Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai

by Kokichi Katsu

Book Overview

A series of picaresque adventures set against the backdrop of a Japan still closed off from the rest of the world, Musui's Story recounts the escapades of samurai Katsu Kokichi. As it depicts Katsu stealing, brawling, indulging in the pleasure quarters, and getting the better of authorities, it also provides a refreshing perspective on Japanese society, customs, economy, and human relationships. From childhood, Katsu was given to mischief. He ran...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816512566
• ISBN13: 9780816512560
• Release Date: July 1991
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

An Insightful Book

During the 1840s in Japan, Katsu Kokichi wrote his own life story in this book, which was translated into English by Teruko Craig. During the late period of the Tokugawa era, Katsu Kokichi came from a lower-class samurai family with a stipend of 100 koku of rice. Katsu became a rebel child during his earlier life and he has run into trouble numerous times throughout his lifetime. There are nine chapters in this book with the addition of Craig's introduction in which he gives the historical background of Katsu. Through the book, there is a moral insight on why samurai declined in the mid-1800s. By looking at Katsu's life and his surroundings in Tokugawa Japan, the role of samurai, how Katsu broke the code of samurai, why he behaved in dishonorable ways, and three small evidences for the decline of a samurai is analyzed. The role model of a samurai was to be on his best behavior, not commit any acts of crimes which would disgrace his lord or his family, and to show his loyalty to his shogun and to his emperor. The samurai would set an example for his offspring or for his students in which they would soon become better samurai and honorable warriors. The son of a samurai would go to school to take lessons to be an educated swordsman and a skilled horse rider. In Katsu's book, the commoners or a fellow samurai had respected, honored, and treated Katsu family fairly as a samurai after he became known for helping out a few people in the critical situations, which was part of a samurai's honorable ways. But, whether samurai does something unwise or disgraceful in his own personal time, he not only dishonored himself but to his entire family house. This is what happened with Katsu when he broke the code. With Katsu's lifestyle, breaking the code of a samurai is contemplated. Katsu's own lifestyle is different from other samurais because he had behaved badly and acts in an irresponsible way, as evident in this book. Judging from his actions and misdeeds, Katsu had cheated to get what he wanted. And, by judging his actions as a child would explained why he behaved in such dishonorable ways since he had shown that he does not want to learn his lessons at school and wanted to "have fun." Because he had issues at home and at school, Katsu developed a hatred and anger toward his fellow samurais and started getting into fights with them, which was not part of true lifestyle of a samurai. In some aspects of Katsu's behavior, he thought he was better than other samurais and became ignorant and shallow, which may have led to his failure of becoming a true honorable samurai and why he failed to hold government office post during his adult years. Through Katsu's experiences in this book, there were three notable evidences which may have led the samurai class to decline in the mid-19th century. These evidences included he wealth of the samurai, the tax money, and the corruption between the samurai and the peasants. When one analyzed these evidences in this book,

Record of a Scoundrel

Who writes an autobiography? Most people who write them are people of note, movers and shakers in their realms and time-periods, people with something to say. Rarely do we get to read the autobiography of a general loser, someone who is by no measure a good person, and someone completely beyond admiration. Welcome to Musui's world. Musui, also know as Katsu Kokichi, was a low-ranking samurai and general good-for-nothing who never thought beyond his immediate needs, and did his best to attain something for nothing when ever possible. He started out bad, as a schoolyard bully who used his status as a samurai to push around lower-ranking kids. The older he got, the worse he got, and all means to control him or teach him respect failed, including his father locking him in a cage and forcing him to read classic military treatise. He was eventually adopted off into another family, which brought along with it a bride and a meager salary. It was never enough to keep up with his habit of visiting prostitutes in the Yoshiwara pleasure districts, so he was soon a leader amongst the black market, working with local extortionists and hoodlums, selling swords and working every possible kind of confidence racket. Now, everything in this book should be taken with a grain of salt. Katsu was a grand liar with an enormous ego, who bluffed his way into money and out of trouble on a regular basis. His tales of his exemplary swordsmanship, his acts of kindness, his ability to drink bottle after bottle of sake without ever getting drunk, smacks as more wish-fulfillment than the true character of an unrepentant rouge. The translator, Teruko Craig, has added some notes on the accuracy of Katsu's tales, and surprisingly some of the most fantastic adventures are backed up by other sources. I suppose it is up to the reader to determine what is fact and what is fiction. Teruko Craig has worked a minor miracle with this translation. Because of Katsu's sketchy literacy, and limited vocabulary, he has had to pull out all the stops in making a readable text that still maintains the flavor of Katsu's way of writing. The result is a very enjoyable, readable book that brings a nice balance to the world of the samurai. We have all read of the honor and integrity. It is nice to have some of the Low along with the High.

A very important book.

Katsu Kokichi's autobiography shows the gritty, dark, realistic side of Tokugawa society. This samurai, who was always down on his luck, mostly because of his own rotten ideas and unethical actions, lied, cheated, stole and ran around with the riffraff of Edo. He ran away from home, twice, once at the age of 14 and once at the age of 21. The second time he was running away from his OWN household - his wife and his bills. He once lived as a begger, travelled a lot (well, ran away a lot) and learned a lot about how to get money without doing any real work. This book is important as a piece of first person history into the real lifes and people of the 19th Century Japan. It showed how many Samurai lived during the time of peace, trying to take odd jobs, make some money and still dress, act and give the impression of being warriors. A must for any history library.

Times may change but people rarely do

Sometimes we ask ourselves what life must have been like in other places and other times. This book is the most realistic examples of such an account I have ever read. The scenes are so comical and hilarious you feel sorry for the guy for all his misfortune but at the same time can't help laughing at the manner it which its presented. It reminds me a lot of Voltaire's Candide or in modern references a much older version of the Sopranos. If you get a chance read this book, you'll definitely find a lot of laughs and a plethora of timeless lessons of a hard life tucked beneath the surface.

Three Cheers for Japanese Humor

This book is one of the funniest I've ever read -- no joke. I was laughing in tears when Katsu fell from a cliff and injuried his genitals, and then his son almost died when his were bitten by a wild dog. Also, he was insulted once by a drunk Shinto priest, pleased the peasants by lying about their koku output, and locked in a cage by his own family for several years. In addition to the above humors, he was involved in numerous comical fights, such as one at a Shrine and another involving his entire neighborhood. Katsu, a low-ranking Samarai during the late-Tokugawa Era, was a man without the traditional Samarai ethical code. He worked in Edo's "redlight district," stole from family members, beat his wife, and insulted his nephews regarding their dead brother. Katsu was a skilled swordsman, however, having defeated countless enemies. Katsu learned to read and write at age 20, and the book reflects his low-level of literacy. He wrote it in recollection after having taken the religious name "Musui." Katsu died right before the Meji Restoration, so the book offers a good glimpse into a secluded Japan.