The following survey of Japanese martial art literature, therefore, is of
necessity somewhat tentative. It concentrates on works from the Tokugawa
period (or before) that have been reprinted and/or influential during mod-
ern (i.e., post-1868) times. However influential a work might have been
during premodern periods, if it has been ignored by subsequent generations
it is omitted here. Even with this limitation, texts from several disparate
genres must be surveyed. Through theater, novels, cinema, and television
the image of the traditional Japanese warrior (a.k.a. samurai) has attained
mythic status (analogous to that of the cowboy or gunfighter of America’s
Old West). Insofar as contemporary practitioners and teachers of Japanese
martial arts consciously and unconsciously identify themselves with that
mythic image, texts depicting legendary warriors and their traits and ethos
constitute an indispensable part of Japanese martial art literature. In addi-
tion, the texts in which Tokugawa-period warriors analyzed their battlefield760 Written Texts: Japan
Early-fourteenth-century scroll fragment depicting the attack of the Kusonoki Masatsuras at the Battle of Rokuhara.
(Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY)