A Daughter of the Samurai

[Oldman]

I recently read an interesting book titled "A Daughter of the Samurai". Published in the U.S. in 1925, the author, Madame Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, was born into a high ranking samurai family in 1874. Described as an autobiographical novel, it is quite readable and provides many insights into traditional Japanese culture and practices, including shedding light on a number of themes that we see expressed in koshirae. The book is available for free download on the Project Gutenberg website.

 

She doesn't discuss weaponry very much, but in one place laments seeing servants carrying off bundles of katana and armour to the second-hand dealer to raise money. There is also a passage which goes into some detail about the katana, kogatana, and kogai, which I thought might be of interest to NMB members as it is somewhat different from what I've seen previously:

 

"[S]he brought out her other treasure - a slender, blunt knife called a kogai, which, with the throwing- dagger, forms part of the hilt of a samurai's long sword. In very ancient days Japanese warfare was a science. Artistic skill was always displayed in the use of weapons, and no soldier was proud of having wounded an enemy in any other manner than the one established by samurai rules. The long sword had for its goal only four points: the top of the head, the wrist, the side, and the leg below the knee. The throwing-dagger must speed its way, true as an arrow, direct to the forehead, throat, or wrist. But the blunt kogai had many uses. It was the key that locked the sword in its scabbard; when double it could be used as chopsticks by the marching soldier; it has been used on the battlefield, or in retreat, mercifully to pierce the ankle vein of a suffering and dying comrade, and it had the unique use in a clan feud, when found sticking upright in the ankle of a dead foe, of bearing the silent challenge, "I await thy return." It's crest told to whom it belonged and, in time, it generally was returned - to its owner's ankle. The kogai figures in many tales of romance and revenge of the Middle Ages."

 

Cheers, Michael BC

 

[Bazza]

I've had a copy of this book for decades.  A great read.  Thanks for the refresher Michael.  I also have a favorite passage.  I'll have to dig it out...

 

BaZZa.

[Gakusee]

I had never read of the kogai being used n that manner. Very interesting. Thanks. 

[Brian]

I have never seen a kogai with a point sharp enough that it will piece anything. I call shennanigans on that claim. Especially since they were usually made of soft metal.
Nah...not believing that one. They even say it was blunt. Maybe the kogatana...maybe an umabari/bashin.
If the kogai was meant for any sort of piercing, it would have been sharp, and we would see many more iron ones.
 

[Matsunoki]

It is also suggesting the kozuka/kogatana was a throwing knife?…..because the balance is all wrong for that surely?

[Brian]

  On 3/31/2025 at 1:32 PM, Matsunoki said:

It is also suggesting the kozuka/kogatana was a throwing knife?…..because the balance is all wrong for that surely?

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Indeed. Would be near useless if it were thrown. Grain of salt...

[Baka Gaijin]

Specialised throwing spikes do exist in many Ryuha, but are of Iron as Brian says.

 

In fact the Late Ōtake Risuke (1926 - 2021), Shihan of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū used a set made for him by the Swordsmith Yoshindo Yoshihara.

 

 

[Hokke]

Im not sure if bleeding out via ankle is merciful, but it sure does make for good reading. 

[Lewis B]

Yes, I thought the merciful thing to do was to lop off their heads in feudal Japan. Thats what the 2nd was there to do during an act of harakiri, not stab them in the ankle with a blunt chopstick/hair adornment tool.

[Brian]

"Ouch! That hurts! Leave my ankle alone!"
"Oohh...sorry. I was trying to end your suffering"
"Ouch!! Dammit...stop poking me with that blunt instrument. Bloody hurts!"
"Hmm....how about this?"
"Aaaah....stop it! That's sore. Think you left a bruise now. That's going to leave a mark!"
"Ooh. Apologies dude...I was told I need to do this to end your misery. Stop wriggling like that"

Lol....sorry, couldn't resist. Have a whole Monty Python-style thing going on in my head now.

[Tohagi]

...Old Sokaku Takeda was known (and feared) for throwing metalic chopsticks with great accuracy (sometimes even to his pupills during the meal).

 

But I agree kozuka are terrible throwing weapons... 

[Mark S.]

And kogatana were signed by a smith (or attributed to a smith), not the owner, so not sure how you could figure out who to hunt down?  Maybe if the kozuka had the clan/family Mon on it, but how many “Kilroy was here” kozuka/kogatana have you seen?

[Bugyotsuji]

It was bashin/umabari which were used (particularly in the Kyushu region) to cut the ankle of a hard-ridden and tired horse, to relieve turgid blood, as a fleam was used in other parts of the world. 

[Oldman]

I had the same observations, and reservations, as other members have responded with. I didn't necessarily mean to endorse her comments. That having been said, she was a lot closer to that reality than any of us are, although her being female may have restricted her access to knowledge of weaponry. Her final remark about the kogai featuring in dramas could perhaps be verified; anyone here familiar enough with classical Japanese dramas?

 

Cheers, Michael BC

 

[The Forest Ninja]

  On 3/31/2025 at 2:29 PM, Baka Gaijin said:

Specialised throwing spikes do exist in many Ryuha, but are of Iron as Brian says.

 

In fact the Late Ōtake Risuke (1926 - 2021), Shihan of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū used a set made for him by the Swordsmith Yoshindo Yoshihara.

 

 

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I purchased a set of five Bo Shuriken from Japan in the style that the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-Ryū used.  

Bo Shuriken are throwing spikes that are legal in Canada. 

[Nobody]

  On 4/6/2025 at 6:21 AM, Oldman said:

I had the same observations, and reservations, as other members have responded with. I didn't necessarily mean to endorse her comments. That having been said, she was a lot closer to that reality than any of us are, although her being female may have restricted her access to knowledge of weaponry. Her final remark about the kogai featuring in dramas could perhaps be verified; anyone here familiar enough with classical Japanese dramas?

 

Cheers, Michael BC

 

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There were many samurai dramas after the early 1900s. Most of them were entertainment works with questionable historical accuracy. As one of nonsense settings, samurai use their kozuka as trowing knives in films. Ordinally people still believe such acts even nowadays.

She might be merely one of them. And I think that she confused kogai, kozuka/kogatana and kankyuto/bashin.

 

Samurai TV drama in 1972, false use of a kozuka.

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning Michael,

 

The period of the Restoration was from many accounts one of turmoil and opportunism, the old ways were shunned by  many, Emperor Meiji was fond of watching Horseraces around the Shinobazu pond in Ueno amongst other things.

 

https://ukiyo-e.org/image/artelino/27183g1

 

If we put Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto's date of birth as 1872/4. then her recollection of Samurai life would have been very much in the realm of hearsay.

 

This should add further interesting bones to the stew.

 

https://www.detroit.us.emb-Japan.go.jp/en/bilateral/Ohio/OHsugimoto.htm