Yagyū Shume was a Korean-born retainer who served the

Yagyū clan The were a family of ''daimyōs'' (feudal lords) with lands just outside Nara, Nara, Nara, who became the heads of one of Japan's greatest schools of swordsmanship, Yagyū Shinkage-ryū. The Yagyū were also Kenjutsu teachers to the Tokugawa sh ...

. Few records discuss his activity as a ''samurai''. However, he is known as a central figure of the feud of Yagyū clan between Yagyū domain line from

Yagyū Munenori was a Japanese daimyo, swordsman, and martial arts writer, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, which he learned from his father Yagyū "Sekishūsai" Muneyoshi. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the Tokugawa ...

and Owari domain line from Yagyū Toshitoshi.

Life

The ''Gyokuei Shui'' (玉栄拾遺), written by Hagiwara Nobuyuki, a retainer of Yagyū domain, in 1753 mentions that "According to tradition, Shume was the blood of

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

".白井、33頁 Furthermore, a Korean retainer of Yagyū, speculated to be Shune, was mentioned in ''Mimibukuro''(耳嚢), an essay and

kaidan is a Japanese language, Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative". Overall meaning and usage In its broadest sense ...

written by Negishi Jin'e in the late 18th century.白井、32-33頁 According to this source,

Takuan Sōhō was a Japanese Buddhist prelate during the Sengoku and early Edo Periods of Japanese history. He was a major figure in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Noted for his calligraphy, poetry, tea ceremony, he is also popularly credited with the in ...

visited the mansion of Yagyū Munenori, and he found that a Ge (Japanese version of

Gatha ''Gāthā'' is a Sanskrit term for 'song' or 'verse', especially referring to any poetic metre which is used in legends or folklores, and is not part of the Vedas but peculiar to either Epic Sanskrit or to Prakrit. The word is originally derived ...

) hung at the guardhouse. :"Fishes and dragons live in blue sea; Mountains and woods are houses of animals; However even in those 66 provinces of Japan; There is no place I settle down." Takuan says that "This is interesting poem, though the last verse was defective". A gatekeeper replies: "There is no defect. It's my poem". This man was actually Korean who fled from Joseon. Munenori heard about him from Takuan, and soon employed him as samurai of 200

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

This essay was written long after Shume's lifetime, and it is uncertain that this Korean man was actually Shume. According to the ''Gyokuei Shui'', Shume was a retainer of the Yagyū clan and married the sister of Toshitoshi through the efforts of Munenori. She had previously married Yamazaki Sōzaemon in

Iga province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today part of western Mie Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Iga" in . Its abbreviated name was . Iga is classified as one of the provinces of the T� ...

, but the marriage broke down and she returned to her hometown. Toshitoshi was reportedly incensed that his sister married a man of Korean descent and broke off relations with Munenori. According to『柳生藩旧記』(Yagyū han nikki, or Yagyū clan diary), Shume was originally named Sano Shume. This diary explained that Toshitoshi had become angry at the marriage because not only was Shume a foreigner, also a man Toshitoshi never met. Furthermore, Munenori allowed the marriage without consulting Toshitoshi. After this event, the Yagyū domain line and Owari domain line never made peace. However, this was not just because Shume married Toshitoshi's sister. Toshitoshi was the son of Munenori's elder brother, Toshikatsu and believed himself to be the true successor of the Yagyū clan. Shume died in 1651. He was buried in cemetery of Yagyū clan in Hōtokuji Temple.白井、34頁

References

* 白井伊佐牟「朝鮮人の柳生藩士柳生主馬と柳生家の人々」、『皇学館論叢』第41巻第1号、皇学館大学人文学会、2008年

Life

References

See also