Araki Mataemon

Araki Mataemon (1599-1638) was a swordsman of the early Edo period who inscribed his name brilliantly in the history of Japanese swordsmanship as the central figure of the "Duel at Kagiya no Tsuji" (1634), considered one of Japan's Three Great Acts of Vengeance. This duel, staged in Iga Ueno (present-day Iga City, Mie Prefecture), was passed down throughout the Edo period as the ideal image of a samurai who drew his sword for the sake of justice, becoming the subject of numerous performing arts and literary works including kabuki, joruri puppet theater, and yomihon novels.

Mataemon was a master who had studied the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu school of swordsmanship and served as a retainer of the Yamato Koriyama domain. His reputation as a swordsman was already widely known, and he was evaluated as having first-class ability among the swordsmen of his era.

The circumstances of the Duel at Kagiya no Tsuji were as follows. Watanabe Gentayū, the brother of Mataemon's brother-in-law Watanabe Kazuma, was killed by Kawai Matago, a retainer of the Bizen Okayama domain. Kazuma vowed to avenge his brother's death, but a single-handed revenge was difficult, so he requested his brother-in-law Mataemon to lend his support. Mataemon accepted this righteous request without hesitation, and on November 7, 1634 (old calendar), at Kagiya no Tsuji in the outskirts of Iga Ueno, Kazuma and Mataemon's party clashed with Kawai Matago's group.

In this duel, Mataemon displayed exceptional sword technique and reportedly felled several of his opponents. It was ultimately Watanabe Kazuma who struck down Kawai Matago, but Mataemon's sword technique was the greatest factor in bringing this act of vengeance to success. The sword technique Mataemon displayed is also said to have involved "facing eleven opponents single-handedly," but whether or not this contains embellishment from later generations, the legend has become established as demonstrating the excellence of his sword technique.

Regarding the blade Mataemon wielded, it is said to have been a celebrated sword that inherited the orthodox tradition of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu. He was rigorous in his selection and maintenance of his sword, placing emphasis on the unity of sword technique and blade. Mataemon's fame as a swordsman never waned throughout the Edo period and continued to be referenced as a model for swordsmen even into the Bakumatsu period.

After the Duel at Kagiya no Tsuji, Mataemon became known for his achievement in avenging the family honor, but he died just four years later in 1638. The tale of his short final years and his fierce duel has continued to shine brilliantly in the history of Japanese martial arts as the crystallization of samurai righteousness and sword technique. The Duel at Kagiya no Tsuji, which demonstrated how the techniques of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu functioned in actual combat, is evaluated as an event that symbolized the pinnacle of Japanese swordsmanship in the early Edo period.