{"id":3008,"date":"2026-08-31T10:08:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T01:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/budobooks.jp\/?p=3008"},"modified":"2026-08-31T10:08:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T01:08:43","slug":"budo-beat-70-it-came-from-akimura-san-the-soul-of-a-warrior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/budobooks.jp\/?p=3008","title":{"rendered":"Budo Beat 70: It Came from Akimura-san – The Soul of a Warrior"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The \u201cBudo Beat\u201d Blog features a collection of short reflections, musings, and anecdotes on a wide range of budo topics by Professor<\/em> Alex Bennett<\/em><\/a>, a seasoned budo scholar and practitioner. Dive into digestible and diverse discussions on all things budo\u2014from the philosophy and history to the practice and culture that shape the martial Way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not a particularly difficult word to understand, especially compared to some of the more esoteric concepts I mangle in my blog. \u201cBukon<\/em>\u201d. Bu<\/em> (\u6b66) = martial, + kon<\/em> (\u9b42) = soul or spirit. Put together and the meaning is self-explanatory. If you peel away the historical baggage, which I will attempt to do shortly, it expresses a forthright ideal of discipline and courage based on the \u201cspirit of the warrior\u201d. Or, less literally, the qualities of character cultivated through the study of the martial arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d heard of the term before but never dwelled on it until I was presented with a magnificent kakejiku<\/em> with the two kanji boldly, almost brazenly, brushed onto the paper. I now have it displayed prominently in the Jigokuden. People frequently ask me about it, so that got me thinking about whence the piece came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the decades I\u2019ve spent reading Edo-period texts on swordsmanship, warrior ethics and culture, and all sorts of samurai stuff, I don\u2019t recall ever actually seeing \u6b66\u9b42 in any dusty old document. There\u2019s probably a reason for that. I\u2019m of the belief that words retain a certain texture, a kind of spirit if you like, and some feel more at home in certain periods. Bukon<\/em> strikes me as being of a somewhat modern epoch, around the Meiji period in late 19th<\/sup>~early 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, the ideas behind \u201cmartial spirit\u201d are old enough. Samurai of the Edo-period (1603-1868) and before wrote ad nauseum<\/em> about virtues such as valor, fighting spirit, self-control, honour, facing death with equanimity, and how the mind should remain unperturbed when the kuso<\/em> hits the senp\u016bki<\/em>. They were never short of descriptions for the bricks of martial character, and the appellation bukon<\/em> seems to fit the bill perfectly. Notwithstanding, something about bukon<\/em> resonates with me as being a little different. It\u2019s a punchy word, pun intended, and almost seems like a slogan, which is why I reckon it\u2019s a product of modern Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One earlyish example I managed to dig up features in the writing of Oshikawa Shunr\u014d (1876-1914). Oshikawa was an adventure writer of some repute, and a pioneer of the science fiction genre in Japan. He was one of those peppy characters who embodied the verve and muscular atmosphere of Meiji-era Japan. Oshikawa was an enthusiastic supporter of sport (his brother formed the first professional baseball team in Japan), and famously crossed swords with none other than Nitobe Inaz\u014d, who was among those arguing that baseball somehow exerted a harmful influence on Japanese youth.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The cover of Oshikawa Shunr\u014d\u2019s Sekai Musha Shugy\u014d (\u4e16\u754c\u6b66\u8005\u4fee\u884c, 1902), an adventure novel about a young Japanese hero setting off on a globe-trotting modern version of the traditional warrior\u2019s quest for self-testing and experience.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Anyway, in his 1902 book Sekai Musha Shugy\u014d<\/em> (World Heroic Journey) he refers to bukon<\/em> as the indomitable martial spirit that links an innate Japanese temperament with physical courage, masculinity, and of course, good olde bushido. He also laments that the comforts of modern civilisation were making young Japanese into a bunch of big softies. In this and some of his later books, he linked bukon<\/em> with \u201ccharacter and vitality\u201d, which, by virtue of their DNA, any blue-blooded Japanese person worth their salt should<\/em><\/strong> have inherited from the samurai. After all, this is what makes Japan so unique in the world. A few years later Oshikawa expressed this sentiment in very hawkish terms as a warning against negligence in the big wide world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From this day forward, the so-called \u2018civilised age of warring states\u2019 will continue for a long time to come. Matters that cannot ultimately be resolved through diplomacy will inevitably be settled by war. The great powers will therefore compete ever more fiercely to improve and develop their weapons and expand their military strength. Since military power is, as a rule, proportionate to a nation\u2019s wealth, we must regrettably assume that the Western powers, whose financial resources far exceed our own, will always possess more battleships, more artillery, and more aircraft than Japan. And if, in addition, they should come to possess the same fierce martial spirit (bukon) that the Japanese people have traditionally possessed, can we truly continue to sleep soundly at night?<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I am by no means suggesting Oshikawa invented the term bukon<\/em>. In fact, I would be extremely surprised if he did. Earlier examples undoubtedly exist somewhere, and I\u2019ll continue my search for something more definitive. One thing I can say with surety is that bukon<\/em> became firmly established in jingoistic rhetoric in the twentieth century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My old mate Yoshikawa Eiji used the word too, and quite matter-of-factly, which suggests that by the 1930s the term required no explanation. In Miyamoto Musashi<\/em>, for example, there is a scene where Yagy\u016b Hy\u014dgo watches the young Ushinosuke come at him with a wooden sword and decides in the moment, \u201cThis boy\u2019s got bukon<\/em>.\u201d I was tempted to translate this as \u201cThe little fella\u2019s got some serious balls!\u201d Uncharacteristically, I refrained from taking such poetic license but that\u2019s fundamentally what he meant. In any case, by Yoshikawa\u2019s day, bukon<\/em> seems to have nestled itself comfortably into the vocabulary of heroic martial masculinity.<\/p>\n\n\n

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If you are intersted in my translation of Yoshikawa Eiji\u2019s<\/em> Miyamoto Musashi<\/em><\/a>\u2026<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I should add that none of this makes bukon<\/em> a baleful word in itself. Words are by nature promiscuous things, and the virtues associated with bukon<\/em> like courage, toughness, fortitude, and the nurturing of character through physical pursuits were not the exclusive property of militarists and nationalists. In other words, bukon<\/em> was not necessarily militaristic, but it was useful. The military could embrace it, for sure, but so could budoka, athletes, novelists, and pretty much anybody. The vessel remained the same, but what people decided to pour into it depended on the times.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I\u2019m committed to keeping my work freely accessible to all budo enthusiasts, wherever they are. If you\u2019ve enjoyed what you\u2019ve found here and would like to support my ongoing efforts and projects, \u201cbuying me a coffee\u201d (beer actually), or my books, would make a world of difference.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reminds me of another Meiji-era term that was bandied about with considerable enthusiasm, and I suspect this is why bukon<\/em> caught on. Any aficionado of Japanese history has undoubtedly come across the term \u201cWakon y\u014dsai<\/em>\u201d (<\/strong>\u548c\u9b42\u6d0b\u624d)<\/strong>. This translates as \u201cJapanese spirit, Western learning\u201d. It\u2019s one of those quintessentially succinct Meiji formulas that made a topsy-turvy period of national anxiety sound almost well-regulated. Japan could import steam engines, weaponry, medicine, top hats and trousers, Tom Cruise, legal and constitutional theory, and anything else from the West deemed to be worthwhile, provided it remembered to keep its \u201csoul\u201d intact. Modernise with Western technology and systems? Hai, by all means. Sell your soul to the West? Not on your Nippon nelly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the publication of Oshikawa\u2019s books towards the end of the Meiji period serves as a useful pointer. Class distinctions had been dismantled four decades earlier after the Meiji Restoration (1868), yet samurai sentiments were enjoying a second life. Warrior ideals were being reinterpreted and intravenously fed to soldiers, schoolchildren, capitalists, athletes, and ordinary Joe Tanakas. The samurai existed no more, but the \u201csamurai spirit\u201d permeated the nation\u2019s political, cultural, and social fabric like smoke from a summer BBQ. Bukon<\/em> certainly sounds and feels as if it hails from antiquity, but the term is really a modern packaging of older ideals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Nitobe Inaz\u014d\u2019s Bu<\/em><\/strong>shido: The<\/em> Soul<\/em><\/strong> of Japan<\/em> (1899) had the \u201csoul\u201d subtitle from the outset, as though the entire moral inheritance of the samurai might be decanted into a sake<\/em> bottle and labelled for export. As far as I know, he didn\u2019t use the term bukon<\/em> as such in his writings, but the conceptual kinship is unmistakable. Both belong to the same Meiji obsession of turning samurai ideals into the lifeblood of national essence. \u201cBukon<\/em>\u201d was essentially thought of as \u201cwakon<\/em>\u201d with a martial slant, which makes it even more curious that I ended up with such a commanding specimen on my dojo wall. So, how did this come to pass?<\/p>\n\n\n

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One of the many letters I received from Akimura-san. This one is dated April 2015, although I suspect the year should actually be 2016, just after I returned from sabbatical. His first letter had arrived while I was away in New Zealand, and I didn\u2019t even know of its existence until I came home some six months later.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A few years ago, in 2015, a lovely old gentleman from Aomori named Akimura Fumio contacted me out of the blue. He was a recently-retired mountain rescuer, so clearly a man of immense resolve and reslience. He\u2019d come across an interview I had done in some magazine and decided, for reasons known only to himself, that I might be a decent enough bloke to look after a collection of swords and scrolls inherited from his father. His father had been an antique collector and had amassed quite an enviable assortment of bric-a-brac over his lifetime. Akimura-san and his wife weren\u2019t getting any younger, and as they were childless, he was concerned about what would become of the collection after they were gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould you like some of the swords?\u201d he wrote. \u201cI know you\u2019ll cherish them and show them to people interested in Japanese culture. Please promise me that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some offers in life that require careful consideration, and this was definitely not one of them! I drove from Kyoto to Aomori, a decent thousand km trip to the upper reaches of the country. Akimura-san and his wife welcomed me into their home, and I stayed for several days enjoying their generous hospitality. He regaled me with many stories of his own adventures deep in the rugged mountains of Aomori. He was an incredibly humble man, and although he never said so explicitly, I came away with the distinct impression that he\u2019d spent his whole career risking his life to save others in distress. A true warrior if ever there was one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, I loaded the swords and various other objects into the car, and that, I lament to this day, was the last time I ever saw him.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A photo of Akimura-san standing in front of the Bukon calligraphy. He wanted to know whether I might be interested in having it.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Among the items he bestowed upon me was the large bukon<\/em> calligraphy. Akimura-san informed me that it had hung in the Aomori Police dojo for many years. How his father acquired it is unclear. There is another problem. Despite ongoing efforts, I am yet to establish who actually wrote it. I have scrutinised the signature and seals and showed them to several calligraphy experts who know about such things. I\u2019ve followed leads that looked promising, but nothing decisive has come to pass as of yet.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Watanabe Chiaki (1843\u20131921), governor of Kyoto Prefecture and the first president of the Dai Nippon Butokukai, an important figure in the institutional formation of modern Japanese budo.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One theory that I particularly like was proposed by my kendo buddy, Morioka Hiromitsu-sensei. He posted the following on my FB just the other day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first president of the Dai-Nippon Butokukai, which was established in the Meiji period to oversee Japan\u2019s martial arts, was Watanabe Chiaki, who was governor of Kyoto Prefecture at the time. Since the calligraphic signature reads \u2018Keish\u016b sho\u2019 (\u6176\u79cb\u66f8, \u2018written by Keish\u016b\u2019), it\u2019s possible that \u2018Keish\u016b\u2019 was a pen name used by Watanabe Chiaki. However, no source confirming this has yet been found, so for now this remains purely speculative.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Oh, I wish! If indeed it was Watanabe Chiaki, he\u2019s a legend in the formation of modern kendo, and I\u2019ve written about him in the past. And there\u2019s more. My dear naginata teacher, Kimura-Yasuko, is a direct descendant of Watanabe Chiaki, so the connection would be too perfect. The sort of karmic stitch in the cosmic web that makes me wonder whether the universe amuses itself with footnotes. I do hope this is a genuine footnote, but I\u2019m sure the truth will be revealed sooner or later. If only I had thought to confirm such details with Akimura-san when I had the chance! For the meantime, however, the hand that brushed the characters remains a mystery of time.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Me with Kimura-sensei on the right. How extraordinary would it be if she were actually standing beneath a work brushed by her own great-grandfather, Watanabe Chiaki?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For several years I was a tad unsure what to do with it. I knew it was special, but bukon<\/em> does not sit unobtrusively in the background. The kanji characters are so bold and commanding, the kakejiku<\/em> needed a worthy space to shine its light. Building the Jigokuden in Uji made the answer obvious. It has found a loving home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, Akimura-san never saw it hanging there. I received a call from his wife about five years ago as I was dozing off. She said her husband wanted to sing me a song. And, so he did. He sang with passion over the phone, and I could imagine the tears rolling down his face. I don\u2019t know exactly what it was, but I guess it was an old Aomori folk song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just listened respectfully, and didn\u2019t know quite what to say when he had finished. I think his wife shared my embarrassment, but I knew something was up. A little while later, as I feared, he died.<\/p>\n\n\n

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When I visited Akimura-san and his wife in August 2016, it happened to coincide with Aomori\u2019s famous Neputa\/Nebuta festival season. Each summer, enormous illuminated floats depicting warriors, heroes, demons, and scenes from history and legend are paraded through the streets to the accompaniment of drums, flutes, and chanting. It was quite a backdrop for my first visit to Aomori, and for the beginning of the story of the Bukon scroll.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And now, not a day goes by when I don\u2019t think of Akimura-san. I see that scroll on the wall every day, and think about the kindly old mountain man who entrusted it to me. I hope I can find out more about its provenance from an academic perspective, but it doesn\u2019t really matter at the end of the day. That\u2019s because the process of writing this blog post woke me up to something more important. I know whence it came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It came from Akimura-san.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cKeikai Subeki Nippon\u201d in B\u014dken no Sekai<\/em> (December, 1910). Reproduced in Meiji Daizasshi: Fukuroku-ban<\/em> (Tokyo: Ry\u016bd\u014d Shuppan, December 1978) p. 175<\/p>\n\n\n

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Check out My brother\u2019s blog. Great stuff for dojo leaders of all budo.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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