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USAGI YOJIMBO LETTERS COLUMN
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STORY NOTES Master Zhaozhou (or Joshu in Japanese) was one of the most eminent teachers in the history of Buddhism. He spent much of his life in China searching for spiritual teachers and, at the age of 80, arrived at Beilin Temple, where he lived the rest of his life. Zhaozhou is noted for his ability to express the enlightened mind in a pithy manner with his teachings of “extraordinary ordinariness.” In a typical lesson, a monk newly arrived to the temple asked Zhaozhou to teach him. The Master asked if he had eaten his morning gruel. The student replied that he had. Zhaozhou then said, “Go wash out your bowl.” Zhaozhou dies in 897 A.D. at the age of 120. His lessons are included in most Koan anthologies, even today. Beilin Temple is regarded as one of the most sacred sites of Zen Buddhism. Fukurokuju is one of the Shichifukujin, or Seven Gods of Luck. They can be seen in paintings or carved into statues or made into ornaments and toys either singly or in group. The Buddhist priest Tenkai taught that nobility consists of seven virtues: longevity, fortune, popularity, candor, amiability, dignity, and magnanimity. Fukurokuju represents longevity and also wisdom. He is recognizable by his high-domed head and very short body. He carries a staff on which is tied a makimono (scroll) that gives the life limits to all persons. He sometimes has a companion stork, a symbol of long life. In his early life, he was a Chinese philosopher and prophet. Much of the lessons on Zen came from Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness, adapted and illustrated by Tsi Chih Chung, translated by Brian Bruya (New York: Doubleday 1994). This is a very novice-friendly cartoon book explaining Zen through its teachings. Additional research came from Quaint Customs and Manner of Japan by Mock Joya (Tokyo: The Tokyo News Service, Ltd. 1951). |
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Usagi Product News Stan Sakai and Dark Ages Miniatures - a division of Discount Hobby - are pleased to announce the first wave of official Usagi Yojimbo 35mm metal miniatures! Cast in a lead-free white metal, these figures are unpainted and are mounted on 20mm square bases. These figures are available now through your local comics retailer:
UYM-001: USAGI YOJIMBO, sculpted by Steve Lortz Suggested retail $5.00 U.S. each. Mail-in orders (with payment included) can be sent to:
Discount Hobby, Inc Order by fax at 1-269-969-0064. Be sure to include your credit card information, including expiration date, and full shipping address. Orders can be placed online through www.dragglestown.com and www.discounthobby.com. Both sites are operated by Dark Ages Miniatures, and both guarantee secure credit card transactions. PayPal.com orders are also accepted and must be made to JDLAUCK@aol.com. Dark Ages Miniatures confirms all orders via email. Allow 2-4 weeks for delivery. All overseas orders are shipped via Air Mail (be sure to include the flat $5.00 worldwide shipping charge with your total). Look for the next wave of six figures, scheduled for release in March 2003. Thanks to John Lauck, President of Dark Ages Miniatures, for all his help with this project. |
[The following (excellent!) letter was edited for length. Our apologies, Larry. - Shawna]
Dear Mr. Stan Sakai,
Before reading “Duel at Kitanoji,” I thought that I had more or less figured out what was going to happen. I honestly expected that both Nakamura Koji and Katsuichi-sensei would die as a result of the duel.
Well, you surprised me yet again. I had hoped that neither swordsman would “win,” since it would be a shame for either of these great characters to die. I suppose it was inevitable. Nakamura Koju had dedicated himself utterly to his Warrior Pilgrimage and to whatever end it would bring him.. His comment that Usagi is “not a true samurai” was intriguing. Technically speaking, neither was Koji a true samurai anymore, since he no longer served a master or taught as an instructor. After becoming a ronin, Usagi has dedicated himself to living up to the concept of samurai honor in a worldly way, i.e., his kindness and continual willingness to help others, as opposed to Nakamura Koji’s more traditional and insular pursuit of the ideas of bushido.
To be honest, I question Katsuichi-sensei’s decision to accept the duel. Here is a man who has always seemed to have so much wisdom and clarity about how to live in the world, i.e., “the best swords stay in their scabbards.” Katsuichi had previously stated that “the outside world holds no interest for me.” Why, then, did he feel he had to prove anything at all by fighting Koji? An odd choice for a man sensible enough not to fight unless it was absolutely necessary. Was honor really at stake? Or was it pridefulness? For both of these men, where did the difference lie?
Larry Hilf
85 Willowcrest Drive
Rochester, NY 14618
We may learn another reason Katsuichi left the mountain when he meets Usagi again.
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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.