Saito no Ryoichi Mitsukage
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斎藤の良一光影 (read: Saitō no Ryōichi Mitsukage) | ||||||||
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Biography:
Persona Biography
Here I write the tale of my journey thus far. As it would be inappropriate for me to speak of my own journey through life without mention of those who have gone before, let me first speak of my father, and how the Saitō family rose to the place of honour it now holds. My father is the illustrious merchant, Saitō no Yoshimitsu.
In Heian-kyō, the imperial capital, prior to the start of the Ōnin war, in the first year of Ōnin, the Saitō family did quite well as purveyors of fabrics to the myriad levels of courtiers who lived nearby. My grandfather, Saitō no Takamitsu, had built many connections among the weavers of silk, cotton, and flax from across Yamashirō province and beyond. When the war struck, the only thing that kept the Saitō family business running was the drive of my grandfather. My father was practically weaned on the running of the business in wartime, and by his coming of age at 13 he was helping my grandfather with sales. It was my father’s idea to broaden the scope of the family business, contacting makers of fine furniture, farmers, and producers of sake, trying to bring in more clientele.
By the end of the Ōnin war in the 8th year of Bunmei, my father had learned how to feel the flow of social change. When the Ikki—the peasant armies which would bring an end to the fighting in Heian-Kyō—began to rise, he lent them support. He assisted in anyway that he could, save fighting the war himself. Once the 10-year war had finally ended, the Saitō family were conveniently placed to supply the new government of Yamashirō province. Thus, with the business growing, Saitō no Takamitsu-dono set to finding a match for my father.
I was born in Kamigyō, the upper class section, of Heian-kyō on the 19th day of the 4th month of the 18th year of Bunmei. My father’s ties to the Ikki meant that my brothers and I were raised in the fashion of the Bushi, our warrior caste. He wanted to cement our family’s position in this more exalted place by finding us careers in the service of various Daimyo. My education started at a young age. I was required to study the language of our neighbour Kando, this required me to familiarize myself with the Kanbun, The Analects, Tao Te Ching, and Sun Wu’s Art of War. I was also taught the mathematics that are necessary in business. In addition to these academic things, there was a focus on teaching myself and my brothers the ways of war: archery, horsemanship, spearmanship, swordsmanship, jujutsu, and military tactics. My father hired the best sensei for us, including a menkyo holder in Kukishin Ryu.
On the 3rd day of the 2nd month of the 9th year of Meiō, Go-Tsuchimikado-tennō died. He was succeeded by Go-Kashiwabara-tennō, his son, in the 9th month of the same year. While this was an important event, the rule of the Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshizumi, meant that the imperial family did not have the money or power to do more than present the next of Amaterasu’s descendants to be Emperor.
My coming of age was celebrated on the 17th day of the 2th month of the 9th year of Meiō. I was 14 years old. My father arranged for me to serve as a retainer to the Kitabatake clan in Shima Province on the east coast. So, in the spring of the 10th Year of Meiō, I left my family’s home.
Once in Shima province, I found that my days were spent much as they had been at home: training to fight in the wars which were raging all over the country, and fighting off the pirates of Ise bay. It was then that a letter came to me from my tutor back in Heian-kyō. He told me that while I was in Shima province I should find his teacher, Kuki Kiyotaka, and present his letter of introduction. Thus began my martial career, studying with the 7th headmaster of the Kukishin Ryu.
5 years passed, studying with him, while serving the Kitabatake daimyo of Shima province. I received my menkyo from him on the 1st day of the 1st month of the second year of Eisho. I also received the admonition that he had taught me everything that I could learn from him, and that to continue my education I should go on musha shugyō, a warrior’s journey. So, I approached Shima no kami, and asked him if I could be excused from his service to return home. Having served him well, he released me from my duties.
I followed my sensei’s instructions and took the circuitous route back to Heian-kyō. I often stopped in places that had notable sensei, and trained with their students. It was said that Tengu could be found in the mists of the mountainous province of Iga. In the hopes of following in the footsteps of my forefather—Saitō Musashibō Benkei who was said to have met and learned from Sōjōbō, the king of the Tengu—I made my way to Iga. In the forests of Iga I didn’t find Yōkai to train with. I did however find shugenja, mountain ascetics, who shared the trail with me, and I learned much of shugendō from them.
It was in the 7th year of Eisho that I returned to my father’s home. I brought with me a plan: I had heard from the people of Shima province that some of their “fishermen” had encountered people in Kando who were completely unlike us. Their skin was pale, and they spoke tongues which were completely alien to us. I asked my father if I might have his permission to take our knowledge and our products to these other people. I am a scholarly type, you see. Though my time as a soldier and shugyōsha were positive times in my life, I wished to leave my mark on the family’s history in a way more akin to my father’s. I wished to spread the business, and the knowledge that I had accumulated through my travels. I also had a desire to see these pale ones, to learn their languages and cultures. I wished, also, to carry the teaching license of Kukishin ryu that I held to places outside the communities where we are well known.
My father saw this as a great opportunity, and having other sons to build the family name, my father granted me his blessing. My father used his contacts in the armies of the Shogun to get me an audience, with which to ask Ashikaga Yoshitane-Se-i Taishōgun for his permission as well. On the 1st day of the 1st month of the 8th year of Eisho, I was granted a ship and crew to carry my goods West. We wandered across the lands of the “Known Worlde” and at each port I sent a letter home to my father, including a map of the journey and a catalogue of the items traded.
On the 28th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of Eisho, we finally landed in the Barony of Seagirt, where I have found a community which seems to accept me and the things that I have to teach. I have sent the ship home with the goods we have traded for and the gold of the many lands we have encountered, as well as maps of the routes. I have set up a nice house here in Seagirt, near a mountain by the sea. I still train, and still study, and still teach those who would learn of my homeland. Hopefully it will be these things which my grandchildren will write of me, as I have written of the accomplishments of my forebears.