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Musui's Story
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Chapter 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 3 Summary: “Youth”
In the third chapter, the author describes his life from age 16 to 21. During this period, Katsu learns everything he can about swords—from fighting with them to how they are made. After all, “the sword is a samurai’s prized possession” (48). He engages in many formal sword fights and disorganized street brawls, visits the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters, repeatedly runs out of money, and even gets married.
At age 16, Katsu asks his commissioner Ishikawa for an appointment according to his social status. The commissioner thinks that his experience as a beggar made Katsu tough and promises him an appointment. However, nothing comes of it.
The author repeatedly complains about his adoptive grandmother, whose behavior gets worse. As a result, he spends as much time away from home as possible—and gets into trouble. Thanks to Karoku Kuboshima, his older biological half-brother Hikoshirō’s colleague, Katsu discovers the red-light district: “One day he tricked me into going with him to the pleasure quarters in the Yoshiwara” (44). Katsu spent all his money on the courtesans (sex workers): “My foolishness was dragging me deeper into debt” (60). This behavior turns into a pattern. By the time Katsu reaches age 21, he is so broke that he has to sell his sword.
Katsu’s experience is accompanied by an illustration of a street scene by a well-known Edo-period artist, Kazan Watanabe, called “Courtesans of the Yoshiwara” (45). The image depicts three courtesans facing away from the viewer walking along and five men in the background facing the viewer and interacting with each other. Despite the slight stylization, the illustration is quite naturalistic in its movement and appears to have been drawn from life. Watanabe’s artwork provides additional context for everyday life and Katsu’s experiences specifically at this time.
One time, Katsu even steals 200 ryō from the money meant for the shogunate’s treasury entrusted to him by his older half-brother. Even though it is clear to everyone that he is the thief, Katsu avoids punishment. His father argues, “What’s the point of ruining Kokichi’s future over a little bit of money?” (44-45).
Katsu’s interest in swords continues to grow in his youth. He learns fencing, including two secret techniques, under Master Gennoshin Danno. At the same time, he constantly gets into street fights. One such fight on the way to Hachiman Shrine in Kurame during a festival involves his cousin’s sons, Shintarō and Chūjirō.
The author also participates in more formal events: “We went around challenging everyone to matches, and by good luck we always won” (51). For instance, when he turns 18, Katsu takes part in a match against a student of the master of the Ittō-ryū school Masazaemon Ikue in Asakusa and wins. He even claims that students who engage in matches with rival schools “were taking orders from [him]” (51). The author’s fighting continues for years: “Challenging students from rival schools was getting to be a regular occupation. Night after night I roamed the streets with my followers in tow” (60).
Since Katsu does not have an official appointment from the shogunate, his older half-brother keeps him occupied, for instance, by sending him around the country to assess rice crops. At this time, Katsu’s mother dies. Around age 18, Katsu also gets married and relocates to live in a different house on his brother’s Kamezawa-chō property. The new family receives 300 ryō in a promissory note and household furnishings as wedding gifts.
Chapters 3 Analysis
The “Youth” chapter reveals the significant extent to which Katsu avoids responsibility in every part of his life. The reader became aware of this trait when Katsu ran away from home in the previous chapter rather than pursuing his education and focusing on his duties.
As Katsu develops into a teenager, he discovers the red light district, Yoshiwara, and cannot stay away. This behavior reveals both a hedonistic streak and a failure to accept responsibility. The person who introduces him to this part of town is Karoku Kuboshima, his brother’s colleague in Edo, who “tricked [Katsu] into going with him to the pleasure quarters in the Yoshiwara” (44). Katsu, therefore, blames this colleague—rather than his own decisions—for making him waste all his money on sex workers.
Worse still, Katsu also blames the same colleague for enticing him to steal 200 ryō from the money meant for the shogunate’s treasury. Katsu shows little introspection regarding his poor financial management. Indeed, when Katsu gets married, his wedding gifts include money: “I was pleased to be free of debt, but what with so many people sponging off me, I was in debt again in no time” (59). Rather than exercising self-control and frugality, Katsu believes it is others’ fault that his money always runs out. Now, he has an even greater responsibility for his young family. However, his behavior does not change but gets worse.
On the other hand, it is important to remember that, without a shogunate job, the author’s family relies on his hereditary stipend. At this time, this stipend of 41 koku is actually worth 9.5 gold ryō and 14 bales of rice. The monetary part likely fails to cover basic necessities such as fish, soy sauce, cotton cloth, lamp oil, and vegetables. An adult male was believed to consume about 4.5 bales of rice annually, and women slightly less (xv). Therefore, a family with two adults and up to four children consumes all the rice. The author’s son recalled that the family was so poor that they were occasionally unable to afford traditional rice cakes for New Year’s celebrations, and the tatami mats in the house were ragged (xvi). This situation certainly helps explain why the author was tempted to steal.
Katsu’s narrative also makes evident the extent to which his own family enables such behavior rather than letting him face the adequate consequences:
It was plain as day that I had stolen the money. All the same, everyone looked the other way, and the incident was passed over. As for the two hundred ryō, I spent it all in the Yoshiwara in less than a month and a half. After that I had to scrounge from the rice agents at the shogunate warehouse and other moneylenders (46).
Katsu’s father has the best intentions when he suggests that the teenager’s life would be ruined if he were to be punished for the theft of government money. At the same time, the young culprit learns nothing from the experience and continues on the same path. Spending the stolen money in the red light district is indicative of this fact.
The author dedicates a significant portion of this chapter to describing various aspects of swordsmanship: from fencing techniques to learning how swords are made. He displays arrogance whether it comes to winning matches and street fights or to singlehandedly crediting himself, “Yes—you could say that I was responsible for the new vigor and popularity of other schools of fencing” (51). Despite his morally questionable lifestyle, the young Katsu also feels entitled to teach others life lessons—through a sword fight. This is the case with Hayata Kobayashi, who was “lording over his fellow students” and “bullying everybody” (58).
In this chapter, Katsu experiences a significant life change: getting married. Yet he barely mentions this event or describes his wife. The only aspects of marriage in which Katsu appears interested are the financial rewards of monetary and material wedding gifts and moving to a different house. Sword fighting—matches and street fights—appear to rank higher in Katsu’s mind than starting a family, at least based on the fact that most of the chapter covers the former. Katsu also appears to spend a significant amount of time—and family resources—in the red light district rather than at home.
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