Warfare in Japan
280 AD
According to the Treatise on the Wa People, when the Chinese encountered the Japanese they lived in a land with no cattle, horses, tigers, leopards or sheep. They fought with spears & bows. By the Nara period (710~94) they had begun fighting on horseback. Heian~Kamakura period (794~1333)
Sakanoue Tamuramaro was sent north to fight the Ezo barbarians, and returned to Kyoto victorious having taken 457 heads, captured 150 warriors w/ 85 horses & burned 75 villages. Following that, noble households began emphasizing mounted combat.

Crime and Punishment for youth offenders in the Edo Era🧵

1. Motomaru (9) Caught assisting his father in crime. Sentenced to being kept under guardianship until the age of 15, then banished to a distant island (The 7 Izu islands or Hachijo) Sentence commuted

2. Ein (11) same

3. Kichijiro (under 15) Involved in a murder. Initial sentence unknown, kept under guardianship 15 then given Chu Tsuiho 中追放 middle distance expulsion

This distance varied, but generally around 10 Ri (24 miles/40 km) Could be combined with a whipping or tattooing.

Origin of Tattooing in Ryukyu/ Okinawa

In the mid-14th century, during the reign of King Satto, the royal priestess set off by boat to Kudaka Island for a ceremony that was conducted once every twelve years. This island is were the deity Amamikyu descended and founded the Ryukyu Islands.
On the way to the island, a huge storm struck the ship the royal priestess was on, blowing it wildly off-course. It drifted for a long time before shipwrecking on the shore of Japan in Kii Domain.

The proper way to attach labels to heads taken in battle.
Affix to the left side of the hair
From An Illustrated Guide to Military Affairs
1707 For the head of a warrior monk, the tag should be on the left year.
The tag should list:
Name
Rank
Person who took head

Scene inside an Edo Era prison. The guards basically let the prisoners manage themselves. All the tatami mats have been pulled off the ground (leaving a wooden floor beneath) and the higher ranked prisoners sit on top of stacks based on seniority/ power-level. Newer prisoners were searched for valuables and punishments were meted out.
Conditions were poor inside the prison since the toilet was in the same room. While they received regular visits from a doctor, the care was perfunctory and up to 1,000 prisoners died a year. If you were a new prisoner, you would first meet "the key" a prisoner in charge of prisoners entering and leaving the cell. You would be stripped naked and beaten on the ass with a floorboard or stick to remove any resistance.

Nyujo入定typically means a state of intense meditation however in Shingon Mikkyo Buddhism this describes doing intense fasting & training in order to enter a permanent state of meditation that will last past death.Mummies of people who achieve this state are called Sokushinbutsu. A monk, after committing himself to celibacy and spreading Buddhism, known as Issei Gyojin世行人, will next spend five and a half years reducing his diet from ten different grains, to five and then eventually only to water. This is called Mokujiki-Gyo木食行 “tree food training”

In 1912, the Newspaper carried a vivid account of the Seppuku of the General Nogi Maresuke(1849 –1912) and his wife Shizuko.
The head of the Akasaka Police department said there were many false rumors about the Seppuku of Shogun Nogi and his wife, "Incorrect details regarding the Waripuku (Seppuku) of the Shogun Nogi at the eight o’clock in the evening on the 13th of September (the day of the Meiji Emperor’s funeral). For this reason I would like to tell the truth about what happened in his final moments.”

Women Permit

The Bakufu government wanted to prevent insurrection by controlling the flow of weapons & to watch the movement of the wives and children of Daimyo, since they were required to live in Edo every other year.
Thus up through 1869 permits were required at checkpoints. A Daimyo sending his wife back to his domain might signal the beginning of an insurrection. While all travelers had to have a travel permit, the ones for women were more detailed and the inspections were stricter. For example, they had to define the “type of woman.”

漂流
Hyoryu-Adrift: 484 Days at Sea🧵

Fifteen year old Oguri Jukichi's (1785~1853) boat was struck by a storm while on its way to Edo, forcing it far from the regular shipping lanes. Though loaded with food, the crew began to despair. Jukichi spent a year and a half adrift. The boat they were sailing on, the Tokujo-Maru, was a 120 ton vessel carrying a cargo of rice, soybeans and oil. It departed Owari, bound for Edo. At the time, such ships rarely ventured far from shore thus captains only paid attention to the wind and didn't account for currents.

切腹禁止可然
An argument for the abolition of Seppuku
1869

For crimes committed by Samurai in Japan the sentence of Seppuku is given. However, there are also Samurai that, despite the circumstances of their crime being somewhat ambiguous, nevertheless seek atonement by... ...committing Seppuku. This way of thinking causes the Bumon no Shi, or followers of martial training, in this land to sigh in praise.
However, as you are all aware there is absolutely no Seppuku in Western countries. Clearly, a person who is ordered to commit Seppuku should...

竹槍術訓練ノ参考
How to Fight With a Bamboo Spear:
A Reference Manual For Training
Japanese Army
1943

This manual was for instructing women, the elderly and children in the fundamentals of spear fighting. It was to prepare the populace for the expected invasion of Japan. This booklet is two rectangular pages folded into a book. The top sheet is for students and the bottom sheet is for instructors. The instructor’s sheet covers the same topics as the student’s sheet but details the training objectives for instructors.

敵討ち
Kataki-uchi
Revenge Killing

While revenge killings were legal (for Samurai) in the Edo Era, you still had to apply for a Kyokasho許可書, permit, to legally avenge yourself. A permit had to be obtained from your lord.
🧵 If you were traveling to a different domain for revenge your Lord would have to contact each of the three top officials in that domain:
The head of Temples and Shrines
Magistrate/ Chief of Police
The Chief of Finance
Your application for revenge had to be logged by the police

臀肉事件Den Niku Jiken: Flesh of the Butt Incident

On May 24th 1905 a pharmacist named Tsuzuki Tomigoro got a suspicious phone call & went out. Later that evening, body was found hanging from a tree. Eventually a man named Saburo was arrested and connected with two other murders Police focused on a man who had been frequenting the pharmacy, Noguchi Saburo. Saburo’s brother-in-law had also died suddenly. He was later connected with the murder of an 11 year old boy who was found with two chunks of flesh cut out of his buttocks and his eyes gouged out.

Adrift: 484 Days at Sea

Oguri Jukichi's 小栗 重吉 (1785~1853) boat was struck by a storm while on its way to Edo.
The winds forced it far from the regular shipping lanes. Though loaded with food the crew began to dwindle. 15 year old Jukichi spent a year and a half adrift. The boat, called the Tokujo-Maru督乗丸 was a 120 ton vessel carrying a cargo of rice, soybeans and oil departed Owari, bound for Edo.
Japanese ships rarely ventured far from shore. At the same time, the captains seemed to focus only on wind, and not account for currents.

Ban is Sought on Some Exotic Oriental Weapons
The Holland Evening Sentinel (Michigan) April 1976

A move is underway in the Senate to halt the proliferation of exotic but potentially deadly oriental weapons brought to this country y the "Kung Fu" movie craze... The following weapons are mentioned in the legislation:
-the shuriken, a star-shaped or multi-pointed knife-like object, which is hurled at the victim

-Tekagi or Shuko, similar to western brass knuckles in design and use

There were 6 different death penalties in Edo Era Japan.

1/6 Geshunin下手人 Criminal Punishment
The "least severe" execution. After being beheaded your body wouldn't be used for test cutting and could be buried. Typically used on commoners who killed someone while drunk. 2/6
Shizai死罪 Death penalty
After execution your body could be used for Tameshigiri, test-cutting.
This was for thieves that stole over 10 Ryo, roughly 1,300$.