2/21/2023 0 Comments Way of the samurai 1 vs 4![]() ![]() ![]() Lacking physical strength and fighting skills, he naturally chose to rely on wits rather than weapons, on strategy over swords. But he differed from his contemporaries in seeking to overcome his adversaries peaceably, through negotiation and alliance building rather than through brute force. Hideyoshi was driven by a burning desire to succeed as a samurai. For generations of men, Hideyoshi became the ultimate underdog hero: a symbol of the possibility of reinventing oneself as a man and rising, Horatio Alger fashion, from rags to riches. Born the weakling son of a poor farmer at a time when martial prowess or entry to the priesthood were the only ways for an ambitious commoner to escape a life of backbreaking farm toil, he rose from poverty to rule a mighty nation and command hundreds of thousands of samurai warriors. Hideyoshi’s true story has inspired countless novels, plays, movies - even video games - for more than four centuries. Ultimately he became the supreme ruler of all Japan - the first peasant ever to rise to the absolute height of power - and unified a nation torn apart by more than a hundred years of civil strife. Driven by a relentless desire to transcend his peasant roots, Hideyoshi went on to become Nobunaga’s loyal protégé and right-hand man. His name was Hideyoshi, and on that fateful spring evening in the year 1553, the brash young warlord Nobunaga hired him as a sandal-bearer. He longed to become the epitome of refined manhood - a samurai - but nothing in the demeanor of this five-foot-tall, one-hundred-ten-pound boy could possibly have foretold the astounding destiny awaiting him. A peasant wandered the countryside alone, seeking his fortune, without a coin in his pocket. It was a time of carnage and darkness: the Age of Wars, when the land was torn by bloodshed and the only law was the law of the sword. ![]() When I managed to speak, my voice was clear and steady, and I drew courage with each syllable. Raising my head just enough to brave a glance at the demonic figure, I saw him staring at me, like a hawk poised to seize a mouse in its talons. My fate-and though I didn’t know it then, the fate of all of Japan -rested on my answer. My mouth had gone dry, as parched as a man dying of thirst. I tried to speak and managed only a faint croak. I could not see his face but there was no mistaking the authority in his growling tone, nor the hint of mockery in his question. You wish to serve me?” Silhouetted against the blue-black sky, the horse-mounted samurai with the horned helmet towered over me like a demon as I knelt in the dirt before him. Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Tim Clark. ![]()
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