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Japan History
Top 7 Legendary Samurai Warriors
07
Jun
Jun
Legendary Samurai Warriors
Thousands of Samurai existed during the feudal era and though most of them didn’t leave a mark, there are some who did. Who are these legendary Samurai? Why are they different from the others?
Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi invented a Kenjutsu way of fighting known as Nito-Ryu. The one who practices this style wields two swords at the same time.
Historians believe that Musashi discovered this technique when he defeated all the best warriors of the Yoshioka clan, a family who is known for their good sword handling.
The Yoshioka clan tried to assassinate him for bringing dishonor to their family by killing one of their leaders in a duel. The legendary Samurai got surrounded by archers and armored men that he wielded two swords to survive.
Aside from surviving a battle against an army, Musashi’s first kill was when he was only thirteen years old. He defeated a Samurai in battle by hitting him with his bokken repeatedly.
The poor Samurai died vomiting blood. This tells how fierce Musashi’s Kenjutsu skills were at a very young age.
The legend later stopped killing the enemies he defeated on the battlefield and started writing books. One of them is now known as The Book of Five Rings.
The Female Legendary Samurai: Tomoe Gozen
Contrary to popular belief, not all Samurai are men. And as it turns out, some women are actually better than men when fighting the enemy. This is where the only legendary female Samurai comes in.
Tomoe Gozen became legendary for her ferociousness during the battle of Yokotagawara. She decapitated seven mounted warriors and collected their heads.
If that doesn’t sound impressive to you, try putting yourself in her situation and kill someone who’s riding a horse. During that time, beheading an enemy and bringing it back after the battle is more like getting an Olympic gold medal than an inhumane act.
Gozen’s courage made her look good in the eyes of her superior. As a result, Lord Kiso No Yoshinaka made her a commander.
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Aside from her hobby of collecting enemy heads on the battlefield during the battle of Yokotagawara, she also led Yoshinaka’s cavalry to victory during the battle of Tonamiyama.
Her last and final battle was the battle of Uchide No Hama where 300 of them fought 6000 men. Gozen is one of the five survivors and this is where it gets interesting: When Yoshinaka asked her to flee and save herself, she stayed and killed one of the most famous warriors in the opposition first. She disappeared, never to be seen again after that.
Oda Nobunaga
It’s hard not to include Oda Nobunaga in the legendary Samurai who existed during the feudal era. The reason for this is because he’s the most famous above all them.
Why was he the most famous? Because he’s the one who tried to unify Japan and rebuilt it when there were civil wars everywhere.
Unlike the other legendary Samurai who became known for their ruthlessness in the battlefield, Oda Nobunaga is different. He is more known for being a tactician and a warlord who made his men use muskets for battle.
Oda Nobunaga’s legacy stayed with us centuries after his demise. His life has been an inspiration and was portrayed in a lot of Samurai games. This made him even more known until the 20th century.
Yasuke
If you think William Adams is the only and first foreign Samurai during the monarchy days of Japan, then you’ve not heard of Yasuke yet. He’s an African slave that was brought by missionaries during their expedition.
Different because of his race, he became the talk of town. Oda Nobunaga later heard of him and asked him to go to his palace.
Unlike the others who are discriminatory of skin color, Nobunaga was not. The Daimyo was amazed by him. Nobunaga then made Yasuke (not his real name) his sword bearer and personal bodyguard.
Yasuke was loyal to Nobunaga that he fought Mitsuhide’s forces when Nobunaga was forced to commit Sepukku. He then escaped and served Nobunaga’s son.
To their surprise, Mitsuhide learned about the location of Nobunaga’s son and attacked him too. This led to the suicide of Nobunaga’s son. Yasuke surrendered since his masters are already dead.
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Mitsuhide didn’t kill Yasuke after the surrender. He instead, had him sent back to the missionaries that brought him to Japan. No one heard of him again after that.
No one knew his real name nor where he was born. All they know is that a black Samurai existed during the feudal era and that he vanished after a couple of years.
Kusunoki Masashige
Masashige is considered a legend for really portraying the courage and loyalty needed by any Samurai. He defended the Chihaya Castle in Osaka with only 2000 men on his side.
The castle, by the way, was attacked by 100,000 men during that time. He managed to lead his troops to battle against an army that is 50 times the size of his army and won. This happened because Masashige is known for being a military strategist.
After winning that battle, Masashige was given control to most of the Kansai province after the war. Unfortunately, a clan betrayed the Emperor and he found himself in the midst of battle again. He spearheaded the assault against the enemy.
Sadly, he was killed during the battle of Minatogawa because Go-Daigo told him to advance. Masashige know that advancing will lead to his death but he obeyed anyway.
This made him a notable warrior in the Japanese history that a statue of him was erected outside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
Date Masamune
Known as the “One-Eyed Dragon,” because he lost his right eye due to smallpox when he was still a kid, Masamune was known for being a young and ruthless warrior in the battlefield.
Still a good warrior with kin reflexes even though his field of view was limited, this warrior led a campaign at the age of 14. Though he lost most of those battles, Masamune was feared throughout Japan.
His presence strike fear in the heart of his enemies probably because he’s savage in the battlefield. He was one of the closest ally to Hideyoshi that when he defied his order, Hideyoshi decided to spare his life.
When Hideyoshi died and Masamune needed to choose a side, he sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu during the battle of Sekigehara.
Masamune can easily be recognized by his enemies in the battlefield. He has this unique helm that nobody uses. If you see a Samurai statue with a crescent moon on his helmet, it is probably Masamune.
Honda Tadakatsu
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Like Masamune, Tadakatsu is known for being able to strike fear in his enemies on the battlefield. This warrior wears a large antler horn in his helmet that enemies can easily see him from afar.
If this is a tactic meant to taunt enemies, no one can’t confirm but seeing someone with horns kill your colleagues in the battlefield will surely make a soldier hesitate. Armed by a sharp spear and sword, Tadakatsu is known for having a very lethal sharp sword that could slice enemies in two with just one swing.
His Katana was known as “The Dragonfly Cutter” simply because if an insect lands on the sword’s edge, it will immediately be cut in half.