Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai

by Don Cunningham

In Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai , author and judo second-dan Don Cunningham provides a fascinating introduction to the civil society of Edo-period (1603-1867) Japan—particularly the role played by the well-known warrior class, the samurai.

During the enforced peace of this era, many of the samurai were unemployed and had great difficulty earning a living. Some were even forced to join the lower classes—of merchants and chonin (commoners)—to get by. These circumstances redefined the part the samurai played in Japanese society, and challenged the traditional caste system.

Cunningham shows that the samurai were not, as commonly portrayed, always all-powerful mediators ruling the chonin through the power of their swords. During this period the samurai became a part of the complex system of Japanese law enforcement. Made up of samurai as well as machi-bugyo-sho (town magistrates), yoriki ("assistant" samurai), doshin (samurai patrol officers), komono (assistants), goyokiki (part-time police assistants) and okappiki (informants and spies)—this intricate structure mirrored the Japanese society of the day.

Taiho-Jutsu offers a detailed look at the weapons these law enforcement officers used—including the jutte (iron truncheon), tesson (iron fan), yori-bo (wooden staff), sodegarami (sleeve entangler), sasumata (spear fork), and torinawa (arresting ropes)—as well as a fascinating illustrated look at the techniques used to apprehend criminals. From kamae (stances) to parrying and striking and throwing techniques, these explanations demonstrate the practical techniques in Edo-period Japan.

Genres: Martial Arts, Japan

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Benjaminxjackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book for me for as variety of reasons.

First, the books describes fire fighters from medieval Japan and how they would climb up ladders and perform acrobatic stunts. I saw a demonstration of this while in Japan but didn't know what it was other than impressive, until a friend pointed out this book to me.

Second, I own a jutte that I bought on the same trip. This gave me some history about the weapon. One of the great things about the book is that the last section is descriptions of the actual techniques for using the weapon. I had some friends who were game, and we tried some of the techniques. They seem to work reasonably well, but they would require practice for proficiency.

While I enjoyed the book and found it a fast read, I think that a few updates would make it even better. First, a chart or table of the hierarchy of the Japanese police in the Edo era would have been a helpful reference as I was reading through the text. Second, there are some places where information is put in footnotes that would have been better in the text, such as the length of various weapons. Third, the description of who the Kimono were came after the first mention of them.

These are minor quibbles -- the editor in me coming out. Overall, I would recommend this book to people interested in Japanese history, law enforcement, and martial artists who are interested in a variety of techniques.

[Nathalie Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. To be honest, I purchased this as a resource for only a few scenes in my writing, but knew that it was a topic that would interest me. It's a great resource. I could have done with it being even longer perhaps, but really liked the martial arts diagrams.