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Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi
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Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi (1607?–April 21 1650) is one of the most famous and romanticized of the samurai in Japan's feudal era.
Very little is known about the actual life of Yagyu Mitsuyoshi as the official records of his life are very sparse. Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi (born "Shichiro") grew up in his family's ancestral lands, Yagyu no Sato, now in Nara. He was the son of Yagyu Tajima no Kami Munenori, master swordsman of the Tokugawa Shoguns, especially Ieyasu and Tokugawa Iemitsu, who prized Munenori as one of his top counselors.
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Encyclopedia
Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi (1607?–April 21 1650) is one of the most famous and romanticized of the samurai in Japan's feudal era.
Very little is known about the actual life of Yagyu Mitsuyoshi as the official records of his life are very sparse. Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi (born "Shichiro") grew up in his family's ancestral lands, Yagyu no Sato, now in Nara. He was the son of Yagyu Tajima no Kami Munenori, master swordsman of the Tokugawa Shoguns, especially Ieyasu and Tokugawa Iemitsu, who prized Munenori as one of his top counselors. Munenori fought for the first Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, at the Battle of Sekigahara, expanding the Shogun's territory. For his efforts, Munenori was made the Shogun's sword instructor and a minor daimyo or provincial ruler. Munenori would go on to train three successive Shoguns: Ieyasu, Hidetada, and Iemitsu.
In 1616, Mitsuyoshi became an attendant in the court of the second Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada and became a sword instructor for the third Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, occasionally filling his father's role. Records of Yagyu Jubei, however, do not appear again until 1631, when Jubei, by now regarded as the best swordsman from the Yagyu clan, is summarily and inexplicably dismissed by the Shogun either due to Jubei's boldness and brashness or his decision to embark on a Warrior's Pilgrimage (Musha Shugyo). His whereabouts are then unknown over the next twelve years--even the Yagyu clan's secret chronicles, which contained lengthy passages on numerous members, has little solid information on Jubei, particularly during these years--until Yagyu Jubei reappears at the age of 36 at a demonstration of swordsmanship in front of the Shogun. Following this exhibition, Jubei was reinstated and serves for a short time as a government-inspector (Gosho Inban), taking control over his father's lands until Yagyu Tajima no Kami Munenori's death in 1646. Jubei also authored a treatise known as Tsukimi no Sho or The Text of Looking at the Moon, outlining his school of swordsmanship as well as teachings influenced by the monk Takuan Soho who was a friend of his father's. In this work he briefly provides hints on his whereabouts during his absence from Edo Castle from 1631 to 1643 - traveling the countryside in perfecting his skills.
Due to Yagyu Jubei's disappearance and the fact of no existing records of his whereabouts, his life has bred speculation and interest and was romanticized in popular fiction. After residing in Edo for several years after his father's death, Jubei left his government duties and returned to his home village where he died in early 1650 under uncertain circumstances. Some accounts say he died of a heart attack; others say he died while falcon hunting; some during fishing, while still others presume he was assassinated by his half-brother's attendants.
Jubei was laid to rest in a small village called Ohkawahara Mura, nearby his birthplace, which was also the resting grounds for his half-brother, Yagyu Tomonori. In keeping with tradition, Yagyu Jubei was buried alongside his grandfather, Yagyu Muneyoshi, and was survived by two daughters and his brother Munefuyu, his successor. Jubei was given the Buddhist posthumous name of Sohgo.
Yagyu Jubei in Japanese pop culture
See Japanese historical people in popular culture.
The Eyepatch Legend
Legend has it that Yagyu Jubei had the use of only one eye; most legends state that he lost it in a sword sparring session where his father, Yagyu Munenori, struck him accidentally. However, portraits from Jubei's time portray him as having both eyes. The truth is unknown and several authors of recent have chosen to portray Jubei as having both eyes, though the classical "eyepatch" look remains standard. Others have chosen to have Jubei lose an eye as an adult in order to incorporate the eyepatch legend.
In popular culture, Jubei's eye patch is usually just a sword guard with leather wrapped through it. An alternate dramatization to this is found in the manga Samurai Legend, in which a swordsman is seen walking with a sword guard on his right eye, matching the popular culture image, while another character of similar stature follows behind. A group of samurai recognize the eye-patched man as Yagyu (Jubei) Mitsuyoshi, although this identity is not volunteered. This Jubei is literally disarmed five pages in, only for the two-eyed Yagyu Jubei following behind to reveal himself a second later. The fiction appears to imply that Yagyu Jubei is known through local reputation to have an eye-patch; hence his body double wore one to convince others that he is the real Jubei (even though the real Jubei has the use of both eyes). There is no further explanation in the story or by the author why the body-double has this eye patch or where this reputation came from. Near the middle of this manga, the real Jubei loses his right eye in a swordfight and for the final chapters, he wears an eye-patch. Another exception lies in Jubei-chan: The Ninja Girl, in which the eyepatch passed onto Jubei-chan is heart-shaped and pink.
Jubei has lost his eye in different ways in various media. In Samurai Reincarnation, his eye is lost in a training session with his father, Tajima. In Shogun's Samurai, it is lost when Ogasawara Gensinsai cuts through the door striking Jubei in the eye. However, in Yagyu Conspiracy, this is changed and his eye is now lost to an arrow shot by Noble Ayamaro Karasumasu and Ogasawara Gensinsai ends up only cutting Jubei's arm.
Jubei as a ninja
Although a samurai, Yagyu Jubei in popular culture is occasionally depicted with ninja traits; during the missing twelve years of his life, he could have been doing secret missions for the Shogun. Also, his family did come from the same region, Iga, as the ninja, and his father was known to have ties to the intelligence networks. Note, however, that Ninja Scroll, Ninja Resurrection, and Jubei-chan: The Ninja Girl do not show him as a ninja. The "ninja" in Ninja Scroll is about a different character; the other two series have had their title changed for American release and did not originally mention ninja.
One manga that more explicitly shows him as being proficient in ninjutsu is . The Y?M are his initials: Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi (as seen above, ju means "ten").
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