanese fought battles around the Kamakura period. This is explained in different sections regarding a multitude of situations one can face and how to handle them. Here are some of them.
- 軍場出作法事 = Preparations for heading out to the battlefield
- 敵打行時酒飲作法之叓 = Performing a sake ritual when leaving to eradicate the enemy
- 軍神送時聲作ル作法事 = How to evoke protection from the God of War
- 甲冑箭不融秘術之事 = Secret method for making one’s armor arrow-proof
- 魔録者切秘術之叓 = The enchantment done by the conjuror
- 神道弓作事 = Secret technique for crafting a Shintō bow
There are numerous versions of this particular Tora no maki, with no indication as to which is the original version. Many of them are replicas of another, and distributed for different purposes. Can the contents of this Tora no maki truly be linked to Yoshitsune? This is one area I can’t give a definitive answer, but due to its popularity, many have viewed this as valuable enough to want to collect and learn from.
From the pages of “Yoshitsune no Tora no maki – Hyōhō Hijutsu” (義経虎巻 兵法秘術), which features descriptions on how to handle varying situations, and ending with mantras that are accompanied with hand seals (left). Also included are arranging specific environments for the sake of auspicious practices (right).
#2. The Tiger Strategy book
The next type of of Tora no Maki is the one that originated from China, and which came into Yoshitsune’s hands through Kiichi Hōgen, one of his teachers at Kurama Temple. This is not its official label, nor is it a single documentation of its own; rather, it is like a volume from a larger documentation called simply “Rikutō” (六韜)⁶, or ” Six Secret Teachings” in English. The author of this is Jiang Ziya, a figure who was hailed as being a wise and talented general during the Zhou Dynasty. It is often identified as part of an important collection of Chinese-developed classical war stratagems, which includes the military text by Sun Tzu’s widely known as “Art of War”, and the thesis on civil, political, and war strategies known as “Thirty-Six Stratagems”. In the Six Secret Teachings, there are 6 books, so to speak, that make it a complete package.
- 文韜 = Civil Strategy
- 武韜 = Military Strategy
- 龍韜 = Dragon Strategy
- 虎韜 = Tiger Strategy
- 豹韜 = Leopard Strategy
- 犬韜 = Dog Strategy
Each book covers a vast amount of topics, from the perspective of Jiang Ziya taking the role as an advisor to King Wen, who would ask about various topics of concern, then receiving advice with great insight. These topics were compiled and centered around a specific theme that makes up each book. The Tiger Strategy book, or Tiger book for short, covers scenarios concerning war and combat. The following are the topics in the Tiger book, along with a brief outline of their contents.
- 軍用 = Inventory of your army’s weapons and tools
- 三陳 = Three battle formations
- 疾戦 = Swiftly surrounding the opposition
- 必出 = Escaping an enemy’s encirclement
- 軍略 = Strategies on army deployment
- 臨鏡 = Skirmishes within another territory’s borders
- 動静 = Halting an enemy’s covert actions after gathering intel
- 金鼓 = Knowing when to advance and retreat (nicknamed “utilizing war gongs and drums”)
- 絶道 = Tactics when communications have been cut off
- 略地 = Territorial invasion
- 火戦 = Military prowess through the use of fire
- 壘虚 = Uncovering the specifics about the enemy’s encampment
To summarize the Tiger book, it closely covers tactics on the battlefield, from understanding one’s own strengths, use of guerilla warfare, performing fast maneuvers with an army, to using fire attacks. Yoshitsune’s battlefield tactics closely resembles what is discussed in this book, thus thought to be the prime inspiration for his style of fighting, and in turn, making his campaigns very successful. Although part of a bigger collection, since the topics of the Tiger book focuses solely on military prowess and going into battle, it actually can be a stand-alone in its own rights.
How did such a foreign writing get associated with Yoshitsune? First, we must understand that many cultural influences were brought over from China for several centuries during Japan’s prehistoric times. Although this would slow down at some point, literature from China, including documents on war, would continue to be a source of interest as Japan became more enthralled in war and conflict during the Heian and Kamakura periods. However, something like the Six Secret Teachings was a scarce material, only accessible by few of high status, or those who had some form of connection with those who make the journey to trade with China. Kiichi is portrayed as not your ordinary monk, and probably had connections in order to gain a copy of the Six Secret Teachings…or maybe just the Tiger book?
In historical chronicles like Gikeiki, it’s explained that Yoshitsune was able to read the Tiger book behind Kiichi’s back⁷. So, it’s possible that this was the only volume that Kiichi possessed…or maybe he did have all 6 books, but the most interesting one to Yoshitsune was the Tiger book?
MEANING BEHIND USING THE “YOSHITSUNE” LABEL
Let’s revisit the phenomenon where tribute to Minamoto no Yoshitsune’s legacy is given through concepts compiled and passed down as a form of working method. One of the more obvious representations of this can be found in particular martial arts styles that use the name “Yoshitsune” in their title.
Pics of the cover of “Iga Nin Hi no kan” (いが忍火之巻) (left), and a page describing a torch-like device called “Yoshitsune no Hi” (義経火) (right).
Outside of Yoshitsune Tora no maki and the many versions out there with similar contents, these martial arts styles have scrolls, manuscripts, and the like with listings of skills and/or techniques for combat, or “secret” teachings. Many of these styles are shitsuden (失伝), which means they are no longer active due to no current successor, indicating the lineage has ended. Are the contents genuinely linked to him? It is hard to say yes. While there are those that are paying recognition to his skills and tactics, there are others that use his name just to bolster the image of their style. This isn’t unusual, for this became a common practice from the Edo period onward.
Let’s take one, titled “Yoshitsune ryū Jūjutsu” (義経流柔術). This manual was written around the Edo period, and comes from the collection of the late Tokugawa Muneyoshi, a 2nd Lieutenant of the Imperial Japanese Army. Outside of the standard hand-to-hand fighting and grappling techniques, from what I understand, there were unique training methods within this style, which includes developing strong & agile legs through jumping out from a deep hole in the ground. As special as this sounds, it’s actually a focus many other jūjutsu systems adopted, even around the same time. Being a hand-to-hand system, it’s safe to say that Yoshitsune ryū Jūjutsu has no real connection to Yoshitsune. Is it just a case where this system has “Yoshitsune” tagged in the title to attract attention? Possibly so. However, it is also thought that this system was inspired by the many heroic tales of Yoshitsune and how he handled opponents with swift movements, which may have influenced this style to go in the same direction with their fighting techniques…or at least stand out amongst other jūjutsu schools.
Pics from Mansenshukai (満川集海), vol. 21 entitled, “Ninki” (忍器) (left). On page 15, a fire technique called “Yoshitsune Mizu Kagari-bi” (義経水炬火) (right).
There are also those documents that are military/wartime-centric, where the focus is on larger environments and combat against groups and survival are of greater importance. The types of documents, whether in the form of manuals or scrolls, pay tribute to Yoshitsune’s fighting methods by simply referring to it.
Let’s take “Mansenshukai” (満川集海) as an example. Being a renown collection of skills and teachings associated with ninjutsu, there are a few techniques that are tributed to Yoshitsune. There’s one called “Yoshitsune Mizu Kagari-bi” (義経水炬火), which is a special torch used in water environments. Another document is “Iga Kajutsu no maki” (伊賀火術の巻), which is a ninjutsu manual possessing a collection of skills used by those from the Iga region. Here, we see a technique called “Yoshitsune no Hi” (義経火), which is described as a form of handheld torch. Manuals like these that have skills concerning fire seem to have been inspired by the strategies used by Yoshitsune and his followers during battles against the Taira clan. This includes a particular impromptu skirmish at Mikusayama, Harima Province⁸ in 1184, where Yoshitsune devised torches which were used by him and his followers to set ablaze the fields and the shrubbery around a nearby mountain to not only halt Taira troops that were moving at night to group up, but foil them from amassing into a large army that would have otherwise overwhelm the Minamoto force if they clashed the following day⁹.
CONCLUSION
We come to the end on this 2-part series on Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and the numerous recorded combat knowledge that contribute to his legacy. With his life experiences and the tools used recorded within the pages of history, and expanded on as new information is uncovered, there’s no slowing down in how he remains popular with each new generation…not just in Japan, but worldwide. It’s safe to say that having access to all this knowledge is a way of having a strong connection to this famous general, whether they were actually devised by him, or emulated from descriptions of his exploits.
1) Another thought is that he jumped a distance of about 8-boats length. Interpretation can go either way based on a few factors. For example, these boats the warriors were fighting on were small ones like skiffs, and not the size of ships. If we read into this and imagine Yoshitsune jumping a great distance to escape, while onlookers are dazzled by his great feat that they liken the jump distance to being able to cross over 8 small boats, then yes this could make sense. Still, the popular opinion is not the jump distance, but the agility to leap repeatedly from numerous boats, which shows great skills and endurance especially since Yoshitsune was wearing full armor.
2) This word is also used in competitive matches or games. Based on interpretation, Kinji Te can be translated as either “forbidden tactic” or “dirty move”.
3) It is said that, due to failing relations with his half brother Yoritomo after the Minamoto gained control over the Capital, Yoshitsune was forced to commit suicide after being overwhelmed by an unexpected attack and betrayed by Fujiwara no Yasuhira, an indivudual who swore to protect him. However, there are other claims that Yoshitsune actually escaped and survived, with one even stating he sailed out to Mongolia and changed his name to a famous conqueror Genghis Khan!
4) Tora no maki is an old word, but its meaning has evolved over the years. Originally it referred to secret teachings and methodologies concerning combat on a very large scale, such as on the battlefield. Over the centuries, the term was slowly being used for not just martial arts, but areas related to the arts and crafts as a whole, such as flower arrangement and the like. In modern times, Tora no maki evolved to also mean secret tips or hints to better a person in various fields, which is especially common in the educational field, where it is used to aid students in their studies, exams, and the like.
5) Pronounced “Liu Tao” in Chinese.
6) There are even those that are callled “Kiichi Hōgen Hyōhō Tora no maki” (鬼一法眼兵法虎之巻), “Kiichi Hōgen Sanryaku” (鬼一法眼三略), and other similar naming convention. Despite Yoshitsune’s teacher’s name is used here, for the most part, the contents are in line with other variants, although how they are presented may be written in a different format. A good example of this is the one kept at the temple Kuramadera. This can be viewed online here.
7) How Yoshitsune acquired the Tiger book differs between sources. One of the more interesting ones is how Yoshitsune was able to sway the daughter of Kiichi Hōgen to take the Tora no maki and deliver it to him in secret.
8) Present day Katōshi City, Hyōgo Prefecture.
9) As told in the 9th volume of Heike Monogatari, in the section entitled, “Mikusa no Gassen” (三草合戦).