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This fully illustrated volume, including an eight-page colour-plate section, is the first in-depth study in English to examine the warrior and shamanic characteristics and significance of tengu in the martial art culture ( bugei ) of Muromachi Japan (1336-1573). According to Roald Knutsen, who is widely known for his writings on the samurai tradition, prompting his life-long study of tengu – the part-human, part-animal creatures – was the early discovery that the tengu of the Muromachi period were interacting with the deadly serious bugei masters teaching the arts of war. Here were beings who did not conform to the comic, goblin-like creatures of common folklore and were not the creations of the Buddhist priests intent on demonizing that which they did not understand and could not control. As this study shows, the part-hidden tengu under review passed on and taught the clearest theory of tactics and strategy to bushi of the highest calibre, the absorption and mastery of which often decided if the warrior and his clan lived or were annihilated on the all-too-frequent killing grounds of the Muromachi age. Tengu will be widely welcomed in many contexts including studies relating to martial arts, religion and folklore, shamanism and mythology, and the social and military history of Japan.

Tengu. --- Shamanism --- Martial arts --- Religions --- Long-nosed goblin --- Tengu (Japanese goblin) --- Fairies --- Ghouls and ogres --- History. --- Japan --- Social life and customs --- Nationalism --- World War, 1939-1945 --- Nationalisme --- 2ème guerre mondiale --- History --- Histoire --- Germany --- Japon --- Allemagne --- Foreign relations --- Relations extérieures

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For the first time, this study examines in depth how the medieval Japanese masters of Heiho - the Art of War - sought to interpret, illustrate and transmit the principles of China's time-honoured military strategist Sun-Tzu during possibly the most turbulent period of Japanese history, the war-torn Muromachi period (c. 1350 - 1575). In these two centuries a number of gifted warriors, steeped in the teachings of Sun-Tzu and the Chinese Military Classics, developed their own concepts of the arts of warfare, expressed in personal combat, to heights of formidable effectiveness. Rather than consider the weaknesses and strengths of the medieval military command structures, the author focuses instead on certain basic strategies still to be found in the upper levels of these individual masters' teachings, some of which have fortunately survived the five hundred or more years that have elapsed since these strategists passed away. Sun-Tzu's lasting legacy was encapsulated in one simple statement: 'All warfare is based on deception'. This volume, supported by a sixteen-page Plate Section, demonstrates how, and from where, some of these master swordsmen derived their unique understanding of these ancient teachings.

Military art and science --- History

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This is the first book in English to provide a fully illustrated guide to the use of polearms - ranging from the earliest halberds and spears reaching Japan from the Asian mainland to the sophisticated naginata, nagamaki and various forms of yari used by the Japanese samurai through the medieval period. While the sword remains the best known of Japanese weapons, it was the halberd (naginata) and then the yari that dominated the battlefields up to the early seventeenth century, and thereafter the yari became an important status symbol to many warrior families. Additionally, the authors focus on the actual method of use of these weapons, hitherto an almost unknown aspect in the West.

Spears --- Weapons --- History