THE SAMURAI’S SIGNAL

by Charlie Kondek

      From the annals of the shogun’s detective, Inspector Nishimura, a matter most delicate and strange that took place during the Kyoho period (1716–1736).

     In a duel between the Swift Stroke school and the Eight Divine Weapons school, the Swift Stroke swordsman Takeshi Miura killed Kenji Imai—with a kiai, a martial shout, which some say can be developed so strongly in a warrior as to be deadly. Inspector Nishimura consulted the shogun’s personal bodyguard, who said:

     “The Swift Stroke school is commendable. It is said that the essence of its teaching is contained in the saying, ‘Before the last echo of a temple bell, you will have acted,’ which means a Swift Stroke swordsman like Miura maintains a clear, immovable mind that meets all circumstances decisively. Still, I do not believe he has the power to kill with a shout.”

     And yet, according to witnesses, that’s what happened. After a prolonged crossing of blades in which both men stared, unflinchingly, into each other’s eyes, excruciating minutes passed without an attack by either but by making tactical adjustments to their posture and the position of their blades. Their samurai swords were now lifted overhead, now lowered, now on the hip, now at the shoulder. Then, Miura suddenly released a battle cry that dropped Imai to the earth, dead. After thinking a while on what the bodyguard said, Inspector Nishimura consulted the shogun’s poisoner. The poisoner said:  

     “It is not possible to activate a poison with sound. If it were, Imai might have died in the street at the cry of a fishmonger. What’s more likely, if he was poisoned, was that it was timed to take effect at a specific interval—say, an hour from ingestion. Miura could have known that and timed his kiai so that it occurred at the same moment the poison stopped Imai’s heart. Did Imai eat or drink something that Miura observed, or which could have been reported to Miura?”

     In truth, no, for both swordsmen were sequestered behind red and white partitions in the hours leading up to the duel, which took place in a field at the edge of a town. Imai did engage in the tea ceremony beforehand, however, and could have been poisoned then. Spectators to the duel, which included villagers and passers-by, observed this—though Miura from behind his screen could not, and Imai’s seconds saw no person pass from their camp to Miura’s with this information. If Imai was poisoned as the shogun’s poisoner envisioned, someone in the crowd could only have passed this information to Miura during the prolonged minutes of the duel by signaling. But how?

     Once again, Inspector Nishimura and his staff interrogated the witnesses. They learned that three notable things happened among the spectators to the duel shortly before the fatal kiai. A traveler removed his conical hat and mopped his brow with a kerchief. A priest transferred his ornamented shakujo staff from one hand to the other, causing a gentle jingling of its iron rings. And a farmer lit his pipe, sending up a cloud of tobacco smoke. Sight, sound, scent. Could one of these have been the signal to Miura that Imai’s heart was about to give out? His assistant said, “Let’s arrest all three and torture them to extract a confession.”

     “No,” said Inspector Nishimura. “I know who to arrest.”

***

     Miura’s accomplice was disguised as the priest with the ringed staff. With his eyes fixed on his opponent, Miura couldn’t be sure he could see a signal, and if the wind shifted, he couldn’t be sure he could smell it. Besides, the essence of the Swift Stroke school is captured in the saying, “Before the last echo of the temple bell, you will have acted.” Miura used the sound of the rings to signal the moment to kiai.  

     Confronted with this, Miura’s accomplice confessed, and Miura was allowed to commit seppuku—ritual suicide.