When Yoshitsune was finally faced with death he did so with dignity:
In the Battle of Koromo River, as it is somewhat euphemistically described, Yoshitsune and his small band of nine followers were confronted by an attacking force of some thirty thousand men. In such an unpromising situation the aim of the Japanese warrior is to sell his life as dearly as he can and to take the largest possible number of enemy officers with him to the next world. According to the legend, Yoshitsune s supporters acquitted themselves with fantastic courage and skill until one after another was killed or so seriously wounded that he had to commit suicide (Ivan Morris p98).
Clear correlations can be made between this passage and the mission of the Special Attack Squadrons. World War II Japan was faced with a situation very similar to that faced by Yoshitsune hundreds of years before. Japan was confronted with an overwhelming American attack force. The entire concept behind the Kamikaze attacks was to take down as many Americans as possible. The Japanese knew that they could not survive yet their leaders did not want to go into the next world alone.
When all of Yoshitsune s followers had died he chose to go down in one final blaze of glory:
Seizing the sword, Yoshitsune plunged it into his body below the left breast, thrusting it in so far that the blade almost emerged through his back. Then he cut deeply into his stomach and, tearing the wound wide open in three directions, pulled out his intestines. He wiped the sword on the sleeve of his robe, which he then draped over his shoulders, and leant the upper part of his body on an armrest . At the sight Kanefusa was pierced with grief, quickly now, said his master, burn down the house! (Ivan Morris100).
After years of courageous fighting and numerous successes, Yoshitsune chose to die with his honor rather than be captured by the victor. A similar spirit was found in the Japanese warriors of World War II. At the end of the war, the Japanese government formally asked Americans to allow high-ranking officers the opportunity to commit an honorable suicide before shooting them. General Onishi, faced with disgrace, failure, and the guilt of knowing he sent thousands of Japan s finest scholars to their grave, committed seppuku in a way closely following that of Yoshitsune. He stabbed a dull ceremonial sword into his stomach and attempted to remove his intestines in the traditional manner. The dull sword made imprecise cuts and Onishi was left on the floor of his office profusely bleeding to death refusing to accept any sort of medication that would make the death easier (Nobility of Failure p330). With his seppuku, World War Two for Japan was brought to a close.
Japan s history of self-sacrifice and dedication to a cause live on today. A nation cannot avoid its past. The heroes of Yoshitsune and the kamikaze warriors live on in spirit. Every time a student opens a history book or reads a play, he is reminded of his culturally rich past. For the Japanese, the methods by which one tries to accomplish a goal are more important than accomplishing the goal itself.
1.) Buruma, Ian. Behind the Mask. New York: Random House, 1984.
2.) Coombes, Bill. Divine Wind. The Dispatch Vol. 20 Spring 1995 edition
3.) Leckie, Robert. Okinawa. New York: Penguin Books, 1995.
4.) Morris, Ivan. The Nobility of Failure. New York: Random House, 1975.
5.) Naito, Hatsuho. Thunder Gods. Tokyo & NY: Kodansha International, 1989.