s by corrupt
administration of justice. Takashige, a skilled soldier of enormous
physical power, returned from the battle when all hope of beating
back Nitta Yoshisada's army had disappeared, and having warned the
regent, Takatoki, that the bushi's last resource alone remained,
asked for a few moments' respite to strike a final stroke. Followed
by a hundred desperate men, he plunged into the thick of the fight
and had almost come within reach of Yoshisada when he was forced
back. Galloping to Tosho-ji, he found Takatoki and his comrades
drinking their farewell cup of sake. Takatoki handed the cup to
Takashige, and he, after draining it thrice, as was the samurai's
wont, passed it to Settsu Dojun, disembowelled himself, and tore out
his intestines. "That gives a fine relish to the wine," cried Dojun,
following Takashige's example. Takatoki, being of highest rank, was
the last to kill himself.

Eight hundred suicides bore witness to the strength of the creed held
by the Kamakura bushi. An eminent Japanese author* writes: "Yoritomo,
convinced by observation and experience that the beautiful and the
splendid appeal most to human nature, made it his aim to inculcate
frugality, to promote military exercises, to encourage loyalty, and
to dignify simplicity. Moral education he set before physical. The
precepts of bushido he engraved on the heart of the nation and gave
to them the honour of a precious heirloom. The Hojo, by exalting
bushido, followed the invaluable teaching of the Genji, and
supplemented it with the doctrines of Shinto, Confucianism, and
Buddhism. Thus every bushi came to believe that the country's fate
depended on the spirit of the samurai." Another and more renowned
annalist** wrote: "The Hojo, rising from a subordinate position,
flourished for nine generations. Their success was due to observing
frugality, treating the people with kindness, meting out strict
justice, and faithfully obeying the ancestral behest to abstain from
seeking high titles." They took the substance and discarded the
shadow. The bushido that they developed became a model in later ages,
especially in the sixteenth century.

*Yamada Tesshu (modern).

**Rai Sanyo (1780-1832).

LAST HOJO ARMY

When Kamakura fell the only Hojo force remaining in the field was
that which had been engaged for months in the siege of Chihaya, where
Kusunoki Masashige held his own stoutly. This army had retired to
Nara on receipt of the news of Rokuhara's