A Tale from the Heike Monogatari
At Ichi no tani the Heike were defeated, a great loss. As the nobles of the Heike fled to their ships to escape, an officer of the Genji came quickly to the shore, determined to capture one of the fleeing captains. Kumagai Naozane scanned the shores and spotted one within distance on horseback. He held his fan high and cried out “Coward! To show your back to the enemy is dishonorable. Come and face me like a man!”
The warrior turned and rode back to the beach where he engaged Kumagai in combat. He was skilled, but Kumagai was his better and shortly flung him to the ground and tore off his helmet to take his head. There before him, Kumagai beheld a youth, no more than sixteen or seventeen, just about the age of his own son.
“Who are you?” he asked more gently. “Tell me, for I would spare your life.”
“First tell me your name,” said the young man.
“I am Kumagai Naozane of Musashi. I am a person of no importance.”
“Then luck is with you, for you have made a good catch. Take my head and show it to others of my side and they will tell you my name.”
Kumagai considered the situation. Obviously the boy is one of their leaders, but killing him is meaningless: whether he lives or dies it will not change our victory into defeat. Kumagai thought. Nor will sparing him change their defeat into victory. When my son Kojirū was wounded this morning, did it not pain me? How grieved would this boy’s father be to hear he is killed. I must spare him!
But looking behind, Kumagai saw others of his men coming. “Alas!” he cried, tears streaming down his face, “Though I would spare you, the land is full of hundreds of others of our men, and they would not be so kind. If you must die, it shall be by my hand. I will then pray for your rebirth in the Pure Land.[1]”
“It must be so,” said the young man. And he bowed his head and said, “cut off my head cleanly in one stroke.”
Kumagai was overcome with sadness and could barely lift his sword. Weeping, he cut off the boy’s head. “Alas! that I should have to do such a thing. The life of a soldier is harder than any other. Why must I do such a cruel and wicked deed? Only because I had the misfortune of being born to a warrior family! It is a bitter life!”
He wept and wrapped the head and stripped the armor from the body. Under the boy’s armor was a cloth bag containing a flute. “So,” he exclaimed, “it was this boy playing music who I heard this morning within the walls. I doubt any of our men have thought to bring a flute with them. How gentle these couriers!”
When he presented the flute to his commander, all in the camp were moved to tears by the story. He discovered that the boy was Atsumori, son of Tsunemori, aged sixteen.
After the war, Kumagai quit his life, shaved his head and became a Buddhist monk.
This is a true story. The real Atsumori lived from 1169 to 1184. His flute is still on display at Suma Temple in Kobe.
The story of Atsumori and Kumagai is one of the most beloved stories in Japan. It has been told and retold for generations, and has featured in kabuki and noh theater, as well as novels and short stories, and even in modern times in anime and manga.
The Noh play Atsumori is one of my favorites. It involves Kumagai, now a Buddhist monk, meeting the ghost of Atsumori and finding forgiveness.
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 | David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
In Pure Land Buddhism (浄土宗, Jōdo-shū), which is one of the most popular forms of Buddhism in Japan, it is said to be most desirous to be reborn in the Pure Land in the West, an abode of the bodhisattva Amida, where we will be free of all pain and misery and can focus on obtaining enlightenment. You might also see it referred to as the Western Paradise. ↩