Stephen Turnbull, Slayer of Ronin

Most everyone with an interest in pre-modern Japanese history (and we're assuming that's anyone reading this) knows of Stephen Turnbull. Describing himself as "one of the world's foremost military historians of the medieval and early modern periods", Turnbull is usually lauded by those new to the field and panned by those with some experience. Relying heavily on Edo period legends and secondary sources, his books make for entertaining reading but usually contain a healthy dose of misconceptions, errors, and editing that would make a fifth grader cringe. He's a polarizing personality on the Samurai Archives Citadel forum. While we've reviewed several of his books favorably, we've still taken him to task for the overall sloppiness and careless nature of some of his books.

For several months we've known that Turnbull was writing a book on the 47 Ronin. You all know the story-or at least the popular version where the 47 shining paragons of Bushido led by the stalwart Oishi Kuranosuke slay the evil and corrupt Lord Kira who was responsible for the death of their fair minded, upstanding and exemplary Lord Asano. As we've pointed out many, many times over the years (on both the forum and the Shogun-ki) the legend did not stand up under the glare of critical analysis. Asano was a loutish lecher, Oishi was a drunkard long before being made ronin and neglected his duties in training Asano, and Kira was a typical Edo period bureaucrat. The Ronin were more concerned at first with keeping their positions. After the Asano house was abolished, many possibly hoped to parlay a successful raid into pardons and new jobs. The question was, would "The Revenge of the 47 Ronin-Edo 1703" follow the newest findings, or would Turnbull stick with the dearly held Edo period legends he had espoused in his earlier books?

The first thing we usually do with a new book is to check out its sources and bibliography. While being an Osprey book, it was a foregone conclusion it wouldn't have footnotes or endnotes. But the sources Turnbull used were some of the best, up-to-date scholarly sources on the Ako Incident available. Numbered among them was Beatrice Bodart-Bailey's "The Dog Shogun", "Genroku Ako Jiken", and the landmark series of articles appearing in Monumenta Nipponica by Henry Smith and others that began to question seriously the validity of the Ronin legend.

It being a Turnbull book, it was also loaded with a variety of excellent photos, maps, prints, and plates. There are maps showing the likely layout of Kira's mansion (just a typical hatamoto mansion, not a fortified stronghold as often depicted), the route taken by the Ronin after the assault, and spots along the Tokaido road stretching from Edo to Kyoto (and stretching to Ako) that figured in the legend. There's also an excellent chart giving the names of each of the Ronin that specifies what unit they were assigned to during the raid and the weapon they are traditionally associated with. It also gives the 'aliases' that the Ronin were known by in prints and plays that were produced in the aftermath of the assault on Kira's mansion-writers and artists during the Edo period were forbidden to use the names of post-15th century historic personages in their works.

But what about the text?!?! It's divided into chapters on the Chronology, Origins (including Asano's failed assault on Kira), Initial Strategy, The Plan, The Raid, and an Analysis. And Turnbull absolutely nails it. He's delivered the goods-in spades. He pulls no punches when it comes to tearing down the walls of the legend that has grown up around the Ronin. Up to date on the latest scholarship (such as the recent discovery that Kira's name wasn't 'Yoshinaka' but 'Yoshihisa'), Turnbull clearly points out where fiction and fact don't mesh, and even gives great care when using dates (presented both as Japanese lunar dates and their Western equivalents). He presents all the different theories surrounding the '47th Ronin', Terasaka Nobuyuki (who either ran off before the raid or was told by the other Ronin to leave), concluding that whatever happened it was highly unlikely that he was sent as a messenger to inform the Asano family the raid had succeeded. And he does it all in his typical entertaining manner-some of our favorite short passages from the book:

"...I (Turnbull) shared fully and largely uncritically in the concepts and images provided by the popular version of the story..."

"...I sat peacefully with a cup of tea while a priest (at Kezo-ji) calmly explained to me how everything I had ever read about the Forty-Seven Ronin was complete nonsense".

"...hardly a word of it is true. The date was 1703, not 1702. Their victim's name was Yoshihisa not Yoshinaka. He was no coward. Greed and treachery were not involved and he played almost no part in Asano's death. Not all of Asano's 270 former retainers joined the plot or even sympathized with it. Religion played almost no part in their deliberations. The secrecy involved in their convoluted plot compounded the utter illegality and underhand nature of their act, to which the Shogun responded correctly by invoking the law of the land. The reaction by their contemporaries involved condemnation in addition to admiration, with both the Forty-Seven Ronin and their late lord being dismissed as cowards and a disgrace to the name of samurai. Finally, instead of 47 loyal samurai there were (according to some authorities) actually only 46, or maybe even 48. In fairness to the popular account, however, I can assure the baffled reader that on the night the raid was launched it was indeed snowing".

"By 1701 the 60-year-old-Kira Yoshihisa had served successive Shoguns as a loyal and utterly reliable master of court ceremonies for about 40 years. It was a role that required minute precision to detail and the ability to organize with clockwork precision. A man in that position, one can safely assume, did not suffer fools gladly. When faced, therefore, with having to instruct in etiquette a young daimyo to whom court ceremonial was much less interesting than court ladies, and a man who appeared ignorant of the most basic learning and yet enjoyed an income 11 times greater than his stuffy old teacher, Yoshihisa's self-control was to be tested to the limit".

(about Asano) "The main means of promotion among his retainers appeared to be their success in obtaining women for him. He was surrounded by flatterers and toadies. These flatterers and toadies included, of course, the future Forty-seven Ronin".

"...the population who lived in the gaudy world of Genroku craved a more direct heroism of a bygone age. If Kira Yoshihisa represented anything at all to them, it was the ordered, compassionate, legalistic and very boring world of the Shogun Tsunayoshi, not the exciting world of the sword-wielding samurai. To embrace this world the public had to ignore deceit, deception and a callous massacre, and, by creating a demand for the enduring myth of the Forty-Seven Ronin, ignore it they did".

Bravo! For all that, Turnbull keeps his tone as neutral as possible, never vilifying the Ronin needlessly or downplaying their well organized and carried out assault. He's not pursuing any sort of agenda and it makes for a fair and balanced presentation of the facts.

We found the section of the book dealing with the '17 Loyal Retainers of Lord Kira' to be the most intriguing (these being the 17 people killed by the Ronin during the raid). Contrary to what many Japanese sources state, it seems that Kira had 14 armed guards in the mansion on the night of the assault (not the 3-5 that are usually given). This changes the perception of the raid quite a bit-rather than a nine to one advantage in numbers, the Ronin instead appear to have enjoyed only a three to one superiority (and also means that they only killed three civilians, not the nine or so they are usually blamed for). Turnbull does an excellent job of backing up his statement, examining Kira's stipend and breaking it down into the composition of the troops the Bakufu would expect him to provide. The final tally matches almost perfectly with the numbers seen at the Kira mansion on the night of the raid. Turnbull also examines the 17 names given on the memorial to Kira's retainers at the former site of his mansion in Matsusaka Park in Tokyo, where it's shown that 14 are samurai. It's excellent work and Turnbull is to be commended for it.

The book is rounded out by a short examination of the Ronin in art and literature, a guide to the sites and memorials associated with the raid, and suggestions for further reading. The cottage industry that the Ronin have become (second perhaps only to the 'Bum of Tosa', Sakamoto Ryoma) is borne out in a photo of a souvenir shop loaded to the rafters with 47 Ronin items.

There are a few minor issues with the book. For example, Turnbull states that the Ronin committed ritual suicide, whereas (except for one) they were all beheaded BEFORE beginning the act. There are also the typical editing and spelling problems that Turnbull's books are notorious for. I'm sure there will be other minor issues that will crop up when we subject the book to an in-depth reading, but considering its overall excellence and copious new information, these are just small blemishes.

However, not all the latest Turnbull/Ronin news is encouraging. It should be noted that according to an interview on the University of Leeds site, Turnbull acted as the historical consultant on the upcoming Keanu Reeves version of the 47 Ronin story being filmed in Hollywood. According to Turnbull, "I've was asked to be historical adviser on a new film that's being made starring Keanu Reeves. The producers wanted it to be as historically and culturally accurate as possible, so they consulted me - which was incredibly exciting!"

This 'historically and culturally accurate' film will also be including 'computer generated fantastic creatures'. And the sad thing is, the fantastic creatures will likely be far more historically accurate than the film's portrayal of the 47 Ronin story.

And speaking of 'fantastic creatures based on beasts', we decided to put the book to its ultimate test. Cracking open the chained door of the Samurai Archives fruit cellar a couple of inches, we tossed down a copy. Down below, we heard the bellow of disbelief from the imprisoned 47 Ronin cultists, followed shortly by the chaos of their death throes. Mission accomplished!

In our opinion this is far and away Turnbull's best book to date with the possible exception of "The Kakure Kirishitan of Japan". It immediately becomes the best English language book on the 47 Ronin (it should be noted that the West's preeminent scholar on the Ako Ronin, Henry Smith, has yet to author a book on the subject). Given Turnbull's following in pop culture history, it's no exaggeration that with this single work he may have slain the 47 Ronin-or at least the legend that for far too long has been accepted as fact. While it will take years to fully be relegated to the realm of fiction and fantasy, Turnbull has taken the first steps towards introducing the real story to the world of non-academia. Since it's a revelation that many of his readers might be highly resistant to and might cost him a few of them, it was a bold move. With the steady improvement of his work over the past five years and his increasingly ambitious research ethic, one hopes that THIS is the Stephen Turnbull we continue to see.  Be sure to pick up your copy at the Samurai Archives Bookstore, powered by Amazon.com.

Defenders, Victims, Avengers: Turnbull's "Samurai Women"

While the female warrior is a staple of chanbara films, manga, and anime, there's very little in the way of books that examine the role of women in Japanese warrior society (particularly in English). The ever prolific Stephen Turnbull has addressed this shortage with his newest effort "Samurai Women 1184-1877" (which despite the title actually covers the period from 170 to 1877). Whether in their capacity as castle defenders, victims of warfare, or avengers pursuing a vendetta, Turnbull examines the impact that women had upon the violent world of the samurai.

We'll go over the book's shortcomings first since we'd like to end on a positive note. Simply using the term ‘samurai’ with ‘women’ casts Turnbull in a bad light-it seems he’s unaware that the Japanese use ‘samurai’ as a gender specific term that can only be applied to males (those who want the details can read about it here). Onnamusha, buke women, and other terms would be more appropriate here. While I would have to reread the book to be 100% positive, I believe Turnbull never explains that 'Gozen' is not a proper name but rather just another word for 'woman' or 'lady'. This might puzzle some readers who will come away thinking that virtually all the female warriors of yore shared the same given name!

The careless errors that crop up on a regular basis in Turnbull’s other books waste no time in showing up in Samurai Women. For example, he devotes two lines in the main text to Hosokawa Gracia (possibly the best known ‘samurai woman’ in the west besides Tomoe Gozen). One is a picture caption, one is in the main text-and he gets them both wrong. The caption reads “Hosokawa Gracia is revered for the fidelity that she showed to her Christian faith in spite of the initial opposition from her husband, and later his disgrace and death”. As Hosokawa Tadaoki outlived Gracia by several decades, it appears Turnbull instead is thinking not of her husband but her father Akechi Mitsuhide (who of course was labeled as a traitor and disgraced for his attack on Oda Nobunaga and his subsequent death at the hands of peasants). The selection in the main text reads “This was Hosokawa Gracia, the staunchly Christian wife of Hosokawa Yusai”-but of course, her husband was Hosokawa Tadaoki with Yusai being his father. These are the types of errors that make one speculate if Turnbull actually proofreads his work or even has someone else glance over his manuscript for accuracy.

Turnbull’s tendency to be highly uncritical of his sources and accepting Edo period and earlier legends at face value is on full display as well. Nowhere is it mentioned that most Japanese historians consider celebrated female warrior Tomoe Gozen to have been nothing more than a legend. She appears in no contemporary documents, histories such as the Azuma Kagami, the records of the Wada family, or in the registers of the temples she was alleged to have joined late in life. He fails to mention that the Genpei Seisuki (the basis for the story of Tomoe becoming Wada Yoshimori’s concubine) is an ‘expanded version’ of the Heike Monogatari with many fictional elements added. Instead, it appears Tomoe was birthed in the Heike Monogatari through the efforts of pro-Minamoto/Hojo historians to discredit Kiso Yoshinaka. In many subtle ways the Heike chroniclers cast aspersions on his fitness to rule, ranging from referring to him as ‘Kiso’ rather than ‘Minamoto’ to always depicting him in the company of women (the story even has Kiso remarking that to die in the company of a woman would be dishonorable). Elizabeth Oyler has a fascinating examination of this in her book ‘Swords, Oaths, and Prophetic Visions’ for those who wish to learn more. Similarly, the story of Akechi Mitushide’s mother being killed by Hatano samurai after Oda Nobunaga breached their agreement with Mitsuhide is presented as fact. Instead, this appears to have no basis in reality and was first seen in an Edo period play as an attempt to explain Mitsuhide’s motivation for turning traitor. There are records of her surviving past 1574 (the supposed year of the incident) along with letters written to and by her. There’s more along these lines, but these examples should suffice.

It’s also odd that Turnbull neglects several of the more dramatic episodes involving ‘samurai women’. Although it’s mentioned that the ‘Satsuma rebels under Saigo Takamori had a few women in their ranks’ (during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877), the many contemporary accounts of large groups of them fighting at the siege of Kumamoto castle are ignored (we would have been interested in reading more about this, since there seems to be a question about whose side they actually fought on). Tachibaba Ginchyo’s defiance of Kato Kiyomasa during the Sekigahara campaign while she was a nun is depicted, but Turnbull fails to mention that she was unique in Japanese history. Ginchyo was the only female daimyo lord in Japanese history, being installed in that position by her father who lacked a male heir (she lost this position to her husband Muneshige after their marriage-and Muneshige later divorced her. Talk about ingratitude!). Several short accounts of ‘female horsemen’ in the full version of the Taiheiki are not brought up. Another of Kiso Yoshinaka’s attendants who supposedly fought and died at the decisive battle of Kurikara, Aoi Gozen, isn’t examined. As noted earlier Hosokawa Gracia rates barely a mention. Even some recent archaeological discoveries that could have an important bearing on the role of women in combat are brought up only in passing (such as excavations at head mounds located near battlefields that contain approximately 33% female heads according to DNA testing). We would have liked to have seen much more done with the latter (even if only referencing a source), as this has the potential to redraw the parameters of the female warrior.

Finally, in an effort to get the maximum drama from his subject, Turnbull engages in some rather baseless speculation both in the body of the text and in his interpretation of certain images. For example, he states that "the samurai woman as a fighting warrior, by contrast, appears to be virtually non-existent" and follows that by stating "they...allow us to regard the exploits of female warriors as the greatest untold story in samurai history". However, given that Turnbull is unable to find enough material to fill the approximately 32 pages of text in the book with the exploits of warrior women, it seems the 'female warrior' (at least on the open battlefield) must still be considered largely a myth. This is a theme Turnbull comes back to again and again, but he fails to provide evidence to back it up. For example, the best he can do for contemporary images of 'female warriors' are a woodblock from 'Hojo Godaiki' and 'Boki Ekotoba' (a picture scroll from 1351). The woodblock shows 'trophy heads' lined up after the Hojo capture of Fukane castle, and Turnbull claims several of the heads appear to be female. He doesn't identify which heads he has in mind, but the ones he might be thinking are female clearly have the hairstyles of male pages. Turnbull also states that a figure seen in the Boki Ekotoba scroll is likely a woman because "the features are very feminine with rouged cheeks and painted eyebrows, and by comparison the faces of all the other characters are coarse and masculine". Well, not really-all of the characters display rouged cheeks and painted looking eyebrows. The figure appears to be a youth or page (Turnbull does list this as being possible), with the only real facial differences being that he still has all his hair (not having yet taken vows) while the other monks have shaven heads.

Now let's move on to the book's strong points. Turnbull does a good job of providing background on the important roles that women played both in the political (both in marriage politics and working behind the scenes) and economic (by managing the estates and affairs of a samurai household) realms. These were women like Hojo Masako, Minamoto no Yoritomo's wife who was as feared and ruthless as any male leader of the time. Many of the early female Emperors are mentioned, including the mythical Empress Jingu (who may or may not have existed) who was said to have led an army that conquered Korea around the start of the third century AD. Another early female leader, Himiko (mentioned in a Chinese account in 297) is also examined.

By far the most impressive section of the book is where Turnbull examines the role women played in castle sieges. This is where virtually every reliable account of women participating in warfare comes from. Women were routinely left in charge of the defense of castles while their lords were away, and even took an active part in the action when their husbands were present. Turnbull has well-documented instances from Hangaku Gozen's defense of Torisaka Castle in 1201 to the woman of the Joshigun at the siege of Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle in 1868. While women generally performed support duties such as extinguishing fires, loading guns, making bullets, cooking food, caring for the wounded, and even preparing trophy heads for viewing, there are many accounts of them taking up arms and even sallying forth from the castle to confront the enemy. A common theme is that of a woman who would don her husband's armor to inspire the troops, in effect 'standing in' for the lord. Some of the accounts are comical and heartbreakingly tragic at the same time, such as occurred at Tsuneyama Castle in 1577. Led by Ueno Tsuruhime of the Mimura, a group of 34 women charged out of the castle and attempted to engage the besieging Mori troops in conflict. However, the Mori samurai refused to kill women and tenaciously avoided combat, frustrating the women who returned to the castle and committed mass suicide. A much different result was to be found at Aizu Wakamatsu in 1868. Nakano Takeko and a large group of women left the castle and charged into the lines of the new Imperial army. While the Imperialists instructed their men to take the women alive (likely more for some nefarious purpose than out of compassion), the women had no such compunction, slaughtering many of the Imperial troops before most of them were gunned down. There are many other excellent accounts such as at Imayama in 1570, Tsurusaki in 1586, Hondo in 1589-90, Omori in 1599 (where women operated a catapult), several actions during the Sekigahara campaign of 1600, and more. Perhaps our favorite account was of Yamamoto Yaeko, who was the daughter of an Aizu gunnery instructor and who replaced him when he was killed during the fighting in 1868. Brandishing a brand new Sharps repeating rifle, she not only fought with the men but also survived the battle, living to found Doshisha University in Kyoto. Perhaps Turnbull's greatest strength is his ability to bring to life the legends of long ago, and this is some of his best work in that area.

There's also an intriguing 'battlefield' account of Sengoku period female warrior Tsuruhime of Omishima (no relation to the Tsuruhime mentioned above). Tsuruhime's exploits against the Ouchi around 1541 (both on land and on the sea) are perhaps the only reliable accounts in Japanese history of a woman participating in open field battle. Oddly enough, Tsuruhime wasn't even a member of the buke class-rather, she was a shrine maiden who proclaimed herself the avatar of Mishima Myojin. The high point of her career came when she boarded the flagship of Ouchi general Obara Nakatsukasa No Jo and cut him down. Turnbull includes an image of the altered armor that is attributed to Tsuruhime and that is still housed in the Oyamazumi Shrine.

Turnbull fills out his accounts by relating many of the atrocities suffered by women as victims of war, with some particularly grisly accounts of them being pierced through the hands, tied to ships, and used as human shields by the Mongols during their invasion of Japan in 1274. Threats of mass suicide were also commonly used by women against invaders-one wouldn't think that would be much of a deterrent, but the courage showed by the women sometimes impressed the invaders enough so that they would abandon their assault out of respect. He also brings up sanctioned Edo period vendettas-out of 100 recorded vendettas, 14 were carried out by women. One of these is examined in detail, showing how the two daughters of a farmer, Miyagino and Shinobu, killed the samurai who had murdered their father. While their story has been greatly embellished over the years ala the 47 Ronin, they used a naginata along with a chain and sickle to dispatch their foe. It's also interesting that the only instance during the Edo period where a 'retainer' took revenge for their 'lord' (besides the fabled Ronin) involved a lady-in-waiting who killed a woman that had forced her lady into suicide.

About half of the 64 page book is devoted to photos, reproductions of woodblock prints, portraits, and also some excellent plates by artist Giuseppe Rava. In our opinion, Rava's plates are among the best ones seen in Osprey's Japanese samurai history line-they're quite dynamic and don't 'glamorize' their subjects by making them look like schoolgirl teen idols. Turnbull's images are quite good, showing statues and museum pieces as well as woodblocks and scrolls. Unfortunately, there are errors and exaggerations here too. Turnbull identifies a photo of a woman playing a hand drum to accompany Oda Nobunaga's performance of 'Atsumori' before the battle of Okehazama as 'a servant girl' when in fact it's his wife Nohime. There are the spurious identifications mentioned in a prior paragraph. One of Rava's plates shows Hangaku Gozen charging out of Torisaka Castle on horseback slashing her way through a group of foot retainers, but the Azuma Kagami states that she remained inside the castle throughout the siege until felled by an enemy arrow. It sure looks great, though!

"Samurai Women", despite Turnbull's hyperbole, does little to change the model of Japanese female warriors that has developed over the years. In short, there's virtually no reliable evidence that women were professional soldiers or standing troops in a regular army. However, when it came time to defend the homelands in the form of castle sieges, they routinely became an active part of the defenses. While they usually joined servants and children in support services, there are many records of them taking a more direct role in the fighting-and by all accounts, acquitted themselves well in both roles. Women (both of the buke and commoner classes) also were involved in a large percentage of vendettas during the Edo period, proving that they didn't shy away from conflict when it was called for. Finally, during the closing days of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the shifting boundaries between classes and gender roles gave women the opportunity to become more active in many fields, including warfare. However, the new Meiji government reversed many of these gains and restricted their new conscript army to males.

So, in the final analysis, is Turnbull's book worth a read? Yes, it is. Despite the grab bag of errors and speculation, the positives outweigh the negatives-and like many of Turnbull's books, it's regrettably the only work in English on the subject. Many of the accounts will be new to Western readers and his bibliography will give many new directions to explore. As always, Turnbull's selection of pictures is excellent and the color plates are among the best done for an Osprey 'samurai' book. And what the heck-it's less than $13. It's a small price to pay to learn about the women who defended their homes, were victimized by war, and who avenged the deaths of their families. While it isn't quite "the greatest untold story in samurai history", it certainly ranks with the more interesting ones-and merits further study.

Stephen Turnbull's "Strongholds of the Samurai: Japanese Castles 250-1877"

While as one would expect, books on Japanese castles are legion in Japan, there's been a dearth of works on the subject in English. Other than Schmorleitz's 'Castles In Japan' (which contains much outdated and erroneous information) and Mitchelhill's 'Castles of the Samurai: Power and Beauty' (which focuses on the value of the castles as an architectural and art form), only the odd tourist pamphlet or Japanese book translated into English (usually badly) has brought these uniquely Japanese structures to the attention of Westerners. Stephen Turnbull's latest release from Osprey Publishing, 'Strongholds of the Samurai: Japanese Castles 250-1877', goes a long way towards correcting this situation. 'Strongholds of the Samurai' collects Turnbull's four prior Osprey books dealing with Japanese castles-'Japanese Castles 1540-1640', 'Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries AD 710-1062', 'Japanese Castles in Korea 1592-1598', and 'Japanese Castles AD 250-1540'. Each of the four works was valuable in its own way, and as a collected volume becomes a valuable reference work and a great value.

Turnbull has taken the opportunity to correct some of the errors in the original publications, as well as presenting updated information (such as the recent demolition of the Fujimi Castle ferro-concrete reproduction south of Kyoto). A page by page comparison of the new volume with the original books reveals that the text has indeed been revised and modified-some sections of text have been excised (to avoid covering the same ground twice) and new text has been added in spots, such as an account of the Battle Of Ueno during 1868 that is new to the 'Fortified Temple' section and some new information on the operational history of castles in the Bakumatsu/Meiji era. There's also a new eight page introduction and timeline along with a four page conclusion. The biggest difference between the current collected volume and the original books lies in the photos. Many of the photos have been resized or replaced with completely new ones-many of the old black and white photos are now in color as well (with many of the color ones now being black and white). This is most noticeable in the chapter dealing with Japanese castles 1540-1877-the majority of the photos seem to be brand new. All of Peter Dennis's excellent color plates have been left in, albeit at a reduced size. Dennis is one of Osprey's better illustrators and is exceptionally well suited to the topic of castles. One minor criticism of the book has to do with the sequencing of the chapters-it would perhaps have been better to have led off with the two volumes on Japanese castles, followed by the Korean wajo and then the fortified temples and monasteries. As it stands now, the fortified temple volume is located between the two dealing with Japanese castles. Production value on the book is high, with an attractive dust cover featuring Shizugatake Castle taken from a painted screen in the Osaka Castle Museum. Paper stock is thick and most of the book's 270 pages have at least one visual aid, all of which are in sharp focus or reproduction.

Part 1, Japanese Castles 250-1540, is valuable for what it tells us about early Japanese fortifications. Turnbull uses photos of modern reconstructions and models along with illustrations from period war tales to show us how the early yamashiro (mountain castles) differed from the monster castles of the late Sengoku and Edo periods. Very little of this information has appeared in English (most of it in volumes examining the Taihei-ki or Shomon-ki). From the earliest fortified enclosures of the Yamato state, the fortresses in Dewa and Mutsu erected to defend against the Emishi, the Heian strongholds of the Fujiwara in Hiraizumi, the moated earthworks and walls intended to hold back the Mongol invasions, the mountain redoubts of Kusunoki Masashige, to the early Sengoku yamashiro that presaged the age of the monster castle, Turnbull examines each in detail. Construction methods are explained along with case studies involving how the structures performed when put to the test in battle. Day to day life inside the structure is also explored. There are copious, well thought out maps that show the majority of the locations being talked about and further classifies many by faction and date (the maps being a feature common to every chapter). While there's much to cover here (both in terms of timeline and territory), it's an excellent introduction to the neglected area of early Japanese fortifications.

The book's second part, Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries 710-1602, does much the same for the Sengoku era fortified 'temple towns' of the Ikko-ikki (best represented by Ishiyama Hongan-ji) as well as the temples of the so called warrior monks or 'akuso' (most famously, the temple complex at Mt. Hiei that was destroyed by Oda Nobunaga). Perhaps the most valuable achievement of this chapter lies in delineating the differences between the two factions and how they were reflected both in their social structure and fortification/architecture of each. Again, photos of modern reconstructions and models bring the text alive for the reader. There's much more emphasis in this chapter on the history and development of individual structures (since many of them were well documented or survive to this day) along with how the differing religious philosophies influenced their construction. For example, the Tendai monks of Mt. Hiei rarely built anything in the way of permanent fortifications, trusting that the fear of the gods and kami they could bring to bear upon the superstitious populace would safeguard their complexes from attack. When taken in conjunction with books such as Tsang's 'War and Faith' (a groundbreaking treatment of the Ikko-ikki) or Adolphson's 'Teeth and Claws of the Buddha' (the authoritative volume on monastic warriors), the reader will get a true picture of how the armed religious factions of Japan lived, fought, and worshipped.

The third part, Japanese Castles 1540-1877, has obviously had its scope expanded to include the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras. This is the era of Japanese castles most readers will be familiar with, as it deals with the majority of the surviving structures in Japan. There's much in the way of construction detail, especially in the engineering involved with erecting the massive stone walls and bases many of these structures featured. While it doesn't have the historical details of Schmorleitz's 'Castles In Japan' , there are operational studies showing some of the more famous sieges and also detailing how castle design was influenced by the advent of the arquebus and artillery. Turnbull also points out a common misconception-that a castle keep never doubled as a palace for its owner. While rare, the larger castles (such as Azuchi and Osaka, along with smaller ones like Inuyama) had keeps that served as a palace for their owners. Diagrams showing how castles were laid out to channel invaders along with cross sections of keeps help to demonstrate why these structures proved to be so difficult to attack. This chapter also features by far the largest amount of new photographs. In Turnbull's extensive 'Visiting the Fortifications Today' section at the rear of the book, there's also quite a bit more information found on many of the original existing structures as well as modern reproductions. As a whole, however, the section still leaves the reader feeling that it's only scratched the surface, and that there's much more to be said on the subject of the Sengoku and Edo period castle. Perhaps this will be territory for Turnbull to explore in the future.

Finally, Part 4, Japanese Castles In Korea 1592-98 is perhaps the crown jewel of the entire book. The limited timeframe and location allows Turnbull to go into an incredible amount of detail. This is Turnbull at his best-when he limits his scope and focuses his subject matter, which seems to be the direction his upcoming Osprey releases are taking. Every wajo (the name given to Japanese style fortifications built in Korea during Hideyoshi's Korean invasions of 1592 and 1598) receives a detailed history giving its construction details, dates, operational history, and layout. Many of them also have topographical maps. Each of the 30 sites receives extensive photo coverage, and although none have been reconstructed (due to the ongoing political acrimony between Korea and Japan), one can get a real feel for why not a single one of the wajo ever fell to a Chinese or Korean assault. The accounts of their efforts to do so are among the high points of the book, with the siege of Ulsan in 1598 being particularly noteworthy. There's also an interesting bit on the wajo as economic center with rudimentary 'castle towns' growing up around them, populated by Koreans eager to resume a somewhat normal life.

Overall, 'Strongholds of the Samurai' is an excellent compilation, giving a detailed overview of the development of Japanese fortifications throughout time, social classes, and different countries. At less than half the price of two of the original works, it's also a great value. An attractive volume, it's loaded with photos, prints, color plates, maps, and artwork. The majority of the information given in three of the four chapters has never been seen in English, and author Turnbull is still among the best when it comes to bringing the old legends and stories of Japan to life for the reader. It's a winner-an absolute no-brainer of a purchase if you're missing any of the original volumes, and even has much to recommend it to those who have all four.

Strongholds of the Samurai can be purchased from Amazon through the SA Store here.

More Turnbull: Japanese Castles AD 250-1540

Well, Stephen Turnbull is nothing if not prolific. Only a week or so after the release of his latest book (The Samurai Swordsman: Master of War), he’s hit the stands with another tome-Japanese Castles AD 250-1540. It’s published by Osprey and despite its brevity (the standard Osprey 64 pages, over half of which are diagrams and illustrations) is an excellent effort by Turnbull.

The book delves into the history of Japanese fortifications before the age of the monster castles in the sixteenth century, a subject which has received little attention in English publications (since, obviously, only ruins and reconstructions remain of them). Despite the book’s title, it examines palaces and defensive works as well as castles. The development of fortifications is traced from early Yayoi period fortified settlements through Korean style fortresses of the Yamato state and the crude early Japanese style forts of the Heian age. Castles from the Kamakura and Muromachi periods are examined, and their development is brought up to the beginning of the ‘castle town’ era of the Sengoku (as embodied in the Asakura’s Ichijodani). Turnbull also examines the day to day life within the structures as well as the roles that some played in history. There’s also a short section on castle sites from these eras that can be visited today. Although Turnbull’s bibliography only contains one Japanese source, the English works he uses are impressive, solid, scholarly efforts by well respected authors. Our pal Obenjo Kusanosuke will no doubt want to check out Matsui Akira’s “Palaeoparasitology in Japan-Discovery of Toilet Features”!

The book is also valuable for its plethora of photos and illustrations. Turnbull has taken many nice photos of buildings and structures from reconstructed fortresses, and the book works well as an informal visual reference to the architecture of the times-well worth the cheap cover price just for this. The color artwork plates have been prepared by illustrator Peter Dennis, and are very well done, crisp renditions of the structures as they would have appeared in their own time. They’re a big upgrade over some of the rather murky representations done in some of Turnbull’s other books by different artists.

Overall, Japanese Castles AD 250-1540 continues the trend Turnbull has displayed the last couple of years-that of better and more detailed research resulting in more original works, yet still suited to a general readership. Combined with his three earlier volumes on Sengoku and Edo period castles (Japanese Castles 1540-1640), Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries, and Japanese Castles in Korea 1592-1598, they comprise a low cost set of books that will give their readers a solid overview of pre-modern Japanese fortifications.

In more Turnbull news, it's been announced that he is releasing Real Ninja: Over 20 True Stories of Seafaring Sculduggery in September for the kids. Seemingly a combination of ninja and pirates, it looks like REAL ULTIMATE POWER is being served up for the next generation of Japanese historians.