Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
ately brought the dog-favoring edicts to an end. The Shogun Yoshimune (1716-45) was an
energeticinstigatorofreforms,andalsoendeavoredtobringthe
samurai
backtotheirearly
simplicity by encouraging them to take physical exercise. In particular he favored hunting,
and in the list of nicknames of Shoguns he is called the “falcon” Shogun. On his hawking
expeditions he was accompanied by a large retinue, and the victims were cranes and other
wild birds. He also revived the deer and boar hunts that had been favorite sports of some
of his predecessors: these were decidedly unsporting affairs in which the game was driv-
en towards the “hunters,” who dispatched them with arrows or gunshot from the safety of
horseback.
An anecdote preserved in the diary (1692) of a
samurai
in Nagoya reveals the standard
of values at the time.
The lord of Iyo (in Shikoku) lost a favorite hawk, and sought for it throughout his
domain. One day a certain farmer went out to tend his fields, while his wife stayed
at home with her weaving. A hawk flew in and perched on her loom. The wife
took her shuttle and struck the bird, which straightway died. The farmer returned
home and was told by his wife how a beautifully marked bird had settled on her
loom, how she had struck at it without intending to kill it, but how the bird had un-
fortunately died. Her husband looked at it and saw it was a hawk. He was greatly
alarmed, for he knew that the lord was searching for such a bird. With much trepid-
ationhetoldthevillageheadmanaboutwhathadhappened,andtheoccurrencewas
reported to the bailiff. The latter, in great anger, had the husband and wife bound,
and taken before his lord for trial. The lord, too, was enraged, and had the wife cru-
cified, but pardoned the husband because he was not at home at the time in ques-
tion.
The story goes on to relate that when the husband went to pray for his wife, he found
that she was still alive, and the lord, hearing this, had her taken down. She claimed to have
been saved by a protective deity. The
samurai
who noted all this did not seem to find the
treatment of the woman surprising; it was her return to life that astonished him.
However, the hunting Yoshimune was exceptional, as the Shogun did not normally
participate in active sports. Their amusements were usually much less energetic, and they
would be spectators rather than participants. For example, they and the
daimyō
supported
sumō,
a form of wrestling, which already had a long history of popularity in Japan, as well
as the patronage of the Imperial court. Another source of entertainment was the drama.
Samurai
werediscouragedfromgoingtothetheatreswherethemerchantsformedtheaudi-
ences,butthisdidnotprevent
daimyō
andothersfromsummoningcompaniesorindividual
performers to their residences. The Shogun would have
nō
plays given in the Castle, and
