Tales of Enshin, the Reluctant Samurai
Stories of Old Japan. Book 2
Roald Knutsen
9781898823032
246 pages
Amsterdam University Press
Overview
Torii Enshin was the son of a high-ranking warrior in the late-fifteenth century and a skilled swordsman. He was disturbed at the sad lives of the common people and became a priest. He intended to devote his life to healing the poor who suffered everywhere in war-torn Japan. But then found himself reluctantly having to use his samurai skills once again… These short stories, drawn from his own accounts, follow Enshin and his faithful companion, Kuroi-san (or Mr Black), a black ox, and later both joined by a former carpenter who served Enshin’s father. Together, the three wander across Japan, their adventures presenting a fascinating picture of life at a number of levels in the centuries of unrest before the Tokugawa at the beginning of the sixteenth century subjected the country to their iron grip.
Author Bio
Roald Knutsen, born of Anglo-Norwegian parents, has combined a successful career in advertising and occasional film design with more than fifty years study both in the UK and Japan with traditional Kendo, Iai-jutsu, and So-jutsu, holding high rank in the first two. He has written several books on the historical cultural background of the Martial Arts. He co-authored a study of Japanese spears with his wife, also holding high rank in Kendo.
