The following tales of the samurai, the knights of old Japan, are based
largely on real facts. They have been adapted from among traditional
stories related by _kōdanshi_, story-tellers, who nightly delight
large audiences with romances and historical stories, especially the
noble deeds of the samurai. There are also numerous Japanese books and
magazines devoted to stories of this description, which are read with
keen interest by all classes of our countrymen, in particular by young
people.
It is true the samurai class has gone forever along with feudalism;
but fortunately or unfortunately the Japanese at large are samurai
in a sense. During the last half century European civilization has
revolutionized Japanese society, both for better and for worse. In
institutions political and social, in manners and customs, in arts
and literature, the Japanese have lost many of their characteristics;
yet it may safely be said that the sentiments, motives and moral
principles of the samurai in some measure remain in the bedrock of
their character in their subconsciousness, so to speak. The Japanese of
to-day are intellectually almost cosmopolitans, but emotionally they
are still samurai to no small degree.
Honest Kyūsuké, the hero of the story of the same title, was not a
samurai, but his principles were those of a samurai. Let that justify
the inclusion of the story in this volume.
The author’s hearty thanks are due to Mr. Joyen Momokawa, a celebrated
_kōdanshi_, who kindly helped him in the choice of these tales, and
also to the editor of the _Kōdan Kurabu_ for permission to translate
_Katsuno’s Revenge_, one of his stories.
A. Miyamori.
Tokio, December, 1920.