The word Otokodaté occurs several times in these Tales; and as I
cannot convey its full meaning by a simple translation, I must
preserve it in the text, explaining it by the following note, taken
from the Japanese of a native scholar.
The Otokodaté were friendly associations of brave men bound together
by an obligation to stand by one another in weal or in woe, regardless
of their own lives, and without inquiring into one another's
antecedents. A bad man, however, having joined the Otokodaté must
forsake his evil ways; for their principle was to treat the oppressor
as an enemy, and to help the feeble as a father does his child. If
they had money, they gave it to those that had none, and their
charitable deeds won for them the respect of all men. The head of the
society was called its "Father"; if any of the others, who were his
apprentices, were homeless, they lived with the Father and served him,
paying him at the same time a small fee, in consideration of which, if
they fell sick or into misfortune, he took charge of them and assisted
them.
The Father of the Otokodaté pursued the calling of farming out coolies
to the Daimios and great personages for their journeys to and from
Yedo, and in return for this received from them rations in rice. He
had more influence with the lower classes even than the officials; and
if the coolies had struck work or refused to accompany a Daimio on his
journey, a word from the Father would produce as many men as might be
required. When Prince Tokugawa Iyémochi, the last but one of the
Shoguns, left Yedo for Kiôto, one Shimmon Tatsugorô, chief of the
Otokodaté, undertook the management of his journey, and some three or
four years ago was raised to the dignity of Hatamoto for many faithful
services. After the battle of Fushimi, and the abolition of the
Shogunate, he accompanied the last of the Shoguns in his retirement.
In old days there were also Otokodaté among the Hatamotos; this was
after the civil wars of the time of Iyéyasu, when, though the country
was at peace, the minds of men were still in a state of high
excitement, and could not be reconciled to the dulness of a state of
rest; it followed that broils and faction fights were continually
taking place among the young men of the Samurai class, and that those
who distinguished themselves by their personal strength and valour
were looked up to as captains. Leagues after the manner of those
existing among the German students were formed in different quarters
of the city, under various names, and used to fight for the honour of
victory. When the country became more thoroughly tranquil, the custom
of forming these leagues amongst gentlemen fell into disuse.
The past tense is used in speaking even of the Otokodaté of the lower
classes; for although they nominally exist, they have no longer the
power and importance which they enjoyed at the time to which these
stories belong. They then, like the 'prentices of Old London, played a
considerable part in the society of the great cities, and that man was
lucky, were he gentle Samurai or simple wardsman, who could claim the
Father of the Otokodaté for his friend.
The word, taken by itself, means a manly or plucky fellow.
* * * * *
Chôbei of Bandzuin was the chief of the Otokodaté of Yedo. He was
originally called Itarô, and was the son of a certain Rônin who lived
in the country. One day, when he was only ten years of age, he went
out with a playfellow to bathe in the river; and as the two were
playing they quarrelled over their game, and Itarô, seizing the other
boy, threw him into the river and drowned him.