heian japan

Yamabuki travels from the Taka compound to the capital of Heian-kyo.

Hazard Sensei used to say that archery was the prefered method of fighting in old Japan. Swords were too personal. Too in close. Too involved with the opponent. Archery was “better.” In fact, the old Japanese root word for “war” is said to come from something approximate to “archery exchange.” As I draw to a close in my work on Cold Heart, I draw inspiration from a very nice video that resonates....

Truly a treasure.

Toshiro Mifune carries a nodachi in Seven Samurai. In Kurosawa’s film Seven Samurai, Toshiro Mifune plays the character Kikuchiyo, the seventh (and odd-ball member) of the seven samurai. For those not familiar with the film, the concept is that seven unemployed samurai (sometimes called ronin, literally “man of the wave”) are hired by a group of hapless farmers to protect the farmers’ village against a relentless band of marauders. Mifune’s character is shown hefting a sword so long that it has to be carried over the shoulder like a lance....

Few swords survive from the period in and around the Gempei War and Yamabuki’s era.