Japan -- Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales by Paul Varley

Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales. By PAUL VARLEY. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994. xiii, 276 pp. $16.95.

Stories of the samurai have fascinated and thrilled readers for many years, but it was not until recently that the origins and rise of the warrior became the subject of American scholarly research. Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales makes a significant contribution to this new and growing field by examining seven major tales in detail, covering the era from the early tenth to the fourteenth centuries.

After a brief description of the warrior's pre-900 roots, Varley discusses The Record of Masakado, Tales of Times Long Past, A Tale of Mutsu, and The Record of the Latter Three Years' War in Mutsu. The author performs a valuable service by analyzing the texts for clues to the date of composition and the identity of the author. Carefully separating fact from fiction, Varley further examines topics such as fighting style, warrior beliefs, and feudalism. Next he turns his attention to The Tale of Hogen and The Tale of Heiji, where he supplies historical information garnered from other sources and...