RONIN

Writing & Game Design Page Borders

Jeremy Puckett Christian St. Pierre
K. Scott Agnew
Cover Design
Editing & Proofreading Vern Stewart
Alison J. Ménard
Max Hattuer Page Layout
Kevin Knight
Art Direction
K. Scott Agnew Cartography
K. Scott Agnew

www.morriganrpg.com

Morrigan Press Inc.

46 Weldon Street
Moncton, New Brunswick
E1C 5V8 Canada
info@morriganrpg.com
Electronic Edition May 2006

2
Chapter One
RISE OF THE
TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE
“An ancestor’s good or evil can be determined by the conduct of his descendants.”
Though stretching back several thousand
years before the current time, the history of Ja-
pan truly begins in the minds of many with the
Tokugawa shogunate. This period of strict mili-
tary control over all levels of society is among
the most romanticized times in Asian history,
a time particularly recalled by the Japanese as
one of the heights of their historical culture. In
many ways, the Tokugawa period is reminiscent
of the chivalric era of European history, a time
when mounted warriors and their liege lords
commanded the loyalty of a nation.
The rise of the Tokugawa Period did not
occur in a vacuum, however, and the social
pressures that forged the attitudes of the time
had been long in building. As well, while the
Tokugawa bakufu is the best-known shogunate,
it was hardly the first. To truly understand the
nature of the times, one must look back to the
origins of Japan as a nation.
The earliest known habitation of Japan
dates to over one hundred thousand years pre-
vious, though the indigenous peoples of the is-
lands, the Ainu, are traditionally marginalized in
an historical context. This era, called the Jomon
Period, is noteworthy in the current context only
because it provides a stable groundwork to un-
derstand that the cultural basis of Japan was laid
in the very dawn of mankind.
Around 900 BC, Asian immigrants of un-
known origin made their way to the Japanese
— Hagakure: Way of the Samurai
isles from the mainland. There, they adapted
the native spirituality of the Ainu culture to their
own religious beliefs, creating the earliest form
of the Japanese nature religion, Shinto. It is also
during this time, until around the first century
AD, that the Japanese peoples began learning
the arts of agriculture and the crafting of iron.
This time, the Yayoi Period, is typically regard-
ed as the beginning of a cultural identity that can
truly be called Japanese.
The following Yamato Period saw the rise
of the first Japanese emperor, Jimmu, and his
court. While little more than a powerful tribe
of warriors and raiders at the time, the Yamato
clans would rise to dominance by the end of the
period in the seventh century AD, aided in the
endeavor by their allies in the Korean mainland
kingdom of Baekje. This kingdom introduced
the Yamato to new philosophies, such as Confu-
cianism and Buddhism, and to the Chinese writ-
ing system, kanji. After Baekje fell, the Yamato
emperors sent envoys to China, from whom they
received a wealth of knowledge.
When the Empress Gemmei moved the im-
perial capital from Yamato province to Heijo-
kyo in 710 AD, it began the Nara Period. Dur-
ing this time, the people of Japan were largely
agricultural in character, situated in tiny villages
scattered across the face of the country. With
the spread of the written language, thanks to
the advances of the previous period, concen-
trated efforts by the imperial court to record
3
The Omni System™
Japan’s Mythical Origins
In Shinto legend, the world was created
when the primordial gods birthed Izanagi, the
primal male deity, and Izanami, the primal fe-
male deity, and sent them to earth. Izanagi was
given a jeweled spear, with which he churned
the still waters of the world while standing on
the bridge of heaven. The froth that fell from
the point of the jeweled spear coagulated into
the lands of the world, and Izanagi and Izanami
descended to one of the islands. After an at-
tempt at a marriage ceremony that went awry
and caused them to bear malformed children,
they sought the advice of the elder gods that had
made them. They tried again, allowing Izanagi
to speak first in the ceremony, and afterwards
bore children: the eight great islands of Japan.
After bearing several more islands and a
number of deities, Izanami died. Izanagi’s grief
was great, and he descended to the underworld
to try to save his wife. His failure brought death
into the world, and in cleansing himself from
his journey he created many new deities. These
included the traditional rulers of the celestial
heavens in Shinto mythology, as well as the
more commonly known mythological figures.
By the end of the mythological period of Ja-
pan’s origins, there were supposedly over eight
thousand divine beings populating the islands of
Japan alone.
In the context of a fantastic rather than his-
torical setting, the divine origins of the Japanese
islands could well be true. These grandiose
events set the scene for the epic dramas to play
themselves out in the samurai era, and many
comparisons can be drawn between the origins
of the world and the formalized, isolationist
policies of the Tokugawa Period. As well, the
mythical inhabitants of Japan, including the
“eight thousand gods” can be important figures
in a fantastic game.
4
Ronin
The Japanese people often use the term
“4400 Years” to describe how long the empire
has existed. This is somewhat of an exaggera-
tion, since the earliest historical figure to call
himself an emperor in Japan would not arise
until the Yamato Period, around the first or
second century AD. Even today, the Japanese
place much stock in the idea of their cultural
identity as a unified nation stretching back over
four millennia, despite the fact that most people
know differently.
Traditionally, the first Japanese emperor is
Jimmu, the great-grandson of the goddess Ama-
terasu Omikami. This means that in a mytho-
logical sense, the first Japanese emperor is only a
few generations removed from the beginning of
the world. To make this add up in a pseudo-his-
torical context, that would make the world only
about two thousand years old. If you wanted
to keep the traditional count of 4400 years, that
would add a few more (something on the order
of twice as many) emperors between Jimmu and
the present time. As another possibility, perhaps
the early emperors lived centuries, and only as
the divine blood thinned have they begun living
mortal life spans.
In a fantastic game set in medieval Japan,
keep in mind that the mythology of the setting
should be the primary means of the people of
that setting understanding their world. While
not everything they believe is correct, most of it
is. Foreigners may offer other explanations for
things like the sun and moon, but they are obvi-
ously wrong. After all, everybody knows that
the sun is Amaterasu, making her daily progres-
sion across the heavens.
In short, Japan’s mythical origins can pro-
vide a wealth of material for use in a fantastic
game, as well as interesting commentary in an
historical one.
 Rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate
and document their history produced the first
works of Japanese literature. Creation of large
bodies of poetry led to the creation of a truly
Japanese writing system, kana, used in conjunc-
tion with kanji. Continued communication with
the Chinese courts and the aggressive increase
in economic and administrative activity during
this period created, for the first time, a land that
could truly be called united.
The Heian Period, again named for a change
in the capital’s location in 794 AD, is widely
agreed to be the peak of the imperial court, and
is known as the last period of Japanese classical
history. The time is especially noted for its liter-
ature and art, as well as the widespread calm in
the nation. The Heian capital, also called Kyoto,
would remain the Japanese capital for the next
thousand years. It was during this time that the
samurai class of nobility first emerged.
Nominally, sovereignty lay in the emperor
but the Fujiwara nobility wielded the true power.
However, to protect their interests in the prov-
inces, the Fujiwara and other noble families re-
quired guards, police, and soldiers. These elite
warriors were sworn to perfect service and utter
loyalty, the embodiment of the noble ideals of
the time. The warrior class made steady gains
throughout the Heian Period. As early as 939
AD, Taira Masakado threatened the authority
of the central government, leading an uprising
in the eastern provinces, and almost simultane-
ously, Fujiwara Sumitomo rebelled in the west.
Soon, much of the strength of the government
lay within the private armies of the shogun, a
military office put into practice by the Fujiwara
nobility to maintain their army of elite soldiers.
These elite soldiers and their families became
vital to virtually all functions of culture, from
the courts down to the battlefield, and soon their
position as the highest rank of society was so-
lidified.
Under the early courts, when military con-
scription had been centrally controlled, military
affairs had been taken out of the hands of the pro-
vincial aristocracy. As the system broke down
after 792 AD, local power holders again became
the primary source of military strength. Land-
holders (shoen) had access to manpower and,
as they obtained improved military technology
(such as new training methods, more powerful
bows, armor, horses, and superior swords) and
faced worsening local conditions in the ninth
century, military service became part of shoen
life. Not only the shoen but also civil and reli-
gious institutions formed private guard units to
protect themselves. Gradually, the provincial
upper class was transformed into a new military
elite based on the ideals of the bushi (“warrior”)
or samurai (literally, “one who serves”).
Bushi interests were diverse, cutting across
old power structures to form new associations
in the tenth century. Mutual interests, family
connections, and kinship were consolidated in
military groups that became part of family ad-
ministration. In time, large regional military
families formed around members of the court
aristocracy who had become prominent pro-
vincial figures. These military families gained
prestige from connections to the imperial court
and court-granted military titles and access to
manpower. The Fujiwara, Taira, and Minamoto
were among the most prominent families sup-
ported by the new military class.
Decline in food production, growth of the
population, and competition for resources among
the great families all led to the gradual decline of
Fujiwara power and gave rise to military distur-
bances in the mid-tenth and eleventh centuries.
Members of the Fujiwara, Taira, and Minamoto
families—all of whom had descended from the
imperial family—attacked one another, claimed
control over vast tracts of conquered land, set up
rival regimes, and generally broke the peace of
the Land of the Rising Sun.
With the end of the imperial peace, Japan
entered the Kamakura Period, the beginning of
the so-called “Japanese Middle Ages,” and also
the beginning of centuries of civil war. The first
true bakufu, or military regime, was established
during this time period. This military govern-
5
The Omni System™
ment, founded by Minamoto Yoritomo, who re-
ferred to it as a bakufu, or “tent government.”
This term became synonymous with “shogu-
nate,” itself a derivation of Yoritomo’s title, seii
taishogun (“barbarian-quelling general”). The
military government moved its headquarters to
Kamakura, and the emperor had no choice but
to officially acknowledge Yoritomo’s position
as “protector of the emperor.”
The Kamakura bakufu was not a national
regime, however, and although it controlled
large tracts of land, there was strong resistance
to the stewards. The regime continued warfare
against the Fujiwara in the north, but never
brought either the north or the west under com-
plete military control. The old court resided in
Kyoto, continuing to hold the land over which
it had jurisdiction, while newly organized mili-
tary families were attracted to Kamakura. The
emperor’s court had officially recognized Yor-
itomo as their protector, but they remained an
effectively independent political power during
this time, gathering their strength for an even-
tual attempt at return to authority.
Despite a strong beginning, Yoritomo failed
to consolidate the leadership of his family on a
lasting basis. Intra-family contention had long
existed within the Minamoto, although Yorito-
mo had eliminated most serious challengers to
his authority. When he died suddenly in 1199
AD, his son Minamoto Yoriie became shogun
and nominal head of the Minamoto, but Yoriie
was unable to control the other eastern bushi
families. By the early thirteenth century, a re-
gency had been established for the shogun by
his maternal grandparents—members of the
Hojo family, a branch of the Taira that had al-
lied itself with the Minamoto in 1180. Under
the Hojo, the bakufu became powerless, and the
shogun, often a member of the Fujiwara family
or even an imperial prince, was merely a figure-
head.
With the protector of the emperor a figure-
head himself, strains emerged between Kyoto
and Kamakura, and in 1221 the Jokyu War
6
Ronin
broke out between the cloistered emperor and
the Hojo regent. The Hojo forces easily won
the war, and the imperial court was brought un-
der direct bakufu control. The shogun’s forces
gained greater civil powers, and the court was
obliged to seek Kamakura’s approval for all of
its actions. Although deprived of political pow-
er, the court was allowed to retain extensive es-
tates with which to sustain the imperial splendor
the bakufu needed to help sanction its rule.
Several significant administrative achieve-
ments were made during the Hojo regency. In
1225, the Council of State was established,
providing opportunities for other military lords
to exercise judicial and legislative authority at
Kamakura. The Hojo regent presided over the
council, which was a successful form of collec-
tive leadership. The adoption of Japan’s first
military code of law—the Joei Code—in 1232
reflected the profound transition from courtly
rule to militarized society. While legal prac-
tices in Kyoto were still based on 500-year-
old Confucian principles, the Joei Code was a
highly legalistic document that stressed the du-
ties of stewards and constables, provided means
for settling land disputes, and established rules
governing inheritances. It was clear and con-
cise, stipulated punishments for violators of its
conditions, and remained in effect for the next
six centuries.
The repulsions of two Mongol invasions
were momentous events in Japanese history.
Japanese relations with China had been termi-
nated in the mid-ninth century after the dete-
rioration of late Tang Dynasty China and the
turning inward of the Heian court. Some com-
mercial contacts were maintained with southern
China in later centuries, but Japanese pirates
made the open seas dangerous. At a time when
the bakufu had little interest in foreign affairs
and ignored communications from China and
Korea, news arrived in 1268 of a new Mongol
regime in Beijing. Its leader, Khubilai Khan,
demanded that the Japanese pay tribute to the
new Yuan Dynasty and threatened reprisals if
they failed to do so. Unused to such threats,
 Rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate

Kyoto raised the diplomatic counter of Japan’s
divine origin, rejected the Mongol demands,
dismissed the Korean messengers, and started
defensive preparations.
After further unsuccessful entreaties, the
first Mongol invasion took place in 1274 AD.
More than six hundred ships carried a combined
Mongol, Chinese, and Korean force of 23,000
troops armed with catapults, combustible mis-
siles, and bows and arrows. In fighting, these
soldiers grouped in close cavalry formations

7
The Omni System™
against samurai, who were much more ac-
customed to single combat against other elite
warriors. Local Japanese forces in the north
defended against the superior mainland force,
which, after one day of fighting was decimated
by the onslaught of a sudden typhoon. Khubilai
realized that nature, not military incompetence,
had been the cause of his forces’ failure so a
mere seven years later, he launched a second
invasion. Seven weeks of fighting took place
in northwestern Kyushu before another typhoon
struck, again destroying the Mongol fleet.
Although Shinto priests attributed the two
defeats of the Mongols to a “divine wind” (ka-
mikaze), a sign of heaven’s special protection
of Japan, the invasion left a deep impression on
the bakufu leaders. Long-standing fears of the
Chinese threat to Japan were reinforced, and the
Korean Peninsula became regarded as “an ar-
row pointed at the heart of Japan.” The Japa-
nese victory, however, gave the bushi a sense of
fighting superiority that remained with Japan’s
soldiers for centuries to come. The victory also
convinced the bushi of the value of the bakufu
form of government.
The Mongol war had been a drain on the
economy, however, and new taxes had to be lev-
ied to maintain defensive preparations for the
future. The invasions also caused disaffection
among those who expected recompense for their
help in defeating the Mongols. There were no
lands or other rewards to be given and such dis-
affection, combined with overextension and the
increasing defense costs, led to a sharp decline of
the Kamakura bakufu. Inheritances had divided
family properties, and landowners increasingly
had to turn to moneylenders for support. Rov-
ing bands of rogue warriors further threatened
the stability of the bakufu.
During this time, the first ronin (“wave
men”) entered into the public scene. These mas-
terless warriors had lived on while their masters
died or became impoverished, forcing them to
find work as mercenaries, thieves, or bandits.
Many had no skills other than warfare, and
8
Ronin
they would typically ply these for whomever or
whatever would keep them alive and fed. The
numbers of ronin were small at first, but would
grow with time.
The Hojo reacted to the ensuing chaos by
trying to place more power among the various
noble clans. To further weaken the Kyoto impe-
rial court, the bakufu decided to allow two con-
tending imperial lines—known as the Southern
Court (or junior line) and the Northern Court
(or senior line)—to alternate on the throne. The
method worked for several successions until a
member of the Southern Court ascended to the
throne as Emperor Go-Daigo in 1318 AD.
Go-Daigo wanted to overthrow the bakufu,
and he openly defied Kamakura by naming his
own son his heir. In 1331, the bakufu exiled
Go-Daigo, but loyalist forces rebelled. They
were aided by Ashikaga Takauji, a samurai who
turned against Kamakura when dispatched to
put down Go-Daigo’s rebellion. At the same
time, another eastern leader rebelled against the
bakufu, which quickly disintegrated, and the
Hojo were defeated.
In the swell of victory, Go-Daigo endeav-
ored to restore imperial authority and tenth-cen-
tury Confucian practices. This period of reform,
known as the Kenmu Restoration, was aimed at
strengthening the position of the emperor and
reasserting the primacy of the court nobles over
the bushi. The reality, however, was that the
forces who had arisen against Kamakura had
been set on defeating the Hojo, not on support-
ing the emperor.
Ashikaga Takauji finally sided with the
Northern Court in a civil war against the South-
ern Court (represented by Go-Daigo). The War
Between the Courts lasted from 1336 to 1392,
and is sometimes regarded as a forerunner to the
Warring States Period. Early in the conflict, Go-
Daigo was driven from Kyoto, and the Northern
Court contender was installed by Ashikaga, who
himself became the new shogun.
 Rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate
The ensuing period of Ashikaga rule was
called the Muromachi Period for the Kyoto dis-
trict in which its headquarters were held. What
distinguished the Ashikaga bakufu from that
of Kamakura was that, whereas Kamakura had
existed in equilibrium with the Kyoto court,
Ashikaga took over the remnants of the impe-
rial government. Nevertheless, the Ashikaga
bakufu was not as strong as the Kamakura had
been and was greatly preoccupied by civil war.
Not until the rule of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the
third shogun of the period, in 1368 AD did a
semblance of order emerge.
All manner of art and literature flourished
under the even hand of the Muromachi shoguns,
creating a new renaissance of sorts. These ad-
vances came hand-in-hand with a renewed
interest in Shinto, which had languished dur-
ing the previous period next to the increasing
prominence of Buddhism. The imperial fam-
ily, granted little real power but a fair amount
of wealth, contented themselves with building
large numbers of temples and funding the arts.
Yoshimitsu allowed the samurai, who had
very limited and specific powers during the
Kamakura Period, to become strong regional
rulers, later called daimyo. In time, a balance
of power evolved between the shogun and the
daimyo; the three most prominent daimyo fami-
lies rotated as deputies to the shogun at Kyoto.
Yoshimitsu was finally successful in reunifying
the Northern Court and the Southern Court in
1392, but, despite his promise of greater balance
between the imperial lines, the Northern Court
maintained control over the throne thereafter.
The line of shoguns gradually weakened
after Yoshimitsu and increasingly lost power
to the daimyo and other regional leaders. The
shogun’s decisions about imperial succession
became meaningless, and the daimyo backed
their own candidates. In time, the Ashikaga
family had its own succession problems, result-
ing finally in the Onin War of 1467 AD, which
left Kyoto devastated and effectively ended the
authority of the bakufu. The power vacuum that
ensued launched over a century of anarchy.
This time, called Sengoku Jidai, or the
Warring States Period, saw the establishment
of dozens of independent domains in the for-
merly united empire as daimyo scrambled for
personal power. Many of the provincial leaders
found themselves the ultimate masters of their
own lands for the first time—and discovered
that they desired more power still. The daimyo
turned against one another, each seeking to
make his family the absolute authority in all the
land. None would ever quite close the gap until
the end of the period. A few religious orders
even entered the war, establishing independent
rulership of their own territories. One of these,
a Buddhist order in Kaga province, would re-
main independent from feudal government for
over a century.
Between 1560 and 1600 AD, powerful mili-
tary leaders arose to defeat the warring daimyo
and unify Japan. Three major figures dominated
the period in succession: Oda Nobunaga, Toyo-
tomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, each of
whom emerged as a major overlord with large
military forces under his command. As their
power increased, they looked to the imperial
court in Kyoto for sanction. In 1568, Nobu-
naga—who had defeated another warlord’s at-
tempt to attack Kyoto in 1560—marched on the
capital, gained the support of the emperor, and
installed his own candidate in the succession
struggle for shogun. Backed by military force,
Nobunaga was able to control the bakufu.
Initial resistance to Nobunaga in the Kyoto
region came from the Buddhist monks, rival
daimyo, and hostile merchants. Surrounded by
his enemies, Nobunaga struck first at the secular
power of the militant Tendai Buddhists, destroy-
ing their monastic center at Mount Hiei near
Kyoto and killing thousands of monks. This
ruthless maneuver set the tone for the remainder
of Nobunaga’s campaign, establishing him to
both allies and enemies as a man not to be trifled
with. Within a few short years he had defeated
the local daimyo, banished the last Ashikaga
9
The Omni System™
shogun, and ushered in the Azuchi-Momoyama
Period, named after the castles of Nobunaga and
his retainer Hideyoshi.
Having taken these major steps toward re-
unification, Nobunaga then built a seven-story
castle surrounded by stone walls at Azuchi on
the shore of Lake Biwa. The castle was able
to withstand firearms and became a symbol of
the age of reunification. Nobunaga’s power in-
creased as he replaced the conquered daimyo,
broke down the barriers to free commerce, and
drew the humbled religious communities and
merchants into his military structure. He se-
cured control of about one-third of the provinc-
es through the use of large-scale warfare, and he
institutionalized administrative practices, such
as systematic village organization, tax collec-
tion, and standardized measurements.
At the same time, other daimyo, both those
that Nobunaga had conquered and those beyond
his control, built their own heavily fortified cas-
tles and modernized their garrisons. In 1577 AD
Nobunaga dispatched his chief general, Hideyo-
shi, to conquer twelve western provinces. The
war was a protracted affair, and in 1582, when
Nobunaga led an army to assist Hideyoshi, he
was assassinated by one of his own retainers at
a local temple.
After destroying the forces responsible for
Nobunaga’s death, Hideyoshi was rewarded
with a joint guardianship of Nobunaga’s heir,
who was a minor. By 1584, Hideyoshi had elim-
inated the three other guardians, taken complete
control of Kyoto, and become the undisputed
successor of his late overlord. A commoner by
birth and without a surname, Hideyoshi man-
aged an adoption by the Fujiwara family, who
sought an alliance with him by legitimizing his
position. They gave him the surname Toyotomi,
and granted him the title kanpaku, representing
civil and military control of all Japan. By the
following year, he had secured alliances with
three of the nine major daimyo coalitions and
continued the war of reunification in Shikoku
and northern Kyushu. In 1590, Hideyoshi de-
10
Ronin
feated his last formidable rival. The remaining
contending daimyo surrendered and the military
reunification of Japan was complete.
All of Japan was now controlled by the dic-
tatorial Hideyoshi, either directly or through his
sworn vassals, and a new national government
structure had evolved: a country unified under
one daimyo alliance but still decentralized. The
basis of the power structure was again the dis-
tribution of territory, the most precious thing in
the heavily populated nation. A new unit of land
measurement and assessment—the koku—was
instituted. One koku was the amount of rice
that would sustain a single family for one year.
Daimyo were, by definition, those who held
lands capable of producing 10,000 koku or more
of rice.
Despite Hideyoshi’s tremendous strength
and the fear in which he was held, his position
was far from secure. He attempted to rearrange
the daimyo holdings to his advantage by, among
other things, reassigning the Tokugawa family
to the conquered Kanto region and surrounding
their new territory with more trusted vassals.
He also adopted a hostage system for daimyo
wives and heirs at his castle town at Osaka and
used marriage alliances to enforce feudal bonds.
He imposed the koku system and land surveys
to reassess the entire nation.
Momoyama art, named after the hill on
which Hideyoshi built his castle at Fushimi,
south of Kyoto, flourished during this period.
It was a period of interest in the outside world,
the development of large urban centers, and the
rise of the merchant and leisure classes. Ornate
castle architecture and interiors adorned with
painted screens embellished with gold leaf re-
flected daimyo power and wealth. Depictions of
the “southern barbarians”—Europeans—were
exotic and popular.
In 1577, Hideyoshi seized Nagasaki, Japan’s
major point of contact with the outside world.
He took control of the various trade associations
and tried to regulate all overseas activities. Al-
 Rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate
though China rebuffed his efforts to secure trade
concessions, Hideyoshi succeeded in sending
commercial missions to present-day Malaysia,
the Philippines, and Thailand. He was suspi-
cious of Christianity as potentially subversive to
daimyo loyalties, and he had many missionaries
crucified.
Hideyoshi declared an end to any further
class mobility or change in social status in 1590,
reinforcing the class distinctions between peas-
ants and bushi. The most significant changes to
come from this declaration were the inability of
any but the warrior caste to carry arms, and the
absolute hereditary nature of the samurai caste.
This would have dramatic repercussions in the
Tokugawa period, as ronin would not only re-
main samurai caste after their fall, but would
have children that were also ronin. He provided
for an orderly succession by taking the title tai-
ko, or retired kanpaku, turning the regency over
to his son, Hideyori. Only toward the end of his
life did Hideyoshi try to formalize the balance
of power by establishing several administrative
bodies.
Hideyoshi’s major ambition was to conquer
China, and in 1592, he invaded Korea, then a
flourishing, wealthy kingdom that enjoyed an
alliance with China. His armies quickly over-
ran the peninsula before losing momentum in
the face of combined Korean-Chinese forces
and crushing naval defeats. During peace talks,
Hideyoshi demanded a division of Korea, free
trade status, and a Chinese princess as consort
for the emperor. The Chinese rebuffed all of
Japan’s efforts at equality, and peace efforts
ended. A second invasion was begun in 1597,
but it abruptly ended with Hideyoshi’s death in
less than a year later.
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, his retainer
Tokugawa Ieyasu sought to subjugate the Toyo-
tomi. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600,
Ieyasu held supreme power over Japan. This in-
stallation of Ieyasu to the position of shogun and
the movement of his capital to Edo began the
Tokugawa Period, often referred to as the Edo
Period. By the end of the period, Edo would
become known by its modern name, Tokyo.
No one’s fool, Ieyasu realized that he was
just as vulnerable to defeat and betrayal as his
colleagues had been. For this reason, he insti-
tuted a series of draconian policies intended to
assure the loyalty of his followers. Among oth-
er things, he made it mandatory for the families
of daimyo to spend half the year at Edo, rotating
among the various leaders. This hostage system
would form the basis of interaction between the
top level of power, the shogun, and his bakufu.
As well, Ieyasu made seppuku, ritual suicide
performed to expunge dishonor or failure, a
more common punishment for wayward samu-
rai. This far harsher usage of personal punish-
ment was one of many ways the shogunate used
to reduce population pressures among the grow-
ing noble class.
It is at the beginning of the Edo Period that
Japan built her first ocean-going Western-style
warships. Also during that period, the bakufu
commissioned over three hundred ships for in-
tra-Asian commerce. Japanese adventurers,
such as Yamada Nagamasa, were active through-
out Asia. In general, the beginning of the period
was a time of interest in the outside world and
trade with foreigners. Unlike Hideyoshi, Ieyasu
believed that contact with the outside world was
a necessity for the continued strength of Japan.
This was an attitude that would quickly change.
The shogunate perceived Christianity to
be an extremely destabilizing factor, leading to
the persecution of Christians, and then to the
Shimabara Rebellion in 1637, during which
thousands of Christians were executed. The
Edo bakufu reacted by progressively closing
the country to Western influence, creating an
ever-more-repressive government. By 1650,
Christianity was almost completely eradicated,
and external political, economic, and religious
influence on Japan became quite limited. Only
China and the Dutch East India Company en-
joyed the right to visit Japan during this period,
but for commercial purposes only, and they were
11
The Omni System™
restricted to the Dejima port in Naga-
saki. Other Europeans who landed
on Japanese shores were put to death,
swiftly and without remorse.
Economic development during the
Tokugawa period included urbaniza-
tion, increased shipping of commodi-
ties, a significant expansion of domes-
tic and, initially, foreign commerce,
and a diffusion of trade and handicraft
industries. By the mid-eighteenth
century, Edo had a population of more
than one million, and several other cit-
ies had populations approaching half
this number. The construction trades
flourished, along with banking facili-
ties and merchant associations.
During the period, Japan progres-
sively studied Western sciences and
techniques (called rangaku, literally
“Dutch studies”) through the informa-
tion and books received through the
Dutch traders in Dejima. The main
areas that were studied included ge-
ography, medicine, natural sciences,
astronomy, art, languages, physical
sciences such as the study of electrical
phenomena, and mechanical sciences
as exemplified by the development of
Japanese pocket watches, or wadokei,
inspired from Western techniques.
Although Japan was able to acquire
and refine a wide variety of scientific
knowledge, the rapid industrialization
of the West during the eighteenth cen-
tury created for the first time a mate-
rial gap in terms of technologies and
armament between Japan and the West
(which did not really exist at the be-
ginning of the Edo Period), forcing it
to abandon its policy of seclusion and
contributing to the end of the Tokuga-
wa regime.
The understanding possessed by
12
Ronin
The Use of
Japanese
Throughout this book, Japanese words
are used liberally to add to the flavor and
precision of the text. In many places, Eng-
lish translations would detract from the full
meaning of a word or phrase, while in oth-
ers the original Japanese is used as a matter
of preference by the author. When possible,
Japanese phrases are translated immediately
within the context of the discussion, and a
short glossary of Japanese is included in each
chapter, relating directly to the subject matter
at hand.
Purely Japanese words are consistently
italicized, while anglicized uses of Japanese
words are not. Thus, samurai remains in ital-
ics, while shogun (a Western corruption of a
Japanese term) does not. The major excep-
tion to this rule is the use of proper names
(including place names), which are given
without italics. Proper names for individuals
are given in the Japanese tradition of family
name followed by given name.
Pronunciation in Japanese is easier than
in English, as the language follows fairly
strict grammatical rules. As a general guide-
line:
• A is ah, e is eh, i is ee, o is oh, and u is oo.
• Pronounce each vowel separately; thus, ai
is ah-ee. Ou is oh-oo or just a long ohh.
• No special emphasis is placed on any given
syllable of a word; samurai is sah-moo-rah-
ee.
• U’s at the end of a word are sometimes
slurred or not pronounced at all; thus go-
zaimasu is goh-za-ee-mahs.
For any confusion that the use of Japanese
words or phrases may cause, the author wish-
es to tell the readers, gomen-nasai.
 Rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate
some samurai of the advances possessed by the
West made many greedy to hold such power for
themselves. Attempts by some daimyo to arm
their forces with firearms in large numbers led
the shogunate to heavily regulate the usage of
firearms by military forces during this period.
Ownership of firearms had to be approved by
the bakufu, meaning that those daimyo that
were not in favor could not effectively arm their
forces with modern weapons.
As well, the increasing advances in science
and technology—though slower than in the
West—caused a significant backlash among the
more traditional samurai families. The roman-
ticization of the katana as the “soul of the war-
rior” flourished throughout the period, as well
as the glorification of the samurai themselves in
poetry and literature. In response to potential
advances, the traditionalist families retreated
to the comfortable cocoon of the past, holding
their national history as sacrosanct and perfect.
The arts continued to flourish during the
Edo Period. The school of art best known in the
West is that of the ukiyo-e paintings and wood-
block prints of the demi-monde, the world of the
kabuki theater and the brothel district. In the
nineteenth century the creation of romantic and
somewhat sentimental landscape prints became
prominent as well. The odd angles and shapes
through which artists often viewed landscape,
and the work of ukiyo-e painters, with their em-
phasis on flat planes and strong linear outlines,
later had a profound impact on many later West-
ern artists.
By the middle of the Tokugawa Shogunate,
the romanticization of the samurai class was
firmly entrenched in the Japanese mindset. With
the nation unified and social mobility halted, the
warrior caste indulged their spare time with the
learning of the courtly arts, the perfection of
personal fighting techniques, and the practice of
politics. Many samurai of this time were also
talented poets and painters, in addition to being
warriors, and almost all were required to be-
come at least competent diplomats.
Into this time emerge the heroes of our tale,
samurai and bushi, courtiers and merchants,
geisha and courtesans, priests and monks, even
humble peasants destined for greatness. The
Tokugawa shogunate is a time of great repres-
sion, but it is also a time of renewed opportuni-
ty. The fringes of society work against the cen-
ter, seeking to grab up power where possible.
Ronin wander the land far and wide, sometimes
acting as heroes to the common people or some-
times just another group of oppressors. Bandits
threaten outlying communities, striking where
the shogun’s forces either do not care or cannot
reach.
In a fantastic sense, this is a time when the
spirits of the land look up from their long dis-
interest only to find that the world has changed
while they slept. Around the edges of the sho-
gun’s control, they creep back in: the kappa, the
tengu, the bakemono, and more. The spiritual
concerns of the ancient land and the celestial
heavens must be balanced against the needs of
the modern world, creating tension not just be-
tween foreigners and natives, but also between
the native Japanese and their own divine be-
ings.
In short, it is a time of great conflict, both
within and without. It is a time for heroes and
villains. It is a time where the rule of the land
comes at the end of three feet of polished steel,
and life can be measured in the heartbeats be-
fore the sword strike. A single slip could cost
your life, and not all battles are fought with
weapons.
Welcome to the Land of the Rising Sun
—mind your manners and guard your honor.
13
The Omni System™
Chapter Two
TOKUGAWA
JAPAN
Tokugawa Japan: one of the single most
stable periods in Japanese history, and for all
that, it was still a time of unrest and civil dis-
cord. The fact that it can be held up as a bas-
tion of peace and order is more of a testament
to Japan’s chaotic past than anything else. The
power of the shogunate in the new capital of
Edo was far from absolute, and yet represented
one of the most unified governments throughout
the long history of the nation.
The Tokugawa Period was a time of contra-
dictions. On the one hand, the power of the sam-
urai caste was at its height, the noble masters of
war virtually unchallenged for rulership of the
land. At the same time, however, the samurai
were moving away from their traditional role as
warriors and into a period where they were just
as commonly scholars, poets, and politicians.
Where the rights of the nobility had never been
more rigid, the power of commoners had never
previously been higher, either. The shogunate
began the period welcoming foreigners, moved
to forbidding their presence, and finally had no
choice but to bow its head to their might.
In many people’s minds, the Tokugawa Pe-
riod represents the quintessential paradigm of
Japanese history, a time when the law of the
land was based around strict codes of honor and
tradition ruled over all. Even at the beginning
of the period, it could not be denied that change
was coming—and the Land of the Rising Sun
has never weathered change without discontent
and danger.
14
Ronin
Daily Life
The beginning of the Tokugawa Period saw
little obvious change to the daily lives of most
people in Japan. Farmers still farmed and the
samurai still oversaw their work. Nonetheless,
subtle alterations began to occur in the fabric of
the nation—alterations that would become more
apparent as the years came to fruition.
First and foremost, the average person saw
the Tokugawa Period as a time of plenty as com-
pared to the very recent Sengoku Jidai, during
which virtually every village, town, and city had
been attacked or conquered by one or more ri-
val forces. Older people could still remember a
time when there was no central government, and
when simply owning a sword was enough to
make a man a force with which to be reckoned.
Younger folk had grown up seeing the conflicts
of the three great generals of the time—Nobu-
naga, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa—build an envi-
ronment in which the samurai once again domi-
nated the political scene as well as the military
landscape.
The Tokugawa bakufu, while more oppres-
sive than the tent government of Nobunaga,
started out as significantly more progressive
than Toyotomi or virtually any other shogunate
before it. The political landscape was somewhat
shaky from the sudden shift between the three
great generals, but average people generally felt
much safer under the watchful eye of the Edo
government than they had for many decades.
 Tokugawa Japan

A Brief Timeline of Japan

500,000 BC to 10,000 BC Paleolithic era. Occasional habitation of Japan by nomadic Asian
tribes
10,000 BC to 300 BC Jomon Period. Ainu peoples permanently settle Japan.
350 BC to 250 AD Yayoi Period. Introduction of modern Japanese peoples. Agricul-
tural development of Japan.
250 AD to 710 AD Yamato Period. Emergence of first Japanese emperor.
710 AD to 794 AD Nara Period. Movement of the imperial capital to Heijo-Kyo.
794 AD to 1185 AD Heian Period. Movement of the imperial capital to Heian. The arts
and culture flourish.
1185 AD to 1333 AD Kamakura Period. Rulership officially passes from the imperial
court to the shogunate.
1333 AD to 1568 AD Muromachi Period. Dominance of the Ashikaga shogunate. Begin-
ning of the Sengoku (Warring States) era.
1568 AD to 1600 AD Azuchi-Momoyama Period. End of the Warring States. Establish-
ment of castles and emergence of the daimyo.
1600 AD to 1867 AD Tokugawa Period. The present day.

On the other hand, the previous potential for
class mobility was effectively destroyed by the
edicts signed into law by Toyotomi. Tokugawa
did not rescind the order, a calculated move de-
signed to solidify the samurai hold over the na-
tion. This meant that commoners no longer had
any method available to better their position un-
der the eyes of the law, even if they did so in the
eyes of their fellows. Even as the introduction
of a standard monetary unit, the koku, made a
middle class possible, the laws offered wealthy
commoners no special distinction from any oth-
er member of the heimin peasant caste.
Farming communities remained the back-
bone of culture in the Tokugawa Period, as they
had for virtually all of Japan’s history, but major
levels of urbanization had begun as well. By
1650, the capital city of Edo had one million
permanent residents, making it larger than any
other city in the world at the time, with the pos-
sible exception of London, England, which had
a far rougher census. People began flocking to
Japan’s major cities, eager to trade with the out-
side world at Nagasaki, Osaka, and Edo, as well
as to ply their trades in an environment more
conducive to competitive marketing.
As the period progressed, Tokugawa’s mea-
sures to control the populace became ever more
draconian. The early move of disarming the
peasantry, making it illegal for any non-samurai
to bear weapons, was only a prelude to the even-
tual levels of oppression reached by the bakufu.
Those that traveled to the cities seeking trade
with the outside world found themselves disap-
pointed as the government quickly stymied con-
tact with foreigners. Only one port remained
open, and even it was subject to constant scru-
tiny and heavy tariffs.
Early social unrest at the new manner of
things was quickly quashed by the expedient
means of fielding soldiers against the citizenry.
In a few minor peasant uprisings, the smashing
successes of the samurai military quickly con-
vinced any remaining potential revolutionaries
to quietly hold their tongues. The major excep-
tion to this rule was the members of the Chris-
tian faith. Long outspoken because of the pros-
elytizing nature of their religion, their doctrines
had been forbidden by Nobunaga and Toyotomi

15
The Omni System™
alike, and Tokugawa took that lesson to heart.
By the middle of the period, the religion was
virtually extinct on the mainland of Japan.
A contributing factor to the success of these
tyrannical proceedings was Tokugawa’s bril-
liance as a master of propaganda and education.
By adopting a secular version of the Confucian
teachings relating to hierarchies and servitude,
the Tokugawa shogunate was able to dissemi-
nate a belief in the samurai’s inherent superior-
ity across social boundaries. By staying in one’s
proper place, the teachings went, an individual
served the betterment of all people—in essence,
the best thing a person can do for society is to
not cause disturbances or make waves. By the
same token, stepping out of society’s proscribed
bounds was a great evil, making any attempt to
change society regarded as actively malicious.
After almost a century of civil war, in which
every man served only himself and the common
good was rarely thought of, people were all too
eager to hear that they could personally better
the lives of others. At the same time, an over-
whelming fear of change was bred into the com-
mon mentality, as well as a fear of outsiders and
foreigners. The government, due to widespread
storytelling, news sources, and the actions of
the daimyo, was viewed as the most humane
choice of life, both all-powerful and benevolent.
This assertion would be challenged repeatedly
throughout the period, but not defeated until its
end.
The stability offered by the shogunate was
tempting even in the best of times, but after
the century of civil war Japan had just suffered
through, it was irresistible to most people. The
fact that anyone who disagreed with the baku-
fu’s dogma was marginalized, and that anyone
who spoke against it actively persecuted, was
forgiven in the light of the peace and safety it
offered to those willing to play by its rules. As
the strictures of the government tightened fur-
ther, however, more of society found itself mar-
ginalized.
16
Ronin
At first, only miscreants, criminals, and
those samurai unfortunate enough to end up
as ronin suffered the ignoble attentions of the
shogunate. Eta, or non-persons [see Way of the
Outcast] were no more persecuted by the gov-
ernment than by anyone else, so their status had
changed little. As well, the initial attitude of the
Tokugawa shogunate was significantly more
lenient than that of the previous Toyotomi re-
gime. Those that opposed the government were
left alone so long as they kept their voices quiet
and did not stir up trouble.
Within two decades of the period’s auspi-
cious beginning, this attitude had turned sour.
The downsizing of the bakufu had left a great
many more ronin than at any other point in Japa-
nese history, and as the samurai population in-
creased faster than the needs of the government,
this backwash of ronin would only become
larger. The closing of the ports to the outside
world was just one method by which the aver-
age Japanese were convinced that perhaps the
government did not have their best interests at
heart. The slow spread of discontent across the
country was dealt with by the historically com-
mon and expedient method of military dictator-
ships: the creation of scapegoats.
Christians were the most common target of
persecution early on, creating a vicious cycle of
discrimination, increased resistance, and greater
sanctions. In the end, there was only one pos-
sible outcome, and it was made clear during
the last days of the Shimabara Rebellion. The
government succeeded over Christianity’s in-
fluence, virtually eradicating the faith. After
this, the efforts to find a suitable target for the
military’s energy waxed and waned with public
unrest.
When Buddhist monks seemed ready for
a return to control of their own provinces, the
samurai elite were sent against ascetic monas-
teries. When bandit raids started becoming a
problem in outlying communities, a show of
force was called for to increase morale. As for-
eigners would try to make secret agreements

with provincial daimyo for illegal trade, puni-
tive strike forces would be sent against those
daimyo’s holdings. Small rebellions against the
shogunate would even occur, given enough time
since the last one and distance from immediate
response by Edo.
In short, for almost two centuries, the bakufu
government entered a delicate dance with their
own people, in which they suppressed advances
as much as possible and ruthlessly oppressed
any possible opposition, but still convinced their
citizenry of their own righteousness. This was,
in many ways, supported by the obvious virtue
of the samurai caste. By adopting the way of the
warrior as their private faith, samurai inspired
their lesser through their own pristine example.
Many feared the samurai, and a few even hated
them, but they were respected by all.
This respect would also wane as the pe-
riod passed, though it would never become
lost. By the end of the Tokugawa Period, many
commoners—especially the wealthy merchant
class—were yearning to have the yoke of mili-
tary dictatorship lessened. The shift of the rul-
ing caste from warriors to bureaucrats, as well
as the repressive aspects of the shogunate, made
it relatively easy to convince the masses to stand
against their rulers rather than with them when
change finally arrived.
Though much has been said for the nega-
tive aspects of the shogun’s rule, there were
positive traits as well. The peace and stability
of the Tokugawa administration cannot be un-
derstated—with the exception of the rare noble
rebellion, peasant uprising, tax dispute, or other
localized disturbance, people lived in far greater
comfort and safety than they had for many cen-
turies. Life spans increased dramatically during
this time, as did standards of living, personal
wealth, and education. Most commoners could
read and write by 1650, which had been hardly
assured before this time.
Contact with the outside world was limited
and progress dramatically slowed, but innova-
Tokugawa Japan
tion was hardly halted by the government’s de-
crees. Art and culture leaped forward drastical-
ly, while the sciences and their study flourished
among the ruling caste. Many samurai were
also scholars of nature and the physical scienc-
es, and principles such as celestial motion were
independently discovered and accepted during
this time.
Housing
Because of the crowded conditions in most
Japanese cities and towns, houses are built to
make the greatest possible use of the least
possible space. A typical samurai home has
enough room for six to eight people, who share
bedrooms, living rooms, and garden space. A
samurai’s home is always clean and well main-
tained, no matter how impoverished the samu-
rai in question may become. Cleanliness being
next to godliness is a concept that the Japanese
hold dear to their hearts.
The home of a samurai is truly not that much
different in construction than those of the peas-
ants over whom he rules. The structure itself is
made of wood, sometimes with a stone founda-
tion, and interior walls and doors made of balsa
wood and rice paper. While this arrangement
makes Japanese homes extremely vulnerable to
fire, it keeps the hot summers from becoming
overwhelming and provides adequate insula-
tion for the temperate winters. Such construc-
tion also allows the home to be rebuilt cheaply
in case of fire, flood, hurricane winds, or earth-
quakes—all common disasters in the Tokugawa
Period.
As important as the samurai’s home itself is
the garden that surrounds it. This garden is typi-
cally enclosed by a low hedge or fence, though
these are not designed to “keep out the world.”
Instead, these items are built in tune with the lay
of the land to draw the eye naturally toward the
house, creating a feeling of openness and easy
access.
17
The Omni System™
Post-and-beam construction, with a slop-
ing tiled roof and a wooden veranda surround-
ing the entire house, are common to a samurai
dwelling. These simple materials—wood, clay,
and rough stone—show the importance of na-
ture to those that dwell within. This spiritual
aspect of a home’s construction is also shown in
the layout of the foundation; traditional homes
are always designed to face south, a beneficent
and lucky direction. Still, practicality ensures a
door on the north side of the home, to allow for
airflow in both winter and summer.
Homes are normally built on small wood-
en platforms, or pillars that rest on foundation
stones, to help absorb the shock of recurrent
earthquakes. The tiled roof is designed to pro-
tect the interior of the house from rain, as the au-
tumn monsoon season can be very damp indeed.
18
Ronin
Learning to build homes that can withstand the
harsh seasons is a highly valued skill among
the samurai caste; nature is a fickle force in the
islands of Japan, and the high-born are just as
much at risk from it as the low.
Thin wooden doors covered in rice paper
(shoji) lead into the interior of the house. The
paper is thin enough to allow light to pass into
and out of the house, but thick enough to block
winds and rain, as well as to obscure any ap-
pearance but silhouettes. There are many kinds
of shoji, from the simple paneled door to the
elaborate painted paneling with ledges.
Once inside, the main entryway (genkan)
can be found, in which is kept the family’s sa-
cred alcove (tokonaka). This alcove holds items
of great religious and historical importance to
the family, such as an ancestral
sword, poems written in honor
of the house, or a small shrine
to the spirits or ancestors. To
disturb such a display is not
just rude and disrespectful,
but almost blasphemous—it
insults the samurai’s ancestors
as well as his household.
Shoes are removed within
the entryway, before entering
either the main house or the al-
cove, and servants frequently
check this area to clean mud
or debris from the floor and
visitors’ shoes. As well, weap-
ons are expected to be left in
this area, and wooden racks
for their placement are kept
nearby. The only exception to
this general rule is a samurai’s
wakizashi, his honor blade,
which almost never leaves his
side.
Straw and bamboo mats
(tatami) cover the floor of the
house, and these are replaced

monthly (or more often if soiled). Woven from
thick straw and bamboo shoots, these mats
keep a fairly consistent size of six feet long
by three feet wide, and as much as two inches
thick. Some of these mats are also woven with a
seamed cloth binding in the traditional color or
pattern of the household. These mats are used
for sitting, and sometimes for sleeping as well,
if the home becomes especially full of guests.
Interior doors (fusuma) line the inside of
the house and separate individual rooms. Like
shoji, these doors are really just wooden frames
with rice paper glued to them, and they do not
prevent noise from carrying between rooms. A
Japanese home is separated more by courtesy
and formality than by solidity—essentially, a
fusuma is a social clue designed to tell visitors
“ignore anything happening on the other side of
this.” In especially large houses or stone cas-
tles, fusuma are sometimes replaced with inte-
rior doors of thin wood paneling or sliding glass
(sugito). Interior rooms are divided by folding
screens (byobu) to garner privacy or to preserve
modesty.
In the heart of the home is a traditional re-
ception room (zashiki), in which the home’s
owner will keep a low table and cushions for
kneeling (zabuton). This room may also have a
small alcove in one wall, designed to hold flower
arrangements and poetry. The zashiki often has
low shelves lining one or more of the walls, and
usually has a sliding door opening into the fam-
ily garden. In warm weather, this door usually
remains open all the time, encouraging those in-
side to admire the garden’s beauty (and the cool
breeze).
Other rooms in the house include a kitch-
en, at least three chambers used as bedrooms
at night and meeting rooms in the daytime, and
perhaps another internal parlor or sitting room.
Low chests or dressers with thin doors can be
found in each of these additional rooms, de-
signed to hold sleeping mats and pillows dur-
ing the day. These chests and dressers are often
brightly painted and decorated with kanji glori-
Tokugawa Japan
fying the deeds of the family.
A samurai’s garden may contain one or
more smaller buildings intended for meditation,
prayer, or weapons practice. These may also be
a Zen rock garden, a shallow sand pit filled with
interesting patterns of placed rocks and whorls
of sand. These evocative patterns are supposed
to bring enlightenment to those that study them.
An especially wealthy samurai might keep a
gardener living in one of the shacks in his gar-
den, or allow his household servants to maintain
one of the outbuildings as their own home.
A peasant’s home is not that different from
that of a samurai, provided that a similar number
of people live inside. The largest difference be-
tween the two, actually, is the number of family
members expected to live within a single build-
ing. A samurai’s home will contain as few as six
to eight family members, while a heimin’s entire
extended family—as many as twenty people—
will live inside his home. A peasant’s home will
also lack decorations and structures designed to
honor his family, since his ancestors were also
peasants, and will almost never have a private
garden.
In the middle of a peasant’s home is typi-
cally a hearth where a pot can be hung direct-
ly above a fire pit. This allows the peasant to
integrate his sitting room and kitchen into one
room, preserving vital living space for the fam-
ily, as well as providing an extra source of heat
during the winter. A craftsman’s home might in-
clude a room in which he can practice his trade,
while a farmer’s home would allow less room
for an entry hall, or discard the exterior veranda
altogether.
Hinin and eta dwellings rarely have more
than one room within the house (which can usu-
ally be better described as a shack). Most of
a family will live in this single room, which is
nevertheless always kept neat and tidy. This
single room will be furnished with sparse tatami
mats and scavenged wall hangings or decora-
tions, as well as cotton mats or quilts for sleep-
19
The Omni System™
ing. While private gardens are nonexistent for
eta, an aspiring eta community might keep a
single garden-like area where the community
members can maintain the plants and pathways.
In major cities, these eta gardens are one of the
few places where the beauty of nature can shine
through amid the squalor of metropolitan life.
Japanese furniture is elegantly simple, made
of polished hardwood and occasionally fitted
with brass inlays. The majority of furnishings in
a home will be low tables and low, wide chests
(tansu) in which are stored clothing and personal
effects. High wooden stands designed to show
off particularly beautiful flower arrangements
are also common in samurai dwellings.
Food
The people of Japan have a varied diet, rich
in many kinds of meat, vegetables, and fruit, but
the ultimate staple of any Japanese meal is rice.
Rice is used at every meal—morning, noon, or
night—and the primacy or rice as a dietary sta-
ple is shown even in the Japanese language it-
self. Gohan is the word for cooked rice, but the
same character is used for “meal,” and a com-
mon greeting among acquaintances is “Have
you had rice today?” Rice is also the standard of
money in Tokugawa Japan, as the basic unit of
exchange (the koku) is based around an amount
of rice.
White and sticky rice is the most common
kind, but other types have become fashionable
among wealthier samurai. For those that can
have it, basmati rice (originally from India) is
considered a select delicacy. It is a longer, more
flavorful grain, but its taste is considered bitter
and sharp by many. White rice remains the stan-
dard, however, and it is consumed by all levels
of society. The two kinds of white rice normal
for Japan are hakumai, rice that has had the bran
and germ removed (making it less nutritious
but more flavorful), and haigamai, rice with the
germ left in.
20
Ronin
White rice as a dish is always served plain
and in its own bowl, chopsticks laid sideways
across the edge of the bowl. Rice is also used
to make sushi (sticky rolls served with meat and
vegetables) and onigiri (rice balls with pickles in
the center), both of which are basic ingredients
in portable lunches. These portable lunches are
kept in layered wooden boxes called bento, and
are common at all levels of society for people
who must work away from home.
A thin wine called sake is brewed from
white rice, and this is normally drunk before a
meal. Drinking sake with a meal is considered
somewhat rude is rice is already being served
(which is almost always the case). Sake is con-
sidered an appropriate drink for all ages, and
various qualities of it are brewed by folk across
the country. Harder drinkers prefer shochu, a
potent liquor distilled from white rice. Rice vin-
egar and sweetened rice wine are also useful for
cooking, and are widely used in better restau-
rants and kitchens.
Unpolished brown rice (genmai) is used in
the cooking process of mochi (see below) and is
sometimes mixed with green tea (cha) to make
a beverage called genmaicha. Brown rice is
considered more “earthy” by many religious
folk, such as Buddhist monks, and quite a few
eat it for its supposed spiritual properties. The
rich color and texture of brown rice also make
it a useful addition to stir-fry, a dish introduced
from China centuries before that fries meat,
vegetables, and rice into a single dish.
Mochi is a small, dense rice cake, baked
brown on the outside. It is pounded from glu-
tinous brown rice (mochigomi) or unpolished
brown rice. The sweeter mochigomi is preferred
by connoisseurs. The rice is soaked, steamed,
pounded into two-inch squares with a mortar
and pestle, and then left to dry into hard cakes.
These small cakes are then baked or broiled,
and as it cooks, the cake puffs up with a crispy
shell but remains soft and sticky inside. Mochi
is eaten with soy sauce and grated radish (dai-
kon), or filled with sweet bean paste and eaten

as a snack. As a treat, bean paste mochi can be
served with a side of sweet red beans; this dish,
called shiruko, is considered the most delicious
of treats by many. Because it is hard to swallow
and a joy to savor, mochi is eaten very slowly.
A popular snack food for peasant and nobles
Tokugawa Japan
alike are rice crackers (sembei). These slight-
ly thick crackers are made from white rice in
a similar way to mochi, but are cooked all the
way through and are less sweet because of their
base. Kept dry, rice crackers can last over a
week, making them excellent traveling food. As
a snack, they are often served with fruit slices or
dipping sauces.
21
The Omni System™
After rice, the most popular foods in Japan
are noodle dishes (menrui). They can be eat-
en quickly, and their full body allows them to
satisfy the need for a complete meal. Peasants
and soldiers prefer noodle meals for incidences
where time is of the essence. Many noodles
are made from rice flour, while a few are made
from other grains. The most popular noodles
are soba, kishimen, ramen, hiyamugi, somen,
and udon, each with a distinct flavor and its own
way of being cooked.
Soba noodles are made from a
mixture of buckwheat and wheat flour.
Since buckwheat requires cool and dry
growing conditions, soba is mostly
consumed on the northern islands, such
as Hokkaido and the northernmost por-
tions of Honshu. Soba is long, thin,
and a light brownish-gray in color.
Udon is a thick wheat-based noo-
dle, light in color. These noodle are
normally served in a thin, flavored
broth, often topped with fried shrimp
or vegetables. Udon noodles are served
hot in the winter and cold in the sum-
mer, making them a year-round dish.
They are particularly popular among
samurai for their hearty flavor and full-
ness of body.
Ramen is the noodle most com-
monly eaten by peasants, created by
adding egg to buckwheat noodles, then
drying the result for later boiling or fry-
ing. Kishimen noodles are made from
the same base as ramen, as are somen,
but kishimen are flat while somen are
like a long, thin spaghetti. Hiyamugi
are thin and typically served cold dur-
ing the summer. Most of these noodles
are served with a pork or chicken broth
seasoned with soy sauce or onions.
When a Japanese family moves into
a new home, they offer soba noodles
to their neighbors in the hope of offer-
22
Ronin
ing prosperity to their neighborhood. Shaped
properly, it is believed, the noodles symbolize
a fortunate relationship. The Japanese also eat
soba on New Year’s Eve while listening to local
temple bells ring. This dish, called “year’s pass-
ing” (toshikoshi), is served with long noodles
representing the wish for a long life.
A food of significant import to the Japanese
is beans (mame). Soybeans are widely used in
dishes, including as the ever-present soy sauce
Common Japanese
Foods
Fruits and Nuts: Almond, apple, apri-
cot, blackberry, blueberry, cashew, cherry,
chestnut, grape, grapefruit, orange, pear, pea-
nut, plum, pomegranate, raspberry, squash,
tangerine, watermelon.
Meats: Beef, chicken, fish (see below),
pheasant, pork, quail.
Seafood: Abalone, carp, clam, eel, fish
maw, glowing eel, gray sand crab, herring,
jellyfish, kelp, mackerel, moonfish, octopus,
oyster, pike, pufferfish, salmon, sardine, scal-
lops, sea bass, sea cucumber, sea urchin, sea-
grasses, shrimp, squid, swordfish, trout, tuna,
whale.
Vegetables: Alfalfa sprouts, baby corn,
beans, beets, broccoli, butter lettuce, cab-
bage, carrots, cucumber, eggplant, green pep-
pers, horse radish, mushroom, onion, parsley,
peppers, potato, radish, sesame seed, snow
peas, soybean, spinach, sweet potato, tomato,
turnip, water chestnut, watercress.

(shoyu), and in the widely used tofu, a bean curd
made from soybeans that comes in soft white
blocks. Soybean paste (miso) is made from fer-
mented soybeans and serves as a base for many
kinds of soup. On the few occasions they are
eaten fresh, soybeans are boiled in their shells.
Small, dried red beans called azuki are
sometimes mixed with white rice to serve as a
dish called sekihan (“red rice”) on auspicious oc-
casions. Azuki are sometimes boiled with sugar
and then mashed into sweet bean paste, which
is used in many sweets and snacks. Sweet bean
paste is at the heart of almost all pastries (kashi)
in Japan.
Eggs are primarily boiled when eaten;
fried eggs are uncommon, and scrambled eggs
are unheard of. Chicken eggs are primarily a
peasant food, and few samurai enjoy the taste
of animal by-products such as cheese and eggs.
This goes back to the Shinto principle of clean-
liness, wherein most things that come out of an
animal’s body are regarded as unclean.
The Japanese are fond of several different
kinds of soup (shirumono). Japanese soup is
served very hot, and it is usually brought to the
table in a lacquered bowl with a lid. When the
lid is removed, the diner can savor the soup’s
aroma. Tableware in Japan is limited to chop-
sticks, which are obviously inappropriate for
spooning soup, so diners pick up soup bowls
and drink the contents, using their chopsticks to
eat any small, loose ingredients.
The most common kind of soup is miso soup,
made from thick soybean stock. This could be
considered the Japanese form of “home-style
cooking,” since miso is regarded as informal
family food. It is the central dish in traditional
family breakfasts, and is usually accompanied
by rice, fish, pickles, and tea. Heavier miso is
served during later meals, and often combined
with tofu, vegetables, or seaweed.
A more formal dish, suimono, is a clear
soup made from water stock cooked with flaked
Tokugawa Japan
fish and edible seaweed. The stock is seasoned
with salt and soy sauce, and many cooks also
like to add herbs, spices, and seasonal garnishes.
Chicken, fish, shellfish, boiled egg, vegetables,
mushrooms, and tofu are just a few of the things
that are added to suimono to make it into a ma-
jor part of a meal.
Commoners eat a kind of stew called nabe-
mono, cooked in a large pot right at the table.
These thick, rich stews are most often served in
the cold of winter. Chicken, fish, tofu, and noo-
dles are added to the broth, as well as virtually
anything else the cook can find. These stews are
the Japanese equivalent of the potluck dinner,
combining many random ingredients to create
a meal for many people. A common practice
with such stews is to cook them over the open
hearth in the center of the peasant’s home. This
cooks the food and warms the home all at the
same time.
The last important component of the daily
Japanese meal is tea. The finest of all teas is
gyokuro, a refined and aromatic green tea made
from virgin leaves picked at the peak of their
ripeness. Macha, another kind of green tea made
from ground leaves instead of crushed ones, is
served only during formal tea ceremonies. The
most common sort of tea, however, is bancha,
made from older leaves easily grown in any cli-
mate. This tea is of a brown tint with a sharp,
astringent odor. Samurai that are not particular
sometimes drink hojicha, an analogue to West-
ern coffee, a powerfully strong tea made from
roasted bancha. The last major kind of tea is
genmaicha, a tea made from toasted rice grains,
served hot or cold according to the season.
Climate and
Terrain
Japan is a country of islands that extends
along the eastern or Pacific coast of Asia. The
main islands (sometimes referred to as the
Home Islands), running from north to south, are
23
The Omni System™
Hokkaido, Honshu (or the mainland), Shikoku,
and Kyushu. Naha on Okinawa, in the Ryukyu
archipelago, is over 600 km to the southwest of
Kyushu. In addition, about 3,000 smaller is-
lands may be counted in the full extent of the
archipelago that comprises greater Japan.
Mythically speaking, it is believed that all of
the islands of Japan are children of the creator-
gods, Izanagi and Izanami. Each island is, in
Shinto belief, a significant deific figure that has
its own personality and independent existence.
The kami, or gods, of the islands are less com-
monly addressed in religious works than those
of the lesser gods and spirits, simply because it
is believed that the island-gods are more distant
from humanity and less interested in the affairs
of men.
The regions of Japan are not official admin-
24
Ronin
istrative units, but have been traditionally used
as the regional division of Japan in a number
of contexts: for example, maps and correspon-
dence divide Japan into the eight regions, and
many businesses and institutions use their home
region as part of their name. From north to
south, they are:
 Hokkaido (the island of Hokkaido
and nearby islands, including Sapporo)
 Tohoku region (northern Honshu,
including Sendai)
 Kanto region (eastern Honshu, in-
cluding Tokyo and Yokohama)
 Chubu region (central Honshu, in-
cluding Mount Fuji), sometimes divid-
ed into: Hokuriku region (northwestern
Chubu); Koshinetsu region (northeast-
ern Chubu, including Nagano); Tokai
region (southern Chubu, including Na-
goya)

 Kinki region (west-central Honshu,
including Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto)
 Chugoku region (western Honshu,
including Hiroshima)
• Shikoku (island, including Mat-
suyama)
 Kyushu (island, including Fukuo-
ka) and Okinawa
Japan is situated in a volcanic zone on the
Pacific “Ring of Fire,” at the juncture of the four
continental plates. Frequent low-intensity earth
tremors and occasional volcanic activity are
felt throughout the islands. Destructive earth-
quakes, often resulting in tsunamis, occur sever-
al times each century. These major earthquakes
are regarded as the shuddering of great dragons
within the earth, powerful and not-infrequent
events that can utterly destroy towns and cities.
Even the minor tremors that pass through the is-
lands are regarded with worry, as they can level
homes and ruin fields.
The eight described regions are home to
a nine forest eco-regions, which reflect their
climate and geography. The forested regions
range from subtropical moist broadleaf forests
in the Ryukyu and Bonin islands, to temperate
broadleaf and mixed forests in the mild climate
regions of the main islands, to temperate co-
niferous forests in the cold, winter portions of
the northern islands. The islands that constitute
Japan generally have a humid climate, which
ranges from warm subtropical in the southern
islands to cool temperate on the northern island
of Hokkaido.
Japan is a generally temperate region with
four distinct seasons. Because of its great length
from north to south, its climate varies from re-
gion to region: the far north is very cold in the
winter, while the far south is subtropical. The
climate is also affected by the seasonal winds,
blown from the continent to the ocean in winters
and vice versa in summers. The waters of the
Kuroshio Current also warm the Pacific side of
Japan, sustaining the coral reefs of Japan, the
northernmost coral reefs in the world.
Tokugawa Japan
Late June and early July are a rainy season
for Japan, except in Hokkaido, as a seasonal rain
front stays above Japan. In the late summer and
early autumn, typhoons (the Pacific equivalent
of hurricanes) develop from tropical depres-
sions generated near the equator, and track from
the southwest to the northeast, often bringing
heavy rain.
Japan’s varied geographical features divide
it into six principal climatic zones:
• Hokkaido: The northernmost island of
Japan has a temperate climate with long, cold
winters and cool summers. Precipitation is not
heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snow
banks in the winter. This island is the most dis-
tant from normal life in Japan, being the furthest
from the capital at Edo, and its weather is often
exaggerated by southerners as being far colder
and windier than it actually is.
• Sea of Japan: The western flank of the
main island of Honshu fronts the cold Sea of
Japan. The northwest wind in the wintertime
brings heavy snowfall. In the summer, the re-
gion is cooler than the Pacific half of the island,
though it sometimes experiences extremely hot
temperatures, due local wind phenomena. This
sea is also choppier and rougher than the Pacific
Ocean, and is home to the kamikaze winds that
defeated the Mongol invasion in the 1200’s.
• Central Highlands (Chuo-kochi): This
area, running through the middle of Honshu, is
a typical inland climate, with large temperature
differences between summer and winter, and be-
tween day and night. Precipitation in this region
is light all year round, due to the rocky heights
blocking moisture from both the Sea of Japan
and the Pacific Ocean.
• Seto Inland Sea (Seto-naikai): This
southern Japanese region is situated at the con-
vergence of the islands of Honshu, Shikoku,
and Kyushu. The Mountains of the Chugoku
and Shikoku regions block the seasonal winds,
bringing mild weather throughout the year.
• Pacific Ocean: The Pacific half of the
islands of Honshu and Kyushu experience cold
winters with little snowfall and hot, humid sum-
mers due to the southeast seasonal winds. This
25
The Omni System™
is the “normal” weather for most people of Ja-
pan due to the concentration of population cen-
ters on the eastern half these two islands. This is
in no small respect because of the large amount
of arable land in this region, as well as the pres-
ence of every government capital since the Nara
Period.
• Southwest Islands (Nansei-shoto): The
Ryukyu Islands have a subtropical climate, with
warm winters and very hot summers. Precipita-
tion is quite heavy, especially during the rainy
season. Typhoons are common to this area, with
as many as ten a year making landfall.
Government and
Law
The Tokugawa (or Edo) Period brought two
hundred years of stability to Japan. The po-
litical system evolved into what historians call
bakuhan, a combination of the terms bakufu
(shogunate) and han (provinces) to describe the
government and society of the period. In the
bakuhan, the shogun had national authority and
the daimyo had regional authority, a new unity
in the feudal structure, which had an increas-
ingly large bureaucracy to administer the mix-
ture of centralized and decentralized authorities.
The Tokugawa became more powerful during
their first century of rule; land redistribution
gave them nearly seven million koku, control of
the most important cities and a land assessment
system reaping great revenues.
A code of laws was established to regulate
the daimyo houses. The code encompassed
private conduct, marriage, dress, and types of
weapons and numbers of troops allowed; re-
quired residence at Edo every other year (the
sankin kotai system); prohibited the construc-
tion of ocean-going ships; proscribed Christian-
ity; and stipulated that bakufu regulations were
the national law. Although the daimyo were not
taxed per se, they were regularly levied for con-
tributions for military and logistical support and
for such public works projects as castles, roads,
26
Ronin
bridges and castles. The various regulations
and levies not only strengthened the Tokugawa
but also depleted the wealth of the daimyo, thus
weakening their threat to the central administra-
tion. The han, once military-centered domains,
became mere local administrative units. The
daimyo did have full administrative control over
their territory and their complex systems of re-
tainers, bureaucrats and commoners. Loyalty
was exacted from religious foundations, already
greatly weakened by Nobunaga and Hideyoshi,
through a variety of control mechanisms.
The feudal hierarchy was completed by
the various classes of daimyo. Closest to the
Tokugawa house were the shinpan, or “related
houses.” They were twenty-three daimyo on the
borders of Tokugawa lands—daimyo all direct-
ly related to Ieyasu. The shinpan held mostly
honorary titles and advisory posts in the bakufu.
The second class of the hierarchy were the fu-
dai, or “house daimyo,” rewarded with lands
close to the Tokugawa holdings for their faithful
service. By the 18th Century, 145 fudai con-
trolled such smaller han, the greatest assessed
at 250,000 koku. Members of the fudai class
staffed most of the major bakufu offices. Nine-
ty-seven han formed the third group, the tozama
(outside vassals), former opponents or new al-
lies. The tozama were located mostly on the
peripheries of the archipelago and collectively
controlled nearly ten million koku of productive
land. Because the tozama were least trusted of
the daimyo, they were the most cautiously man-
aged and generously treated, although they were
excluded from central government positions.
The Tokugawa not only consolidated their
control over a reunified Japan, they also had un-
precedented power over the emperor, the court,
all daimyo and the religious orders. The emper-
or was held up as the ultimate source of politi-
cal sanction for the shogun, who ostensibly was
the vassal of the imperial family. The Tokuga-
wa helped the imperial family recapture its old
glory by rebuilding its palaces and granting it
new lands. To ensure a close tie between the
imperial clan and the Tokugawa family, Ieyasu’s
 Tokugawa Japan

granddaughter was even made an imperial con- zero. They are still considered to be samurai un-
sort in 1619. der the protection of the law, but they can easily
flaunt many of the usual legalities of the bakufu.
The population was divided into four class- Below the merchant class were the so-called
es because of the edicts of the seisatsu yodatsu, hinin, people without legal protection of any
the caste system. The samurai were on the top sort because of their professions, and eta, whose
(about five to ten percent of the population), and professions broke the taboos of Buddhism and
the peasants (more than eighty percent of the Shinto. They were butchers, tanners and under-
population) were on the second level. Below takers, entertainers and prostitutes.
the peasants were the craftsmen, and even below
them, on the fourth level, were the merchants. Perhaps the hardest thing to imagine in
Only the peasants lived in the rural areas; in- Western society about the law during this pe-
deed, by defi-
nition, a com-
moner living
in a rural area
was a peasant
farmer, while
one living in a
city was a mer-
chant or crafts-
man. Samu-
rai, craftsmen
and merchants
lived in the cit-
ies that were
built around
the daimyo’s
castles, each
restricted to
their own quar-
ter.

There were
a few that were
above the sys-
tem—the kuge,
descendants of
the Imperial
Court in Kyo-
to. Although
they regained
their splendor
after the pov-
erty of the war
years, their
political influ-
ence was near

27
The Omni System™
riod is that the individual had no legal rights in
Tokugawa Japan. The family was the smallest
legal entity, and the maintenance of family sta-
tus and privileges was of great importance at all
levels of society. Only by advancing one’s fam-
ily could one advance oneself—the two were
one and the same in Tokugawa Japan.
In a real and direct sense, the law applies
only to those protected by it. Kuge nobles can
ignore it with virtually no repercussions, while
hinin and eta are not recognized in it at all. The
word of the law starts with the shogun and trick-
les down to the lowest level of society in the
same way that orders are given in a large mili-
tary organization. Truthfully, Tokugawa Japan
is a military organization—a military society,
based around the principles of utter obedience
to one’s superiors. It can be a harsh law, and
even unfair at times, but it has brought more
peace than any previous era of Japanese history,
and most people simply accept it.
Sankin Kotai
The shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, feared that
some daimyo would someday gain enough
power and respect to rebel against the shogu-
nate. After all, Tokugawa had gained much of
his own power through political games against
his former allies, so he well understood the flu-
id nature of smaurai alliances. Because of his
need to establish a lasting legacy (and to keep
his family firmly in control of the nation), he
established many laws to regulate and weaken
regional daimyo. Sankin kotai was one of them,
and probably the most successful of the time.
Throughout the Tokugawa Period, sankin
kotai required every daimyo to live in the capi-
tal city of Edo, rather than in his own castle, ev-
ery other year. That is, a daimyo would spend
a whole year in his home territory, then spend
a whole year in his estate in Edo. This law did
not account for the traveling times of daimyo,
making the requirement doubly arduous in some
ways. In addition, it required daimyo to split
28
Ronin
their resources by maintaining his home prov-
ince and then providing upkeep for a second
household (called a daimyo yashiki) in the capi-
tal city.
Though the law cost many daimyo a great
deal of personal wealth to obey, it promoted the
advance of traffic system in Japan. Kaido, major
traveling routes, were well developed because
of the necessity of transporting a daimyo and his
entourage, which could be up to two hundred
men. Many shukuba-machi (inn towns) grew
along the kaido, providing travelers lodging and
comfort in their long journeys. Tokaido was the
most famous kaido of the time, connecting Edo
and Kyoto along the Pacific coast. There were
fifty-three shukuba-machi on the Tokaido, each
of which typically catered to a different select
group of samurai clans, but which were theoreti-
cally open to any traveler capable of paying.
In addition, various local cultures were
brought to Edo, thanks to the edict of sankin ko-
tai. From the furthest northern province to the
furthest southern, every daimyo was required to
spend half of his valuable time in Edo, with the
addition of travel time. It is directly because
of this traveling policy that Edo—later Tokyo—
eventually grew into the greatest metropolis of
Japan, a center of culture and learning like none
ever seen before in Japanese history.
Religion
The Japanese are a deeply spiritual people,
their lives filled with dozens of rituals, ceremo-
nies, and religious observances. Indeed, the
many different faiths of Japan have combined
into a cultural mélange that is uniquely Japanese.
While there are quite a few people in Japan that
would claim to be purely Shinto, or Buddhist,
or Christian, the varied religions of the region
are so deeply intermixed that it becomes nearly
impossible to avoid participating in the activi-
ties of other faiths.
More commonly, the Japanese view all
spirituality as originating from the same source
and moving in similar directions—only the spe-
cifics of the path and the ultimate destination
vary. Many are the practitioners of Shinto that
also venerate the Amida Buddha, and not a few
Buddhists visit Shinto shrines for luck. While
Christians still take the commandment to “have
no other gods before Me” seriously, they still
acknowledge the existence of other gods while
believing in the primacy of the god of Abra-
ham.
Shinto
Shinto is a native religion of Japan and is
officially the state religion of Tokugawa Japan,
though in practice this edict is hardly enforced.
It involves the worship of the kami, which can
be translated to mean gods, spirits of nature, or
just spiritual presences. Some kami are local
and can be regarded as the spirit or genius of a
particular place, but others represent major nat-
ural objects and processes, such as Amaterasu,
the sun goddess.
The word Shinto is created by combining
two kanji: shin meaning “god” (the character
can also be read as kami in Japanese) and to,
meaning Tao (“way” or “path” in a philosophi-
cal sense). Thus, Shinto literally means “the
way of the gods.”
The earliest origins of Shinto are lost to his-
tory, but it seems to have been established by the
late Jomon Period. A number of theories about
the ancestors of today’s Japanese people exist.
These theories range from hypotheses of migra-
tion from central Asia or Indonesia that are ac-
cepted by most scholars, to fringe speculation
that even links the Japanese to the lost tribes of
Israel. Most likely, after the arrival of the earli-
est ancestors of today’s Japanese, each tribe and
area had its own collection of gods and rituals
with no formal relationship between each of the
areas. Following the ascendancy of the ances-
tors of today’s Imperial family to a position of
power among the other groups, their ancestral
deities were given prominence over the deities
of other groups, though different systems con-
tinued to coexist.
The introductions of writing in the 5th cen-
tury and Buddhism in the 6th century had a
profound impact on the development of a uni-
fied system of Shinto beliefs. Within a brief
period of time, in the early Nara Period, the
Kojiki (“The Record of Ancient Things”) and
the Nihonshoki (“The Chronicles of Japan”)
were written by compiling existing myths and
legends into a unified account. These accounts
were written with two purposes in mind. First,
the sophistication of the narratives and the in-
troduction of Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist
themes into the narratives were meant to im-
press the Chinese with the sophistication of the
Japanese. The Japanese felt intimidated by the
clearly advanced culture of the Chinese and so
hoped to produce a work rivaling it. Second,
the narratives were meant to shore up support
for the legitimacy of the Imperial house, based
on its lineage from the sun goddess, Amaterasu.
Much of the area of modern Japan was under
only fragmentary control by the Imperial fam-
ily, and rival ethnic groups (including, perhaps,
the ancestors of the Ainu) continued to war
against the encroachment of the Japanese. The
mythological anthologies, along with poetry an-
thologies like the Manyoshu and others, were all
meant to impress others with the worthiness of
the Imperial family and their divine mandate to
rule.
With the introduction of Buddhism and its
rapid adoption by the court, it was necessary to
explain the apparent differences between native
Japanese beliefs and Buddhist teachings. In-
deed, Shinto did not have a name until it became
necessary to distinguish it from Buddhism. One
explanation saw the Japanese kami as supernat-
ural beings still caught in the cycle of birth and
rebirth. The kami are born, live, die, and are
reborn like all other beings in the karmic cycle.
However, the kami played a special role in pro-
tecting Buddhism and allowing its compassion-
ate teachings to flourish. This explanation was
later challenged by Kukai, who saw the kami
29
The Omni System™
Shinto Gods
Unlike many traditional pantheistic religions, it
is uncommon for Shinto priests to directly invoke the
individual gods of the Shinto pantheon. Most Shinto
shrines are dedicated to local gods or spirits, with
ample respect shown toward the top deities of the
religion—the children and grandchildren of Izanagi
and Izanami. The two creator-gods, while consid-
ered ultimately important in their role as progenitors
of the universe, are not a part of Shinto worship ser-
vices at all, except insofar as their myths are related
to the faithful. In a real sense, Izanagi and Izanami
are considered to be as far above the gods as the gods
are to men, making them unknowable and unfathom-
able to mere mortals.
Below those two most august persons, however,
there are a slew of other gods, spirits, demons, ghosts,
and legendary heroes vying for the attention of the
Japanese. Again, while the uppermost gods (called
the amatsukami, or Heavenly Court) are rarely wor-
shipped individually, woe betide any person who
should forget to honor them in their daily lives. The
more earthly gods (kunitsukami, or Earthly Court)
are more likely to be praised personally, or placated
to avoid disaster.
Of the Heavenly Court, those who are wor-
shipped most often on earth, and most spoken of in
myth, include:
 Amaterasu Omikami: The daughter of
Izanagi, born from his right eye, Amaterasu is the
shining sun, the brightest light of heaven. Her grace
and beauty are legendary, as are her vanity and un-
even temperament. Perhaps because of these twin
values, she is considered the progenitor of the Japa-
nese imperial line. In popular myth, her grandson
Jimmu is the first Japanese emperor. She holds mas-
tery over the entire Heavenly Court, and her shining
face is the sun itself. Her symbol is an eight-sided
mirror, or the golden disk of the sun.
 Susanowo: Amaterasu’s brother, born from
the nose of Izanagi. While undoubtedly “evil” in
the Western sense, Susanowo fulfills much the same
mythical role in Japan as the fire giant Loki in Norse
mythology. He is a trickster, quick to defend his re-
lations from outside threats but just as quick to create
a scandal or pull a prank if nothing currently threat-
ens them. Susanowo also sometimes travels abroad
on earth, helping lowly mortals and shaming mighty
ones. He is master over the sea and the stormy sky,
as well as the deep places of the earth; in this capac-
ity, he causes typhoons and earthquakes. His sym-
30
Ronin
bol is a mighty two-handed sword, or a simple hair
comb.
 Tsukiyomi: As the god born from Izanagi’s
left eye after his failed trip to the underworld, the
moon god Tsukiyomi is a far cry from the brilliance
of his sister. He rarely remains in the heavens, pre-
ferring instead to wander the earth guided by the light
of the moon, watching over travelers in the darkness.
He often appears as a harmless old peddler, carrying
a pack on his back and giving gifts to wanderers. His
symbol is the pale disk of the full moon, or a rabbit.
 Mikaboshi: A child born to Izanami after she
died, Mikaboshi represents all that is evil and vile
to the Japanese. He is a patron of the unclean and
the cruel, and it is believed that all earthly demons
and monsters are his servants. Mikaboshi is repre-
sented as a man with rotten flesh, wearing the de-
cayed armor of a warrior, wielding a rusty sword,
and wearing a demon-faced steel mask over his own
desiccated features. He has no symbol, for no shrine
would wish to be associated with him. Some say that
he grants special powers over death and darkness to
his few mortal followers
Also beneath these heavenly bodies, but above
the eight million gods of the earthly realm, are the
Seven Lucky Gods, or Seven Fortunes (shichi fuku-
jin). These seven gods travel about on the mortal
plane in a magical flying ship, the Takarabune, of-
fering good luck to the faithful and bad luck to the
wicked. During the Japanese New Year, these seven
deities are prayed to while cleaning the household, in
hopes that ritually cleansing the home while praying
to them will equate the home’s fresh start with good
luck. The Seven Fortunes each represent a different
aspect of luck and virtue. They are:
 Benten: Goddess of beauty, art, and learn-
ing. She is prayed to by those seeking beauty, either
physical beauty or the beauty of spirit.
 Bishamon: God of warriors; depicted as a
bearded warrior carrying a long spear.
 Daikoku: God of wealth, commerce, and
trade, usually shown as a jolly fat man holding a
bowl of fruit or coins.
 Ebisu: God of fishers and merchants, often
represented as carrying a cod or sea bass.
 Fukurokuju: God of happiness, he is shown
as an older man with a ready grin.
 Hotei: Another fat god, Hotei represents
abundance and good health.
 Juroujin: God of longevity. Juroujin is de-
picted as an elderly Japanese man with a wide smile
and hearty laugh.

as different embodiments of the Buddhas them-
selves. For example, he famously linked Amat-
erasu, sun goddess and ancestor of the Imperial
family, with Dainichi Nyorai, a central mani-
festation of the Buddha, whose name is literally
“Great Sun Buddha.” In his view, the greatest
kami were just Buddhas by another name.
Shinto is a difficult religion to classify. On
the one hand, it can be seen as merely a highly
sophisticated form of animism and may be re-
garded as a primal shamanist religion. On the
other hand, Shinto beliefs and ways of thinking
are deeply embedded in the subconscious fab-
ric of modern Japanese society. The afterlife is
not a primary concern in Shinto, and much more
emphasis is placed on fitting into this world, in-
stead of preparing for the next.
Shinto has no binding set of dogma, no ho-
liest place for worshippers, no single person
or kami deemed holiest, and no defined set of
prayers. Instead, Shinto is a collection of ritu-
als and methods meant to mediate the relations
of living humans to kami. These practices have
originated organically in Japan over a span of
many centuries and have been influenced by Ja-
pan’s contact with the religions of other nations,
especially China. Notice, for example, that the
word Shinto is itself of Chinese origin and that
much of the codification of Shinto mythology
was done with the explicit aim of answering
Chinese cultural influence. Conversely, Shinto
had—and continues to have—an impact on the
practice of other religions within Japan. In par-
ticular, one could even make a case for discuss-
ing it under the heading of Japanese Buddhism
(see below), since these two religions have
exercised a profound influence on each other
throughout Japanese history.
The most immediately striking theme in the
Shinto religion is a great love and reverence for
nature. Thus, a waterfall, the moon, or just an
oddly shaped rock might come to be regarded as
a kami; so might charismatic persons or more
abstract entities like growth and fertility. As
time went by, the original nature-worshipping
Tokugawa Japan
roots of the religion, while never lost entirely,
became attenuated, and the kami took on more
reified and anthropomorphic forms, with a for-
midable amount of myth attached to them.
The kami, though, are not transcendent dei-
ties in the usual Western and Indian sense of
the word—although divine, they are close to
humanity; they inhabit the same world as hu-
mans, make the same mistakes as humans, and
feel and think the same way as humans. Those
who died would automatically be added to the
rank of kami regardless of their human doings.
(Though it is thought that one can become a
ghost under certain circumstances involving
unsettled disputes in life.) Belief is not a cen-
tral aspect in Shinto, and proper observation of
ritual is more important than whether one “truly
believes” in the ritual. Thus, even those believ-
ing other religions may be venerated as kami af-
ter death, if there are Shinto believers who wish
them to be.
Unlike many religions, one does not need to
publicly profess belief in Shinto to be a Shintoist.
Whenever a child is born, a local Shinto shrine
adds the child’s name to a list kept at the shrine
and declares him or her Ujiko (“named child”).
After death an Ujiko becomes an Ujigami; liter-
ally, “named kami.” One may choose to have
one’s name added to another list when moving
and then be listed at both places. Names can
be added to the list without consent and regard-
less of the beliefs of the person added to the list.
However, this is not considered an imposition
of belief, but a sign of the welcome of the area
kami, with the promise of addition to the pan-
theon of kami after death. Those children who
die before addition to the list are called Mizuko
(“water child”), and are believed to cause trou-
bles and plagues. Mizuko are often worshipped
in a Shinto shrine dedicated to stilling their an-
ger and sadness.
Because Shinto has co-existed with Bud-
dhism for many centuries, it is very difficult to
disentangle Shinto and Buddhist beliefs about
the world. One might say that where Buddhism
31
The Omni System™
emphasizes the afterlife and ending the cycle of
rebirths, Shinto emphasizes this life and find-
ing happiness within it. Though Buddhism and
Shinto have very different perspectives on the
world, most Japanese do not see any need to
reconcile these two very different religions, and
practice both. Thus, it is common for people to
practice Shinto in life yet have a Buddhist fu-
neral. Their different perspectives on the after-
life are seen as complementing each other, and
frequently the ritual practice of one will have an
origin in the other.
Though Shinto has no absolute command-
ments for its adherents outside of living “a sim-
ple and harmonious life with nature and people,”
there are said to be “Four Affirmations” of the
Shinto spirit:
 Tradition and the family: The family is
seen as the main mechanism by which traditions
are preserved. Their main celebrations relate to
birth and marriage.
 Love of nature: Nature is sacred; to be
in contact with nature is to be close to the kami.
Natural objects are worshipped as containing
sacred spirits.
 Physical cleanliness: Followers of
Shinto take baths, wash their hands, and rinse
out their mouth often.
 Matsuri: Any festival dedicated to the
kami, of which there are many each year.
Shinto does not teach that anything is a sin
per se. Rather, certain deeds create a kind of
ritual impurity that one should want cleansed
merely for one’s own peace of mind and good
fortune, and not because impurity is wrong in
and of itself. Evil and wrong deeds are called
kegare (“dirtiness”), and the opposite notion is
kiyome (“purity”). Normal days are called ke
(simply, “day”), and festive days are called hare
(“sunny,” or simply “good”), and festive days
should be held with reverence. Killing living
beings should be done with a gratitude and with
a reverence for taking life to continue one’s
own, and it should be kept to a minimum.
The Japanese place great emphasis on the
32
Ronin
importance of aisatsu, or ritual phrases and greet-
ings. Before eating, many (though not all) Japa-
nese say itadakimasu (“I will humbly receive
[this food]”) in order to show proper thankful-
ness to the preparer of the meal in particular and
more generally to all those living things that lost
their lives to make the meal. Failure to show
proper respect can be seen as a sign of pride and
lack of concern for others. Such an attitude is
looked down upon because it is believed to cre-
ate problems for all. Those who fail to take into
account the feelings of other people and kami
will only attract ruin for themselves and those
close to them. The worst expression of such an
attitude is the taking of another’s life for per-
sonal advancement or enjoyment. Those killed
without being shown gratitude for their sacrifice
will hold urami (a grudge) and become aragami,
a powerful and evil kami that seeks revenge.
Worse, they might even become gaki, hungry
ghosts, from their fury.
Purification rites are a vital part of Shinto.
These may serve to placate any restive kami, for
instance when their shrine had to be relocated.
A more personal purification rite is the purifica-
tion by water. This may involve standing be-
neath a waterfall or performing ritual ablutions
in a river-mouth or in the sea. These two forms
of purification are often referred to as harae. A
third form of purification is avoidance, that is,
the taboo placed on certain persons or acts. For
example, women are not allowed to climb Mount
Fuji, as it is a spiritual place of great manliness.
Truly religious Japanese will not use an inaus-
picious word like “cut” at a wedding, nor will
they attend a wedding if they have recently been
bereaved.
The principal worship of kami is done at
public shrines, although home worship at small
private shrines (sometimes only a high shelf
with a few ritual objects) is also common. It is
also possible to worship objects or people while
they exist. While a few of the public shrines are
elaborate structures, most are small buildings in
the characteristic Japanese architectural style.
Shrines are commonly fronted by a distinctive

red gate (torii) made of two uprights and two
crossbars. These gates are there as a part of
the barrier to separate our living world and the
nearby spiritual world the kami live in. There
are often two guardian animals placed at each
side of the gate and they serve to protect the
entrance, usually lions or dogs. There are well
over 100,000 of these shrines in operation today,
each with its retinue of Shinto priests. Shinto
priests often wear a ceremonial robe called a jo-
e, similar to a kimono but always in the colors of
red (for life) and white (for spiritual purity).
Kami are invoked at such important cere-
monies as weddings and entry into a new stage
of life. The kami are commonly petitioned for
quite earthly benefits; a child, a promotion, a
happier life. While one may wish for ill bidding
on others, this is believed to be possible only if
the target has committed wrongs first, or if one
is willing to offer one’s life. Though Shinto is
popular for these occasions, when it comes to
funerals, most Japanese turn to Buddhist cer-
emonies, since the emphasis in Shinto is on this
life and not the next. Almost all festivals (mat-
suri) in Japan are hosted by local Shinto shrines.
While these could be said to be religious events,
Japanese do not regard these events as religious
Tokugawa Japan
since everyone can attend, regardless of person-
al beliefs.
Shinto’s kami are collectively called Yaoy-
orozu no Kami, literally “eight million gods.”
The arcane name of eight million, Yaoyorozu,
is not an exact number, but an expression of
infinite number from the time when the con-
cept of infinity did not exist. Because of this
usage, there are small shops in the major cities
that offer everything—from perishable items
like foods, to books and art supplies, and even
occasionally foreign goods—called Yorozu-ya
(“10,000 item shop”), indicating the wide vari-
ety of items offered.
The most widely worshipped of all kami is
the sun-goddess Amaterasu. However, the Jap-
anese do not specifically worship her or invoke
her name to ask for help. Her main shrine is
at Ise, but many lesser shrines are dedicated to
her as well. Within a shrine to her, she is often
symbolized by an eight-sided mirror. Alterna-
tively, the inner sanctum may simply be empty.
This emptiness does not mean non-existence;
rather, it symbolizes that everything that one
sees through the mirror is the embodiment of
Amaterasu and every other kami.
33
The Omni System™
Wealthy people will often donate horses to
shrines, especially when making a request of the
god of the shrine (for example, when praying for
victory in battle). For smaller favors, giving a
picture of a horse (ema) is customary. The visi-
tor to a shrine purchases a wooden tablet with a
likeness of a horse, writes a wish or prayer on
the tablet, and hangs it at the shrine. In some
cases, if the wish comes true, the person hangs
another ema at the shrine in gratitude.
Shinto has been called “the religion of Japa-
nese-ness,” and the customs and values of Shin-
to are inseparable from those of Japanese culture
prior to the influx of Chinese religious ideas that
occurred in the mid 6th century. Many famous-
ly Japanese practices have origins either directly
or indirectly rooted in Shinto. For example, it
is clear that the Shinto ideal of harmony with
nature underlies such typically Japanese arts
as flower-arranging (ikebana) and traditional
Japanese architecture and garden design, where
simplicity is sought above all else. A more ex-
plicit link to Shinto is seen in sumo wrestling,
where many Shinto-inspired ceremonies must
be performed before a bout, such as purifying
the wrestling arena by sprinkling it with salt.
The Japanese emphasis on proper greetings can
be seen as a continuation of the ancient Shinto
belief in kotodama (words with a magical effect
on the world). Many Japanese cultural customs,
like using wooden chopsticks and removing
shoes before entering a building, have their ori-
gin in Shinto beliefs and practices. The Japa-
nese caste system used in the Tokugawa Period
is likewise an extension of the Shinto belief in
“proper social position,” and the position of the
eta (the unclean) is kept largely because of the
tenets of purity and cleanliness.
In short, while many other religions may
be popular in Japan, Shinto is Japan, in a vital
and powerful way. The two are indelibly linked,
far closer than nearly any other religion and its
homeland. Fortunately, Shinto is not a jealous
or exclusive religion, and its practice does not
forbid that of other faiths.
34
Ronin
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy
based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhar-
tha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas in India,
whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to
486 BC. Buddhism gradually spread from In-
dia throughout Asia to Central Asia, Sri Lanka,
Tibet, Southeast Asia, as well as to East Asian
countries such as China, Korea, and Japan.
The aim of Buddhist practice is to end the
cycle of death and rebirth, called samsara, by
awakening the practitioner to the realization of
true reality and the achievement of liberation
from reincarnation (nirvana). To achieve this,
one should purify and train the mind and act ac-
cording to the laws of karma, cause and effect:
perform positive actions, and positive results
will follow, and vice versa. Buddhist morality
is underpinned by the principles of harmless-
ness and moderation. Mental training focuses
on moral discipline, meditative concentration,
and insightful wisdom.
While Buddhism does not deny the exis-
tence of supernatural beings (indeed, many are
discussed in Buddhist scripture), it does not as-
cribe power for creation, salvation, or judgment
to them. Like humans, they are regarded as hav-
ing the power to affect worldly events, and so
some Buddhist schools associate with them via
ritual. Generally, supernatural beings are seen
as being no better or worse than humans, simply
on a different path—and some of them even as
being on an incorrect path. Because of this lack
of fear regarding the spiritual, Buddhist priests
in Japan are often called in to perform exorcisms
and to expel powerful demons from locations.
The word “Buddha” denotes not just the
historical Siddhartha Gautama who lived some
2,500 years ago, but a type of person, of which
there have been many throughout the course of
time. As an analogy, the term “president” refers
not just to one person, but to everyone who has
ever held the office of presidency. The histori-
cal Buddha is one member of the spiritual lin-

eage of Buddhas, which extends beyond history
into the past and into the indefinite future.
Siddhartha Gautama did not claim any di-
vine status for himself, nor did he assert that
he was inspired by a god or gods. A Buddha
is anyone who has fully awakened to the true
nature of existence, liberated from the cycle of
birth, death and rebirth, has eradicated all nega-
tive qualities and developed all positive quali-
ties, possibly including omniscience. All sen-
tient beings (beings with a mind, like humans
and animals) can free themselves from suffering
as Gautama did, regardless of age, sex, or caste.
The principles by which a person can achieve
enlightenment are known as the Buddhadharma,
or simply the dharma, meaning (in this context)
“law, doctrine, or truth.”
Buddhists seek refuge in what are often
referred to as the Three Jewels. These are the
Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, or com-
munity of monks and nuns (though sometimes
all other Buddhists are included). While it is
impossible to escape one’s karma or the effects
caused by previous thoughts, words, and deeds,
it is possible to avoid the suffering that comes
from it by becoming enlightened. In this way,
dharma offers a refuge. Dharma, used in the
sense of the Buddha’s teachings, provides a raft
and is thus a temporary refuge while entering
and crossing the river of life. However, the real
refuge (enlightenment) is on the other side of
the river.
To someone who is seeking to become
enlightened, taking refuge constitutes a
continuing commitment to pursuing
enlightenment and following in the
footsteps of the people who have
followed the path to enlight-
enment before. It contains
an element of confidence
that enlightenment is
in fact a refuge, a
supreme resort.
Many Buddhists
take the refuges
Tokugawa Japan
each day, often more than once in order to remind
themselves of what they are doing and to direct
their resolve inwardly towards liberation. In all
forms of Buddhism, refuge in the Three Jewels
is taken before the Sangha for the first time, as
a part of the conversion ritual. However, the
personal choice for taking one’s life-path in this
direction is more important than any external
ritual. It is good to note that in Buddhism, the
word “refuge” should often not be taken in the
English sense of “hiding” or “escape.” Instead,
many scholars have said, it ought be thought of
as a homecoming, or place of healing, much as a
parent’s home might be a refuge for someone.
The Buddha taught that life was dissatisfac-
tory because of craving, but that this condition
was curable by following the Eightfold Path.
This teaching is called the Four Noble Truths:
1. Dukkha: All worldly life is unsatisfac-
tory, disjointed, containing suffering.
2. Samudaya: There is a cause of suffer-
ing, which is attachment or desire rooted in
ignorance.
3. Nirodha: There is an end of suffering,
which is Nirvana.
4. Maggo: There is a path that leads out
of suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold
Path.
The central theory of Buddhist philosophy
that explains the cause of suffering is “the chain
of causation,” and further that everything in the
world, including the soul, is only relative and
momentary. The action is not independent but
depends upon its cause, hence the famous
karma theory. The soul goes through an
eternal cycle of births and deaths, tradi-
tionally listed as twelve in number. Bud-
dhism says that each of these causes
give effect to the next one, till
the twelfth cause recurring
to the first. This cycle of
births and deaths cannot
be severed until one
attains Nirvana.
35
The Omni System™
In order to fully understand the noble truths
and investigate whether they were in fact true,
Buddha recommended that a certain lifestyle or
path be followed which consists of:
1. Right Understanding
2. Right Thought
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
Sometimes the Noble Eightfold Path is spo-
ken of as being a progressive series of stages
through which the practitioner moves, the cul-
mination of one leading to the beginning of
another, but it is more usual to view the stages
of the path as requiring simultaneous develop-
ment.
The Eightfold Path essentially consists of
meditation, following the five precepts, and cul-
tivating the positive converse of the precepts
(that is, benefiting living beings is the converse
of the first precept of harmlessness). The path
may also be thought of as a way of developing
mental and moral discipline.
Buddhists undertake certain precepts as aids
on the path to coming into contact with ultimate
reality. Hence, they are also known as “training
rules.” Laypeople generally undertake (at least
one of) five precepts. The Five Precepts are not
given in the form of commands such as “thou
shalt not,” but rather are promises to oneself: “I
will try to...” The five precepts are:
1. To refrain from harming living creatures
(killing).
2. To refrain from taking that which is not
freely given (stealing).
3. To refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. To refrain from incorrect speech (lying,
harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat).
5. To refrain from intoxicants that lead to
loss of mindfulness.
This difference stems from the rationale be-
36
Ronin
hind them. While other religion institutes com-
mandments and is based on the wishes or com-
mands of a divine being, Buddhist precepts are
based more on common sense that the Buddha
highlights to Buddhists. Just as one would not
want to be killed, others, cherishing their own
lives, would not want to be killed. Hence people
should not engage in harming or killing others.
The same rationale applies to the second, third
and fourth precepts.
The fifth and last precept, involving refrain
from intoxicants, is unique in that the act of tak-
ing intoxicants itself is commonly not seen as
an immediate or direct harm towards others. In-
stead, it may serve as the catalyst for further acts
of transgression against others in terms of either
a single or possible combination of any of the
first four precepts. This idea of avoiding intoxi-
cants in excess often leads Buddhists to avoid
intoxicants entirely, as even a slight imbibing
could lead to further harm.
Buddhism has evolved into myriad schools
that can be roughly grouped into three types: Ni-
kaya, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Of the Nikaya
schools, only the Theravada survives. Each
branch sees itself as representing the true, origi-
nal teachings of the Buddha, and some schools
believe that the dialectic nature of Buddhism al-
lows its format, terminology, and techniques to
adapt over time in response to changing circum-
stances, thus validating dharmic approaches dif-
ferent from their own.
The Mahayana (literally “great vehicle”)
branch is the one most commonly practiced in
Japan, and it emphasizes universal compassion
and the selfless ideal of the bodhisattva, whose
goal is to achieve Buddha-hood in order to be
of greatest benefit to other sentient beings. Be-
cause of the immense timeframe described in
sacred Mahayana texts, some Mahayana schools
accept the idea of working towards rebirth in a
“Pure Land.” The Pure Land is normally con-
ceived of as a state which is not enlightenment
in itself but which is a highly conducive envi-
ronment for working toward enlightenment, al-

though some sources indicate that it is synony-
mous with enlightenment. The Amida Buddhist
school, widely practiced during Tokugawa Ja-
pan, is a Pure Land belief system.
In Tokugawa Japan, Buddhist priests and
monks are most commonly consulted for funer-
ary arrangements, since the focus of Buddhism
is on the soul’s disposition in the next world or
life, and its behavioral suggestions for the cur-
rent world are simply direction for a better path
after death. Most Buddhist sects describe the af-
terlife as meido, a land of greyness and wander-
ing that eventually erases the memories of the
soul for its eventual reincarnation. A few sects
also describe heavens and hells based on the
traditional Shinto belief in the afterlife (such as
yomi, the land of blessed ancestors, and jigoku,
the home of demons and damned souls).
Hard-line Buddhists are generally seen by
the average Japanese as strict and harsh ascetics,
especially because of their unwillingness to im-
bibe sake (a common feature at virtually every
Japanese meal). Conversely, the image of the
red-nosed and slightly drunken Buddhist monk
is a common one in Japanese humor, especially
comedic plays and stories.
Zen
Zen is the Japanese name of a well known
branch of Mahayana Buddhist schools, practiced
originally in China as Ch’an, and subsequently
in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Zen emphasizes
the role of sitting meditation (zazen) in pursuing
enlightenment. Zen can be considered a religion,
a philosophy, or simply a practice depending on
one’s perspective. It has also been described as
a way of life, work, and an art form.
Zen is a branch of Buddhism, and as such
is based on and deeply rooted in the Buddha’s
teachings. It is also very much the child of Chi-
na and has some teaching derived from Confu-
cianism and Taoism. The Zen branch calls itself
the Buddha Heart School and traces
its lineage back to the Buddha, with the
Tokugawa Japan
Flower Sermon being the first transmission of
the Dharma. It is common for daily chanting
to include the lineage of the school, reciting the
names of all “dharma ancestors” and teachers
that have transmitted Zen teaching to the mod-
ern student.
All Zen schools are versed in Buddhist doc-
trine and Philosophy. At the same time, Zen’s
emphasis on directly seeing into one’s own true
nature keeps it lively and at the edge of the tradi-
tion. Zen teachings often criticize textual study
and the pursuit of worldly accomplishments,
concentrating primarily on meditation in pursuit
of an unmediated awareness of the processes of
the world and the mind. Zen, however, is not
exactly a quiet doctrine: the Chinese master
Baizhang (720-814 AD, called Hyakujo in Japa-
nese), left behind a famous saying which had
been the guiding principle of his life, “A day
without work is a day without eating.” When
Baizhang was thought to be too old to work in
the garden, his devotees hid his gardening tools.
In response to this, the master then refused to
eat, saying, “No working, no living.”
Zen is not primarily an intellectual phi-
losophy nor a solitary pursuit. Zen temples in
Asia and emphasize meticulous daily practice,
and hold monthly intensive meditation retreats.
Practicing with others is valued as a way to avoid
the traps of ego. In explaining the Zen Buddhist
path to Westerners, Japanese Zen teachers fre-
quently point out that Zen is a way of life and
not solely a state of consciousness. The history
of Zen has also been closely connected to the de-
velopment of several forms of martial arts, most
notably judo in Japan and kung fu in China.
Zen sitting meditation is called zazen.
Walking meditation is called kinhin. Medita-
tion as a practice can be applied to any posture.
During zazen, practitioners usually assume a
lotus, half-lotus, Burmese, or seiza sitting posi-
tion. A round cushion (zafu) placed on a padded
mat (zabuton) is used to sit on, or a chair may
be used. Rinzai practitioners traditionally use a
square cushion and typically sit facing the cen-
37
The Omni System™
ter of the room, while Soto practitioners sit fac-
ing a wall. Awareness is directed towards one’s
posture and breathing.
Because the Zen tradition emphasizes direct
communication over scriptural study, the role of
the Zen teacher is crucial. Generally speaking, a
Zen teacher is a person ordained in any tradition
of Zen to teach the dharma, guide students of
meditation, and perform rituals. The term “Zen
master” is often used to refer to important teach-
ers, especially ancient ones. However, there is
no specific criterion by which one can be called
a Zen master.
The Zen schools (especially but not exclu-
sively Rinzai) are associated with koan, or rid-
dles. The term originally referred to legal cases
in Tang Dynasty China. In some sense, a koan
embodies a realized principle, or law of real-
ity. Koan often appear paradoxical or linguis-
tically meaningless dialogs or questions. The
“answer” to the koan involves a transformation
of perspective or consciousness, which may
be either radical or subtle, possibly akin to the
experience of personal revelation in Christian-
ity. They are tools to allow the student to ap-
proach enlightenment by essentially “short-cir-
cuiting” the logical way in which humans order
the world. Through assimilation of a koan, it is
possible to “jump-start” an altered mindset that
then facilitates enlightenment.
A classic example of a Zen koan is: “Two
hands clap and there is a sound. What is the
sound of one hand?” It is sometimes said that
after diligent practice, the practitioner and the
koan become one. Though most Zen groups aim
for a “sudden” enlightenment (satori), this usu-
ally comes only after a great deal of preparation.
Zen teachers advise that the problem posed by
a koan is to be taken quite seriously, and to be
approached quite literally as a matter of life and
death. There
is a sharp distinction between right and
wrong ways of answering a koan—though there
may be many “right answers,” practitioners are
expected to demonstrate their understanding of
38
Ronin
the koan and of Zen with their whole being.
The Zen student’s mastery of a given koan
is presented to the teacher in a private session
(called sanzen). The answer to a koan is more
dependent on how it is answered, rather than the
specific answer. To put it somewhat differently,
the answer is a function not merely of a reply,
but of a whole modification of the student’s ex-
perience; he or she must live the answer to the
koan rather than merely offering an acceptable
statement.
Some of the traditional Zen fables describe
Zen masters using controversial methods of
“teaching,” which some Zen enthusiasts may
have a tendency to interpret too literally. For
example, though Zen and Buddhism deeply re-
spect life and teach non-violence, the founder of
the Zen Rinzai school, Linji said: “If you meet
the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet a Pa-
triarch, kill the Patriarch.”
Other Zen masters have echoed this teach-
ing in saying that in this life we must all “kill”
three things: first we must kill parents; second
we must kill Buddha; and last, we must kill the
Zen teacher. Of course, “kill” here is not liter-
ally killing. What is meant is to kill one’s at-
tachment to teachers or other external objects.
Rather than see concepts outside of themselves,
Zen practitioners must integrate these objects
with their concepts of self.
Christianity
Japan’s first contacts with the West in the
16th and 17th Centuries were with either traders
or missionaries. The first form of Christianity
that arrived was Roman Catholicism, spread by
Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch missionaries,
usually Jesuits. Thousands of Japanese con-
verted from Shinto and Buddhism to Catholic
Christianity, hardly a rousing success but also
far from a complete failure of the faith.
On August 15, 1549, Francisco Xavier
(later a Catholic saint), Cosme de Tores (a Je-

suit priest) and Father John Fernandez arrived
in Kagoshima from Spain with hopes to bring
Christianity and Catholicism to Japan. On Sep-
tember 29, Xavier visited Shimazu Takahisa, the
daimyo of Kagoshima, asking for permission to
build the first Catholic mission in Japan. The
daimyo agreed in hopes of producing a trade
relationship with Europe. During his stay in
Japan, Xavier ordered all missionaries to study
the Japanese language and an early form of Ro-
manji (the transliteration of Japanese sounds to
Roman letters) was developed as a result. He
also succeeded in baptizing and fully convert-
ing over one hundred people to Catholicism—a
surprising feat, seeing that he spoke very little
Japanese.
The shogunate and imperial government at
first supported the Christian movement and the
missionaries, thinking that they would reduce
the influence of the powerful Buddhist monks.
Soon, however, the shogunate saw what the
Spanish did in the Philippines and what other
colonial powers did elsewhere, such as convert
the population and then take power through
faith. Christianity threatened to destabilize and
overthrow their government until the 17th cen-
Tokugawa Japan
tury, when Christianity was banned and those
who refused to abandon their new faith were
brutally killed.
The shogun defeated the few remaining
Christian daimyo at the Battle of Satsuma at
the end of the Shimabara Rebellion. (A later
battle in the same area would spell the end of the
shogunate, and of the samurai class.) European
missionaries who did not leave the country were
also killed, and they are known to the Catho-
lic Church as martyrs. Many Christians fled to
Europe or the Spanish Philippines. Suspected
Christians were forced to burn crosses and
tread on fumie (likeness of Jesus and the Virgin
Mary), something considered sacrilegious for a
real Christian.
For the next three centuries, Japan remained
in a state of complete isolation from the outside
world. Dutch traders were limited to the is-
land of Dejima, were forbidden to proselytize
and were forced to tread on Christian images
to prove their dissociation from the church. In
secluded areas, however, the hidden Chris-
tians (kakure kirishitan) continued to practice
a corrupted Catholicism, actually a cult of their
39
The Omni System™
Christian ancestors with misremembered Latin
and Portuguese prayers. Whenever these cults
are unearthed, bakufu magistrates are inevitably
sent to the local region to root out any further
Christian influence and destroy the practitio-
ners.
Other Faiths
Confucianism, although not practiced as a
religion, has deeply influenced Japanese thought.
In essence, Confucianism is the practice of prop-
er forms of conduct, especially in social and fa-
milial relationships. It is derived from compila-
tions attributed to the 5th-Century B.C. Chinese
philosopher Kong Fuzi or Kongzi (Confucius;
in Japanese, Koshi). Confucian government
was to be a moral government, bureaucratic in
form and benevolent toward the ruled. Confu-
cianism also provided a hierarchical system, in
which each person was to act according to his
or her status to create a harmoniously function-
ing society and ensure loyalty to the state. The
teachings of filial piety and humanity continue
to form the foundation for much of social life
and ideas about family and nation. Indeed, the
modern caste system is based almost entirely on
Confucian ideology.
Neo-Confucianism, introduced to Japan in
the 12th Century, is an interpretation of nature
and society based on metaphysical principles
and is influenced by Buddhist and Daoist ideas.
In Japan, where it is known as Shushigaku, it
brought the idea that family stability and so-
cial responsibility are human obligations. The
school used various metaphysical concepts to
explain the natural and social order. Shush-
igaku, in turn, influenced the kokutai (national
polity) theory, which emphasized the special na-
tional characteristics of Japan.
Daoism from China has influenced Japanese
thought and has a special affinity to Zen Bud-
dhism. Zen’s praise of emptiness, exhortations
to act in harmony with nature, admonitions to
avoid discrimination and concept of the dual-
ity all things are parallel in Daoist beliefs. The
40
Ronin
lunar calendar, the selection of auspicious days
for special events, the sitting of buildings and
numerous folk medicine treatments also have
origins in Daoism and continue as customs to
varying degrees in contemporary Japanese soci-
ety. Daoism has also influenced native shaman-
istic traditions and rituals. The most common
use of Daoism in the Tokugawa Period is in its
mystical methods of thinking, such as its influ-
ence on alchemy and the philosophy of elemen-
tal perfection.
Culture
Language
Japanese as a spoken language bears almost
no resemblance to any other language spoken
in the modern world. Its closest linguistic rela-
tive is Korean, to which it bears about as much
in common as do English and Russian. The
geographic and political isolation of Japan has
bred a subtle and nuanced tongue that native
scholars sometimes refer to as “the language of
ten thousand demons.” The actual name of the
language is Nihongo, “the language of Nippon”
(with Nippon being the native Japanese name
for Japan).
Truthfully, in speaking, Japanese is easier
to learn than English or virtually any other Ro-
mance language. Unlike English, which makes
its basics easy to grasp and then fills its advanced
learning with scores of grammatical exceptions,
Japanese has difficult basics that then follow
their own internal logic and rules with remark-
able consistency. That is, Japanese is hard to
understand a little of what’s being said without
first learning a lot of it. At the same time, the
internal consistency of spoken Japanese makes
following its rules more natural and organic
than virtually any other language in the world.
The only major exception (and every language
is entitled to at least one) is the Japanese system
of counting; each category of objects (as deter-
mined through trial and error) has its own set of

words with which to count.
Once an advanced understanding of Japa-
nese is reached, its true beauty can be compre-
hended. Japanese is a language so full of mean-
ing that each individual word can carry two to
six different translations, the proper one appar-
ent only from the context of the sentence. Japa-
nese is a language in which poetry has a greater
depth, as well as one of the most successful lan-
guages when it comes to puns and double en-
tendres. As a language of great depth and ver-
satility, Japanese is a language that intrinsically
lends itself toward courtly intrigue and politics,
in which the art of saying two things with one
word is highly valued.
The real difficult with Japanese is not the
spoken language, but the written one. Japanese
has three different alphabets, two phonetic and
one pictographic, all of which are used in writ-
ing interchangeably and often all in the same
document. All of these are written in the same
fashion, from top to bottom and then from right
to left. Traditional Japanese writing does not
include punctuation other than implied spaces
and occasional dashes.
The original written form of Japanese is
kanji, the pictographic system drawn from the
Chinese language in which each character repre-
sents a single word. There are over ten thousand
existing kanji, but the average literate Japanese
individual is only likely to know between one
and two thousand of these characters. Samu-
rai scholars and calligraphers are often praised
for their ability to write rare or difficult kanji,
not just accurately but beautifully. One form of
common artistic expression, ukiyo-e (ink paint-
ing), has as one of its subsidiary schools the
drawing of single kanji on large canvas in red
or black ink. Each samurai family has a specific
kanji that represents their family name.
The second Japanese writing form is hiraga-
na, which is a phonetic system, more properly a
syllabary than an alphabet. That is, in hiragana,
each letter represents a sound, and then multiple
Tokugawa Japan
letters are strung together to form words. This
is very similar to English, though naturally the
characters are significantly different; also un-
like English, each letter represents a compound
sound (such as ka or mi) rather than a singu-
lar sound (like s or t). Hiragana is used only to
write native Japanese words, and has a softer,
rounded look to its characters.
The most recently introduced alphabet,
katakana, is used to write out alliterated ver-
sions of non-Japanese words. For example, a
foreigner’s name or the name of his country,
when written in Japanese, would be written only
in katakana. The letters of katakana are very an-
gular and sharp, and this form of writing is the
least-often used during the Tokugawa Period. It
is gaining popularity among forward-thinking
scribes and scholars, however, since it is clearer
and easier to write than the traditional hiragana.
In common parlance, hiragana is the form of
writing most often used, while kanji (with their
more exact and specific meanings) are typically
used when ambiguity is not desired in a written
format. In some instances, a kanji will be writ-
ten alongside or above a hiragana-written word
to specify exactly what the author meant by a
certain phrase. The appearance of katakana in a
written document is an immediate sign that the
person or object in question is not Japanese by
origin.
Major Events
In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun,
and founded the Edo Shogunate. This period un-
til the fall of the shogunate in 1867 is called the
Tokugawa Period, or Edo period. During this
time, sovereignty was strongly held by shogun
and his bakufu. The shogunate closed the coun-
try, and Japan prospered while isolated from the
most of the world. There was no civil war, and
the common people admired the peace. During
the two and half centuries of the Tokugawa Pe-
riod, major battles occurred only twice. Bushi
41
The Omni System™
fought no longer, but governed the country as
the bureaucracy instead.
This might seem like a time of little note, but
in many ways it is the most significant period
in Japan’s history. It was during this time that
the Japanese people, the samurai ruling class in
particular, had sufficient time to chronicle their
own history, to stand back from the fighting of
the previous five centuries and understand the
scope and enormity of their own heritage. In
some ways, it might be said that it was during
the peace of the Tokugawa Period that the Japa-
nese people first truly understood themselves.
The Shimabara
Rebellion
In 1637, the daimyo that ruled Amakusa
province raised the local taxes, and collected it
severely from farmers. Amakusa was located
on the western edge of Japan, so it was one of
the areas most heavily influenced by Western
culture, such as Christianity. Farmers suffering
from hunger and frustration rebelled against the
daimyo, supported by Jesuits, and managed to
take their lord’s castle from him.
The daimyo managed to escape with his
life, and called upon the help of shogunate after
admitting that he could not handle the rebellion
on his own. The crack army of the shogunate
arrived late the next year. While the spirited
peasants held their own against the elite samurai
force for some months due to the bad weather
and the fortified castle they had taken, the long-
term results were never in question. The rebel
farmers and their families were slaughtered to
the last man, woman, and child—over 37,000
executions were held after the rebellion ended.
The rebellion marks the last huzzah of
Christianity in Japan, as well as the last time the
shogunate officially fields ninja in wartime.
42
Ronin
Sakoku
After Xavier came to Japan in 1546, Chris-
tianity was spread little by little to Japan. Some
daimyo even converted from Buddhism to
Christianity for the trade with Portugal and other
European countries. A few even found genuine
comfort in the faith of the lamb, and converted
willingly. Oda Nobunaga himself was baptized,
though he always held that it was for purely po-
litical reasons.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, however, hated Chris-
tianity with a passion. He prohibited propagation
of Christianity in Japan. Because he permitted
the trade with Portugal, though, the prohibition
was largely ineffective. After he came to power,
Tokugawa Ieyasu considered Christianity the
greatest single danger against his shogunate.
He established the feudal class system in which
bushi ruled over all other people, but Christian
priests preached equality before god.
After the Shimabara Rebellion, Tokugawa
Iemitsu, the third shogun, decided to prohibited
Christianity by all means available to him. In
1638, he ordered the country closed to all for-
eign countries but China and Holland. This
isolationist policy, one originally suggested but
never enforced by Ieyasu, was called sakoku.
This policy lasted until 1853, when Admiral
Perry came from the United States with four
steamships to open the gates of Japan. Iemitsu
also issued the order to drive away foreign ships
if they had been sighted in the sea near Japanese
islands.
During the sakoku period, Dejima (a port
in Nagasaki) was the only place that foreigners
were allowed to visit. Any Westerner seen out-
side of Dejima was to be killed on the spot, un-
less he could immediately provide papers prov-
ing himself to be a guest of the shogunate—of
which there were no more than a dozen over the
course of the next two centuries.
Tokugawa Japan

43
The Omni System™
Places of
Note
Ezo Honshu
The northernmost province of medieval
Japan, this province—the island today known
as Hokkaido—was the ancestral home and
last bastion of the Emishi and Ainu barbarians.
Many place names in Ezo Honshu are drawn
from the Ainu language, including the name
of the capital, Sapporo. Wars with these indig-
enous peoples for control of the island were a
major preoccupation of the governments of the
8th century CE, who appointed military leaders
to combat the barbarian threat. These military
leaders would be called seii taishogun—barbar-
ian-quelling generals—or simply, shogun.
The leaders of this distant northern region
eventually became so powerful they wrested
control from the Emperors to determine the fate
of the nation. As the homeland of the shogun
position, the Tokugawa bakufu looks with fond-
ness on the distant region and often grants it
leeway that other areas of Japan do not enjoy.
As well, the Ainu continue to dwell in this area,
making it a minor thorn in the side of the sho-
gunate.
Mutsu
Like Ezo Honshu, Mutsu is a bastion of the
Emishi and Ainu peoples and was one of the
last areas of Japan taken from these indigenous
barbarians. This large province in the north
of Honshu has been ruled by many different
parties, and during the Sengoku Jidai various
daimyo held sway over different parts of Mutsu,
struggling with one another for control.
One of the most important features of Mut-
su is the large temple in the provincial capi-
44
Ronin
tal of Sendai, which contains 1,000 statues of
Buddha. The town’s name is derived from the
temple; the word sendai means “one thousand
generations.” The city was founded in 1600 by
the daimyo Date Masamune, and is well known
by its nickname, “the City of Trees” (Mori no
Miyako). This is because the Sendai han en-
couraged residents to plant trees in their yards.
As a result, many houses, temples, and shrines
in central Sendai had household forests (yashi-
kirin), which were used as resources for wood
and other everyday materials.
Shinano
This large, centrally located province was
the source of much contention during the Sen-
goku Jidai; several daimyo could claim a piece
of this ever-shifting landscape during the strug-
gle for control of Japan. This province is also
the home of several important castle towns in-
cluding Ina, Komoro, and Ueda.
Musashi
This central province on Japan’s eastern
shore served as Tokugawa Ieyasu’s main mili-
tary headquarters during his subjugation of Ja-
pan, and eventually became home to the new
capital of Japan, Edo. Tokugawa’s fortress, Edo
Castle, stands in what is now the Chiyoda ward
of Tokyo. This castle, and eventually the city
that grows up around it, serves as the ruling cen-
ter of Japan during the centuries-long Tokugawa
Shogunate.
An area rich with history, Edo Castle and its
environs provide numerous possibilities for ad-
venture, especially for the individual willing to
take some latitudes with history. For example,
although Edo Castle possessed no dungeon in
reality, this has not stopped numerous fictional
works from giving it a very imposing dungeon
from which villains can escape and in which he-
roes are wrongfully imprisoned.

Kaga
This province has long been ruled by the
Maeda family from the strategically important
city of Kanazawa, which is located between the
Japanese Alps and the Sea of Japan. Kanazawa
also sits on the Sai and Asano rivers. The city’s
name means “marsh of gold,” and while the
precious metal cannot be mined in the marshy
ground, it literally flecks the food grown here.
Golden potatoes and tea from Kanazawa are
sold all over Japan, since it is thought that in-
gesting the gold brings good health. Although
large-scale mining is not practical, enough pure
gold is harvested to make the city notable for the
use of gold leaf in its art and architecture.
The city itself is beautiful but notorious
for its nighttime residents: at night, Kanazawa
is virtually ruled by the ninja. No one knows
why the usually secretive ninja have come down
from the mountains to inhabit this city so boldly,
but come they have and the local rulers seem
content to leave them to their nocturnal activi-
ties. For their part, the ninja have not interfered
with any of the daimyo’s plans or schemes and
seem to be following their own agenda.
The castle from which this city is ruled is
famous all over Japan for its beautiful gardens,
which will only be enjoyed by the elite for the
remainder of the period.
Echizen
Echizen is an important trade town inhab-
ited by a great many busy and productive mem-
bers of the artisan class. As early as 774 this
city becomes noted for its high-quality paper
(washi), and is also one of the six “kiln provinc-
es” renowned throughout the land for the qual-
ity and beauty of its ceramic wares. During the
Sengoku Jidai, many daimyo sought to control
these profitable trades, and this province was di-
vided into an ever-shifting patchwork of small
fiefdoms. During the Tokugawa regime, the
province is ruled for the shogun from the city of
Tokugawa Japan
Fakui, rather than being held by any individual
family or clan.
Hida
This province was critically important to
anyone hoping to control Japan during the me-
dieval period prior to the Tokugawa shogunate.
Covered with rich forests, Hida produces a for-
tune in timber each year. The province also
contains extensive mineral deposits, making it
a bastion of wealth in central Honshu. Finally,
Hida is a great hub in a river trading network
that extends south through Mino and Owari
provinces to the south.
During the Sengoku Jidai, Oda Nobunaga
sent one of his best generals, Kanamori Naga-
chika, to occupy Hida and administer it for him.
This able general and wise administrator ruled
the province through the tumultuous end of the
Sengoku era, serving Nobunaga, then Toyotomi
Hideyoshi and finally Tokugawa Ieyasu. Fol-
lowing Tokugawa’s victory at the Battle of
Sekigahara, Nagachika’s descendants suc-
cessfully control Hida province until the end of
the Tokugawa Period.
Mino
This province, part of the trade network
between Hida and Owari, is one of the original
provinces controlled by Oda Nobunga during
his rise to power. In fact, the Oda clan man-
ages to rule this province for some time after
Nobunaga’s death, successfully controlling it
through the reigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and
Tokugawa Ieyasu. This province is ruled from
the castle town of Gifu.
Owari
Owari is the birthplace of two of Japan’s
most famous generals: Oda Nobunaga and Toy-
otomi Hideyoshi. Nobunaga controlled the for-
midable castle town of Kiyosu before and during
his bid for absolute control of Japan. After his
45
The Omni System™
victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa
made one of his first priorities the establishment
of a castle town from which to rule Owari; he
occupied the castle in Nagoya, fortified it heav-
ily, and placed his son in command there. This
vital military resource is the largest outside of
Tokugawa’s direct command. Tokugawa’s
show of trust in his son is one of many gestures
of power and generosity made by Ieyasu during
the early years of his shogunate.
Mikawa
Mikawa in southeastern Honshu is the orig-
inal fiefdom of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and it is from
here that he began his ultimately successful
quest to unite all of Japan under his rule. Mi-
kawa has two principal castle towns, Okazaki
and Yoshida. Under Tokugawa’s rule, gunpow-
der production is restricted to this province so as
to remain under the watchful scrutiny of those
most loyal to the shogun. This has the unin-
tended effect of making Mikawa the fireworks
center of all medieval Japan, with an enormous
festival held every year.
Izumo
Izumo was a powerful province in ancient
Japan, and was an independent political entity
in the 4th century BC, before being conquered
by the Yamato state. Izumo’s conquest was one
of the first indicators that the Yamato line would
become the dominant force in Japan.
This province is home to the Izumo Shrine,
one of the holiest shrines in the Shinto religion,
devoted to the god Susanowo. Legend holds
that Susanowo once fought for control of Japan
with Amaterasu in this place. Amaterasu was
eventually victorious over her brother, and went
on to found the Yamato Dynasty and the Impe-
rial line.
Settusu
The heart of Settusu is the important city
46
Ronin
of Osaka, site of the impressive Osaka Castle.
During the Sengoku Jidai, the Miyoshi clan
ruled the province until their defeat by Oda No-
bunaga, at which point control of Settusu was
given to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After Toyoto-
mi’s death, the province is ruled by one of the
regents charged with protecting his young son.
When Tokugawa emerges victorious from his
epic power struggle, control of Settusu is given
to one of Tokugawa’s sons instead, relegating
Toyotomi’s child to vassal status.
Yamashiro
The most important city in Yamashiro prov-
ince is Kyoto, which for much of Japan’s history
served as the nation’s capital city and home of
the Emperor, until it was eventually supplanted
by Edo (later renamed Tokyo). Kyoto, with its
politics and scheming noble bureaucracies, is
generally avoided by the shogun, who sees no
profit in becoming embroiled in such political
machinations.
Iga
Iga is notorious as the birthplace of ninjut-
su; not coincidentally, it is also the birthplace of
Hattori Hanzo, one of the most infamous ninja
of all time. Most of the province consists of
a small ring of mountains encircling the Ueno
basin, where the majority of the townsfolk live.
Iga’s geography and lack of roads render it
largely inaccessible, especially to large forces
of troops. Despite (or perhaps because of) its
poor accessibility to conventional military forc-
es, Iga is a natural base of operations for ninja.
Its proximity to the great commercial centers of
Nara, Kyoto, Edo, Nagoya and Osaka makes
Iga a perfect place from which ninja can launch
their missions.
Hizen
This province was ruled in ancient times
from Yamato Toshi. Following his subjugation
of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi led his attempted
invasion of the Koryo Empire (Korea) from the
city of Nagoya. Hizen also contains a number
of castle towns maintained by daimyo that hold
claim to parts of the province; the most impor-
tant of these is the castle town of Saga.
This province is also notable because it
witnesses the Shimabara Rebellion, the largest
peasant revolt in Japanese history. This rebel-
lion is motivated by two things: religion and
taxes. While the heavy tax burden placed on the
peasants by their daimyo is probably the main
reason for the insurrection, the area also had a
long history as a home for Jesuit missionaries
(when Christianity was legal), and had even
been ruled by a Christian daimyo—facts which
undoubtedly factored into the peasants’ decision
to take up arms against their rulers. This region
saw the religion’s last desperate gasp against
the forces of the shogun in the three-year-long
rebellion.
Fantasy
Japan
So far, this work has dealt with the raw fact
of Japan’s history, sometimes bloody and some-
times beautiful. The Tokugawa Period is a live-
ly and entertaining time in world history, as well
as one that holds sobering lessons in rulership
and power. The might of the samurai with arms
and with politics is known and even somewhat
legendary. In many ways, running a role-play-
ing game using the actual historical events of
Tokugawa Japan is satisfying and enlightening
in and of itself.
At the same time, Japan’s story cannot be
told without speaking of its myths and supersti-
tions. The Tokugawa Period, for all of its at-
tempts at urbanization and advancement, was
still a time rife with the mysteries and beliefs
of previous eras. While common folk of the pe-
riod had a reputation for being backwater peas-
ants filled with superstitious fear, many samu-
rai—otherwise educated and knowledgeable
folk—believed wholeheartedly in the religious
tales and ancestral legends of their forebears.
Naturally, this leads to all manner of specu-
lation and theorizing about the period. “What
if,” many authors have said, “some or all of
those legends had been true?” Positing a Japan
in which the myths and legends of the period
are in some fashion correct is hardly a stretch of
the imagination. Japan has always been a land
regarded with some level of confusion and dis-
tant mystery. Its mystical traditions of thought,
strange religious beliefs, and unique perspective
on truth were bred in an isolated land under in-
tense social pressures. The tapestry of Japanese
belief is a rich and varied one indeed.
Adding elements of fantasy to a feudal
Japanese setting is far from difficult. At a basic
level, presupposing the correctness of all myth-
ological assertions of the period does little more
than acknowledge the world of the samurai as
they themselves viewed it. To the Japanese, the
world is very much a living thing, full of en-
ergy and spirits. A million small gods hide just
beyond sight, waiting to be called on by those
with the knowledge and proper respect in their
hearts.
Magic can be wielded by mortals, but only
magic drawn from the blessings of the spirits of
nature and from the good will of one’s ancestors
or from the five pure elements is proper; all oth-
er magic is evil, or drawn from corrupt sources.
A hidden world lurks just out of sight of most
people, and only the blessed—or the extremely
unlucky—stumble into it, and even fewer stay
in contact with that hidden world for very long.
The addition of magic to a Japanese culture
changes the threats that heroes might face—as
well as granting them greater resources to face
those threats.
The presence of unnatural occurrences and
the knowledge that monsters do indeed lurk just
47
The Omni System™
beyond the edge of the light makes commoners
even more willing to defer to the rule of their
samurai masters. For their part, the rulers of the
land act to defend their people from such dan-
gers, just as they would any other. Truly guided
by his ancestors, a samurai never stands alone.
At the same time, humanity is hardly alone
in its struggles against evil. For every dark de-
mon struggling to corrupt men, there are kami
(spirits of nature) and other magical beings try-
ing to help out. Many magical creatures are nei-
ther good nor evil, simply meddlesome—they
find the actions of humans amusing, an inter-
esting diversion from an immortal life full of
boredom.
In a fantasy version of Tokugawa Japan,
magic—like most elite and scholarly skills—
is the province of the noble samurai. In their
leisure and peace, many samurai study at least
the basics of the mystic arts, if not necessarily
spellcasting itself. More common to the sorcer-
ous professions are the kuge, descendants of
the imperial nobility, whose centuries of wealth
and privilege have granted them a finer grasp of
magic than virtually any other group of samurai.
As well as bushi and courtiers, another major
group of samurai exists in fantasy Japan—the
shukenja, wielders of pure magic and friends of
the spirits.
Like literacy and swordsmanship, however,
magic use is hardly the sole province of the no-
ble caste. Commoners sometimes learn magic
as well, usually simply by virtue of a mystical
bloodline that allows them to “hear” the spir-
its of nature. These hedge sorcerers sometimes
join the clergy, especially Shinto temples, using
their innate knowledge of the spirit world to aid
others. Others crave the power they see in the
hands of their betters and make deals with un-
clean spirits, stealing the power that the samurai
have earned through effort and learning.
Even below the common folk, in the realm
of the forgotten and the hated, the hinin can
learn to wield magic as well—indeed, they
48
Ronin
are more likely to do so than the heimin above
them. After all, with no place in society, magic
becomes a potent tool to gain recognition and
power. Many eta make pacts with demons for
power, since no pure spirit will have anything
to do with them, while more than a few street
performers learn magic “tricks” to aid their per-
formances. Geisha are especially proficient in
mystical gimmicks to aid their skill at enter-
taining—and to defend themselves from harm.
Some even say that a secret school of magic ex-
ists in the floating world of the large cities, but
none can say for sure.
Life in the major cities is even more attrac-
tive in a fantasy world, since most of the mon-
sters that plague the countryside are kept away
by the masses of humanity and the closeness
of bushi defenders. The cities have their own
problems, however, such as shapeshifting snake
women out to devour flesh and blood, or under-
ground enclaves of goblins, sneaking aboveg-
round at night to steal away the drunk and the
foolish for their sport. Despite these difficulties,
the cities are warm and sheltering compared to
the ancient fearsomeness of the deep places of
the world.
Foreigners have come to Japan in the past,
bearing their own unusual magic and miracles,
including the divine powers of the Christian god
and the high sorcery of the Hermetic magicians.
These arts are banned now, as are their masters,
but a few Japanese still hold onto this forbidden
knowledge, either keeping it secretly or holding
it openly under a façade of lies. The shogunate
hunts this secret learning for their own ends—
though none know whether they want to wipe it
out or simply take it for their own.
The Tokugawa Period is a fascinating time
in the real world, made only more intriguing by
the addition of real magic and monsters. Em-
brace the mythology of the period as fact—or at
least one interpretation of fact. A fantasy game
occurring in feudal Japan should work off the
native Japanese legendry rather than European
myth imported wholesale. This book contains
a number of ideas for magic in a fantasy game Take the ideas and concepts here and make the
set in Tokugawa Japan, as well as a number of game your own—Japan has a history and depth
myth-inspired creatures. Don’t be afraid to de- big enough for everyone’s thoughts and opin-
viate from the material in this book, however. ions.

49
The Omni System™ Ronin

Chapter Three

THE WAY OF THE

SAMURAI
“Summer grasses,
All that remains
Of soldiers’ dreams.”
- Matsuo Basho

Romanticized by history and regarded with These ideas represent what most people
a legendary awe, the samurai left a lasting leg- know about the samurai caste—beliefs riddled
acy on the face of world culture. Few truly un- with holes, incomplete truths, and outright his-
derstand the way of the samurai, however, and torical fabrication. In truth, the samurai them-
misinterpretation is common. Indeed, many selves created much of the romantic view of their
samurai spent their entire lives searching for lives, struggling daily with the paradox of their
meaning in their service, attempting to perfect existence to find worth and value on the brink of
the warrior’s art and live in harmony with their death. The truth of the samurai is more compel-
own existence. ling still, a tale of displaced warriors, fighting
poets, and the need to believe in something.
The life of a samurai is a life of contradic-
tions and paradox—at once, both beautiful and
horrific. When called upon to do his duty, a
samurai must engage in the bloodiest of acts in Origins of the
his lord’s name, but at home, he is a poet and a
painter. He arranges flowers to find peace and
practices calligraphy with the same hand he
Samurai
uses to cut his enemies to pieces. The life of
The term samurai originally meant “those
the warrior is often compared to the sakura, or
who serve in close attendance to nobility,” and
cherry blossom: fleeting, beautiful, and perfect,
was written in the Chinese character (or kanji)
gone all too soon and leaving a legacy only in
that had the same meaning. In Japanese, it was
the hearts of those it touched.
originally pronounced in the pre-Heian period
as saburau and later to saburai. The word bushi
Historically, samurai began their existence
(literally, “warrior”) first appears in an early his-
as warriors solely, but gradually evolved into
tory of Japan called Shoku Nihongi. In a portion
an effective ruling class that valued the arts
of the book covering the year 723 AD, Shoku
and learning as much as fighting ability. They
Nihongi states: “Literary men and Warriors are
obeyed strict codes of honor and loyalty, finding
they whom the nation values.” This early state-
death a preferable fate to disobedience or fail-
ment of both martial prowess and education be-
ure. A samurai lived each day as if it were his
ing valuable would serve to set the course for
last, each moment ready to face his end. Their
warrior values for centuries to come.
power and nobility stand as a shining example
to this day.
50
 Fighting Words
The Japanese have a great many ways to say similar things, each laced with its own level of
meaning and value. This cultural tendency is no less prominent when speaking of their war-
rior-caste and its members. Below are a small variety of the words the Japanese use to describe
their rulers and soldiers.

Samurai: “Those who serve.” This term refers specifically to the noble ruling class of the
Tokugawa Period. Not all samurai are warriors, though all are expected to be able to contribute
in battle.

Ashigaru: “Light-foot.” These lightly armored peasant soldiers form the backbone of the
military in the Tokugawa Period. They are used in infantry maneuvers and to provide support
for the elite bushi in large-scale battles. Many ashigaru come from peasant families devoted
to warfare.

Bugei: “Martial house.” This word refers to the portion of the samurai caste dedicated to
warfare and military conquest. It can also be used to describe an individual member of such a
house.

Bushi: “Warrior” or “soldier.” This is a generic term for any fighting individual. Samurai who
fight can be referred to as bushi. This is also the origin of the term for the samurai code of
conduct—bushido, the way of the warrior.

Kugei: “Scholar house.” This term is used for the part of the samurai caste dedicated to the
higher arts of learning and art. It can also be used to describe an individual member of such a
house.

Ji-Samurai: “Half-samurai.” These warriors started off life as common soldiers, possibly even
ashigaru. Because of the social stratification of the Tokugawa Period, they cannot become no-
bility, but they can earn the right to live in a samurai’s household and be held as nearly equal
to his masters.

Musha: “Fighting man.” A term for a foot soldier; a good modern translation might be
“grunt.”

Samurai-ko: A female samurai. Technically, this term could be used for any adult woman of
noble caste, but in practice it is used only for a woman who has adopted the warrior ways.

Tsuwamono: “Strong person.” This is a term of endearment or respect for an older warrior or
one that has distinguished himself in battle.

Uruwashii: A cultured warrior, someone skilled in both the literary arts and the military arts.

Yumitori: “Bowman.” A mark of respect for an accomplished archer.

51
The Omni System™
It was not until the early modern period,
namely the Azuchi-Momoyama period and early
Edo period of the late 16th and early 17th centu-
ries that the word saburai became replaced with
samurai. However, the meaning had changed
long before then.
Before the Heian period, the army in Japan
was modeled after the Chinese army and under
the direct command of the emperor. Except for
slaves and criminals, every able-bodied man had
the duty of enlisting for the army. These men
had to supply themselves as part of their duty,
and many gave up returning and settled down
on their way home. This was treated as a part
of taxation and it could be substituted with other
forms of tax. These early warriors are not con-
sidered part of the samurai tradition, but rather
the onerous tasks necessary before the advent of
dedicated warriors.
In the early Heian, the late 8th and early
9th centuries, Emperor Kammu sought to con-
solidate and expand his rule in northern Hons-
hu. The armies he sent to conquer the rebellious
Emishi lacked motivation and discipline and
were unable to prevail. He then introduced the
52
Ronin
title of seiitaishogun, or shogun, and began to
rely on the powerful regional clans to conquer
the Emishi. Skilled in mounted combat and ar-
chery, these clan warriors became the emperor’s
preferred tool for putting down rebellions. Even
though they may have been educated, the Impe-
rial court officials considered 7th to 9th century
warriors to be crude and barbaric.
During the Heian period, the emperor’s
army was disbanded and the emperor’s power
gradually declined. While the emperor was still
the ruler, powerful clans around Kyoto assumed
positions as ministers and their relatives bought
positions as magistrates to collect taxes. To
repay their debts and amass wealth, they often
imposed heavy taxes and many farmers were
forced to leave their lands. Regional clans grew
powerful by offering lower taxes to their subjects
as well as freedom from conscription. These
clans armed themselves to repel other clans and
magistrates from collecting taxes. They would
eventually form themselves into armed parties
and became the warriors of the clans.
These clan warriors came from guards of the
imperial palace and private guards that the clans

employed. They also acted as a police force in
and around Kyoto. These forerunners of what
we now know as samurai had ruler-sponsored
equipment and were required to hone their mar-
tial skills, practicing them to perfection. They
were saburai, servants, yet their advantage of
being the sole armed force in the land increas-
ingly became apparent. By promising protec-
tion and gaining political clout through politi-
cal marriages they amassed power, eventually
surpassing the ruling aristocrats. The sword
became mightier than the pen.
Some clans originally were farmers that
had been driven to arms to protect themselves
from the imperially appointed magistrates sent
to govern their lands and collect taxes. These
clans formed alliances to protect themselves
against more powerful clans. By the mid-He-
ian, they had adopted new styles of armor and
weapons and laid the foundation of bushido, the
now-famous ethical code.
As the pressures of rule grew more promi-
nent, the samurai found that simple martial
prowess could not effectively govern for long
periods of time—that they needed education
as well as might of arms. By the 11th centu-
ry, samurai were expected to practice their let-
ters and speaking ability as frequently as their
swordsmanship and archery. The Heike Mono-
gatari, a famous text from the 12th century, ac-
tually speaks of the warrior-poet as the perfect
ideal of a man, and describes the death of Taira
Tadanori as sad not just for his ability as a gen-
eral but as a poet.
As regional clans gathered manpower and
resources and struck alliances with each other,
they formed a hierarchy centered around a to-
ryo, or chief. This chief was typically a distant
relative of the emperor and a lesser member of
one of three noble families (the Fujiwara, Mina-
moto, or the Taira). Though originally sent to
provincial areas for a fixed four-year term as a
magistrate, the toryo declined to return to the
capital when their terms ended. Their sons in-
herited their positions and continued to lead the
The Way of the Samurai
clans in putting down rebellions throughout Ja-
pan during the middle and later Heian.
Because of their rising military and eco-
nomic power, the clans ultimately became a new
force in the politics of the court. Their involve-
ment in the Hogen Rebellion in the late Heian
only consolidated their power and finally pitted
the rival Minamoto and the Taira against each
other in the Heiji Rebellion of 1160. Emerging
victorious, Taira Kiyomori became an imperial
advisor, the first warrior to attain such a posi-
tion, and eventually seized control of the central
government to establish the first samurai-domi-
nated government and relegate the emperor to a
mere figurehead. However, the Taira clan was
still very much aristocratic than their Minamoto
rivals. Instead of expanding or strengthening
its military might, the Taira clan had its women
marry emperors and attempted to control the na-
tion through the emperor.
The Taira and the Minamoto once again
clashed in 1180 beginning the Gempei War,
which ended in 1185. The victorious Mina-
moto Yoritomo established the superiority of
the samurai over aristocrats (bugei over kugei).
In 1190, he visited Kyoto and in 1192 became
seiitaishogun, establishing the Kamakura Sho-
gunate. Instead of basing its rule in Kyoto, he
set up the shogunate in Kamakura, near his base
of power.
Over time, powerful samurai clans became
warrior nobility who were only nominally un-
der court aristocracy. When samurai began to
adopt aristocratic customs like calligraphy, po-
etry and music, some court aristocrats also be-
gan to adopt samurai skills. In spite of various
machinations and brief periods of rule by vari-
ous emperors, the real power was in the hands
of the shogun and samurai. In time, all of the
aristocratic factions of Japan—whether warrior
or noble—simply became samurai.
The samurai fighting style was largely
based around the concept of individuals fight-
ing one another, or small groups engaged in
53
The Omni System™ Ronin

limited exchanges of hostilities. Archery and
horsemanship were of critical importance in the
early years, and swords were considered to be a
secondary weapon at best. In the 13th century,
however, a Chinese state of the Mongol Empire
called Yuan invaded Japan twice. Samurai not
used to fighting in groups barely survived the
first brief battle. However, they were prepared
for the second invasion by building a defensive
stone wall on the Mongols’ landing shore, and
adopting a night attack tactic. Overall, the Sam-
urai way of warfare was incapable of inflict-
ing significant damage upon the Mongol army,
which favored tactics of large encirclement and
sudden assault, and employed advanced weap-
onry. In the end, it was the second typhoon that
destroyed the Mongol armada, and prevented
the Yuan Dynasty from annexing Japan. Japa-
nese deemed the typhoon “the divine wind” (ka-
mikaze).
cause of this, however, family infighting became
equally common, with the younger children
of samurai families seeking to maintain their
own livelihood at the expense of their siblings.
To avoid fighting among family groups, noble
clans would turn their armies against one an-
other—each conquered territory was ceded to a
younger child, who would then start a new fam-
ily line that owed fealty to the clan hierarchy.
This practice eventually led to a breakdown of
the early bakufu governments and the beginning
of a long period of intra-clan strife.
The Warring States Period was marked by
the loosening of samurai culture, in a sense.
Those born into other social strata could some-
times make names for themselves as warriors
and thus become de facto samurai. In this tur-
bulent period, bushido ethics became an impor-
tant factor to control and maintain public order.

Two major military elements were acquired

from Mongol invasions: the importance of in-
fantry and the weakness of Japanese longbows
and conventional samurai cavalry against the in-
vaders. As the result of this, samurai gradually
replaced the way of bow with the way of blades.
At the beginning of the 14th century, swords and
spears became the mainstream among Japanese
samurai warlords.

An innovation on the Japanese sword was

produced by a blacksmith called Masamune in
the 14th century. The two-layer structure of soft
and hard iron was adopted by many smiths, and
the style spread rapidly with its amazing cutting
power and endurance in continuous use. Since
then, Japanese swords have been recognized as
one of the most potent hand weapons during the
pre-industrial era of East Asia. It was one of
the top exported items, a few even making their
way as far as India.

As the samurai culture grew and expanded,

the use of primogeniture—the first child inherit-
ing the entire estate of his parents—became a
common way to both legitimize claims on land,
and to establish inheritance law as a whole. Be-

54

With little in the way of a formal government,
personal honor and trustworthiness became a far
more important aspect of Japanese society.
Japanese war tactics and technologies im-
proved rapidly in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Use of large numbers of infantry troops called
ashigaru (“light-foot,” due to their light armor)
was introduced and combined with cavalry in
maneuvers. Armed with long spears, and even-
tually matchlock rifles, the charge of an ashiga-
ru horde was a devastating infantry maneuver.
These common soldiers could distinguish them-
selves and eventually become ji-samurai, men
with authority but without the power of true
nobility. The numbers of people mobilized in
warfare were generally in the thousands to the
over hundreds of thousands.
Samurai in the
Tokugawa Period
Oda Nobunaga was the well-known lord of
the Nagoya area (once called Owari Province)
and an exceptional example of samurai of the
Sengoku Period. He came within few years
of, and laid down the path for his successors to
achieve, the reunification of Japan under a new
bakufu. He made innovations on organizations
and war tactics, heavily used Western rifles, de-
veloped commerce and industry, and treasured
innovations. His frequent victories enabled him
to realize the termination of the Ashikaga ba-
kufu and disarmament of the military powers of
the Buddhist monks, which had inflamed futile
struggles among the populace for centuries. At-
tacking from a “sanctuary” of Buddhist temples,
they were constant headaches to any warlords
and even the emperor who tried to control their
actions. His death was a major turning point in
samurai culture and Japanese history.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu
were Nobunaga’s loyal followers during this
The Way of the Samurai
time. Hideyoshi was brought up from a name-
less peasant to one of the top generals under
Nobunaga and Ieyasu had shared his childhood
with Nobunaga. Hideyoshi defeated the gener-
als responsible for Nobunaga’s death within a
month, and he was regarded as the rightful suc-
cessor of Nobunaga by avenging the treachery
that led to his death. These two were gifted with
Nobunaga’s previous achievements to build the
unified Japan. A saying became common among
the warriors of the period: “The reunification is a
rice cake: Nobunage made it; Hideyoshi shaped
it; at last, only Ieyasu tastes it.”
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, himself the son of a
poor peasant family, created a law that cause
the samurai caste to become codified as perma-
nent and inheritable. This law also forbade non-
samurai to carry weapons unless specifically
ordered to do so, ending the social mobility of
Japan. Until this time, the distinction between
samurai-caste warriors and lower-caste com-
moners had been present but understated. Many
farmers were also part of military organizations,
and quite a few rose into the ranks of their “bet-
ters” for loyal service. The authorized samurai
families after the 17th century were the winners
that chose to follow Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and
Ieyasu. Large battles occurred during the times
of change between regimes, and a number of de-
feated samurai were destroyed, went ronin, or
were absorbed into the general populace.
During the Tokugawa Period, samurai in-
creasingly became courtiers, bureaucrats, and
administrators rather than warriors. With no
open warfare after the early 17th century, over
time, samurai during the Tokugawa Period grad-
ually lost their military function. By the end of
the Tokugawa Period, samurai were aristocratic
bureaucrats for the daimyo, with their daisho
becoming more of a symbolic emblem of power
rather than a weapon used in daily life. They
still had the legal right to cut down any com-
moner who did not show proper respect; in what
extent this right was used, however, is unknown.
When the central government forced daimyo to
cut the size of their armies, unemployed ronin
55
The Omni System™
actually became a significant social problem.
Theoretical obligations between a samurai
and his lord increased all the way through the
Edo period. They were strongly emphasized by
the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, which
were required reading for the educated samurai
class. During the Edo period, after the general
end of hostilities, the code of bushido, long a
tradition among the nobility, was finally formal-
ized. It is important to note that bushido was an
ideal, but it is surprising how uniform the code
remained over time from the 13th century to the
19th century. The ideals of bushido transcended
social class, time and geographic location of the
warrior class.
Bushido was adopted as their only guide by
many samurai in this time of peace, in much the
same way that chivalry was formalized only af-
ter the knight as a warrior became obsolete in
Europe. The conduct of samurai became the
favorable model of a citizen in Edo with the em-
phasis on formalities and ritual. With so much
time on their hands, samurai spent more time on
the pursuit of other interests, becoming schol-
ars, poets, and artists.
By the middle of the Tokugawa Period,
when official census taking had become com-
mon, the samurai caste formed somewhere be-
tween seven and ten percent of the Japanese
population, depending on whether one chose to
count ronin or not. This meant that the mid-
Tokugawa samurai population was just under
two million people nationwide—a staggering
number, to be sure.
Arms and Armor
of the Samurai
The samurai used various weapons over
the course of their history. Despite much that
has been said of the samurai as swordsmen, the
samurai’s weapon of choice on the battlefield
56
Ronin
was the yumi (bow) and it was unchanged for
centuries until the introduction of gunpowder
and the rifle. A Japanese-style compound bow
was not a very powerful weapon in comparison
to the Eurasian reflex composite bow. Its size
made it possible to shoot various projectiles like
fire arrows and signal arrows accurately at up to
200 feet, but over 400 feet when accuracy was
not an issue. It was usually used on foot behind
a tedate, a large and mobile bamboo wall, but it
could be used even from horseback.
In the 15th century, the yari (spear) also be-
came a popular weapon. It displaced the nagi-
nata, a long-bladed polearm, from the battlefield
as personal bravery became less of a factor and
battles became more organized. It was sim-
pler to use and deadlier than a katana in the
hands of a skilled wielder. A charge, mounted
or dismounted, was more effective when us-
ing a spear, and it offered better than even odds
against a samurai using a tachi, a katana adapted
to mounted combat.
One of the biggest controversies surround-
ing the weapons of the samurai is whether they
ever charged on horseback. Horses of that time
were smaller, yet durable, but it was questionable
how well they would perform carrying heavily
armored samurai. A traditional belief held that
samurai mainly fought on horseback acting as
heavy cavalry and charged through hapless foot
soldiers. It is currently believed, however, that
samurai mainly fought on foot and used horses
for transportation and only occasionally charged
on disarrayed and retreating enemies.
After the matchlock rifle was introduced
from Europe, samurai started practicing its use.
It became the favorite weapon of some samurai
for sniping on the battlefield. Some regarded
the rifle as the weapon of a coward or fool, es-
pecially thanks to their tendency to backfire, but
held that mastery of any weapon made a man a
better warrior. Conscripted soldiers also used
matchlock rifles, but instead fired in volleys to
break up enemy ranks.
 The Way of the Samurai

Ritual Suicide: Death Before Dishonor

“From ages past it has been considered ill-omened by samurai to be requested as kaishaku. The
reason for this is that one gains no fame even if the job is well done; and if by chance one should
blunder, it becomes a lifetime disgrace. In the practice of past times, there were instances when
the head flew off. It was said that it was best to cut leaving a little skin remaining so that it did
not fly off in the direction of the verifying officials. However, at present it is best to cut clean
through.”
- Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai

Seppuku, or ritual suicide (literally, “belly-cutting”), was a key part of bushido, the code of
samurai warriors. Warriors used it to avoid falling into enemy hands, and to alleviate shame
for oneself or one’s family. Samurai could also be ordered by their daimyo to commit seppuku.
In later years, disgraced warriors were sometimes allowed to commit seppuku rather than be
executed in the normal manner. Since the main point of the act was to restore or protect one’s
honor as a warrior, those who did not belong to the samurai caste were never ordered or ex-
pected to commit seppuku. While seppuku was sometimes known by the more colloquial term
hara-kiri, this usage was considered vulgar (in much the same way that Westerners would rather
say “passed on” than “ate a bullet”).

In the world of the warrior, seppuku was a deed of bravery that was admirable in a samurai
who knew he was defeated, disgraced, or mortally wounded. It meant that he could end his
days with his transgressions wiped away and with his reputation not merely intact but actually
enhanced. The cutting of the abdomen released the samurai’s spirit in the most dramatic fash-
ion, but it was an extremely painful and unpleasant way to die, and sometimes the samurai who
was performing the act asked a loyal comrade to cut off his head at the moment of agony. This
position, kaishakunin (or second), was a weighty task that could only be placed in the hands of
a most trusted friend. If the principal were to scream—or even moan loudly—his honor would
be compromised, so the kaishakunin must have an impeccable sense of timing.

Sometimes a daimyo was called upon to perform seppuku as the basis of a peace agreement.
This would so weaken the defeated clan that resistance would effectively cease. Toyotomi
Hideyoshi used an enemy’s suicide in this way on several occasions, the most dramatic of which
effectively ended a dynasty of daimyo forever, when the Hojo were defeated at Odawara in
1590. Hideyoshi insisted on the suicide of the retired daimyo Hojo Ujimasa, and the exile of
his son Ujinao. With one sweep of a sword the most powerful samurai family in eastern Japan
disappeared from history.

In time, committing seppuku came to involve a detailed ritual. Dressed ceremonially, with his
sword placed in front of him and sometimes seated on special cloths, the warrior would prepare
for death by writing a death poem. With his selected attendant standing by, he would open his
kimono, take up his wakizashi or a tanto (knife) and plunge it into his abdomen, making first
a left-to-right cut and then a second slightly upward stroke to spill out the intestines. On the
second stroke, the kaishakunin would perform daki-kubi, a cut in which the warrior is all but
decapitated (a slight band of flesh is left attaching the head to the body in a perfect stroke). The
principal agrees in advance when the kaishaku makes his cut, usually as soon as the blade is
plunged into the abdomen, though some exceptionally honorable warriors insisted that the sec-
ond wait until both primary cuts were made. cont’d

57
The Omni System™ Ronin

In battle, most samurai carried some

Women possessed their own suicide ritual, form of personal banner or flag to show
jidai, which permitted their “weaker” gender their loyalty to their lord. The most
greater dignity in death. The woman’s legs common sort of banner was the sashi-
would be subtly tied together, so that she mono, a small flag attached to the back
would maintain a “decent” position after the of armor bearing a family or clan sym-
cut. Jidai was always performed by the wom- bol. Larger banners would often be car-
an plunging a tanto into her own throat, af- ried into battle by ashigaru retainers, or
ter which the second would remove her head. even by samurai whose sole duty was to
This method was considered significantly less uphold the banner. These banners carry
painful, but equally honorable for a woman. great spiritual significance for a bushi,
and the loss of a banner in battle can be
In a Tokugawa-era game, a samurai character a serious blow to an army’s morale.
can be called upon to take his own life at any
time—indeed, he is expected to be ready to
end his own life at the merest suggestion of
his lord. In practice, seppuku is an extremely
Swords and
dramatic statement, and is never used simply
to satisfy a daimyo’s fit of pique or anger.
Honor
Worse punishments exist, and in the strictest
Bushido taught that a samurai’s
sense, being given permission to commit sep-
soul is in the katana that they carried.
puku is a reward, since it guarantees the con-
Sometimes a samurai is pictured as en-
tinuance of the samurai’s family line with his
tirely dependent on the katana for fight-
honorable death.
ing, an image that is very far from the
truth. This is much different than the
By the same token, a samurai who uses the
role of a crossbow in medieval Europe
threat of his own suicide in attempts to strong-
and the role of sword to a knight. Here
arm his daimyo may get away with it once
the weapon serves as a symbol of being
or twice, if the lord is feeling exceptionally
samurai, which is of greater importance
warmly toward the character. After that, the
than the katana merely as a weapon.
samurai will probably be told to go through
Many samurai, especially traditionalists
with his threat—and may be given a wooden
and romantics, believed that it was bet-
sword to do it with.
ter to break one’s own sword than to see
it in an enemy’s hands, or to die before
losing it. Even touching another sam-
Some samurai were unarmed on the battle- urai’s katana without permission was
fields except for katana—this did not mean that grounds for a personal grievance that could eas-
they fought using katana, however. Instead, ily turn into a duel or vendetta.
they focused on commanding and were confi-
dent that they could trust those they commanded Upon reaching the age of twelve to four-
for protection. Other weapons used by samurai teen, in a ceremony called the genpuku, a male
included jo (short staves), bo (long staves), cata- child was given a wakizashi and an adult name
pults, and even cannons toward the middle of and became a samurai, with all of the rights and
the Tokugawa Period. However, specific samu- responsibilities of his caste. This also gave him
rai sometimes favored others—many warriors the right to wear katana, though it was usual-
prided themselves on the mastery of unusual ly sealed with strings to prevent its accidental
weapons. drawing. A katana and a wakizashi together

58

are called a daisho (literally, “the long and the
short”).
The wakizashi itself was a samurai’s “honor
blade” and purportedly never left the samurai’s
side. He would sleep with it under his pillow
and would be taken with him when he entered
a house, even when he had to leave his main
weapons outside. It was also the weapon used
for committing sepukku, ritual suicide. It was
always worn with the edge facing upwards when
stuck in the belt, and almost never used in battle,
only for ceremonial purposes.
Physically, the katana and wakizashi are
both curved, single-edged blades. The katana
is primarily used for cutting, and the wakizashi
primarily for piercing, though they can be used
for either task with slightly reduced efficiency.
Miyamoto Musashi, author of the legendary
Book of Five Rings and one of the most notori-
ous ronin in Japanese history, developed a fight-
ing style that used both weapons in tandem, but
both before and after his life, samurai tended to
fight with just one weapon.
Education and
Lifestyle
A samurai was expected to read and write, as
well as to know some mathematics. Toyotomi
Hideyoshi, a great samurai yet a peasant at the
beginning of his life, could only read and write
in hiragana, and this was his biggest drawback.
Some hint that this was what prevented him
from achieving the position of shogun. Samurai
were expected, though not required, to have in-
terests in other arts such as dancing, Go (a board
game), literature, poetry, and tea ceremony.
Shudo, the tradition of personal bonds be-
tween a seasoned and a novice samurai, was an
honored and important practice in samurai soci-
ety and education. It was one of the main ways
in which the ethos and the skills of the samurai
tradition were passed down from one genera-
The Way of the Samurai
tion to another. This practice, when it evolved
beyond simple instruction and into a more ro-
mantic love (which was not uncommon), was
referred to as bido, the beautiful way. The de-
votion that the two samurai would have for each
other would be almost as great as that they had
for their daimyo. Indeed, according to con-
temporary accounts, that became a philosophi-
cal problem at times. The Hagakure and other
samurai manuals gave specific instructions in
the way that this tradition was to be carried out
and respected.
Another common bond between older sam-
urai and younger ones that occurred after the
younger had found his role in life was that of
sempai and kohai, or elder and junior. A sempai
was typically a samurai in midlife who would
take a samurai in his same field under his wing
and guide him through the rough spots of learn-
ing his way in the world. In the same way that
a shudo bond could be regarded as personal, the
bond of the sempai to the kohai was almost en-
tirely professional, though also typically friend-
ly.
Samurai culture ranged from a spartan and
severe Zen Buddhism influenced culture to an
extravaganza of parties and decadent entertain-
ments (though the most extreme of these were
still tame by Western standards). Most samurai
lived simply not due to preference, but neces-
sity. As commerce developed in the Edo period,
samurai who were supplied with rice as income
were faced with inflating prices of common
goods. Some samurai did crafts and others even
farmed to make ends meet. These poor samurai
still found money and time to teach their chil-
dren to value education, however.
By the middle of the Edo period, in fact,
samurai often had to be ordered to practice their
martial art skills. There were stories of samurai
being threatened and forced to run away against
well-muscled workers, some were even beaten
in fights. As samurai were specialists in fight-
ing, these troubles were never reported out of
shame but were still documented by historians.
59
The Omni System™
Clothing and
Appearance
To a samurai, appearance is very important.
His appearance is one of the many things that
separates him from the common people—main-
ly because a samurai has enough money and
leisure time to keep up appearances in a way
that commoners cannot. Because of this, and
because of the heavy emphasis on tradition and
formality in samurai culture, the fashions and
dress of samurai tend to be very complicated.
At the same time, samurai personal grooming,
while extremely important, is far simpler.
Samurai are expected to be clean at all times
if possible. Daily baths—sometimes multiple
daily baths—are a common facet of samurai
life. At the same time, samurai are expected
to be neatly groomed, including having a good
haircut, trimmed fingernails and toenails, and
keeping facial hair under control. Male samu-
rai are typically clean-shaven if young, growing
out neat mustaches or close-trimmed beards as
they get older. Female samurai keep their eye-
60
Ronin
brows trimmed neatly, though some go so far as
to shave them off and simply paint on replace-
ments.
The most important aspect of a male samu-
rai’s appearance is his hair. After the gempukku
ceremony that denotes his coming of age, a male
samurai first wears his hair in the birthright style
of his caste—the konmage. With this hairstyle,
the samurai would grow his hair long (often to
the shoulders or longer), then oil it and tie it into
a ponytail. This ponytail is then folded at the
top of the head, creating a topknot. For samurai
of high rank, the area in front of the topknot is
shaven clean to better show off the konmage.
This haircut is a mark of privilege and a sign of
the noble birth if the samurai; to lose one’s kon-
mage is a terrible disgrace, and many samurai
would rather die than have their topknot cut off.
Indeed, a sign of terrible disrespect for one’s en-
emies is to cut off their topknots after death.
Women of samurai birth wear their hair
long, usually straight and sometimes oiled. A
few women wear complicated braids and plaits
in formal affairs, and samurai-ko are just as
entitled to wear a konmage as male samurai.
Younger women sometimes wear a hairstyle

called odango (“dumplings”), in which the hair
is tied into two nearly identical buns, one on ei-
ther side of the head; sometimes, long braids or
tails trails from either bun.
To a woman in Edo Japan, however, her face
is more important than her hair. Most women
wear makeup, most often creams to make the
face pale and white, as well as red paint for the
lips and kohl or eyeliner. Until the beginning of
the Edo period, it was common for women to
completely white their faces, then replace their
eyebrows with black lines and put two red dots
on their foreheads, but this practice has become
less common. Also common is for a woman to
black out her teeth with paint; a toothy smile is
considered “aggressive” or “fearsome,” and so
some women entirely black out their teeth to
avoid any chance of a large smile. (As a cor-
ollary to this, most women cover their mouths
with their sleeve or hand when they laugh.)
The most ubiquitous piece of clothing in the
samurai wardrobe would have to be the kimono.
Originally the word itself was used for all types
of clothing, but it came to refer specifically to
the full-length garment that is worn by women,
men, and children. Even the coarse robes of
peasants can be called kimono without misinter-
pretation. Kimono are T-shaped, straight-lined
robes that fall to the ankle, with collars and full-
length sleeves. The sleeves are commonly very
wide at the wrist, falling as much as a foot from
the hand. Traditionally, unmarried women wear
kimono with extremely long sleeves that extend
almost to the floor. The robe is wrapped around
the body, always with the left side over the right,
and secured by a wide belt or sash tied in the
back, called an obi.
Traditionally, all women’s kimono are ba-
sically one size, though kimono made for men
are more closely fitted. Tucks and folds in the
fabric accommodate different body heights and
shapes. Kimono are made from a single bolt of
fabric, most often silk but commoners’ kimono
can be made from linen instead. The bolts come
in standard dimensions, and all the fabric is used
The Way of the Samurai
in the making of the kimono. All traditional ki-
mono are sewn by hand by a single tailor, and
the fabrics from which they are created are also
frequently handmade and hand decorated. Vari-
ous techniques (including dye resist and hand-
painting) are incorporated into the kimono,
which governs where the pattern is distributed
and if it is a singular or a repeating pattern. A
kimono is usually taken apart for washing, and
then re-sewn for wearing.
There are styles of kimono for various oc-
casions, ranging from extremely formal to very
casual. The level of formality of women’s ki-
mono is determined by the shape (mostly the
length of the sleeves), pattern and fabric, and
also the color. Men’s kimono are usually one
basic shape and are mainly worn in subdued
colors. Formality is determined by the type and
color of accessories, the fabric, and the number
or absence of mon (family crests). Silk is the
most desirable, and most formal, fabric; cotton
is more casual, and linen is typically only for
peasants.
Kimono are never wasted. Old kimono are
recycled in various ways: they may be altered
to make haori or to make kimono for children;
the fabric may be used to patch similar kimono.
Larger parts of fabric are used for making kimo-
no accessories such as handbags, while smaller
parts can be used to make covers, bags or cases
for various implements, especially things like
the sweet-picks used in the tea ceremony. Ki-
mono that are damaged in the lower portions
can also be worn under hakama to hide the dam-
age.
Most samurai women are unable to prop-
erly put on a kimono unaided, since the typical
woman’s outfit requires twelve or more separate
pieces that must be worn, matched and secured
in prescribed ways. Professional kimono are
common amongst samurai households, as well
as in tailoring shops and beauty salons.
The choice of which type of kimono for a
woman to wear is laden with symbolism and
61
The Omni System™
subtle social messages. The specific choice
relates to the woman’s age and marital status,
and the level of formality of the occasion. In de-
scending order of formality:
 Kurotomesode: A black kimono pat-
terned only below the waistline, kurotome-
sode are the most formal kimono for mar-
ried women. They are often worn by the
mothers of the bride and groom at a wed-
ding. Kurotomesode usually have five ka-
mon (family crests) printed on the sleeves,
chest, and back of the kimono.
 Furisode: Literally translated as
“swinging sleeves,” the sleeves of furisode
average between 39 and 42 inches in length.
Furisode are the most formal kimono for
unmarried women. They have patterns that
cover the entire garment, and are usually
worn at coming-of-age ceremonies and by
unmarried female relatives of the bride at
weddings and wedding receptions.
 Irotomesode: A single-color kimono,
patterned only below the waistline. Iro-
tomesode are slightly less formal than ku-
rotomesode, and are worn by married wom-
en, usually close relatives of the bride and
groom at a wedding. An irotomesode may
have three or five kamon.
 Houmongi: Literally translates as “vis-
iting wear.” Characterized by patterns that
flow over the shoulders, seams and sleeves,
houmongi rank slightly higher than their
close relative, the tsukesage. Houmongi
may be worn by either married or unmar-
ried women; often friends of the bride will
wear houmongi at weddings and receptions.
They may also be worn to formal parties,
such as galas.
 Tsukesage: A tsukesage has more
modest patterns that cover less area—main-
ly below the waist—than the more formal
houmongi. They may also be worn by mar-
ried and unmarried women.
 Iromuji: A single-colored kimono
that may be worn by married and unmarried
women. They are mainly worn to tea cer-
emonies. The dyed silk may be figured, but
has no differently colored patterns.
62
Ronin
 Komon: “Fine pattern.” Kimono with
a small, repeated pattern throughout the
garment. Somewhat casual; may be worn
around town, or dressed up with a nice obi
for a restaurant. Both married and unmar-
ried women may wear komon.
 Edo komon: Edo komon is a type of
komon characterized by tiny dots arranged
in dense patterns that form larger designs.
As might be guessed, this is a very recent
development, coming only near the begin-
ning of the Tokugawa Period. A kimono
with this type of pattern is of the same for-
mality as an iromuji, and when decorated
with kamon, may be worn as visiting wear.
 Yukata: Informal unlined summer ki-
mono usually made of cotton, linen, or hemp.
Yukata are most often worn to outdoor festi-
vals, by men and women of all ages. They
are also worn at onsen (hot springs) resorts,
where they are often provided for the guests
in the resort’s own pattern.
In contrast to the woman’s garment, a man’s
kimono outfits are far simpler, typically consist-
ing of a maximum of five pieces, not including
socks and sandals. The principal distinctions
between men’s kimono are in the fabric and the
design. The typical male kimono has a subdued,
dark color; black, dark blues and greens, and oc-
casionally brown are common; fabrics are usu-
ally matte rather than lustrous. Some have a
subtle pattern, and textured fabrics are common
in more casual kimono. More casual kimono
may be of slightly brighter color, such as lighter
purples, greens and blues. Sumo wrestlers have
occasionally been known to wear quite bright
colors such as fuchsia.
The most formal style of kimono is plain
black with five kamon (on the chest, shoulders,
and back). Slightly less formal is the three-ka-
mon kimono. These are usually paired with
white undergarments and accessories. Almost
any kimono outfit can be made more formal by
wearing hakama and haori.
While the kimono is the most important part
of samurai dress, it is hardly complete without
some (or all) of the following accessories:
 Geta: Geta are wooden sandals worn
by men and women with yukata. A slightly
different style of geta are worn by geisha.
 Hakama: A divided or undivided skirt,
rather like a very wide pair of pants, tradi-
tionally worn only by men, and also worn
in certain martial arts. A hakama typically
has pleats, a koshiita (a stiff or padded part
in the lower back of the wearer), and himo
(long lengths of fabric that are tied around
the waist around an obi). They can range
from very formal to visiting wear, depend-
ing on pattern. While very formal women’s
outfits do not include hakama, men’s usu-
ally do.
 Haori: A hip- or thigh-length kimono
coat that adds formality. Typically, only
men wear haori, though some samurai-ko
have been known to do so for formal oc-
casions.
 Haori-himo: A tasseled, woven string
fastener for the haori. The most formal col-
or is white.
 Ju-nihitoe: A twelve-layered-robe,
worn in old times by women at court. Today
only worn during the most formal occasions
at court (imperial weddings, enthronement
ceremony, and so on).
 Kanzashi: Hair ornaments worn in
the coiffured hairstyle that often accompa-
nies kimono. These may take the form of
silk flowers, wooden combs, jade hairpins,
and more. They are especially important to
women, though men often wear something
important to them in their hair (such as a
hair tie woven from a lover’s hair).
 Obi: The Japanese equivalent of a
sash or belt, which is used for a kimono or
yukata. Obi are generally worn differently
depending on the occasion, and they are
usually more intricate for women. The only
common facet is that they are always tied
in the back; an obi tied in the front is some-
times referred to as a ”prostitute’s belt.”
 Tabi: Ankle high, divided-toe socks
that are usually worn with sandals. They
also come in a boot form.
The final important piece of a samurai’s
wardrobe is the mon, or crest. The word mon
refers to any crest, while kamon refers specifi-
cally to family crests. While any professional is
entitled to use a mon to represent himself or his
business, only truly formal mon are representa-
tive of a samurai crest.
Japanese crests consist of a rondel encircl-
ing a design (feathers, flowers, and so on). They
are somewhat like European coats of arms in
that they are either associated with a particular
family, or an individual who has achieved some
variety of public recognition. The designs are
usually stylized versions of traditional Japanese
themes, such as bamboo. Artists may choose
something symbolizing their art; a fan design
might be chosen by a geisha. A woman may
still wear her maiden crests if she wishes and
pass them on to her daughters; a woman does
not have to adopt her husband’s or father’s
crests. Crests add formality to a kimono, and a
formal kimono typically has one, three, or five
crests on it. The crests themselves can be more
or less formal; the more the crest stands out the
more formal it is.
In the dress of the ruling class, the mon can
be found on the kimono on both sides of the
chest, on both sleeves, and in the middle of the
back. On the armor, it could be found on the ka-
buto (helmet), on the do (breastplate), flags, and
various other places. Mon could also be found
on coffers, tents, fans, and many items of im-
portance. This crest is so important because it
represents the nature of the family or individual,
and the use of it is widely spread throughout
samurai culture. Seeing a specific mon allows
people to know exactly which family—some-
times even which member of that family—is
responsible for a local happening. Forging or
misrepresenting a samurai family’s mon is a
crime punishable by death.
63
The Omni System™ Ronin

Forms of Address
Courtesy is extremely important to the Japanese, to nobles and peasants alike. The lan-
guage itself has seven declinations of address for purposes of being polite—that is, sev-
en levels of courtesy. Naturally, this is a bit complicated for players to deal with unless
they’ve had a few years of Japanese linguistics courses, so we’ll just cover the basics of
polite address here.

Samurai who meet for the first time are expected to refer to one another by their whole
name, plus the honorific –sama. If the samurai in question do not know one another’s
names, addressing each other as samurai-sama is appropriate until such time as introduc-
tions can be made. A samurai meeting a superior should always address him as (family
name)-sama. Familiar samurai of the same rank, or a superior addressing a lower-ranked
samurai, would address the recipient as (family name)-san. Two samurai that have become
friendly would address one another as (given name)-san, while close friends could drop the
–san entirely.

Adding the prefix O- to the beginning of someone’s name shows great respect for that per-
son, and a name prefixed in such a way will almost always be followed by –sama. For ex-
ample, it would not be out of place to refer to the shogun as O-Tokugawa-sama, but equally
appropriate to call him just Tokugawa-sama. When a samurai speaks of his own lord, he
typically adds –dono to his lord’s name rather than –sama.

Additional prefixes or suffixes may be added to a name to show respect or accomplishment,

such as the feminine –hime (“princess”), referring to any respectable woman of royal birth.
Addressing the wife of a bushi, one should add –gozen to her family name, unless she or
her husband are particularly powerful, in which case –sama is just fine.

Some suffixes are intended to show affection for a friend or a younger person. Referring to
a female acquaintance in speech with –mi (“beautiful”) or –ko (“small”) replacing the last
syllable of the name is not unusual (so a woman named Haruki could be called Haruko or
Harumi). A younger girl (before the age of adulthood) may be called with the suffix –chan,
but doing so to an older woman is a sure sign of close affection or playful teasing. A young
man before his adulthood ceremony may be addressed with the suffix –kun, as can a close
male friend that one has known since childhood.

A final form of address important to a samurai is that of sensei, or teacher. A samurai can
refer to his own teacher as –sensei, or he can refer to any noteworthy or popular teacher
by the same honorific. This applies equally well to monks, priests, martial instructors,
and even commoner entertainers. Sensei essentially acts as a respectful form of address
for someone whose work is respected, rather than necessarily the station of the person in
question.

64

Samurai Names
Until the age of twelve to fourteen, a samu-
rai was known only by a childhood nickname,
typically something easy to remember and like-
ly related to his order of birth. Many samurai
children were called things like Ichiro (“first
boy”) or Miko (“small beauty”). As they aged
and grew knowledgeable about their culture,
samurai children were encouraged to give great
thought to what name they would want for the
rest of their lives.
A samurai usually created his name by
combining one kanji from his father or grand-
father and one new kanji. Many samurai had
intentionally phonetically same names as a great
ancestor to honor their greatness and hope that
they would be as good. A few samurai would
take a second name in midlife or after achieving
some great task or goal, but this was uncommon
at best.
Many samurai changed their names, not
because they did not like it, but because they
were adopted into other clans. The first and
foremost reason for such a change is that many
clans wanted a successor with great abilities and
skills, even if it meant throwing out sons of the
previous leader. If that successor happened to
be from a higher-ranked clan, so much the bet-
ter. While this had to be approved by the sho-
gunate or the clan’s daimyo, there were many
instances of it happening. When the previous
leader died without a son but with a daughter, it
was common to adopt a samurai from another
clan and have him marry the daughter. A very
few clans were actually led by women rulers,
but they inevitably had to marry in order to ce-
ment their claim to the position.
The Way of the Samurai
Marriage and
Family
A marriage of two samurai was done by
having the marriage arranged by someone with
same or higher rank than those marrying. For
those samurai in upper ranks, this was a neces-
sity, as most had few opportunities to meet a
female. This was still done as a formality for
lower ranked samurai, however.
Most samurai married women from a samu-
rai family but for a lower ranked samurai, mar-
riages with commoners were permitted. In such
cross-caste marriages, the woman had to bring
forth a dowry, and this was used to start their
new lives. Many wealthy commoners in the
Tokugawa Period, such as merchants and arti-
sans, would spend much of their time arrang-
ing a marriage for a daughter to a low-ranked
samurai, since the marriage was one of the only
things that could elevate a commoner to the
samurai caste. The children from such a pairing
would also be samurai, though many samurai
were prejudiced against “mixed-blood” nobles.
Male samurai were permitted mistresses,
even encouraged to have them since marriages
were not out of love, but the backgrounds of
these mistresses were typically checked by the
samurai’s superior. Female samurai were not
granted the same right openly, but many still
kept lovers privately. So long as such relation-
ships did not become public or bring shame to
the husband’s name, most samurai rarely cared.
After marriage, there were strict societal
functions for each partner. The husband was
expected to maintain his position and advance it
for the honor and glory of the household, while
the wife raised the children. Different from the
European marital values, however, a wife also
took care of the house finances, collecting all of
the household income and giving her husband a
small stipend out of which he could pursue his
65
The Omni System™ Ronin

Female Samurai
Though technically the term samurai-ko could be used to describe any female member of
the samurai caste, in practice it was almost always used to refer to one of the rare women
that chose to pursue the warrior’s art. While female martial artists and weapon masters
had always been common among peasants (when they had been permitted to carry arms),
few female samurai followed the way of the warrior. Simply put, the culture and society
of Japan, with its emphasis on male dominance and traditionalism, rarely had any place for
a woman of noble birth who wanted to break out of her expected role as a courtier, helper,
and mother.

From time to time, however, a woman truly exceptional at the martial arts would be permit-
ted to ride into battle alongside her male counterparts. Even then, these samurai-ko were
rarely afforded the same level of privilege as male warriors. Many were forced to use nagi-
nata over preference of any other weapon, an intentional method of keeping greater distance
between a “weak” woman and her foes. In time, as the number of samurai-ko increased
and the use of the naginata declined, it became traditional for them to use the naginata as a
mark of pride—to show themselves different from other warriors. Many were also superb
masters of archery (kyujutsu), and more rarely of swordplay (kenjutsu).

Even the finest woman warrior was expected to live far more severely than a male samurai,
almost like a monk. They were not permitted to take lovers or maintain their own house-
hold, and most were required to have a male bodyguard present at almost all times. These
draconian restrictions were still regarded by many as better than the life of otherwise unex-
ceptional drudgery that they would have to endure as the trophy wife of a petty nobleman.

Female warriors of low caste, such as ji-samurai and ronin, were given a great deal more
freedom than highborn ladies. A few budoka were even drawn from the ranks of street
performers who were skilled in weapon maneuvers and trained as personal guards. Many
lowborn women warriors of the time were regarded as the equal of any noble warrior, in a
way that male warriors would not have been. In a strange way, samurai would offer more
respect to a lowborn female warrior than to either a samurai-ko or to a ronin swordsman.

In a fantasy-inspired Japan, the cultural limitations on female warriors may be more relaxed
than in historical Japan, or they may not exist at all. If women are afforded the same rights
as men to be warriors, this changes the political face of Japan significantly, since the politics
of the time are based around warrior primogeniture. Women would be daimyo just as often
as men, something that never occurred historically. Perhaps all women belong to a broad
sisterhood of warriors with a unique fighting style, or perhaps they simply interact like a
modern army—with equal treatment under the law but separate facilities and training.

66

own entertainments. Also, a wife was expected
to speak for her husband at court while he was
away and typically had equal rights in the fami-
ly’s overall decision-making.
A samurai could divorce his wife for a va-
riety of reasons, even purely personal reasons,
with an approval from a superior. A divorce was
a rare occasion, since it implied that the superior
that arranged the marriage had been mistaken in
the pairing. If the wife could not produce a son,
this was considered a reason for divorce that
would not bring shame to the arranger. Women
could also arrange a divorce, although it would
generally take the legal form of her husband di-
vorcing her. In a divorce, samurai had to return
any betrothal money that might have existed,
and this often prevented a divorce for practical
reasons. In such a case, a samurai could arrange
his own marriage to a wealthier woman—most
often a merchant’s daughter—and use part of
the new dowry to pay for his own divorce. A
samurai’s wife would be dishonored and al-
lowed to commit suicide if she were cast off for
personal reasons or because she could not pro-
duce an heir.
The eldest son of the previous leader typi-
cally became the next leader of the clan. If the
eldest son had passed away before the succes-
sion, the eldest son of the eldest son became the
next leader of the clan. If the eldest son did not
have children, the second son became the next
leader, and so on. These rules were sometimes
bent with the wish of the former leader. When
the next leader was too young or inexperienced,
brothers and retainers of a previous leader acted
as regent over the clan until the position could
be handed over. Dividing a domain had been
popular in the Kamakura and Ashikaga Peri-
ods but declined later as it often made the clan
weaker. Indeed, the rise of primogeniture as
the main method of inheritance was one of the
major contributing factors to the Warring States
Period.
Samurai had a lot of children and were
faced with disease and wars, often causing suc-
The Way of the Samurai
cession problems. These sometime led to a de-
cline or even a disintegration and eventual de-
struction of the entire clan. The primary method
of avoiding this problem during the Tokugawa
Period was called koukaku, or demotion. When
the previous leader neared his death and retired,
he would formally name his eldest son as his
heir and then demote his other children to the
position of retainers in his son’s estate. They
retained their samurai caste, but were consid-
ered to be lower-ranked from then on. Before
Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s edict making the samurai
caste inheritable and unchangeable, many un-
wanted children were demoted to the status of
merchants or peasants, but in the Tokugawa Pe-
riod, the only choice for such truly unfavorable
children was to cast them out of the clan and
make them ronin.
Culture
To a certain way of thinking, the culture of
the samurai is the only culture in Japan. Every-
thing in the country revolves around these noble
warriors and courtiers, and so any culture in the
nation is samurai culture.
Artistic
Endeavors
The samurai have long held education and
artistic pursuits in high regard, but since the end
of the Sengoku Jidai, these matters have become
especially important to them. After all, with no
significant threats remaining to fight, a sam-
urai’s skill at battling the shogun’s enemies is
somewhat less important than his ability to im-
press other samurai. During the Tokugawa Pe-
riod, even more samurai than ever before have
turned to an appreciation of the fine arts. Many
samurai have become artists themselves, at least
in pursuits that are considered honorable, while
others act as wealthy patrons of artists and per-
formers.
67
The Omni System™
The most honorable forms of art are those
that created something lasting, while at the same
time transitory. A master of the arts could not
make a beautiful sword and call it art—it is sim-
ply too permanent. One of the basic tenets of
samurai art was the impermanence of life; from
this, all other values are derived. Further ideals
68
Ronin
include simplicity of design, elegance of form
and subtlety of expression. These artistic fun-
damentals were largely based on Zen Buddhist
philosophy as well as Shinto belief in naturalis-
tic beauty.
Among the most perfect arts for the samu-

rai, then, was that of ikebana, or flower arrang-
ing. In these arrangements, both the flowers and
the branches are made to point toward heaven
as an indication of faith, while each flower or
branch used in the arrangement represents spe-
cific natural landmarks or phenomena. For
example, pin branches symbolize rocks and
stones, while white chrysanthemums represent
rivers and streams. By creating these formal
flower arrangements, an entire landscape can be
evoked by the contents of a single vase.
A more simply style of flower arrangement,
called nageiri (literally, “to throw together”) ap-
peared as part of the tea ceremony during the
late 15th Century. According to this style, flow-
ers are arranged in a vase as naturally as possi-
ble, no matter what materials are used. Because
of its association with tea ceremony, this style is
also called chabana (“tea flowers”).
Another common art style, and one of the
oldest in Japan, is painting. The most frequently
used style for the samurai culture is watercolor
painting on silk, a form that produces beautiful-
ly faded pictures of landscapes and other natu-
ral shapes. It is normal for the artist to include
a written poem or quote from famous literature
in kanji on part of the painting, the words and
pictures together evoking a sense of subtle gran-
deur. A few samurai also participated in ukiyo-
e, ink painting, but mainly as a sideline to their
calligraphy studies.
Calligraphy itself is regarded as an art form
by the samurai of Tokugawa Japan. By demon-
strating the ability to draw kanji, typically un-
common or even rare kanji, not just accurately
but attractively, the calligrapher can demonstrate
his overall grasp of culture. His actual literacy
becomes a method of proving his cultural litera-
cy. Small silk paintings of kanji in red or black
ink tastefully adorn the walls of many castles
and private residences.
Since the Heian Period, it has been normal
for samurai who are spending time together so-
cially in a formal setting to hold poetry contests.
The Way of the Samurai
The poems for these contests are supposed to be
spontaneous and are rarely written down. The
ability to craft a spontaneous haiku is especially
prized, since the rigid form of haiku makes spon-
taneity difficult at best. A haiku always consists
of three lines; the first line is five syllables, the
second line is seven and the third line is again
five. To be a true haiku, the poem must make
allusion to nature or use natural phenomena to
make a point about civilization.
While many samurai enjoyed watching ka-
buki and noh theater (and their puppet theater
variant, bunraku), almost none participated.
Acting was considered to be too close to “real
work,” and samurai were not supposed to sully
themselves with labor. For this reason, many
samurai of means supported acting troupes,
while not a small number of young samurai
secretly participated in masked kabuki plays,
avoiding shame for their family by remaining
unobtrusive in their artistic pursuits.
Singing and dancing were considered to
be appropriate samurai pursuits, as long as the
songs and dances in question were traditional
ones and not peasant folk music. By the same
token, many samurai could play musical instru-
ments, such as the shakuhachi (bamboo flute),
samisen (a long lute with three strings), biwa (a
fretted lute with four or more strings), koto (a
thirteen-stringed zither) and taiko (drums).
Tea Ceremony
Though technically an artistic pursuit, the
tea ceremony (chado) is important enough in
samurai culture that it warrants a separate dis-
cussion. At its most basic, the ceremony is a
traditional ritual influenced by Zen Buddhism in
which powdered green tea (macha) is ceremoni-
ally prepared by a skilled practitioner and served
to a small group of guests in a tranquil setting.
Like so many other things that can explained so
simply, what is not said could fill columes.
Truthfully, the practice of chado is an art so
much more complicated than most artistic pur-
69
The Omni System™
suits followed by the samurai that few ever
master it. As well, it is an art that is prac-
ticed almost exclusively by samurai, unlike
such mediums as poetry and painting, which
are also pursued by talented commoners.
The only non-noble individuals who regu-
lar practice the tea ceremony are Zen monks
and geisha, both of whom spend entire life-
times attempting to master the intricacies of
the social and spiritual dance that is chado.
A tea practitioner must be familiar with
the production and types of tea, with kimo-
no, calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics,
incense and a wide range of other disciplines
and traditional arts, not even counting the
practices of the tea ceremony “school” to
which he or she belongs. Even to partici-
pate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony re-
quires knowledge of the prescribed gestures
and phrases expected of guests, the proper
way to take tea and sweets, and general de-
portment in the tea room.
Tea ceremony developed sometime
between the 12th and 13th Centuries, after
the introduction of macha from China. It
was created as a “transformative practice,”
one in which the changing of tea leave into
a drinkable substance signified the evolu-
tion of the drinker’s spirit from something
base and useless (tea leaves) into something
beautiful and sublime (tea itself). It gradu-
ally developed its own aesthetic, one the
particularly included the concept of wabi—
quiet refinement or subdued taste. By the 16th
Century, formal tea ceremony had reached all
samurai, as well as the ideal of “ichi-go, ichi-e”
(literally “one time, one meeting”), a belief that
each meeting between people should be trea-
sured for it can never be replicated.
The principles of the tea ceremony—harmo-
ny, respect, purity and tranquility—determine
the course of events during a chado. The exact
tools of a tea ceremony (dogu) could fill several
hundred pages on their own. The most basic
ones required, though, are: the chakin, a rect-
70
Ronin
Tea Ceremony:
Mechanics and Game
Effects
In Ronin, tea ceremony is given its own skill:
Chado. Characters with this skill are knowl-
edgeable in the ways and means of performing
and participating in the ritualistic tea ceremony.
Skill checks are called for only when the char-
acter is involved in a tea ceremony. The exact
mechanics involved in using this skill are cov-
ered in greater depth later, but to summarize:
 A character that participates in a suc-
cessful tea ceremony gains certain bene-
fits against fear and other emotion-depen-
dent effects, but runs the risk of making
an Honor check should the tea ceremony
fail.
 A character that performs a tea cer-
emony suffers a penalty to his skill check
equal to the number of guests present at
the ritual. If he succeeds, he gains that
number instead as a bonus on a subse-
quent Honor check made to gain Honor.
Tea ceremonies are thus one of the only
actions a character can specifically plan
ahead of time to gain Honor.
angular white cloth used for the ritual cleansing
of the bowl; the fukusa, a square silk cloth used
to clean the tea scoop and for handling hot lids;
the hishaku, a long bamboo ladle used for trans-
ferring water to and from the various vessels;
the tana, the wooden and bamboo furniture used
specifically for the ceremony; the natsume, a tea
caddy; the chasaku, a tea scoop; the chasen, a
whisk to mix the macha; and the chawan, a tea
bowl.
Without the chawan, the tea could not be
served or drunk, making it arguably the most

important component of the ceremony, but all of
the others are considered necessary to make the
ceremony formal and proper. Broken tea bowls
are never thrown away, simply repaired through
a painstaking and somewhat expensive lacquer
process. Whisks are never simply thrown away
either; they are saved until May when, during a
special ritual, they are taken to a nearby temple
and ceremonially burned.
During the ceremony itself, the host wears
a formal kimono, while the guests wear some-
thing subdued (though likely equally formal).
The guests ritually purify themselves by wash-
ing their hands and rinsing their mouths from
a small stone basin of water, then they enter
the tea house or indoor room where their host
awaits. Guests are then allowed to enter and
seated based on order of prestige. The manner
of sitting (seiza) is ritually dictated as well. They
may be served a light meal, followed by sake, or
simply served a small selection of sweets. Each
utensil is then ritually cleansed by the host in
front of the guests and used in a specific order
with prescribed motions. Conversation is kept
to a minimum throughout; guests are meant to
enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the ceremony
The Way of the Samurai
and quietly contemplate their surroundings and
the preparation of the tea.
The tea bowl is then served to the guest of
honor (shoyaku, literally “the first guest”), either
by the host or an assistant. Bows are exchanged
between the host and the guest of honor. The
guest then bows to the second guest, raises the
bowl in a gesture of respect to the host, rotates
the bowl to avoid drinking from its front, takes
a sip and passes it to the next guest in line. The
procedure is repeated until each guest has taken
a drink from the same bowl, and the bowl is re-
turned to the host. In tea houses (and a few pri-
vate ceremonies), each guest will be served an
individual bowl of tea, but the process remains
otherwise the same. After all of the guests have
taken tea, the host cleanses the utensils, and the
guest of honor requests that the host allows the
other guests to examine them. Each guest in
turn then examines the utensils, admiring their
cleanliness and beauty. The items are treated
with great care, since they are frequently price-
less, irreplaceable, and homemade antiques.
The host then collects the utensils, the guests
exit the tea house, and the host bows to them
from the door. The ceremony is now ended.
71
The Omni System™
Tea ceremonies can last up to six hours, de-
pending on the type of ceremony performed and
the specifics of the items served to the guests.
Why all the pomp and circumstance for mere
tea? The answer is, ironically, simplicity. By
finding peace and tranquility in something as
simple as serving tea, a samurai can find a level
of personal fulfillment that can only be discov-
ered through complete emptiness and detach-
ment. By using ritually prescribed motions
in doing so, the level of peace offered can be
carefully monitored, controlled, dictated and
regulated. Rather than seek a personal medi-
tation—in which peace can be difficult to find
for a true warrior—the tea ceremony allows the
samurai to ceremonially seek tranquility. While
this is hardly a true enlightenment in the Bud-
dhist sense, the Zen influences on chado can
clearly be seen.
Conversely, the complexity of the ritual it-
self makes tea ceremony a perfect indulgence for
tradition and propriety minded samurai courtiers
and scholars. By demonstrating skill at chado,
they can prove themselves the equal—or supe-
rior—of a bushi without ever touching a sword.
A lack of skill with the tea ceremony can lead to
disaster at the higher levels of social function, in
which performing such a ceremony not just well
but sublimely can be a marker of a courtier’s
ability to advance through the ranks. Being un-
skilled at tea ceremony may not get a samurai a
demotion, but it will certainly put him at the end
of the line for promotions. In a society where
ten percent of the population is the ruling caste,
in a country of millions, that can effectively end
a courtly samurai’s political ambitions.
72
Ronin
Courtly
Intrigue
The ways of the court have always been a
concern of the samurai, from the time of their
earliest origins as the noble warrior vassals of
the imperial line. Samurai have always been ex-
pected to be cultured and well educated, but the
Tokugawa regime’s heavy-handed enforcement
of the national peace has made that a necessity
rather than a bonus. Now that the sword is less
needed, the pen and the fan set national policy.
Lives are won and lost in the court of the sho-
gun, and both fame and dishonor can be found
in the courts of the imperial family.
The courts of the Tokugawa Period are
home to any number of personal plots, grudges,
schemes and plans, as well as genuine and heart-
felt attempts to advance the supplicant’s family
or cause. As in any political system, however,
the needs of the sincere are often drowned out
by the wants of the clever and the subtle. Sur-
viving at court is an exercise in diplomacy as
well as in guile and base cunning. Actually
thriving in the cutthroat politics of Tokugawa
Japan requires a mind both powerful and devi-
ous, and the eldest courtiers of the nation would
make Machiavelli proud.
Most courtly functions are small, held at the
home of the daimyo or kugei noble running the
function, with courtiers and delegates brought
to the event by invitation only. Larger functions
are held in the castle of the presiding daimyo or
the palace of a major noble, and these courts can
draw dozens of supplicants—invited guests and
their entourages, the shogunate’s eyes, travel-
ing diplomats and courtiers seeking to advance
their family’s position, minor players who man-
aged to receive an invitation only through luck
or calling in a favor, and the occasional out-of-
place entertainer or low-ranked samurai brought
onto the scene by necessity or misfortune.

Giving an unprepared individual an invi-
tation to a courtly function is a sure recipe for
disaster. Not only is the “guest” likely to make
a fool of himself simply by virtue of not under-
standing the subtle dance of the court, his poor
showing reflects poorly on the person that in-
vited him. Some poor samurai also lack proper
levels of formal wear for a courtly function—
and looking good is one of the most important
parts of the event. However, bringing in a rela-
tive unknown who then shows great erudition
or conversational skills is a major boon for the
inviting samurai, so many courtiers are con-
stantly on the lookout for “prodigies” that they
can bring to social events.
A given court will be brought together
mainly to discuss a single topic, though this
topic can be anything from “discussing the ex-
pansion of a single neighborhood in this city”
to “talking about the latest levy from the shogu-
nate” to “it’s winter and there’s nothing better
to do.” Talking is a major part of any courtly
function, though mainly conversations are one-
on-one. Small groups occasionally gather to
debate some heated topic but most courtiers are
so concerned with their own agenda that this oc-
curs mainly during “downtime.”
At several points during each day of the
event (and most courts will last for several days)
breaks will be called from the discussion of the
major topic for food and relaxation. Of course,
meals are no less political than any other portion
of the event, so a skilled courtier does not let his
guard down while eating. Meals are punctuated
by polite conversation and sometimes include
entertainment, such as music, dancing or a short
theatrical production.
Night at court brings on its own distractions,
such as games and contests. Most popular in
the kugei courts are poetry contests, in which
a number of the honored guests are selected to
act as judges, then each member of the court is
given a chance to recite a spontaneous haiku.
The best haiku earns its creator much honor, and
sometimes a gift or prize of some sort. Other
The Way of the Samurai
games include matches of go, a tactical board
game involving black and white pieces on a
grid, and shogi, a board game similar to Western
chess. As well, since these courts often bring
in a samurai and his entourage—including his
immediate family—night brings on a chance for
discreet affairs and rendezvous.
Court is seen as both a necessary part of
running the country and as a distraction for
the wealthy and the powerful. It gives them a
chance to show off their wealth and social skills
while advancing their agenda, and sometimes to
thoroughly embarrass or dishonor their rivals.
In short, court in Tokugawa Japan is much the
same as politics of any time and place—just
with more subtlety.
Dueling
Tempers frequently flare at court functions,
and sometimes words are said that would have
been better left unspoken. At such times, a sam-
urai who wishes to keep his honor after being
insulted in such a manner—or who simply feels
as though he has been insulted—can demand
a duel of honor with his antagonist. Such du-
els are legal methods of dealing with personal
disputes, and their results are considered to be
legally binding. That is, the winner of a formal
duel was right all along, and no one can later
gainsay that.
Matters of honor are often settled at the
end of three feet of polished steel in Tokugawa
Japan. With no remaining outside enemies to
fight, samurai often spend their lives honing
their fighting skills for personal combat. This
comes with a commensurate increase in a desire
to demonstrate those skills; after all, participat-
ing in a duel is a highly honorable activity in
and of itself.
Still, not every personal dispute ends with a
duel, and not every demand for a duel is accept-
ed. For a duel to be legal and binding, it must
73
The Omni System™
first be accepted by not only the challenged, but
must also be approved of by the challenger’s
lord and the lord of the challenged. A samurai
is owned by his master, in a very real sense, and
daimyo rarely approve of their valued servants
throwing away their lives over petty mistakes or
misunderstandings.
Once a duel is approved, the challenged
may request a stand-in for the duel. This re-
quest is highly dishonorable for a bushi to make,
but perfectly acceptable for a courtier or scholar.
Typically, the rule is that if a person is wearing a
katana, it means that he is ready to use it; not do-
ing so given the chance is an insult to the blade
and to one’s own honor.
After everything is in order, the duel can
then occur. Typically, the duel is held in a pub-
lic forum, and at courtly functions where both
participants’ daimyo are present, the duel can
happen right outside in the most conveniently
available open space. Most duels are to the
death, but depending on the agreements made
beforehand, a duel can be to first blood, or even
first touch (though this is rare). The loser of the
duel is proven wrong by virtue of his lack of the
warrior’s arts, and he loses much face for hav-
ing been wrong. A loser who had a champion
fight in his place typically shares his champion’s
fate, whether that is a wound or death.
Illegitimate duels between angry samurai
happen fairly frequently. These duels are not
considered especially honorable, but they are
not considered specifically dishonorable either.
They are, however, technically illegal and can
get a samurai in some small amount of trouble
with his lord if he gets caught. Samurai that die
in these duels are usually considered to have died
honorably, and their names are not slandered by
their deaths. However, since these duels are not
truly legal, they can be grounds for a relative to
demand a duel of honor with the winner, starting
the vicious cycle all over again.
74
Ronin
Faith Among the
Mighty
While the Confucian philosophy had largely
been responsible for the creation of the samurai
caste, few samurai actually adhered to it by the
Tokugawa Period. More popular was the native
faith of the country, Shinto, and the much-later-
introduced Buddhism. Particularly of note was
the local adaptation of Buddhist philosophy,
Zen Buddhism. While banned and forbidden
for much of the Tokugawa Period, neither can
Christianity’s importance to the samurai era be
forgotten.
While few samurai were devout in the Shin-
to faith, considering it a religion more appro-
priate to commoners, almost none showed an
actual disrespect for the religion. The Shinto
belief that the ancestors were always watching
was a crucial part of the samurai lifestyle, and
most samurai had no wish to insult the many
thousands of “small gods” said to inhabit the
world by Shinto. Some samurai-ko became
miko (Shinto priestesses) as well, entering a pri-
vate sisterhood of the faithful that crossed cul-
tural lines and transcended caste. Lower-ranked
samurai also typically took part in the ceremo-
nies and festivals of their region, though they
usually held themselves apart from the festivi-
ties slightly to maintain their position and sta-
tion.
In the same way that Shinto was the faith
of the meek, Buddhism was more properly the
faith of the mighty. Buddhism’s concept of re-
incarnation and rebirth led samurai to abandon
torture and needless killing. Some samurai even
gave up violence altogether and became Bud-
dhist monks after realizing how fruitless their
killings were. Some were killed as they came
to terms with the realizations in the battlefield.
Most, however, came to terms with their beliefs
by holding that the violence they inflicted in this
world was a necessity that the Buddha would

forgive in the next. This led to the common be-
lief in the Amida Buddha, a figure of forgive-
ness and redemption that allowed Christianity to
gain a strong following among the samurai caste
before its banning.
Zen meditation became an important teach-
ing by offering a process to calm one’s mind,
something that many samurai required to main-
tain their stability in the face of war. The subtle
mysteries of Zen were rarely as highly prized
by samurai, however, though the few that chose
to pursue such esoteric knowledge were given
great respect as scholars.
With its introduction to Japan, Christian-
ity became a popular choice of faith, though
it never competed with Shinto or Buddhism to
dominate the country. Many leaders regarded
the religion with suspicion, since it taught that
all men were brothers and equals, regardless of
social position—a dangerous proposition for a
country ruled by an elite warrior caste. As well,
Christianity’s promise of a better world after
this one in exchange for following its tenets
greatly threatened the power base of the shogu-
nate, especially considering how well-received
it was by samurai seeking personal forgiveness
for their transgressions against others.
The shogunate continued to tighten its grip
on Christians all the way through the Tokugawa
Period. Many were even crucified in a grim
mockery of their beliefs as control over the na-
tion’s culture increased. The Shimabara Rebel-
lion of 1637, in which Christians of all social
stations rallied together to oppose the shogunate
and demand freedom of religion, finally forced
the shogun’s hand. The religion was outlawed
and Christians openly hunted throughout the
land. By 1650, the religion was essentially
dead in Japan, though a number of underground
churches remained, offering counsel and gospel
to the few remaining faithful.
In addition to any other faith he might pro-
fess (or claim to profess), a samurai also held a
nearly religious grasp on the ethical code known
The Way of the Samurai
as bushido, the way of the warrior. Bushido,
officially codified during Edo period but in ex-
istence since the mid-Heian, was noted for its
sublimely simple rules on samurai conduct and
living, yet its very simplicity led to countless ar-
guments over its interpretation.
The Hagakure, by Yamamoto Tsunetomo,
was a manual of instruction into the way of the
samurai. Even as it was published, however, it
received a number of reviews that criticized strict
and impersonal interpretations. If one’s lord is
wrong, for example, for ordering a massacre of
civilians, should a samurai observe Loyalty and
massacre them as ordered, or should he observe
Compassion to let civilians escape unharmed?
If a man has sick parents but commits an unfor-
givable mistake, should he protect his Honor by
committing seppuku, or should he show Cour-
age by living with dishonor and care for his par-
ents? These questions and more led samurai to
struggle with themselves and their fellows, at-
tempting to answer the impossible.
Bushido: The
Way of the
Warrior
Bushido expanded and formalized the ear-
lier code of the samurai, and it stressed frugal-
ity, loyalty, mastery of martial arts, and honor to
the death. Under the bushido ideal, if a samurai
failed to uphold his honor he could regain it by
performing seppuku, ritual suicide. Honor was
not the only value of bushido, however, or even
the most important one in the classical meaning
of the code.
Hagakure, the Way of the Samurai, says that
the most important value of a warrior is to be
ready to die for his lord—any time, any place,
75
The Omni System™
and any way, with no explanation necessary. In-
deed, a samurai should meditate each day for
some amount of time on the various ways in
which he might be expected to die, according
to that seminal text. The values of the code of
bushido are designed to offer solace and comfort
to a warrior, to create a personal ethical ideal
to live each moment by. This ethical structure
would salve the knowledge of a samurai’s in-
evitable—indeed, ordained—death in service to
his master.
Influenced by Confucianism, Shinto, and
the study of the Renzai school of Zen Buddhism,
bushido nonetheless represented a surprisingly
uniform system of belief across feudal Japan. Its
basic premises and principles remained largely
untouched by the flow of time or by distance
separating samurai clans. Even through the
Meiji Restoration, when the samurai caste was
abolished and openly following bushido could
lead to arrest or death, the code did not die out,
and it continues to hold a prominent position in
Japanese society to the modern day.
The seven most important virtues held by
the code of bushido are:
 Gi, Justice
 Yu, Courage
 Jin, Compassion
 Rei, Respect
 Makoto, Honesty
 Meiyo, Honor
 Chugi, Loyalty
These “seven high virtues” represented the
ideal of the samurai. To attain all seven virtues
was to become a veritable saint in the eyes of
the noble caste. Few samurai could achieve this
perfection, however, and many felt that to be
lapsed in one virtue indicated that another vir-
tue should be held even more highly. Samurai
lived and died by the code of bushido, and it was
considered equal to any law of the land—a code
that even the highest must acknowledge.
76
Ronin
Honor as a
Mechanic
Honor is not the only virtue espoused by the
warrior’s code known as bushido but to many
samurai it is the most important one. Men and
women live and die by their honor. Whole clans
have gone to war over a perceived insult to their
family honor—and grudges from these insults
can last for generations. Honor is not just a
word to the Japanese—it is life, and it is death.
In Ronin™, every character has an Honor
attribute, replacing the Renown attribute dis-
cussed in the Omni System™ Core book. Un-
like Renown, however, a character does not gain
Honor just for being well known or popular.
Only by doing honorable deeds and living a life
virtuous by the tenets of bushido can a character
gain Honor. Conversely, living a life of sin or
vice, as well as committing breaches of etiquette
or protocol can cost a character his Honor.
While every character in Ronin™ has an
Honor score, usually determined by their social
station, only samurai find it influencing their ev-
ery decision and act. It is very difficult for a
commoner to gain Honor, since he does not live
by the code of bushido, but it is also very dif-
ficult for that commoner to lose Honor as well.
At the same time, a commoner’s Honor score
only matters to people who care about such
things—the samurai. Monks, priests and other
holy men are supposed to be above the precepts
of Honor, while peasants and outcasts are sup-
posed to be below its notice. Still, whether or
not the character believes in Honor, Honor be-
lieves in the character.
A samurai character uses his Honor value as
a modifier to all Charisma and Will based rolls,
including skill rolls. When making an attribute
check for Charisma or Will, a samurai charac-
ter can choose whether he will double his attri-
bute or use his attribute plus his Honor rating.

He chooses before the roll is made and cannot
change his mind afterwards. A character who
is not a samurai adds his Honor to such rolls
only when making a check that directly opposes
a samurai character.
For example, say that Ishi the mer-
chant has an Honor of –2, which is not that
unusual for a heimin working in a field in-
volving monetary exchange. His Charisma
is +1 and he has 5 ranks in the Diplomacy
skill. When he is haggling with his farmer
customers, he has a total bonus of +6 to his
Diplomacy roll. However, when Ishi is lat-
er discussing a matter of misplaced taxes
with a samurai magistrate, his attempt to
be polite is colored by his understanding of
how far beneath the samurai he is socially.
Ishi’s bonus is only +4 when dealing with the
samurai.
Later that day, Masamune Junichiro
the samurai must make an untrained Will
check after being offered a significant
bribe by Ishi to forget about the missing
tax money. Ishi is not a strong-willed man,
having only a –1 in his Will Attribute, but he
is an honorable samurai with a Honor rat-
ing of +3. Junichiro can choose to either
roll a raw Will check, which would double
his penalty to an overall –2, or he could
choose to use his Honor plus his Will, giving
him a total of +2. Junichiro’s Honor can
carry him through situations in which his
Will would fail.
Like all attributes, Honor is a value rated
from –5 to +5. Most of the time, Honor checks
are made only when a character has a possibility
to gain Honor or runs the risk of losing Honor.
Like all too many things in life, when a charac-
ter’s Honor begins to slide, it becomes very dif-
ficult to regain, and a character with high Honor
to begin with becomes nearly unimpeachable
in his actions. When a character acts in ways
proper to bushido, he maintains his Honor; ex-
ceptional actions have a possibility of increasing
his Honor. Improper action can lead to Honor
The Way of the Samurai
loss; some actions require that the character be
observed to lose his Honor, while others simply
create a feeling of loss that comes through in the
character’s actions.
Gaining and
Losing Honor
It is a good bit easier for a character to lose
Honor that to gain it. Whenever a character en-
gages in an action that requires an Honor check
to avoid Honor loss, on a result of failure, he
loses a single point of Honor. On a critical fail-
ure, he loses 2 points of Honor. Conversely,
when making an Honor check to gain Honor, a
character gains a point of Honor only on a result
of a critical success. All other results leave the
character’s Honor unchanged.
A samurai whose Honor falls below –2 is
likely to be cast out of his house or ordered to
commit seppuku. His actions have simply be-
come too unconscionable for his peers and his
betters to accept him among them any longer. A
samurai that manages to have his Honor reach
–2 or lower in one intense burst of dishonor-
able activity will likely just be beheaded after
a short, meaningless trial by his daimyo or con-
demned to the wandering life of a wave man.
(As a general guideline, serious crimes tend to
earn execution, while pointless disobedience
earns exile.)
At the same time, having a high Honor does
not assure a samurai of his position—serious
disobedience, even in the name of bushido, can
earn a highly honorable warrior a place in the
realm of the blessed ancestors sooner than it will
earthly forgiveness. As a general rule, a samurai
with an Honor of +3 or higher should always be
given the chance to commit seppuku before a
dishonorable execution or exile; whether he ac-
cepts or not is still entirely up to him.
The following modifiers apply to Honor
checks. As well, these modifiers can be consid-
77
The Omni System™
ered benchmarks to describe when a character is
required to make an Honor check. The GM can
always call for an Honor check if he believes
that the character is acting in an especially hon-
orable or dishonorable manner, but the following
actions should always require Honor checks.
Modifier Action
–5 Touching a long-dead corpse.
Indulging in unclean acts, such as
butchery or leatherworking.
Cheating in a duel of honor, or in-
terrupting a duel of honor.
–4 Touching a fresh corpse.
Looting a body.
Being caught committing a major
crime.
–3 Unprovoked attack on a samurai
of higher Honor.
Public indecency, such as drunk-
enness or lewd behavior.
–2 Publicly insulting a samurai of
higher Honor.
Striking a samurai of higher Hon-
or outside of battle.
–1
Being caught committing a minor
crime.
Intentional rudeness to one’s
host.
Insulting a samurai of higher
Honor privately.
Showing a failure in the tenets of
bushido, such as lying or being
cruel.
Losing a duel of honor.
+0 Practicing a low skill in public.
Using a dishonorable weapon in
public.
Ignoring a personal insult.
Accusing another samurai of
a crime (even if he’s actually
guilty).
+1 Participating in a duel of honor.
78
Ronin
+2 Suffering a wound while defend-
ing a samurai of higher Honor.
+3 Suffering a grievous wound while
defending a samurai of higher
Honor.
+4 Taking vengeance for a long-
standing insult to one’s clan or
lord.
+5 Dying in the name of bushido,
such as in battle or by committing
seppuku.
Keep in mind that these numbers represent
an abstraction of an extremely difficult moral
and ethical problem. Is it more honorable to
serve one’s lord with no questions, or to follow
bushido even if it means disobeying orders?
Questions such as these lead to the existence of
extremely honorable ronin and samurai who are
barely more honorable than the peasants they
rule over.
Samurai
Characters
The concept of a samurai, as opposed to that
of a European knight, has lead to a major gap in
how a warrior or a hero is characterized in Japan
and the rest of the world. A samurai does not
have to be tall and heavily muscled to be strong.
He can be barely five feet tall, seemingly weak
and even handicapped. He can even be “she,”
unlike the equivalent period of Western culture,
which minimized the role of women in society.
Equating size with power and strength does not
readily appeal to the Japanese aesthetic. Japa-
nese heroes are often flawed individuals, who
gain strength from what other cultures would
only see as a form of weakness.
The character concepts below address com-
mon ideas and structures for heroes in a Tokuga-
wa Period campaign. A brief synopsis of char-
acter personality and direction is given with Talents
each one, as well as recommended features to Intrigue & Politics Talent Tree
purchase with your character points (as part of  Aura of Nobility
a “standard” calling package). These concepts  Gossip
are intentionally left open-ended, and they are
intended only to spark your own imagination Loyal Retainer
and offer a variety of paths that can be followed You are the devoted servant of your mas-
by noble caste characters. ter, and you obey his commands to the best of
your ability. Bushido is your highest law, and
Historical Concepts the only principle you recognize that is higher
than your own obedience. After all, your servi-
In a purely historical game of Ronin, certain
concepts would be inappropriate, due to the non- tude is dictated by the codes of the warrior, and
existence of magic and the supernatural. What your master would never put you in a position
follows is a short list of concepts and character where you must choose between service to him
ideas that make sense in a purely history-based or belief in bushido. Would he?
campaign. As well, these ideas should be just as
legitimate in a fantasy-inspired game, since the Skills
two share a common world of reference. Command +5
Concentration +2
Etiquette +3
Courtier Offensive Martial Arts
Parry
+2
+3
A samurai’s time is best spent writing poems
and developing interesting new forms of flower Ride +2
arranging than practicing outdated sword-fight- Theology (any) +1
ing techniques. The country has been at peace Weapon (Large Blades) +2
for years, and now the only enemies are the ones Weapon (Spears) +3
that can be faced over a cup of tea and with a
smile on your face. With no new territory to Talents
conquer, and the government frowning on local Budo Talent Tree
rulers who take up arms against their neighbors,  Basic Militia Training
the best way to fight is with a pen rather than a  Armor Tolerance I
sword.  Natural Tactician

Skills Musketeer
Administration +5 Some samurai consider firearms to be dis-
Chado +5 honorable and even dirty, but not you. You un-
Command +2 derstand that a great many of recent history’s
Deception +4 battles were won or lost because of the presence
Deduce Motive +5 or absence of skilled riflemen. While you still
Diplomacy +5 see the role of firearms in society as limited,
Etiquette +5 you also realize that a samurai who refuses to
Gambling +1 understand them also refuses to win. Without
Handicraft (fine arts) +5 an understanding of musketry, your battlefield
tactics would be incomplete—an unthinkable

79
The Omni System™ Ronin

outcome. Because of this, you have sought to

learn as much about guns as you can, even go- Fantastic Callings
ing so far as to learn their use yourself.
With the presence of magic and unearth-
ly powers, the world of the samurai is little
Skills changed. All along, they have seen the presence
Command +5
of the kami, their small gods, and the reality of
Concentration +3
their beliefs does little to offset the traditional-
Etiquette +1
ism and ethical codes of the shogunate. The
Parry +3
presence of such powers does offer a slightly
Ride +3
different take on paths of life, however—now,
Theology (any) +1
many samurai are also noble spellcasters as well
Weapon (Large Blades) +2
as warriors.
Weapon (Rifles) +5

Talents Secret Witch

The dark arts of the witch are at your dis-
Budo Talent Tree
posal, and you wield them as a bushi wields a
 Basic Militia Training
sword. The magic of cursing and demon sum-
 Natural Tactician
moning may be considered “impure” by those
 Weapon Focus (Rifles)
idiot Shinto priests, but you use your powers
for the good of your family. What could be
Weapon Master more honorable than making certain that any
Samurai were meant to be warriors, and you rebellious peasants fall sick and die? Or that
intend to be the best that you can be. Proficien- your master’s enemies simply disappear in the
cy with many weapons is just as valuable as ex- night?
cellence in one. You are a kensai, a sword saint,
one who acts as a teacher of a particular weapon
style; or you are a musha, a master of warfare.
Skills
Concentration +4
Either way, you are one of the deadliest fighters
Deception +4
in your master’s service, and you long for the
Enchantment +1
opportunity to prove yourself to him.
Lore (arcane arts) +5
Lore (demonology) +2
Skills Mode (influence) +4
Concentration +6 Mode (manifest) +4
Etiquette +5 Mode (sensory) +4
Parry +6 Stealth +2
Theology (any) +3
Weapon (Large Blades) +5
Weapon (Small Blades) +2
Talents
Mystical Training Talent Tree
 Witchcraft Order
Talents
Kenjutsu Talent Tree
 My Sword is my Honor
 Weapon Focus (Katana)
 Weapon Focus (Rifles)

80
 Shukenja Shrine Maiden
You are a member of a proud and noble line The kami have blessed you with a special
stretching back centuries. One of your ances- insight into their nature. Though noble-born,
tors was the court wizard to Emperor Genji the you have little time for the courtly arts thanks to
Shining and now you serve in the same capac- your connection with the spirit world. So long
ity for your kugei family. You hope someday as you remain physically and spiritually pure,
to gain a position of greater authority, possibly you hold their rapt attention with virtually every
serving the Emperor himself as your illustrious word you speak. You are skilled in the ways of
ancestor did, but for now you satisfy yourself blessing and healing, and you can repel demons
with advancing your family’s position by aiding and evil ghosts with a gesture and a word. Still,
the shogunate. certain parts of life will always be kept from
you—taking a lover, bearing children, and even
eating certain foods could cost you your pow-
Skills ers.
Administration +4
Command +2
Concentration +6 Skills
Diplomacy +5 Alchemy +3
Etiquette +2 Concentration +6
Heal +2 Heal +6
Mode (Sensory) +2 Lore (arcane arts) +1
Mode (Ward) +3 Lore (history) +3
Mode (Manipulate) +3
Mode (Ward) +2
Talents Theology (any) +3
Mystical Training Talent Tree
 Invocation Order
 Fast & Pray Talents
Mystical Heritage Talent Tree
 Shrine Maiden
 Folk Remedies

81
The Omni System™ Ronin

Chapter Four

THE WAY OF THE

COMMONER
“We are fools regardless of whether we dance or stand still, so we may as well dance.”
- Traditional Japanese proverb

In the caste system of Tokugawa Japan, the of the nation. Since samurai are not expected
middle rank is held by the common folk, peas- to deal with money (or even really to ask the
ants and merchants. These individuals form the price of things they want), it is the common
bulk of Japan’s population, perhaps as much as merchants who become wealthy, even with the
seventy-five percent of the national total. Their heavy tax burdens they suffer.
vast numbers do not equate to power, however,
and the heimin (or “half-people”) of the Edo pe- The Tokugawa Period is a time of great
riod represent a group with virtually no politi- opportunity for the common man and woman.
cal power and very little control over their own As the period progresses, it becomes a time in
daily lives. which caste begins to mean less than ability, and
in which fortitude counts for more than birth.
Despite their lack of control over their own Commoners have a great deal to overcome from
governance, however, the common folk also within their own society, however, making their
possess a great deal more personal freedom in struggles all the more heroic.
their daily lives than do the samurai, whose ev-
ery waking moment is devoted to tradition and
duty. As people with very little personal power,
peasants also have commensurately little re- Economy and
sponsibility in the eyes of the samurai. Still, it
cannot be emphasized enough that though the
heimin lack control, they possess great influ-
Lifestyle
ence. They outnumber the samurai ruling caste
The basis of all economy in the Tokugawa
by as much as ten to one, and they produce vir-
Period is rice farming. The standard unit of
tually everything the samurai need to survive,
money is even based around the amount of rice
from food to clothes to weapons and armor.
needed to feed a single family for one year (the
koku). As might be surmised from this, the
During the Tokugawa Period, in a time
practice of rice farming is the most widespread
where most samurai have ceased being warriors
occupation in the country, and one that is the
and gradually made the transition to bureaucrats
backbone of virtually every peasant village. Ja-
and government officials, a void has opened up
pan’s warm, humid climate lends itself easily to
that the caste system does not adequately ful-
rice cultivation, while its rocky uplands and lack
fill. As Japan becomes a more metropolitan and
of arable soil outside of the drenched lowlands
enlightened nation, the commoners come more
make other crops difficult to grow under even
and more to dominate the markets and economy
good circumstances.

82
 From the process of rice farming, each
village produces further goods and servic-
es, which it then sells to neighboring vil-
Measurements
Though it is probably self-apparent, the Japa-
lages or even to the nearby cities. Because
nese did not use distance and size measure-
a village’s livelihood can be directly traced
ments like inches, feet or miles. The adop-
to the amount of rice it produces, taxes are
tion of meters and kilometers is an extremely
thus evaluated in terms of rice bushels.
recent addition to the culture as well (only
Since everything in a peasant’s life relates
since the mid-20th Century). Before then,
back to these taxes from his samurai mas-
how did the Japanese measure size and dis-
ters—from how much food he is going to
tance? The answer is inordinately compli-
have on his table to how many children he
cated and probably better left to a scholarly
can support—a heimin typically has a keen
text entirely devoted to the subject. Instead,
mind for the value of goods and services.
to allow the clever GM to fake proficiency
in medieval Japanese measuring systems,
Few samurai have a concept of how
here are a few of the more prominent mea-
much things cost (such matters are left to
surements used by the average people of the
wives and money-lenders), and thus few of
Tokugawa Period.
them actually understand how their econ-
 Bu: Approximately 3 millime-
omy works. They simply collect taxes at
ters.
the rate the shogunate sets, keeps their own
 Sun: Approximately 3 centime-
portion and then sends the rest up the chain
ters, or 10 bu.
of command. This has created a state of
 Shaku: Approximately 30 centi-
affairs in which the rulers know virtually
meters, or 10 sun.
nothing about money or value, while the
 Kan: Approximately 1.8 meters,
people over whom they rule have an intrin-
or 6 shaku.
sic understanding of those very concepts.
 Ri: Approximately 1 mile; be-
Because of this, many heimin during the
tween 850 and 900 kan, depending on
Tokugawa Period have become far wealthi-
the cartographer.
er than their ancestors ever dreamt of, even
created a burgeoning middle class. This has
also lead to a state of affairs in which quite a
few merchants (and some successful crafts-
mainly because of its status as the coin stan-
men and artists) are wealthier than the daimyo
dard of the shogunate. Because of its rarity and
who ostensibly rule them.
purity (and likely because of previous cultures’
use in coins) the standard coins used in trade
Though rice farming is the basis of Tokuga-
are made of gold. Copper and silver coins are
wa Japan’s economy, trade between the major
also in circulation, mainly used as the exchange
cities and the various han is the economy’s life-
medium of commoners, but gold is the way in
blood. Without such trade, no single province
which the shogunate pays for its necessities, es-
would be entirely self-sufficient. While every
pecially with the foreign traders at Dejima. This
province has rice farm, and is thus capable of
means that there is a standing order making all
producing food, not every province can produce
gold mines the direct property of the bakufu,
enough food for its population. These provinces
leading to mixed feelings among local daimyo
are “poor” by the standards of the shogunate, but
about the possibility of finding gold on their
they are often wealthy in terms of other natural
land. On the one hand, a gold mine would be a
resources, such as iron or wood.
boon for any daimyo willing to hold out on his
superiors and privately mine the gold. On the
Gold is another important resource, but

83
The Omni System™
other hand, if tax records detect a discrepancy
in the han’s revenues it can lead to an audit by
the bakufu—and the shogun finding out that one
of his “loyal” daimyo has been hoarding gold
is a sure way for a large number of people to
find themselves executed or ordered to commit
seppuku.
Farmers
Rice cultivation is a difficult task at the best
of times. Because of the large amount of labor
required, families of farmers pool their labor in
order to meet the demands of their samurai mas-
ters. These families also share their water and
irrigation facilities—any given peasant village
is an exercise in communal labor and resources.
With so much water about, especially in flooded
rice paddies, a farmer’s skin is almost constant-
ly wet. The moisture causes their joints to swell
and their postures to stoop, making older peas-
ants almost bent double upon themselves.
Peasant villages are usually built along the
same pattern, with small family dwellings clus-
84
Ronin
tered around a single notable landmark, such
as a pond or large rock. Most villages have no
defensible walls, and therefore no reference for
planning new buildings. Farmers have a good
eye for the efficient use of space, however, and
large villages coordinate the building of new
structures with the village headman or a council
of elders. This is especially true since a samurai
who notices that a village under his han is lop-
sided or poorly designed might just tell every-
one to clear out before burning the whole town
and instructing the villagers to start over.
Since rice is planted on the same day of the
year by all the families of a given village, peas-
ants must depend strongly on one another for
water after the first few days. By necessity, a
farmer’s way of life emphasizes the importance
of the group rather than any specific individual.
This has been true for centuries before the es-
tablishment of the Tokugawa regime’s code of
laws, but the bakufu’s removal of any legal iden-
tity below the family level makes it even truer.
Because daimyo rarely take a personal interest
in any given village in their han, and not every
village has a samurai assigned to it, democracy
 The Way of the Commoner

flourishes in farming communities, with every areas, but they make so little from their trade
man and woman having a say in the direction of that they are lucky to barter their goods for food
their society. and a warm place to sleep.

Most farming villages are linked by small Because of the laws restricted travel to
paths and dirt roads, which constitute a few authorized personnel with proper papers, and
hours’ travel between any two communities. because of the restrictions on moving large
Most of these paths are level with the ground quantities of goods without the approval of the
and too narrow to guide a wagon over, mak- shogunate, most merchants prefer to keep their
ing trade between villages somewhat difficult. businesses restricted entirely to one city. Some
Exchanges of small goods between nearby vil- especially wealthy merchants own businesses
lages are common, however, and several small in several cities, each of which keeps itself run-
communities may have ties of friendship—or ning independently but ultimately pays part of
hate—dating back centuries. its earnings to its owner. A few send out traders
to villages in the local region; these travelers are
Villages are surrounded on all sides by their usually only carrying a pack full of goods on
fields, making visitors and travelers visible from their back, or at most a small cartload of valu-
quite a long ways off. If such travelers are seen ables. Since banditry is also an issue, no self-
with enough advance warning, the farmers may respecting merchant wants to risk the loss of his
fetch their village headman (cho-
nin). It is the chonin’s job to prop-
erly greet any visitors, especially
samurai. Since not all visitors are
friendly, however, this greeting is
usually done with several village
constables (doshin) in tow; these
doshin wield jitte (sword break-
ers) and are typically quite skilled
at disarming foes and rendering
them unconscious with little actual
harm.

Merchants
Merchants sit at the bottom of
the formal caste system of Mer-
chants sit at the bottom of the
formal caste system of Tokugawa
Japan, seisatsu yodatsu. Classified
as people whose labors produce
nothing, or craftsmen who work
the product of others’ labors into
finished goods, merchants make up
the bulk of any large city’s popula-
tion. A few merchants live in rural

85
The Omni System™ Ronin

Gift-Giving
Technically, everything in Japan during the Tokugawa Period is directly owned by the ba-
kufu, and everyone else—from the mightiest daimyo to the lowliest peasant—is merely rent-
ing. By this token, a samurai serving the shogunate (any samurai except a ronin) should just
be able to walk up to any person and demand goods and services, right? Wrong.

An economy cannot function without trade of some sort, even an economy in a highly strati-
fied caste system. Without an exchange of goods and services, rather than fiat ownership,
the economy stagnates and dies. The shogunate realized this fact all too quickly during its
inception at the local level and made many attempts at controlling the national economy to
avoid recessions and depressions. Japan may well have been one of the first countries in the
world to have its government intentionally manipulate the national economy for long-term
benefit.

Even more to the point, however, what self-respecting samurai would acknowledge that he
needed something from a mere heimin? Despite the fact that the noble caste was not sup-
posed to work for a living, they were also supposed to be self-sufficient and never have to
ask for anything from their inferiors. Anything a samurai needs, he should just get from his
vassals; asking is too akin to begging, and paying a lowly peasant—unthinkable.

Unfortunately, this does not work in practice, for the reasons mentioned above. Thus, to
avoid the dishonor of having to pay for his goods and services, the samurai caste developed
the social practice of “gift-giving.” In this system of exchange, the money that is paid for an
item is divorced socially from the item itself. The samurai and the merchant have a pleasant
conversation about the item (or services) in question, at the end of which the merchant offers
the samurai the object as a gift out of the kindness of his heart. The samurai is so moved by
this gesture that he gives the merchant a gift as well—typically a decorated box or beautiful
envelope that just happens to contain the price of the merchant’s gift.

Is this hypocritical? Maybe a little, but it’s how things are done. The samurai avoids losing
face in front of an inferior, while the merchant gets paid the value of his object—and typi-
cally a little more as well, since samurai are supposed to be generous and not ask the price
of things they want.

In game terms, a samurai always pays 10 percent more for his equipment, and must make
a Diplomacy check before purchasing any goods or services. This rule does not apply to
equipment given the samurai by his lord, or to weapons and armor. The samurai can dispense
with the extra cost and the Diplomacy check, but doing so causes him to make an Honor
check if his Honor is +1 or higher. If the item in question would already have him make an
Honor check, he can avoid these extra steps entirely; it is already assumed that any item or
service that would cause an Honor check is “wrong”—the samurai need not suffer twice for
the same act.

86
 The Way of the Commoner
goods in a raid, making the hiring of ronin for
protection a common practice for the wealthiest
merchants.
Not all “merchants” are buyers and sellers
of goods—the term is actually used in the caste
system to refer to any person who labors for
a living but whose labors do not directly pro-
duce “necessities.” Thus, any craftsman from
a “clean” profession—everyone from sword-
smiths and carpenters to household servants and
cooks—are considered members of the “mer-
chant” caste. As the Tokugawa Period progress-
es, more and more people become members of
this burgeoning middle class. Though the mer-
chant class represents the lowest caste of people
officially recognized by the shogunate—hinin
and other “non-persons” are not technically part
of the caste system—they gain greater power
over society as the shogunate’s rule continues.
Without war or battle constantly rearrang-
ing society, the common people have a chance
to build a lasting legacy of prosperity. As they
do so, and as Japan’s society becomes more
bureaucratic and less of a military despotism,
money becomes a more important commodity
than martial prowess. They still cannot have di-
rect representation in the imperial courts or in
the bakufu, but their monetary influence over
increasingly impoverished samurai grows with
direct proportion to the number of decades that
pass without conflict. Indeed, by the end of the
Tokugawa Period, the bakufu government is es-
sentially bankrupt, held afloat only by the enor-
mous tax levies it places on its people.
Though the history of Japan has been writ-
ten by its nobles and their elite warrior caste, the
future may well rest in the hands of its lowest
citizens—professionals and laborers.
Clergy
Despite the amount of respect they receive
in a society as thoroughly spiritual as feudal Ja-
pan, the bulk of the priesthood of any major reli-
gion is drawn from the heimin caste. Becoming
a Shinto priest (or at least the keeper of a shrine)
or a Buddhist monk represents the only way to
escape crushing poverty and the possibility of
starvation for many especially desperate peas-
ants. By joining the clergy, a heimin does not
rise above his class so much as take a position
alongside it. As people who regularly deal with
the divine world, priests and monks are seen as
beneath samurai in worldly matters but equal to
them in spiritual ones.
Because of their position “alongside” the
heimin caste, priests and monks are given a
great deal more leeway in the eyes of the samu-
rai. They can get away with acts that a normal
peasant would never dream of, such as address-
ing a samurai directly, without first being spo-
ken to, or looking a noble in the eyes. Clergy
do not have to bow as low as peasants, though
many do anyway since they are supposed to be
humble. This allowance gives clergy an unprec-
edented level of power and respect as compared
to their previous station, one that grants them a
place as advisors and mentors to samurai seek-
ing spiritual guidance.
Most members of the clergy are sincere dev-
otees of their specific religion, but more than a
few farmers join monasteries only for the guar-
anteed food and shelter. These “disciples” are
viewed with some amount of pity and are given
aid and succor just long enough for them to get
back on their feet before being encouraged to
seek their destiny elsewhere. Some of these
“hunger converts” become genuine in their faith
during their stay, and these are usually permitted
to become full members of a monastic order.
Even in the priesthood, however, one can
find individuals simply looking for power and
prestige, and more than a few of the abbots in
charge of major temples gained their positions
through political connections. Indeed, in the
centuries leading up to the Tokugawa Period,
significant wars often broke out between Bud-
dhist temples over politics and perceived dis-
87
The Omni System™
courtesy. At least a few of these conflicts were
also over the possession of temple resources and
crass attempts to convince the nobility to rescind
their support for a given brotherhood.
Clergy members, whether priest or monk,
hold great reverence in the eyes of the common
folk due to their perceived closeness to the di-
vine. Despite their own lowly origins as heimin,
others of their former caste view them as having
become something greater by taking up the will
of the spirits or the path of enlightenment.
Shinto priests and Buddhist monks have
long held a (somewhat exaggerated) rivalry.
Since Shinto practitioners believe in the inherent
holiness of the spirits of nature while Buddhists
believe that all people are capable of becoming
enlightened, the two religions coexist in an occa-
sionally uneasy balance. Though common folk
typically practice both Shinto and Buddhism
with little distinction between the two, save that
Shinto has better festivals and Buddhists are
called in for funerals, the clergy of the two faiths
often find themselves in the unenviable position
of having to compete for resources.
As the years progress, the faith of the no-
bility tends to oscillate back and forth between
“more Shinto” or “more Buddhist,” meaning
that whichever faith is preferred—and even
more, which temple is preferred—is the one that
receives the patronage and wealth of the bugei
and kugei. Though the two faiths seek to minis-
ter to the common man more than to the nobles,
the simple truth is that the nobility provides
more benefit in their worship, since a samurai’s
faith—expressed through donations—can see a
Shinto shrine through months or even years of
lean times. This often leads to local religious
organizations subtly (or not-so-subtly) compet-
ing for worshippers and funds.
88
Ronin
Ashigaru and
Ji-Samurai
Not every farmer is forbidden from wield-
ing weapons, just most of them. If no peasant
could pick up a spear or bow, then the armies of
the samurai would be tiny indeed. Though the
most traditional samurai battles occurred only
between elite squads of well-equipped and well-
trained warriors, the conscription of troops for
mass battles predates the Tokugawa Period by
at least three or four centuries.
In addition to the rice levies placed on rural
villages, most are also required to submit some
portion of their adult population to the local
daimyo’s militia for yearly training in the use of
spears, bows and light armor. Compared to the
noble bushi, these conscripts are hardly worthy
of the title “warrior” but their use in battlefield
conditions cannot be argued against. Called
ashigaru (“light foot,” for the armor they wear)
these local militiamen are often drawn from
families that have served in the same capacity
for generations.
When they return home from their service,
ashigaru retain the skills they received in their
training, making them ideal village defend-
ers while their samurai masters are absent (as
is usually the case). Thus, it typically falls on
the shoulders of ashigaru to defend their homes
from bandits and thieves. Many ashigaru also
become local doshin (see below), though this is
not always the case.
A few of these conscripts, typically the most
skilled, find that something in their hearts thrills
at the thought of real combat, leading them to
volunteer for extended duty in a samurai’s army.
Even during times of peace there are uses for a
standing army, including low-key conflicts with
neighboring daimyo or purges of ronin commu-
nities. These loyal ashigaru have little opportu-
nity for advancement because of their low birth;
 The Way of the Commoner
the best they can hope for is promotion to the
military position of gunso, a sergeant or lieuten-
ant in charge of a squad of other ashigaru.
In previous times, before the edict of sei-
satsu yodatsu, conscript soldiers who showed
great promise could hope for a promotion to the
status of ji-samurai (“half-samurai”), a position
that entitled them to wield katana as a samurai
but not a wakizashi. This position also signi-
fied a promotion to a samurai’s personal guard
or household soldiers, one that might eventually
allow a ji-samurai (or more likely his children
or grandchildren) to become a full samurai.
Though seisatsu yodatsu officially forbids
the promotion of lower castes to higher castes
(and higher castes to lower), some daimyo rec-
ognize the potential in their ashigaru and seek
to reward them beneath the shogunate’s notice.
An ashigaru that loyally serves in a position as
a gunso for many years and achieves great es-
teem in his master’s eyes might one day be sur-
prised to discover that his father was actually
ji-samurai—a clever fabrication of local records
that then allows the loyal servant to “regain”
his position and “correct” the mistake of the lo-
cal record-keepers. This is rare, however; it is
far more likely for an ashigaru to find reward
enough in simply being allowed to fight along-
side his samurai masters.
Budoka
In times before the formal adoption of the
caste system by the shogunate, especially skilled
conscripts who were not quite ready to become
ji-samurai could be named bu-
doka, “practitioners of the fight-
ing arts.” This is also a generic
term for any skilled non-noble
warrior, such as a lifelong ashi-
garu or even a ronin notable for
his sword skills. In this context,
however, budoka are those in-
dividuals whose ancestors were
given the right to bear arms by
their samurai masters, a right
that has never been rescinded.
This right, possessed by
very few people in modern
Japan, is not caste-based, so
it represents a form of social
advancement available to the
skilled or the lucky. Of course,
it is an advancement only useful
to individuals seeking to carry
weapons and wear armor better
than those available to the aver-
age conscript foot soldier, so it
is also an advancement rarely
sought after. Still, such skilled
warriors are highly prized in the
armies of the shogun, even after
89
The Omni System™
their official conscription ends.
After returning home, budoka are often
asked to return to their daimyo’s castle from
time to time to train ashigaru in weaponry and
battle tactics. Budoka are greatly respected by
their fellows and are even given special treat-
ment by many samurai. As highly trained war-
riors in the Tokugawa Period, many budoka are
actually better swordsmen and soldiers than the
majority of samurai. These soldiers are often
at the vanguard of any military action, relaying
commands from the generals (rikugunshokan)
to the gunso, and otherwise coordinating battle
activity.
Many budoka eventually leave the service
of their daimyo, more by default than by allow-
ance, since the pay and upkeep of a skilled peas-
ant-soldier is somewhat greater than many lieges
are willing to accept during peacetime. These
budoka usually settle into a position of local au-
thority, such as a village magistrate or headman,
but others leave home to see the world. They
take with them their papers of travel and owner-
ship, showing that they have permission to leave
their daiymo’s lands and to carry weapons and
armor, though not katana. These budoka some-
times become mercenaries or guards for wealthy
merchants, acting in much the same function as
ronin without the social stigma.
Doshin
One last group of combat-skilled commoners
exist: doshin—constables or magistrates. These
local authorities act as security and law enforce-
ment for peasant villages and for city districts.
Since samurai cannot be present to handle every
instance of crime, most petty crimes are inves-
tigated and punished by these intermediate au-
thorities. Doshin act in the name of a samurai
constable who is placed over them, but most of
the time they operate independently.
Doshin carry nonlethal weapons such as
90
Ronin
jitte and mancatchers, though they rarely wear
armor of any sort. Larger cities have their
doshin wear distinctive kabuto (helmets) and
carry lanterns (often colored lanterns) to iden-
tify them to others. While commoners are not
normally supposed to strike samurai, doshin are
typically given authority to disarm and render
unconscious samurai engaged in the commis-
sion of a crime. This sometimes creates hard
feelings between rowdy samurai and local au-
thorities, since even though doshin cannot judge
a samurai, they can definitely make things hard
on a drunk or a brawler.
Most doshin do not have any authority out-
side of their village or district, but some are as-
signed as assistants to traveling samurai magis-
trates. These traveling doshin officially act as
the entourage and aides to the actual authorities,
though in practice they often have as much say
in the apprehension and prosecution of crimi-
nals as do their superiors.
Culture
The lot of the peasantry is a hard one in
Tokugawa Japan. Even prosperous merchants
often put in twelve- to sixteen-hour days at their
jobs, and farmers labor much as they have for
centuries. Most of a peasant’s life is taken up in
his work—after all, the heimin are literally the
“working class.” Still, they often find ways in
which they can find enjoyment in their lives, as
well as meaning and fulfillment in their labors.
Courtesy and
Emotion
Almost everything in a commoner’s life re-
volves around being deeply polite to the people
above and normally polite to the people along-
side. This is not to say that commoners are
never rude; rather, they must avoid being pub-
 The Way of the Commoner
licly rude, lest their betters catch wind of it and
attempt to make an example of them. Being
nice to one’s neighbors is just common sense,
while being rude to a samurai can be a killing
offense.
To help facilitate courtesy among the peas-
antry, a large number of ceremonial greetings
and exchanges exist. Most samurai also observe
these courtesies, but commoners have to know
them intricately as part of their survival mecha-
nism. Everything from starting a meal to enter-
ing a home is formalized in Tokugawa Japan,
and while most heimin can “let their hair down”
around their own kind, they cannot help but be
on their toes with any hint of a samurai around.
Some of the most common courtesies are:
• Bowing when meeting someone. The
depth of the bow conveys the depth of respect
held for the greeted individual. A slight nod is
acceptable for a samurai talking to a heimin, but
a heimin should bow all the way to the waist.
High-ranked samurai, especially daimyo, actu-
ally warrant getting down on one’s hands and
knees with the forehead touching the ground
(kow-towing).
• Removing shoes when entering a home.
Most commoners go around in their bare feet
when at home, and many just go around bare-
foot all of the time. This is more a concern for
samurai entering another samurai’s home, or for
peasants well-to-do enough to own real shoes.
• Averting one’s eyes. Making eye con-
tact is a challenge to a bushi, an invitation to a
fight. Most samurai never look one another in
the eye unless they’re out to start a fight, and a
heimin shouldn’t even look directly at a samu-
rai’s face unless he wants to get cut in half.
• Speak last. The person with the highest
rank or the greatest honor in a given situation
gets to speak first. This goes a step further with
heimin—they are not permitted to speak direct-
ly to a samurai unless the samurai initiates the
conversation.
• Offering three times. To show that a
gift is sincerely offered and given in good faith,
it must be offered to its intended recipient three
times. The first two times, the recipient is sup-
posed to refuse, citing a good reason why the
gift should not be given. Only on the third of-
fering should the gift be accepted.
• Covering one’s mouth. Showing teeth
is socially unacceptable in Tokugawa Japan,
since baring one’s teeth is an “animalistic” act.
Because of this, women will often cover their
mouths with the back of their hand when they
laugh or scream, and men try to smile without
opening their mouths. This is one of the reasons
that spoken Japanese is slightly slurred.
A clever heimin remembers his manners—
not doing so could literally cost him his life.
Music and Dance
Much of heimin culture revolves around
their labors for their masters, and the ways in
which they relax from these grueling tasks.
Like the pre-Civil War slaves of the American
South or the indentured serfs of feudal Russia,
much of the caste’s culture comes across in its
food and its music, as well as in its off-work
activities. Food in Tokugawa Japan has already
been discussed, and the festivals celebrated by
commoners has its own section (see below).
Japanese folk songs (minyo) can be grouped
and classified in many ways but it is often con-
venient to think of four main categories: work
songs, religious songs (such as sato kagura, a
form of Shinto music), songs used for gather-
ings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals
(matsuri), and children’s songs (warabe uta).
Minyo singers are typically accompanied by the
three-stringed lute known as the samisen, taiko
drums and the shakuhachi (bamboo flute). Oth-
er instruments that could accompany are a trans-
verse flute known as the shinobue, a bell known
as kane, a hand drum called the tsuzumi, and a
thirteen-stringed zither known as the koto.
Terms often heard when speaking about
minyo are ondo, fushi, bon uta and komori uta.
An ondo generally describes any folk song with
91
The Omni System™
a distinctive swing that may be heard as 2/4 time
rhythm (though performers usually do not group
beats). The typical folk song heard at Obon fes-
tival dances will most likely be an ondo. A fushi
is a song with a distinctive melody. Its very
name, which is pronounced bushi in compounds,
means “section.” The word is rarely used on its
own, but is usually prefixed by a term referring
to occupation, location, personal name or the
like. Bon uta, as the name describes, are songs
for Obon, the lantern festival of the dead. Ko-
mori uta are children’s lullabies. Many of these
songs include extra stress on certain syllables,
as well as pitched shouts (kakegoe). Kakegoe
are generally shouts of cheer, but in minyo they
are often included as parts of choruses.
Folk dancing is a popular pastime at festi-
vals and special holidays, and the commoners
even find time to attend dances held at night in
local villages occasionally.
Festivals and
Observances
The most frequent way in which heimin re-
lax from their hard lives and difficult labors is
by holding festivals (matsuri). Many Japanese
festivals come from Chinese festivals but most
have undergone dramatic changes as they mixed
with local customs. Some are so different that
they do not even remotely resemble the original
festival. There are also various local festivals
that are mostly unknown outside a given prefec-
ture. It is commonly said that you will always
find a festival somewhere in Japan on any given
day. The most popular national festivals are
listed in this section.
Hinamatsuri, or Girls’ Day, is a doll festi-
val. On the 3rd of March, people display dolls
(hinaningyo) dressed in old-fashioned kimonos.
Tiered platforms with red cloth (hi-mousen) are
used to display a set of dolls representing the
Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians
92
Ronin
in traditional court dress. On the top tier, there
are two dolls representing the Emperor and Em-
press who wear court dress of the Heian period.
The emperor doll is called O-Dairi-sama and
the empress doll is called O-Hina-sama. (Dairi
means “Imperial Palace,” and Hina means “girl”
or “princess”). Two miniature houses are often
provided for O-Dairi-sama and O-Hina-sama to
be placed inside. On the second tier, there are
usually three dolls, San-nin kanjo. They are court
ladies serving the Emperor and Empress. On
the third tier, there are five men who each have a
musical instrument; these are the minstrels who
serve the Emperor and Empress, called the Go-
nin Bayashi. On the third, forth and lower tiers,
a variety of miniature furniture, tools, carriages
an other furnishings are displayed. Sometimes,
the dolls of two ministers are also displayed on
fourth platform. The custom of displaying dolls
is a relatively new one, beginning at the start
of the Edo period. Formerly, people believed
that dolls possessed the power to contain bad
spirits in their bodies, and would thus save the
owner from dangerous encounters. A frequent
folk legend about the dolls used in this festival
is that if the family forgets to retire the whole set
before the night following the festival, the girl
will not marry before the next year.
Hanami (“flower viewing”) is the Japanese
traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of
flowers, though “flower” in this case almost al-
ways means cherry blossoms (sakura) or ume
(sometimes called apricot or plum blossoms).
From late March to early April, sakura go into
full bloom all over Japan. Hanami mostly
means of having an outdoor party beneath the
sakura, which are pretty in daylight and en-
chanting at night by lantern light. The practice
of hanami is many centuries old. The custom
is said to have started during the Nara Period
when the Chinese Tang Dynasty influenced Ja-
pan in many ways; one of which was the custom
of enjoying flowers. Sakura originally was used
to divine that year’s harvest as well as an an-
nouncer of the rice-planting season. Emperor
Saga of the Heian Period adopted this and held
flower-viewing parties with sake and feasts un-
 The Way of the Commoner
derneath the blossoming boughs of sakura trees
in the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Poems would
be written praising the delicate flowers, which
were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous
and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral. The
custom was originally limited to the elite of the
Imperial Court but soon spread to samurai so-
ciety in general, and by the Edo period to the
common people as well. Tokugawa Yoshimune
(the eighth Tokugawa shogun) planted areas of
cherry blossom trees to encourage this. Under
the sakura trees, heimin would have lunch and
drink sake in cheerful feasts.
Tanabata (“Seven Evenings”) is a star festi-
val, derived from Obon traditions and the Chi-
nese star festival, Qi Xi. The festival is usually
held on July 7 or August 7 and celebrates the
meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Al-
tair). The Milky Way, a river made from stars
that crosses the sky, separated these two lovers
in Japanese folklore, and they are allowed to
meet only once a year. The festival originated
from the Festival to Plead for Skills, an alterna-
tive name for Qi Xi, which was celebrated in the
Kyoto Imperial Palace during the Heian Period.
The festival spread to the general public by the
early Edo period, became mixed with various
Obon traditions and developed into the mod-
ern Tanabata festival. In the Edo period, girls
wished for better sewing and craftsmanship, and
boys wished for better handwriting by writing
wishes on strips of paper. At this time, the cus-
tom was to use dew left on Taro leaves to create
the ink used to write wishes.
Obon (or only Bon) is a Japanese Buddhist
holiday to honor the departed spirits of one’s an-
cestors. This Buddhist festival has evolved into
a family reunion holiday during which people
from the big cities return to their home towns
and visit and clean their ancestors’ graves. Tra-
ditionally including a dance festival, it has exist-
ed in Japan for more than five hundred years. It
is held from 13th of July to the 16th (“Welcom-
ing Obon” and “Farewell Obon,” respectively)
in the eastern part of Japan, and in August in
the western part. Obon shares some similarities
with the predominantly Mexican observance of
el Día de los Muertos, the Days of the Dead.
Obon is a shortened form of the legendary Ura-
bon. It is Sanskrit for “hanging upside down in
hell and suffering.” The Japanese believed that
they should ameliorate the suffering of the those
dead trapped between one world and the next by
remembering them fondly and celebrating their
lives. On the last evening of Obon, celebrants
practice toro nagashi, floating paper lanterns
down nearby rivers to symbolize the progres-
sion of the dead into the next world.
Obon originates from the story of Mokuren,
a disciple of Shakyamuni, who saw a vision
of his deceased mother in the Realm of Hun-
gry Ghosts where she was indulging in her own
selfishness. Greatly disturbed, he went to the
Buddha and asked how he could release his
mother from this realm. The Buddha answered,
“On the 15th of July, provide a big feast for the
past seven generations of dead.” The disciple
did this and, thus, saw his mother’s release. He
also began to see the true nature of her past un-
selfishness and the many sacrifices that she had
made for him. The disciple, happy because of
his mother’s release and grateful for his moth-
er’s kindness, danced with joy. From this dance
of joy comes Bon Odori (or Bon Dance), a tra-
ditional dance in which ancestors and their sac-
rifices are remembered and appreciated.
Omisoka, New Year’s Eve, is an important
day in Japanese tradition, usually occurring on
the last day of the lunar calendar (sometime be-
tween January 1 and February 3). It is the day
before the New Year’s Day, the most important
holiday of the year. Usually, people are very
busy on New Year’s Eve because there are lots
of preparations to do for the next day. Also, it is
common to clean the whole house on this day,
in order to welcome the new year freshened. At
the very end of the day, usually around 11 PM,
it is common to have toshikoshi-soba or toshi-
koshi-udon, “crossover year noodles.” A few
minutes before midnight, every temple prepares
sweet sake, and crowds gather around a metal
gong which is struck one hundred and eight
93
The Omni System™ Ronin

Kirisute-Gomen: Words of Apology

There are seven degrees of courtesy in the Japanese language, and peasant characters will be
using the most polite one a lot. Not showing proper respect to a samurai can result in immedi-
ate death by beheading, and each samurai has a slightly different idea of what “proper respect”
means. By sticking to the most formal and courteous form of speech when dealing with one’s
betters, a commoner guarantees himself a few more years of life. Talking to samurai is fairly
uncommon anyway—a peasant is never supposed to initiate a conversation with a noble, only
respond when spoken to or asked a question.

The practice of kirisute-gomen—literally, “I’m cutting you, sorry” or more colloquially, “death
with apologies”—was historically only used in cases of extreme duress or by samurai with
short tempers. Killing a peasant for insolence sounds good on paper, but given enough grief
and unwarranted punishment, a rural samurai fond of the practice might find his house burning
down around his ears one night. Courtesy runs both ways, after all.

In order to allow peasant characters a better chance of survival, included here are a number of
common words and phrases for meeting, greeting, and apologizing:
 Daijobu ka?: “Are you all right?” The return statement would be daijobu (“I’m
fine.”).
 Domo: Thanks. Very informal, and usually only used between friends.
 Domo arigato: Thank you. Polite, but not overly so.
 Domo arigato gozaimasu: I thank you deeply. A highly formal way of thanking
someone.
 Dozo: Please; here you go. This word is a catchall for if you can’t think of any-
thing else.
 Dozo yoroshiku: Please treat me kindly. This phrase is normally used after a first
greeting to indicate that you don’t want any trouble, and recognize that the person
you’re talking to could cause it for you.
 Gomen: Sorry. Informal, and usually only used among friends.
 Gomen-nasai: I’m very sorry. Formal apology.
 Hajime mashite: This is the first time we meet. A traditional first greeting.
 Ohayo: Good morning. The formal version is ohayo gozaimasu.
 Oname-wa desu ka?: What is your name?
 Sayonara: I’ll see you later. A polite way of saying goodbye.

And, just in case it needed to be said, any samurai should be addressed as “last name”-sama
when he must be addressed at all. Adding –san to a samurai’s name as a heimin is a short trip
to the funeral pyre.

times. This number is believed to be number

of sins and ill thoughts that can take place in a
human mind, and by striking a gong these can
be driven away.

94
 The Way of the Commoner
Setsubun is the day before the beginning of
each season. The name literally means “divi-
sion of season.” Usually the term refers to the
Spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun, cel-
ebrated yearly on February 3rd (associated with
the Lunar New Year). Spring Setsubun is tradi-
tionally celebrated by the head of the household
throwing pan-heated soybeans out the door,
while chanting “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!”
The literal meaning of the words is “Demons
out! Luck in!” The beans are thought to sym-
bolically purify the home, because in the Heian
era a famous Buddhist monk was said to have
driven away demons by throwing beans at them.
At Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines all over
the country, there are celebrations for Setsubun.
Priests and invited guests will throw roasted
soybeans (some wrapped in gold or silver foil),
small envelopes with money, sweets, candies
and other prizes. Many people will come, and
the event turns wild, with everyone pushing
and shoving to get the gifts tossed from above.
Families will also put up small decorations of
fish heads and holly leaves on their house en-
trances so that bad spirits will not enter.
Ennichi (“fair” or “temple fair”) are the most
popular style of Japanese festival. It is believed
that visiting a temple or a shrine on these holy
days related to local kami or Buddha will bring
greater fortunes than on regular days. Generally
there are a large number of food stalls selling
Japanese folk food such as takoyaki (fried octo-
pus), okonomiyaki (grilled pancakes) and vari-
ous kinds of noodles and sweets. Almost every
village has its own Ennichi, and there are far too
many of them to count.
Clothing and
Appearance
The average peasant farmer still looks and
dresses much like his ancestors have for cen-
turies before him. Both men and women wear
hakama (trousers) with a shirt-like top. The trou-
sers have ties at the ankles that keep them from
dragging the ground. During work in the fields,
these ties will be brought up to the knee, keep-
ing them from getting soaked in a rice paddy or
covered in mud. Both the trousers and top will
be made of rough hemp or, for more prosperous
villages, linen. They are belted together at the
waist by a plain cloth belt. Only the wealthiest
individuals will have actual silk in their clothes,
and such outfits will likely be formal wear (such
as wedding clothes).
While working or at home, most people go
barefoot or wear zori, sandals woven from cloth
or grass. They are similar in design to “flip-
flops” but are often highly decorated with intri-
cate stitching. More familiar to outsiders are the
waraji, sandals made out of wood with rope or
leather ties. These hard-soled sandals are worn
while traveling outside of a village or when go-
ing on a long walk within village bounds. Only
a few commoners can afford boots, though some
prominent individuals will own tabi, hard-soled
socks, and wear them around the house.
Nearly ubiquitous in heimin clothing is the
straw hat, usually a conical straw hat. These
hats are designed to keep the sun out of a farm-
er’s eyes while working the fields and paddies,
as well as to ward off rain, snow and even hail.
The hat is made of tough straw, woven into a
sort of wicker, with a string tie running beneath
the chin to keep the hat in place. Losing one’s
hat is considered to be a poor omen for a jour-
ney.
Most men and women also own yukata, non-
formal kimono made out of linen rather than
silk. These are considered to be “nice clothes”
are typically worn to festivals and for trips into
larger towns and cities. They are also worn dur-
ing funerals and for visits to shrines or temples.
Like the more formal kimono, a yukata is con-
sidered too valuable to throw away, even when
damaged. At worst, a ruined yukata might find
new life as a child’s first kimono or the pieces
used to dress dolls.
While commoners are grubby in appearance
95
The Omni System™
as compared to the samurai, they tend to hold
the same beliefs on cleanliness and purity as
their betters. Though they cannot afford private
baths (ofuro), almost every village has a public
bathing area, divided between male and female
areas (or just with different times for men and
women to bathe). A few commoners also have
private heated bathing areas by an economical
means: using a steel barrel or basin to hold wa-
ter, then setting a fire under it. This warms the
water and allows the individual to bathe sitting
down. It is considered somewhat comical by
the Japanese, who call it “hot soup bathing.”
Since livable land is at a premium in the
overcrowded nation, most people learn to make
do with the appearance or feeling of privacy
rather than privacy itself. The same is true for
their homes, which typically house an entire
family in a one- or two-room house, with only
shoji screens divided personal sleeping areas.
Few heimin have overly developed senses of
personal modesty thanks to this lack of privacy,
and it’s not uncommon for men to go shirtless
in especially hot weather, or for women to go to
work in the fields with their breasts bound and
otherwise topless.
Faith Among the
Meek
Most commoners in Tokugawa Japan hold
true to the normal dichotomy of Shinto and
Buddhist beliefs described previously, though if
asked, most heimin would describe themselves
as Shinto practitioners. The few that gravitate
more heavily toward Buddhism avoid the mys-
tical Zen sects popular among the samurai and
lean more strongly toward the Pure Land beliefs
of the Amida Buddha.
The average people of Tokugawa Japan be-
lieve firmly in the divine right of their Emperor,
and from him in the shogun’s right to rule. To
even suggest that the beloved Emperor is not
96
Ronin
the direct descendant of Amaterasu would be an
open invitation to a riot in most Japanese vil-
lages, as would be the notion that the shogun
somehow seized control of the nation and is not
ruling in the Emperor’s name. To most people,
religion and the state are one and the same—the
bakufu may be harsh, but it is endorsed by the
Emperor and thus blessed by the gods.
The festivals that break up the daily mo-
notony of farming life are typically sponsored
by a local shrine or temple, and few villages are
without some sort of holy site nearby. Every
large boulder has a small god associated with it,
as much so as every great mountain. The “eight
million gods” inhabit the islands of Japan, a
fact that the average person is deeply aware of.
Likewise, if every boulder holds a god, then ev-
ery cave and dark hole in the ground is thought
to hold a devil. Fear of the unknown makes up a
good deal of the faith of the heimin, in that their
faith permits them to lead their daily lives most-
ly unafraid of the supernatural beings that they
know exist outside of their cozy little lives.
Most heimin hardly concern themselves
with the specifics or esoterica of their chosen
religions, however. The largest part of any
commoner’s religious knowledge comes from
the festivals and funerals he attends, from the
few prayers he has been taught and from the
stories and legends told to him by his parents.
The mythology of Japan is both broad and deep,
with thousands of folktales, myths and legends.
From the creation of the world to the modern
day, tales abound of heroes and villains, ghosts
and monsters. Commoners largely view these
tales as true, or at least as true as the histories
told to them by the government.
The few heimin that bother learning more
about their faith tend to gravitate toward becom-
ing members of the clergy, typically monks but
occasionally priests as well. These clergy study
the roots of their faiths as well as the often-com-
plicated rituals involved in placating the spirits
or seeing a soul onto its final rest.
 The Way of the Commoner
Superstition and
Fear
Much of a peasant’s life is lived in fear—
fear of crop failures, fear of heavy taxes, fear of
angry samurai, fear of bandits, and more still. A
good bit of this fear is rooted in the religious and
spiritual beliefs of the Japanese people. Since
the average heimin believes very thoroughly in
Shinto and Buddhism, they further believe that
the gods are everywhere, observing everything
all the time. Many fear a possible judgment by
those gods—or rather, being found wanting by
that judgment.
To counter this, most heimin do their best
to live proper lives, avoiding taboo objects and
people, even taboo ideas whenever possible.
These efforts often take the form of supersti-
tious practices, many of which are derived at
least partially from native animistic beliefs.
Shinto even encourages these superstitions to
some degree, since its religious tenets support
the existence of the beings that are supposed to
be placated by them.
The average person believes in hundreds of
superstitions, and whole books have been writ-
ten about Japanese superstitious beliefs. This
does not even count the (likely thousands of)
local beliefs and myths scattered across the
myriad islands. Since there would be no way
to describe every possible superstition of Japan
in the space allowed, here are a few of the more
common ones:
 The number four is considered extreme-
ly unlucky, since the word for “four” (shi) is
the same as the word for “death.” The num-
ber nine is also considered unlucky, since
the word for “nine” (ku) is the same as the
word for “pain.”
 Generally speaking, a person is never
supposed to stick his chopsticks into his
food (it’s just rude), but sticking them into
rice and leaving them upright is reminiscent
of a funeral ritual in which the chopsticks
are symbolically left for the dead. Leaving
chopsticks stuck into rice in this way is thus
an open invitation for the dead to come to
dinner.
 By the same token, food is passed from
chopstick to chopstick only at funeral cer-
emonies, making it an unlucky action any
other time.
 Corpses are laid to rest with their heads
pointing north, so most people sleep with
their heads pointing south if at all possible.
 A person that cuts his nails at night will
not be present when his parents die.
 If a person whistles at night, a snake
will come into his house.
 Breaking things is always considered
unlucky, but especially so are sandal straps,
combs, and tea bowls.
Peasant
Characters
Playing a heimin character in Tokugawa
Japan presents an interesting challenge to a
role-player. After all, the samurai dominate the
country, and most people tend to think of samu-
rai first when they think of Japan. Playing any-
thing but a samurai might even seem counter-in-
tuitive to some players. Still, playing a heimin
can have certain advantages.
First, it is extremely difficult for a heimin
to gain or lose Honor, making their personal be-
havior less regulated by an outside force (bush-
ido in this case). This can be both a boon and
a bane. Since a heimin cares less about Honor,
he is less likely to be penalized for having a low
Honor; indeed, a heimin can’t even lose Honor
for most of the things that would cost a samurai,
like practicing “low” skills or directly exchang-
ing money for goods and services. The converse
to this is that a heimin can never count on his
Honor being a deciding factor in most things.
97
The Omni System™ Ronin

As commoners and professionals, most Historical

heimin exist beneath the notice of the samurai.
So long as they do their jobs and don’t make
waves, commoners are left pretty much to their
Concepts
own devices. They have to pay their taxes, of
course, and they need permission to travel out- Buddhist Monk
side of their daimyo’s territory, but securing ei- At a young age you began to study the re-
ther of those things is just a matter of money, ligious works at the local Buddhist temple. By
something that people desiring to start wander- the time you came of age, you were ready to
ing and adventuring are likely to have a fair bit shave your red and don the saffron robes of a
of anyway. priest. You have taken well to the monastic life,
but now you long to see the world and bring the
Being unnoticed has a slew of benefits, in- Buddha’s message of enlightenment to the peo-
cluding not being held responsible when things ple beyond the monastery’s comforting walls.
go wrong. If a samurai is present, anything that Fortunately, you are hardly ignorant of social
goes wrong is his problem, not the heimin’s. skills—a monastery is not without politics—and
Bandits on the loose? Call a samurai. Bears you can defend yourself if it comes to that.
devouring children? Samurai will take care of
it. Fire, flood, earthquake or invasion? The
peasants might have to clean everything up af-
Skills
Administration +2
terwards, but the samurai are footing the bill and
Concentration +6
taking the brunt. Heimin have almost no power,
Diplomacy +5
but they also have almost no social responsibili-
Etiquette +3
ties. Having no responsibility is a significant
Lore (folklore) +2
advantage in a society as deeply concerned
Lore (history) +3
about “saving face” and “doing one’s duty” as
Lore (law) +2
Tokugawa Japan.
Theology (Buddhism) +8
And, of course, depending on the exact part
of the Tokugawa Period in question, the hei- Talents
min have increasingly great amounts of local- Intrigue & Politics Talent Tree
ized power, since most professionals have more  Aura of Wisdom
wealth to their name than most samurai. The
social conflict between money and noble birth Open Talents Talent Tree
continues all the way to the beginning of the  Mental Block
Meiji Restoration—the end of the Tokugawa  Fast & Pray
Period. Still, if the future belongs to any one
group, it is probably the heimin, if only from
sheer numbers. False Samurai
Your name is a lie. Your papers of birth are
a lie. Your entire history, in fact, is a complete
fabrication. You took your swords and armor off
a dead samurai you found while hunting, an act
that surely makes you lower than an eta, but you
were desperate at the time. Starving as a peas-
ant was unappealing, so you assumed the dead
samurai’s identity, and now you are living his

98
 The Way of the Commoner

life. You live in constant fear of the deception

being found out, but so far you have been pass- Fantastic Callings
able as a bushi. Actually, you are even starting
to believe in bushido, just a little.
Buddhist Medium
Ever since you were a small child, you’ve
Skills been able to see spirits and ghosts. The local
Animal Handling +4 temple recognized your talent almost imme-
Brawling +2 diately, and life in a monastery is all you can
Deception +6 remember. The monks have taught you to use
Diplomacy +3 your powers well, however, and now you can
Disguise +4 not only see ghosts but interact with them—
Etiquette +2 even touch them. You can open your mind to
Forgery +3 the spirit world and “hear” the guidance of the
Lore (history) +2 ancestors, making you invaluable to your order.
Perform +4
Ride +1
Weapon (large blades) +2 Skills
Animal Handling +4
Concentration +6
Merchant Deduce Motive +3
A lifetime of apprenticeship and training has Etiquette +1
resulted in you being a master of your trade or Handicraft (any one) +2
craft. Though you might be of the lowest caste, Lore (arcane arts) +1
your skills are greatly respected by your peers Lore (demonology) +1
and constantly in demand by your betters. The Lore (folklore) +5
constant trade has made you wealthy, and you Theology (any one) +3
even own your own shop in one of the larger
cities. It isn’t much so far, but perhaps by di-
versifying—perhaps traveling around a bit and Talents
feeling out the market—you might make some- Mystical Heritage Talent Tree
thing better of it.  Spirit Sight
 Precognition
Skills  Sense Evil
Administration +3  Prophecy
Animal Handling +2
Appraise +5
Deception +4 Peasant Sorcerer
Deduce Motive +4 Magic belongs to everyone—samurai,
Diplomacy +5 heimin, and hinin alike. Though the shukenja
Etiquette +1 would try to say otherwise, your personal skill
Handicraft (any one) +4 with magic belies their assertions. You have
Lore (streetwise) +4 heard the spirits since you were very young, and
Profession (merchant) +3 their musical tongue is almost second nature to
you. Most of your magic is more practical than
a shukenja’s, but that’s only natural with your
Talents position in society being what it is. Your magi-
Fools & Their Money Talent Tree cal talents make you more than your fellows but
 Gossip you still remain a peasant in the eyes of the sam-

99
The Omni System™ The Way of the Commoner
Ronin

urai. So long as you use your powers for their

benefit, you remain an asset and not a threat.

Skills
Animal Handling +2
Concentration +3
Handicraft (any one) +3
Lore (folklore) +2
Mode (manifest) +4
Mode (manipulate) +3
Mode (ward) +4

Talents
Mystical Training Talent Tree
Elementalism Order (Spirit)
 Magical Aptitude

100
Chapter Five
THE WAY OF THE
OUTCAST
The Tokugawa Period formalized the previ-
ously fluid caste system of Japan into a rigid and
inflexible method of delineating control and au-
thority. After Tokugawa Ieyasu’s rise to power,
the final version of the caste system described
three levels of society: the samurai, who rule
and make war; the heimin, who farm and pray;
and the hinin, or “low people,” who have no
rights or protections under the law. In many real
ways, the term hinin can be used to describe any
person or group that does not fit into the normal
purview of the Tokugawa Period caste system.
While some of the groups or individuals
discussed in this chapter are not, strictly speak-
ing, outcasts from society as a whole, they rep-
resent and reflect people who do not get along
with that society either. In the context of this
chapter, an outcast is not just a criminal or an
outlaw, he can live in a major city and be seen
by average people everyday—average people
who will have nothing to do with him or who
look down on him, or who do not even begin to
suspect who he really is.
Being an outcast is as much a state of mind
as it is a social function. After all, as the Japa-
nese say, “You are as you do.” A samurai who
insists on acting like a peasant will not just be
scorned by his fellows—pretty soon he won’t be
a samurai at all, but neither will he be a peasant.
He will have lost his place in society and been
made an outcast. By the same token, a loyal
samurai who upholds his station but lives a hid-
den life as a spy for his lord is also an outcast.
Were his secret discovered, there would be no
safety for himself or his loved ones—only se-
crecy protects him, but that same secrecy sets
him apart from the very people he seeks to pro-
tect.
The path of the outcast can be a lonely one,
even when surrounded by others.
Eta
The word eta itself has no direct translation
into English, but it can be taken to mean any
number of things: unclean, worthless, untouch-
able, and outcast are just a few of them. The eta
have long been a part of Japanese culture, the
oldest reference to them occurring as early as the
beginning of the Heian Period. They are some-
times also called burakumin (“minority com-
munities”) as a more polite expression. Some
eta were also called kawaramono, because they
lived along river banks that could not be turned
into rice fields.
The formalization of the long-held prac-
tice of social ostracism for the “unclean” by the
Tokugawa shogunate simply gave tacit approv-
al to an already existing phenomenon. Where
Toyotomi decreed that social mobility would no
longer exist and that social position would be
hereditary, Tokugawa expanded on the aspects
of societal control represented by that decree
and created a hereditary underclass: the hinin.
The most common of these were the eta.
At their simplest, eta are members of he-
reditary occupational groups, such as butchers,
101
The Omni System™
leather workers, and certain kinds of entertain-
ers. During the Tokugawa Period, such people
were required to live in special communes and,
like the rest of the population, were bound by
sumptuary laws based on the inheritance of their
social class. Discrimination against these oc-
cupational groups arose historically because of
Buddhist prohibitions against killing and Shinto
notions of kegare (“taint”), as well as govern-
ment attempts at social control.
Fundamental Shinto beliefs equated good-
ness and godliness with purity and cleanliness,
and they further held that impurities could cling
to things and persons, making them evil or sinful.
A person could become seriously contaminated
by habitually killing animals, or by committing
some hideous misdeed that ripped at the fabric
of the community, such as engaging in incest or
bestiality. Such persons, custom decreed, had to
be cast out from the rest of society, condemned
to wander from place to place, surviving as best
they could by begging or by earning a few coins
as itinerant singers, dancers, mimes, and acro-
bats. By the same token, creating a significant
undercaste allowed the government a significant
body of scapegoats for criminal activity and
warm bodies for massive labor projects.
Unlike peasants (heimin), who possessed at
least a minimal level of rights under the caste
system, eta had none. Eta occupied the lowest
level of the social hierarchy of feudal Japan;
they were housed in separate segregated settle-
ments, and were generally avoided by the rest
of Japanese society. To some degree, saying eta
is nearly synonymous (at least to a samurai) as
saying hinin. The two concepts are nearly in-
separable in the public mind, even though there
a good many hinin who are not eta.
When dealing with members of other castes,
eta are expected to display signs of subservience,
such as the removal of headwear and prostrat-
ing themselves on the ground. They typically
have their own temples, and were not allowed to
visit religious sites meant for “clean” folk. No
private property was owned under the Japanese
102
Ronin
caste system—even samurai were simply “leas-
ing” the land from the state—but the eta are not
permitted private possessions. Anything and ev-
erything they own is castoffs and leavings from
“proper” folk, as well as what they can make in
their trades or what they could steal.
In Japanese Buddhist sects, it is usual for a
dead person to be given a posthumous religious
name (kaimyo), but the eta will often be given
discriminatory names that included the kanji
characters for “beast,” “humble,” “ignoble,”
“slave,” and other derogatory expressions. This
is hardly a significant departure from tradition-
al Buddhist beliefs, however. As firm believ-
ers in reincarnation, Buddhism holds that those
with lowly positions in this life are making up
for some great evil in a previous one. By this
token, the reprehensible treatment given eta is
deserved—they live poorly because they are re-
paying their sins.
Historically, eta were not liable for taxa-
tion in feudal times, including the Tokugawa
Period, because the taxation system was based
on rice yields, which they were not permitted
to possess. Since their undesirable status af-
forded them an effective monopoly in their
trades, however, some succeeded economically
and even occasionally obtained samurai status
through marrying or the outright purchase of
troubled houses. This became rarer as the pe-
riod passed, however, and by 1650, the idea of
an eta rising above his station by any means was
virtually unthinkable.
Eta Culture
According to their samurai masters, the
entire idea of a culture existing at the level of
non-persons like the eta is not just ludicrous, but
rather almost heretical. By very definition, the
eta do not possess a culture of their own, only
the dregs of their betters, stolen from the gar-
bage which is their lot. Eta are meant to work at

their tasks, preferably never seen or heard, and
simply remain out of the way of people with a
real culture.
Naturally, the truth is far from the simplis-
tic portrait painted by the noble elite of Japan.
While the samurai would like nothing better than
to completely eradicate all eta—maybe even all
hinin—the practical applications of their ex-
istence are too great to forego. Despite all of
their power, there are certain things that samurai
just cannot do, at least without bringing terrible
shame upon themselves and their entire house-
hold. Some of the things that eta do regularly
are enough to make a battle-hardened bushi ill,
and even describing certain tasks performed by
them daily could make a kugei noble faint.
Eta are given the worst jobs in the nation,
but those jobs are utterly necessary for the daily
continuation of life in Tokugawa Japan. They
are garbage collectors and tanners, street sweep-
ers and butchers—in short, they deal with the
refuse of society and are themselves, in turn,
considered human refuse. The lot of the eta is
grim and unpleasant, each day a struggle for
survival even in the midst of plenty.
Most eta live in large cities, or more techni-
cally in small villages that surround those cities
at a respectful distance. Each morning, well be-
fore dawn, the eta come into the city and clean
everything they can reach. Typically, especially
large cities will assign each eta village a specific
task to achieve on any given day, and these du-
ties can even become pseudo-hereditary. Some
eta work in shops (or at least near shops), but
even there they are expected to stay out of sight.
Most of the industry performed by eta (such as
leatherworking and butchering) is performed
in their villages, and then the finished product
brought into the shops where they are then sold.
The eta receive only the tiniest fraction of this
work’s actual value, and then only because hei-
min cannot legally order them around as samu-
rai can.
The largest metropolises, like Osaka and
The Way of the Outcast
Edo, cannot afford for their eta to travel such
great distances for their daily labors and have
inner-city districts that house the unclean.
These areas are often secondarily used as gar-
bage dumps, and they usually have high walls
encircling them, the better to keep in both the
stink and the eta. These ghettoes are typically
administrated by city officials directly, and their
inhabitants are considered to be city property.
Despite the samurai and heimin alike find-
ing eta to be despicable and without merit, their
position at the very bottom of society keeps
them oddly safe. Since most of them are prop-
erty rather than people, killing one is considered
assault against a samurai’s personal posses-
sions—a minor crime, but one that still involves
a certain amount of shame. Likewise, while a
samurai is entitled to kill an eta on his land for
any reason—or no reason at all—with no moral
or social repercussions, they fill a vital societal
niche. Without eta, many services and indus-
tries would simply cease to exist. A wise samu-
rai thus maintains the status quo and leaves the
unclean to their own devices.
In their squalor and poverty, the eta strug-
gle to eke out a place for themselves and their
way of life. In the many generations that they
have had to live in this manner, a strong tra-
dition of hard work and personal survival has
sprung up among many eta villages and ghet-
toes. The work that they perform is difficult and
often backbreaking, and they live in constant
fear of starvation or disease (an especially com-
mon problem in the inner-city), but compared to
the serfs of pre-Renaissance Europe, the eta are
hardly worse off. They do not suffer the con-
stant threat of slaughter by angry neighbors, nor
are their daughters regularly carried away to be
raped and then murdered by a distant lord. They
are hungry and dirty, but still generally cleaner
than wealthy Europeans of the same time peri-
od, and their position as butchers and garbage-
men gives them certain opportunities to “skim
off the top.”
If the samurai view heimin as cowards and
103
The Omni System™
weaklings, then their view of the eta (if samurai
would admit to having a view on them) is even
bleaker. Since the eta have no position in so-
ciety to maintain at all, then the only thing that
matters to them is the survival of themselves and
of their immediate family members. The aver-
age eta would do nearly anything to stay alive,
and they do not even possess the same level of
religious restraint that peasants have. After all,
the local religions tell them that if there is a hell,
they are certainly going there—and were deter-
mined to go there since birth.
The average eta community within or bor-
dering a city is a group of fifty to one hundred
eta, living ten or fifteen to each one-room hut.
The oldest eta in the community is considered to
be a wise elder whose voice counts for more than
the rest—after all, he survived. Daily decisions
are discussed among all working-age members
of the community, male and female alike, and
the community members’ earnings are consid-
ered to be the property of the entire community.
While eta are reputed to be putrid cowards in-
terested only in their own survival, many have
learned the value of unity and solidarity in the
matters of their survival. After all, many can
survive together where only one could not.
Unlike the peasantry of Japan, as well, the
eta possess something unique: leverage. Where
a group of heimin could not stand against a
samurai’s orders, an eta village might be able
to do so. They cannot do so openly, of course.
An insolent eta will still be cut down before he
can draw breath, but when the eta simply stop
doing their jobs, then what is a samurai to do?
He could threaten them, or even kill a few as
a lesson to the rest, but dead men cannot work
and fear cannot press people who have nothing
to lose. Often, if the local eta want something,
they will stop doing their jobs under the guise of
a sickness in their community.
Naturally, this poses a double barrier to the
samurai whose job it is to make sure that the eta
are doing their jobs. If they are lying, he would
have to enter their community and interact with
104
Ronin
them to motivate them, possibly costing him his
reputation or honor. If they are telling the truth,
then even going near them could make him sick
as well. Most of the time, it is simply easier to
send a peasant to find out what they want and, if
it is nothing too extravagant, provide it to them
surreptitiously. However, a group of eta pull-
ing this particular trick too often may find them-
selves relocated to a place less rife with illness
(possibly the Pure Land) and the city magistrates
bringing in eta from a different part of the city.
On the other hand, an eta does not even
have the same legal recourse as does a heimin
who has been wronged. If a peasant suffers an
attack or an injury from another peasant, he can
petition his lord for redress of the wrong or go
to his village headman for some good old-fash-
ioned vigilante justice. An eta who is wronged
can rely upon none but himself—no samurai
will aid him, nor will any heimin constable re-
port a crime against one. Indeed, there can be
no crime against eta, since they have no legal
position. Vigilantism is therefore the only way
in which an eta can find justice in this life, and
without weapons an eta is even more restricted
in how he will achieve his vengeance. Most of
the time, eta simply suffer their wrongs with no
possibility of making them right.
In the meantime, most eta continue to do
their jobs quietly and well, out of sight from any
who might find them offensive. A few man-
age to rise above their birth, even in the high-
ly restrictive caste system of seisatsu yodatsu,
though such advancements are almost always
done quietly and without official record. Low-
ranked samurai, those less concerned with honor
than with doing their jobs, sometimes have eta
assistants to perform tasks that they themselves
are incapable of (since speaking to an eta is
less dishonorable than, say, handling a corpse).
These personal servants sometimes find them-
selves “promoted” to heimin status when their
master’s star rises.

Ronin
Possibly the most intriguing and difficult to
understand individuals of the Tokugawa Period;
the ronin are considered heroes by some, villains
by others, and renegades by virtually everyone.
They are outcasts in the truest sense, rejected by
the very society that they once served with all
their might, but by virtue of law and tradition,
they remain samurai. While they have few so-
cial rights in the eyes of the shogunate, they are
empowered by the system that rejected them.
They are Tokugawa Japan’s ugliest truth,
a view of how honor is not the impenetrable
shield that it is claimed to be—and they are its
noblest secret, warriors that continue to fight for
what they believe in even after being cast down
from their position. Much like the 47 men that
died for the honor of the Asano family, ronin are
a paradox to the nobility of Japan. At once, they
are defiant of the normal caste system even as
they reap the benefits of being samurai. They
seem to hold nothing sacred, even as many of
them are seen as more heroic and pious than the
samurai that despise them.
Origins of the
Ronin
Historically, a ronin was a masterless samu-
rai during the feudal period of Japan that lasted
from 1185 to 1868. Ronin literally translates
as “wave man,” meaning one who is tossed
about, like a wave in the sea. A samurai typi-
cally became masterless from the ruin or fall of
his master, or after the loss of his master’s favor
or privilege. The term originated in the Nara
and Heian periods, when it originally referred to
farmers and warriors who had fled or deserted
their master’s land.
During the two and a half centuries of the
Tokugawa Period, with the shogunate’s rigid
The Way of the outcast
class system and laws, the number of ronin
greatly increased. In previous ages, samurai
were easily able to move between masters and
even between occupations, and marry between
classes. However, during the Edo period, sam-
urai were restricted from doing so, and were
above all else forbidden to become employed by
another master without their previous master’s
permission. Also, low-level samurai, often poor
and without choice, were forced to quit or es-
cape their master due to circumstances beyond
their control.
Traditionally in Japanese culture, ronin
are generally somewhat disreputable; a target
of humiliation or satire. Although it is consid-
ered undesirable to be a ronin, as it meant being
without a stipend from a lord, it was also once
considered necessary to the life experience of
any true samurai. There is even an expression,
“Seven times down, eight times up,” which sig-
nified that a samurai would be dispatched on a
year-long wandering mission seven times over
his career, each time returning to the service
of his lord. This wandering period, called the
musha shugyo (“warrior’s pilgrimage”) became
significantly less common as the period wore
on, eventually becoming nearly extinct as a way
of life.
The undesirability of ronin status was main-
ly a discrimination imposed by other samurai.
As thoroughly bound (though unusually liter-
ate) men, most samurai resented the personal
freedom enjoyed by wandering ronin. There
are many tales of just ronin, defending poor vil-
lagers against haughty, arrogant samurai who
would kill anyone unlucky enough to offend.
On the other hand, there are also stories of the
lordless, undisciplined, unemployed, and bitter
ex-samurai. These ronin were little more than
urban troublemakers, who were in desperate
need of a new cause.
The concept of a ronin is similar of that to
the black knights of feudal Europe, men who
have the training and inclination to be warriors,
as well as noble blood or birth, but who are be-
105
The Omni System™ Ronin

The Tale of the 47 Ronin

The well-known “Tale of the 47 Ronin” illustrates the complicated view of ronin held by the
medieval Japanese.

In 18th century Japan, a daimyo by the name of Kira insulted a daimyo called Asano, a sub-
ordinate who was visiting his castle. Asano promptly drew his sword in response, but only
succeeded in wounding Kira and was ordered to commit seppuku for drawing a weapon in
his superior’s castle. Many of Asano’s followers believed that Kira’s insult was intentionally
designed to provoke Asano into rash action, eliminating a talented—and potentially danger-
ous—subordinate. Regardless of the reasons, Asano did indeed commit ritual suicide as any
honorable samurai should.

Forty-seven of Asano’s samurai, now ronin, swore vengeance against their master’s master.
Kira, realizing the danger he faced from the servants of his subordinate, had the men and
their families placed under constant surveillance in an attempt make vengeance impossible.
The ronin scattered, leaving their families and wandering the countryside for years, pretend-
ing to become drunkards and gamblers, men broken by their loss of honor. Over time sus-
picions finally relented, and the surveillance of Asano’s ronin was ended. Kira had finally
dropped his guard.

More than two years later, during a blizzard, the ronin converged on Kira’s castle and killed
him in a dramatic assault. The men then calmly turned themselves in to the authorities, and
they were ordered to commit mass seppuku. With their suicides, the revenge of the 47 ronin
was complete.

On the one hand, many would say that the 47 men should have simply followed their master
into death honorably in the first place, but vengeance has long been a part of the samurai
tradition. By forsaking their honor and remaining alive, the ronin redeemed their master’s
honor with their bloody revenge. Not a samurai present at the death of the 47 ronin was
unmoved by their nobility and honor—yet, as ronin, they were supposed to be honorless
dogs. In many ways, allowing the 47 ronin to commit seppuku at all was a tacit approval of
their actions, long after blood feuds between families had been condemned by the Tokugawa
government.

Their lives, like the life of any wave man, were a contradiction that captivated the minds of
the Japanese ruling class.

reft of home and lord due to inexplicable cir-
cumstance. To be a ronin is even more difficult
than the path of the black knights, however, as
ronin were literally men with no place in soci-
ety. Many samurai, especially poetically mind-
ed ones, view ronin as “lone wolves,” hunters
cast out from their pack and roaming the land
free of burden. Some romantics even think of
ronin as purer servants of bushido than other
warriors, since they can follow the dictates of

106

their honor without being held down by politics
or conflicting interests.
The shogunate made no provision for ronin
in its laws, and the caste system was not created
with them in mind. In truth, the general view of
society on the problem of ronin was simply to
ignore the existence of the problem. The ronin
will not be ignored, however, and anyone who
does so is liable to find a nasty surprise waiting
for him.
Life and Death as
a Wave Man
In the Edo era, the shogunate greatly feared
the possibility of rebellion, so it became com-
mon practice to accuse suspect daimyo of dis-
loyalty to the bakufu. When a daimyo was ac-
cused, he often had to commit suicide to prove
his loyalty to the shogunate. However, when
done properly, a daimyo’s property would re-
vert to the shogunate rather than to his heir,
enriching the government but leaving all of the
lord’s retainers without employment or direc-
tion. Most of them would commit suicide as
well, but some would refuse to do so without
explicit permission from their lord—a permis-
sion that could now never be granted. Some
even remained alive with the explicit mission to
return their lord’s land and property to his heir,
or to undo the shame brought upon his house by
the false accusation.
A few ronin are born into their station, the
children of masterless samurai, assured of their
birthright only by a flimsy piece of paper or the
records of a local shrine. Since so few ronin
ever have children (at least, legitimate children),
this is the least common method of becoming
a wave man, as well as perhaps being the least
fair. While a ronin that has left the service of
his lord is at least partly responsible for his posi-
tion—after all, he could always kill himself, and
even a dishonorable suicide is better than a dis-
The Way of the outcast
honorable life in the eyes of many samurai—but
a ronin born into his station is the result of two
samurai’s disgraces, and a compound insult on
top of that (since samurai are not supposed to
marry or have children without their lord’s per-
mission). With no prospect for advancement,
the kindest thing that could be done with such a
child is to abandon him in a peasant village with
no indication of his birth. He might grow up a
peasant with no family, but at least he will be
fed and have a place in the world.
All ronin seek new lords, if only temporary
ones. A few ronin naturally hope to eventu-
ally find a permanent home in the service of a
daimyo. Unfortunately, finding such a place is
difficult at best, and most wave men spend their
entire lives drifting from one paying job to the
next—or simply starving and living on the edge
of poverty. Some wave men are hired by rich
merchants as bodyguards, which—while terri-
bly shameful to be ruled over by a peasant—is
better than starving to death on the road. Some
others become rogues or robbers, bandits living
off of the misfortune of others. All wave men
are poor, almost by definition, so some have to
sell their katana and other armaments just to live.
This is just one more indignity to be suffered by
individuals who have already endured much to
survive as long as they have. Such swordless
ronin usually put on fake katana made of bam-
boo, called takemitsu.
A ronin has no master, and therefore no
obligation, no liege—and no honor. They are
classified under the caste system as hinin, non-
persons with no legal recourse, but at the same
time they are still samurai, entitled to carry
swords, learn martial skills, and travel freely.
Many Japanese, noble and commoner alike, see
the ronin as lower than even the foulest eta since
they have no defined place in society. At least
eta were born to be the dirt under others’ feet.
Under the system of seisatsu yodatsu imposed
by the shogunate, a ronin cannot even give up
his sword and become a farmer or merchant—to
actually work for his living, even as an outcast
samurai, would undermine the entire notion of
107
The Omni System™
noble supremacy.
Many samurai view ronin with distrust not
just because of their status as wild cards outside
of society, but because for every unjustly outcast
ronin, there is another who was banished from
service because of great personal failure. Samu-
rai do not fear death, only failure, and as living
representations of failure, ronin are a walking
108
Ronin
nightmare to many loyal warriors. Many samu-
rai think of ronin as lowly dogs, no better than
wandering curs on the street. Wise samurai
know the truth, however; ronin are not street
mutts but lone wolves, dangerous animals cast
out from their pack and become vicious without
companionship.
Because of these attitudes, most samurai re-

act to ronin as they would to any other distaste-
ful or unpleasant reality: they ignore it. Until a
ronin makes a nuisance of himself or becomes a
local problem, most samurai will simply dismiss
his presence, often not even acknowledging his
existence. The few that do notice are the ones
dangerous to a ronin’s wandering existence.
Some are looking for pawns in political games,
expendable servants for a dangerous mission,
scapegoats for a personal ploy, or just trouble.
Since ronin have no lord to protect their honor,
or to inquire after their deaths, some bushi view
ronin as wandering target practice for their mar-
tial skills. Not every samurai will go around
chopping down ronin as he meets them, but
it does add yet another element of danger to a
ronin’s existence.
Most ronin come across as intensely self-
ish, especially compared to the ideal of bushido,
which requires that a samurai be ready to self-
lessly sacrifice himself at a moment’s notice.
Their rogue wandering state makes them con-
stantly isolated from their peers and disdained
even by their inferiors. Many grow bitter about
their state, and a few even wind up eventually
committing hara-kiri to escape their dreary ex-
istence.
Those that remain strong against their situ-
ation and do not succumb to the easy lure or
banditry or robbery, however, are the stuff that
heroes are made of. By striving against their
outcast existence while trying to remain heroes,
some ronin become shining exemplars of the
true essence of bushido. By obeying its tenets
with no thought—or even possibility—of re-
ward, a ronin can prove himself a paragon of
virtue despite his lowly station.
As wild cards in the strictly stratified soci-
ety of Tokugawa Japan, ronin act as a catalyst
for events, often causing previous stagnant situ-
ations to suddenly burst into action. Think of
the example of two neighboring daimyo that
have long sought to settle a matter of territorial
dispute. Suddenly a ronin appears in a border
town between their lands—has one of them
The Way of the outcast
hired outside help to turn the tables against the
other? Could he be an assassin, or the master
of some previously unknown sword technique?
Even if the ronin is really just passing through,
these two lords are unlikely to believe such a
thing and immediately begin frantically striving
to gain control of this wild card for themselves.
This lone ronin’s mere presence has now upset
a previously fragile equilibrium and sent the
region’s masters scrambling to reassert some
semblance of balance.
This is the power of a ronin. Not force of
arms or martial prowess (though many have it),
or cleverness and cunning (though again pos-
sessed by many), or great influence or wealth
(which almost none possess)—but simply their
nature as trained warriors from an elite caste of
warriors, now freed from all social restrictions
and inhibitions. In a land where disputes can
often be settled by a single skilled swordsman,
and where large-scale warfare is essentially no
longer a concern, a ronin represents a significant
possible resource—or a major threat.
As men and women in charge of their own
destinies, rather than controlled by powerful and
distant masters, the ronin may well be a decid-
ing factor in the ultimate fate of Japan, and of its
Tokugawa-controlled shogunate.
Freedom and
Isolation
It might seem cool to be a masterless samu-
rai, wandering the land and righting wrongs. To
the Western eye, it must even seem very much
like the heroic ideal: doing what is right without
the constraint of heavy rules or burdens. Ronin
are more like what Westerners think of when
they think of heroes and adventurers—strong
loners who live by their wits and talents without
a care in the world.
109
The Omni System™
Well, except where they’re going to be
sleeping tonight.
Or what they’ll eat.
Or the fact that even if they have money, a
village might simply refuse to serve them be-
cause the village’s samurai master hates ronin.
Life is lonely as a ronin. They have no al-
lies, no free room and board, and no prospects.
A ronin’s life is basically a continuing search
for a way to survive from one day to the next
in a world that has no place for him. He will
never be completely accepted in any situation,
not even among other ronin (who surely have
their own problems to deal with). Should he
find gainful employment with a noble lord, he is
probably being used as cannon fodder (since the
lord’s own men are far too valuable to waste on
suicide missions) or acting as a gesture or mes-
sage to one of that lord’s rivals.
The freedom to choose your own path is also
the freedom to starve. No one can tell a ronin
what to do—barring him breaking the law, ob-
viously—but no one is willing to stick his neck
out for one either. Ronin can exist in groups,
but they work better as loners, and Tokugawa
Japan is not a land that is kind to individuals
who can’t play well with others. Some ronin
can make it into a group of regular samurai, es-
pecially if they have been hired as an expend-
able warrior, but they rarely are seen as part of
that group. Typically, the samurai in question
resent the intrusion of a “lone wolf” into their
previously tightly knit “pack.”
Some samurai can eventually look past their
cultural prejudices, but most ronin will go their
whole lives without recognition, without friend-
ship, and without thanks for their good deeds.
110
Ronin
Entertainers
and
Professionals
Under the Tokugawa caste system, one is
defined as a heimin if one works for a living.
However, the definition of “work” is a matter
of question at times with seisatsu yodatsu, and
many of the “normal” professions of Tokugawa
Japan are labeled as hinin occupations. Most
entertainers are hinin, since they do not labor
for a living, create anything permanent or even
move the fruits of others’ labors between peo-
ple. In general, performers and artists are seen
as lazy scoundrels looking to earn a living off of
the sweat of their betters.
At the same time, entertainers as a class
are seen as both necessary and vital to the en-
richment of samurai culture. They allow the
straight-laced bushi an opportunity to unwind
and enjoy themselves, while the discussions of
courtiers and nobles would be rather dull with-
out the latest noh performance to talk about.
The real problem in discussing the status
of performers and professionals is that most
forms of artistic endeavor that samurai favor are
expected to be mastered by the samurai them-
selves. The ones that are considered dishonor-
able are typically pursuits that require a great
deal of time to perform and leave no lasting
legacy. Thus, acting and street performing are
regarded as dishonorable, while painting and
flower arranging are seen as honorable. Even
so, watching such performers is not dishonor-
able—just entertaining.

Geisha
For centuries, perhaps since as early as the
Heian Period, certain women have acted as art-
ists and entertainers to the samurai elite. These
women, called geisha (literally, “person of the
arts”), are servants to the nobility and legend-
ary performers. Their grace and beauty cause
even the mightiest warrior to become enamored
of their charms, but they remain distant and un-
touchable. Geisha have been the origin of more
poems—and more tragedies—than virtually any
other single group of people in Japanese history,
other than the samurai themselves.
Geisha are traditionally trained from child-
hood in special schools run by geisha houses
(okiya). The girls to become geisha are typi-
cally bought from poor families, with the house
becoming both mother and father as it took re-
sponsibility for their raising and training. Dur-
ing their childhood, apprentice geisha (called
The Way of the outcast
maiko) work first as household maids, then as
assistants to the house’s senior geisha. This al-
lows them to continue their training while still
contributing to the costs of their upkeep and
education.
The course of study starts from a young age
(the best houses raise their girls from the age of
three or four) and encompasses a wide variety
of arts, including musical instruments, tradition-
al forms of singing, dance, tea ceremony, flower
arranging, poetry and literature. By watching
and assisting senior geisha, the students become
skilled in the complex traditions surrounding ki-
mono, in various games and the art of conversa-
tion, and in dealing with clients.
Perhaps the most notable feature of the
geisha is her white-painted face. This style of
makeup was popular among noblewomen of
the Heian Period, including red-painted lips,
blushed cheeks and stenciled eyebrows, but it
no longer includes the once-traditional blacked-
out teeth. Geisha often wear their hair in com-
plicated buns and braids, styles that would be
impossible to maintain without the service staff
of a geisha house.
Geisha houses are not open to the public.
Rather, an existing client of the house (who
was typically introduced by his father or a close
friend) must make an introduction to the house
owner of someone he hopes will make a good
client. For several months after that, the new
client’s behavior is judged against both himself
and against his introducer. Because of this, a
geisha house’s clientele tend to remain exclu-
sive. Most geisha houses are also tea houses,
where a samurai can rest and relax, viewing art
and culture while releasing tension.
If a particular samurai starts to appreciate a
single geisha’s performances more than those of
her compatriots, he may request time spent with
her privately. An appropriate fee is discussed
with the house’s owner, measured in the amount
of time it takes for a stick of incense to burn (sen-
kodai, or “incense fee”). The samurai may then
111
The Omni System™
spend time behind closed doors with his chosen
geisha, as she sings, dances, plays a musical in-
strument, plays board games or simply has long
conversations with him. These exchanges never
involve sexual activity—geisha are not prosti-
tutes, but skilled entertainers. A given geisha
might decide to become sexually involved with
a client, but such things are always done outside
of the context of her role as a geisha.
Occasionally, a geisha may choose to take a
danna (an archaic word for “husband”), which
is typically a wealthy man who has the means
to support a geisha mistress (and to buy her con-
tract from her house if she does not own it her-
self). Although a geisha may fall in love with
her danna, the affair is customarily contingent
on the danna’s ability to financially support the
geisha’s lifestyle. The traditional conventions
and values within such a relationship are very
intricate and no well understood even by most
samurai. Because of this, the true intimate role
of the geisha remains the object of much mys-
tery even to those that have spent their whole
lives seeing them.
Why all of the tradition and pomp? Why
do samurai find geisha so fascinating, especially
considering their low birth and high cost? What
do they find with these entertainers that they
cannot find with other samurai? Simply put: ac-
ceptance.
A samurai among his fellows, even his
closest friends, is constantly being judged and
evaluated. When he steps into a courtly func-
tion, doubly so. On the battlefield, a samurai is
expected to be fearless, and he is expected to be
without flaw in his personal life. A samurai does
not show his feelings publicly, to the point that
even a single tear is a major show of emotion.
He cannot afford to have doubts, because even
one doubt could cost him—and all who depend
on him—their livelihoods, or even their lives.
A samurai who enters the karyukai (“flower
and willow world”) of the geisha enters a place
where time is measured not in deadlines and ne-
112
Ronin
cessities but in the burning of sticks of incense.
He is catered to and treated like a person rather
than a stoic and perfect warrior. In private, with
a geisha of his choosing, this is even truer. A
geisha is not of high birth, and thus cannot judge
a samurai or find him wanting. He can divulge
to her fears and worries that he would not dare
speak even to his own wife. He can cry openly
in front of her, and she will simply wipe his tears
away and comfort him. Only in the sheltered
rooms of a geisha can a samurai be completely
and wholly himself.
Most geisha would never dream of abus-
ing this relationship, since it would impact their
profession as a whole and their personal worth
as a skilled performer. A few, however, set
themselves up as little queens of the hanamachi
(“flower towns,” city districts devoted to enter-
tainment), using their connections to powerful
samurai to gain personal favors and extravagant
gifts. From their houses, they establish networks
of contacts and allies that makes these mama-
san the undisputed mistresses of information in
the major cities.
Geisha do not typically leave their houses
for extended periods of time unless they are
looking to set up their own establishment (usu-
ally after years of scrimping and saving) or trav-
eling with their danna. Sometimes, a group of
geisha will travel between the major cities of Ja-
pan, shuffling their performers between houses
owned by the same group in order to keep the
local entertainment fresh and new. This is rarer
than traveling acting troupes, obviously, since
most samurai who can afford geisha eventually
wind up with a “favorite” that they would hate
to see leave town.
Performers
This category includes everyone from street
entertainers and actors to puppeteers and sumo
wrestlers. Because their occupations do not in-
volve either creating goods or “skilled labor,”

performers of all sorts are considered hinin in
the caste system. They exist beneath society,
barely a step above the repulsive eta in the eyes
of the law. The basic hypocrisy of seisatsu yo-
datsu is made manifest in their existence, how-
ever, since few samurai would consider a life
without entertainment much of a life at all.
The most common type of performers in
the cities of Japan are the gomune, or street per-
formers. These gypsy-like figures live in com-
munities of their own, populating the worst parts
of the floating world and honing their skills in
these private enclaves. Whole families of per-
formers exist here, passing their skills on from
generation to generation and refining their tech-
niques in the same way that a bushi would refine
his sword style.
Every sort of public performance imagin-
able can be found among the gomune, from jug-
gling and dancing to knife-throwing and spon-
taneous sketch comedy. More than a few street
performers are also budoka, granted permis-
sion to carry weapons by the shogunate or by a
daimyo friendly to one of their ancestors. These
budokai (warrior-entertainers) make great pub-
lic spectacles of their unique training, such as
weapon drills, mock dueling and challenges of
martial skill. Some budokai specialize in spe-
cific tasks, such as blindfolded knife-throwing,
while others are more general, such as arrow
tricks.
Actors and playwrights are dealt with else-
where, in the section discussing the culture of
outcasts, but not a small number of professional
acting troupes exist in each major city. A few
are even traveling troupes, moving between cit-
ies and the courts of distant daimyo, risking the
dangers of travel in exchange for the fame and
wealth due such efforts.
The last kind of “entertainer” found in major
cities are the sexual kind. Prostitution has never
been approved of by the shogunate formally,
but it is rarely attacked by the authorities and
it is technically legal. Houses of prostitution
The Way of the outcast
exist in the ukiyo districts of every significant
metropolis, typically run by local criminals. A
few independent houses of prostitution manage
to survive without the protection of organized
crime, but these tend to be secretly owned by
samurai or by merchants wealthy enough to pro-
vide good security. Individual prostitutes rarely
last long in big cities, though many villages are
poor enough that they only have one whore.
Like geisha houses, most of the women that
work in a house of prostitution are owned by the
house, sold their by their parents at a young age,
leaving them with few options in life.
Ninja
Ninja or shinobi (literally, “one who en-
dures”) were said to be agents of espionage and
assassination in feudal Japan. It is popularly
believed that the ancient ninja were peasants,
forbidden under law from studying the samurai
swordplay techniques because of feudal Japan’s
caste structure. Others contend that many ninja
were also samurai, operating as spies in the ser-
vice of their daimyo. The latter is more likely as
there aren’t any records of peasant ninja, while
there are many samurai families who are record-
ed as being ninja.
Ninja are said to have made use of weap-
ons that could be easily concealed or disguised
as common tools. Weapons commonly attrib-
uted to them included the shuriken (throwing
star) and bo (staff). In popular folklore, ninja
also used special short swords called ninja-to.
Ninja-to were smaller than katana but larger
than wakizashi, and were supposedly created by
grinding down broken katana found on battle-
fields.
Truthfully, as with the ninja themselves,
the truth of their nature is shrouded in mystery.
This section attempts, as best as possible, to ex-
plain the historical context of the ninja and their
influence on the Tokugawa Period. (See below
as well for more information on “The Mythical
Ninja.”)
113
The Omni System™
Origins of the Ninja
The word ninja originated in the early
twelfth century in the mountains of Japan to
mean someone who practiced ninjutsu, a mar-
tial art often called “the art of stealth” or “the
art of invisibility.” It derives from the Japanese
phrase shinobi no mono. This phrase is written
with two kanji, pronounced renzhe in Manda-
rin. The first character, the same one used for
ninjutsu, means “endurance” or “to persevere,”
but the meaning was later extended to mean “to
conceal” and “move stealthily.” The second
character of the phrase simply means “person.”
The ninja are sometimes referred to by another
Chinese term: lín gui, or “forest devils.”
Due to the fact that ninja rarely left anything
in writing or boasted of their achievements, the
history of the ninja is shrouded in secrecy, so the
great majority of stories circulating about them
are difficult to prove. Minamoto Yoshitsune,
who employed surprise as a major weapon in
his victories, is said in a popular folktale to have
been educated by a tengu (raven spirit) to learn
the tactic and thus became a ninja. In truth, he
was taught by Buddhist monks who educated
him with Chinese texts like Sun Tzu’s The Art
of War.
One of the earliest roots of the ninja training,
Togakure Ryu, reportedly originated in the late
Heian Period. Iga and Koga are two of the most
famous ninja styles, and are often pitted against
each other in fiction. (In reality, they were allies
and worked together in mutual defense pacts.)
Both of these claim that they originated in the
Heian Period.
Only a few records remain from the Kamak-
ura Period. A famous general named Kusunoki
Masashige used certain clever tactics against
enemies that remotely resemble ninja tactics.
From the Muromachi Period there are even few-
er records. Both of these times were generally
peaceful, and many battles had tournament-like
aspects that barred a surprise attack. During the
114
Ronin
Sengoku Jidai, the Warring States Period, ninja
flourished, as a war was often determined by
how well warlords collected information. Al-
most all famous daimyo had ninja, or a ninja-
like group, under his control and they served as
their eyes and ears, sometimes as their hands.
Some daimyo were even reportedly ninja them-
selves.
Indeed, the Sanada clan, a prominent noble
family all the way through the Tokugawa Peri-
od, was reportedly a ninja clan. This is widely
agreed-upon due to the successful defense of
their castle with only around three thousand
against an overwhelming force of 50,000 led by
Tokugawa Hidetada. Their amazing tactics—
complete with splitting the house in two, one
side each supporting Toyotomi and Tokugawa
in order to survive no matter which side finally
won—gave them a legendary status among the
common people. Later, they would come to be
called Sanada Ju Yushi, “ten heroes under Sana-
da,” in fictions where they used ninja skills to
defeat everything but their jealous wives who
would, of course be ninja themselves.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa
shogunate, used ninja well and frequently, con-
trolling both the Iga and Koga clans in unifying
and ultimately rising to the rank of shogun. In
his dramatic escape through the mountainous
landscape of Nara after Oda Nobunaga’s assas-
sination, Iga ninja led by Hattori Hanzo helped
Ieyasu escape, gaining his favor. Ieyasu actually
formalized the unity between the ninja families
by establishing the Kogi Onmitsu, an espionage
agency within the shogunate whose job was to
observe the actions of daimyo not currently liv-
ing within the walls of Edo. This agency’s exis-
tence was open knowledge, allowing the shogun
to use its influence as an additional threat to po-
tentially rebellious nobles.
The last battle where ninja reportedly fought
for the shogune was in the siege of Shimabara
under the Tokugawa shogunate. This battle saw
Christian monks and lay people fighting samu-
rai and ninja both night and day for weeks on

end. As the shogunate became stable, ninja
were effectively unemployed, much like their
ronin counterparts. Some became oniwabans-
hu, a semi-secret group of bodyguards and intel-
ligence officers who worked tending gardens of
the Edo castle and eavesdropping on unaware
daimyo. The oniwabanshu stood in counterpart
to the onmitsu, the former spying on local lords
where the latter gathered distant intelligence.
Some former ninja masters wrote books as
collections of ninja knowledge for historical
purposes. Yet most knowledge was still passed
on by the oral method and by training, as most
ninja believed that their service would soon be
needed once again. Unfortunately for the ninja,
the peace of the Edo period would continue for
over two hundred years.
In the Edo period, ninja became popular he-
roes in books and plays, subject to the same ro-
mantic inflation of the truth as were the samurai.
Many mythical ninja powers—such as becom-
ing invisible, jumping over tall fences, casting
spells and so on—were all invented in these fic-
titious accounts of ninja. The ninja themselves
did not correct these errors, and some may have
even written these stories themselves to increase
their value should their services have become
needed again.
One of the lesser-known contributions made
by ninja is their involvement in furthering the
research of fireworks as a result of their devel-
opment of pyrotechnic weaponry. Unlike many
samurai, who considered firearms dirty at best,
the ninja would gladly use gunpowder weapons.
Their range and penetration values were great-
The Way of the outcast
er than those of virtually any other projectile
weapon of the time, and their occasional back-
fires were easily offset by the surprise value of
the loud flash and bang of firearms.
Ninja Culture
and Tactics
A ninja organization would be headed by
a jonin, literally “high ninja.” Under jonin
would be several chunin (“middle ninja”), and
under the chunin would be several genin (“low
ninja”). Upon receiving a mission from their
daimyo, the jonin would use the chunin to se-
lect necessary personnel from among the genin.
Some ninja groups would be smaller and may
have been less structured, but generally ninja
respected discipline and order as much as any
other military organization.
While ninja are often depicted as male, fe-
males were sometimes ninja as well—more fre-
quently, in fact, than women were permitted to
wield weapons as samurai-ko. A female ninja
would be called kunoichi; the characters are
supposedly derived from the strokes that make
up the kanji for “woman.” Though sometimes
depicted as experienced prostitutes who learned
the secrets of an enemy by seduction, in truth
they rarely used that method. Most prostitutes
in medieval Japan were in brothels, and few
would take their chances with a freelance pros-
titute; in many places, in fact, it was illegal to
do so. Kunoichi were more likely to employ
traditional ninja methods of infiltration and theft
than they were to utilize seduction.
Ninja had many rules in their private so-
ciety, and the most important rule was that of
keeping the secrets of ninja themselves and of
the daimyo who gave them their orders. The
severest crime possible was leaving a ninja fam-
ily without authorization. Such a rogue agent
would be called nukenin, the ninja equivalent of
a ronin, and his or her family members would be
tasked to bring him back, dead or alive.
115
The Omni System™
Most of the time, a ninja did not, for obvi-
ous reasons, dress in an all black suit. It was ac-
tually a shade of dark red, dark green, dark blue,
or dark brown, as such colors offered a better
camouflage in natural terrain and cityscapes.
The idea of the all black suit may come from
the clothes stagehands wore at shadow theaters.
In traditional noh theater, the stagehands wear
all-black costumes to indicate that they are not
visible to the audience; in such plays where the
prowess of the ninja as spies and assassins is
discussed, the ninja wear similar costumes to
indicate their “invisibility.” The association
became more common as many ninja would
disguise themselves as actors and performers to
travel inconspicuously. Even with this in mind,
ninja rarely dressed as such, since an important
aspect of their work was in espionage—the art
of disguise, rather than stealth.
Common disguises of ninja included monks,
waiters and waitresses, traveling salesmen, art-
ists, performers, and ronin—all persons whose
presence would be unquestioned or simply dis-
missed by arrogant samurai. Disguises were
selected on the basis of their unobtrusiveness
in a given environment. When disguised as a
traveling salesman, a popular choice of product
was herbal medicine. This let ninja have weap-
ons like a dagger or a sickle for self-defense
without revealing their true nature. Because
they were so well disguised, in fact, some have
even suggested that Matsuo Basho, a famous
traveling poet of the period, was actually a ninja
employed by the shogun to keep a watch over
daimyo, and that the haiku he published were
really secret codes telling other ninja some un-
known secrets.
Ninja used several special weapons against
their enemies, the shuriken (throwing stars) and
tekagi (hand claws) probably being the most fa-
mous. The makibishi, a type of caltrop made of
iron spikes, is also famous. It could be thrown
on the ground to injure the chaser’s feet or laid
down on an enemy’s escape path so that the tar-
gets could be cut down or shot down with bows
and arrows while they looked for another, but
116
Ronin
it could also be covered with poison so the vic-
tim would die slowly. Occasionally, makibishi
would be loaded with gunpowder to explode
upon impact, further damaging a pursuer’s
foot.
Some ninja disguised themselves as wander-
ing monks and used the traditional flute of the
Zen Buddhist sect, the shakuhachi, as a power-
ful blunt weapon. Many government agents and
ninja disguised themselves as komuso, traveling
musicians, since one could travel about in com-
plete anonymity and gather information. There
were even short pieces that were supposed to be
played by one komuso greeting another. These
melodies tended to be very difficult to outsid-
ers of the sect. If the second komuso did not
respond, the first would know that the other was
probably a spy.
Ninja also employed a variety of weapons
and tricks using gunpowder. They used timed
fuses that would burn down on the target after
they left, causing explosions long after their pres-
ence on the scene. They constructed cannons
that could be used to shoot fiery sparks as well
as projectiles at a target. They even built land
mines that used a mechanical fuse or a lighted,
oil-soaked string. These techniques were used
to make fireworks in the peacetime of the Edo
period, but were originally derived from deadly
ninja tricks. Secrets of making desirable mixes
of gunpowder were strictly guarded secrets in
many ninja clans, their revelation to outsiders
punishable by death.
Many ninja tools were everyday tools that
would not be conspicuous even when confiscat-
ed. One known tool used by ninja was irogome
(“colored rice”). Irogome was uncooked rice
seeds dyed in five or six different colors: red,
black, white, yellow, blue, and sometimes
brown. They would be placed on the ground or
handed from ninja to ninja. Each combination
carried certain meanings like “all clear” or “an
enemy check point is ahead.”
Despite popular beliefs, nunchaku were

never used by the ninja, or indeed any mainland
Japanese traditional martial art. Karate, judo,
kendo and most other martial arts were never
practiced by the ninja either, as they were most-
ly formalized in the late Edo period (or even
later) or were from foreign lands. Ninja prac-
ticed a variant of jujutsu and kenjutsu that could
only be summed up as ninjutsu. This was less
a martial art than a philosophy, one in which
the ability to defend oneself and to endure great
hardship were both highly prized.
Contrary to the marketing of sword manu-
facturers, there was no such thing as a ninja-to,
or any other sword that only ninja used. Using
a sword with inferior strength, blade geometry
and cutting ability would not have been useful
to a ninja’s purpose, which was deadly serious.
Even more baffling would be a ninja carrying
a sword that could have automatically identi-
fied him as a spy! To be less conspicuous, ninja
usually just carried daisho, since such weapons
were carried by the samurai caste. For decep-
tion, some ninja would carry a wakizashi in a
katana sheath to allow faster drawing of the
sword and cause the opponent to miscalculate.
On assassination missions, ninja were more
likely to use cheap weapons. There was always
the possibility that weapons would need to be
disposed of if something went wrong, so expen-
sive swords were naturally poor choices. Ninja
techniques extended to the use of ordinary ob-
jects as lethal weapons, and one of the primary
lessons of ninjutsu was the use of everything—
self, normal objects, even the terrain—as weap-
ons. A ninja assassin was much more likely to
pose as a tradesman and kill his target with a
hammer after getting close than to dress in cam-
ouflage and use a sword after springing from
ambush.
The Mythical Ninja
The ninja are no less romanticized by his-
tory than any other aspect of the legendary
Tokugawa Period, and even more than some.
Virtually every Westerner has heard the word
The Way of the outcast
ninja, and knows enough about it to make cer-
tain associations. Stealth, invisibility, throwing
stars, huge leaps and black pajamas tend to enter
these discussions with surprising regularity.
While the historical ninja were skilled infil-
trators, spies, martial artists and even assassins,
they certainly possessed none of the strange and
mystical powers attributed them by later popu-
lar culture. Indeed, the prowess of the ninja was
exaggerated even at the time in which they were
still operating, partly out of a sense of artistic
license and partly as an effort by the ninja them-
selves to build their reputation large enough to
instill fear and uncertainty into their enemies.
After all, if you are looking for a black-clad,
lightning-throwing teleporter, you certainly
won’t notice the household servant who is slow-
ly slipping poison into your morning rice. And
if a heavily-guarded daimyo turns up dead in
his own castle with no sign of entry by a hostile
foe… well, it’s easier to believe that a ninja did
it than that one of his “loyal” men sold him out
to a higher bidder.
In myths and legends, however, the ninja
take on a far more fearsome aspect than ever
they did in real history. A ninja has sacrificed
his honor to serve his master, has chosen to live
in the shadows that his lord might live in the
light. Any number of things could be lurking
in the darkness where the ninja has chosen to
live—demons, monsters, dark magic and far
worse await the shadow warrior. To combat
such things, a ninja must develop strange, even
unnatural, powers of his own. Magic tricks, in-
vocations to forgotten gods, hypnotism—none
of these are too outlandish to ascribe to the ninja
of legend.
One of the most famous powers described
by the legends that has a basis in reality is kuji-
kiri, a form of mudra (hand postures) used by
students of ninjutsu to focus and calm their
minds. These mystical hand gestures can, for a
skilled student of the art, be used to take the form
of certain kanji. Combined with the meditative
arts of the ninja, these hand symbols would then
117
The Omni System™ Ronin

be transformed into physical effects, such as the them desperate or hasty in their decisions.
generation of energy attacks or mind control.
(As an interesting aside, the concept of “somat-
ic gestures” in most fantasy magic systems is
drawn from the idea of mudra exercises.)
Ainu and
Criminals Emishi
Bandit gangs often raid villages distant
from the shogunate’s immediate grasp. These
gangs are often led by ronin, one of the many
Emishi
reasons for the bad reputation of wave men,
The Emishi were natives of northern Hon-
and they can number as many as one hundred
shu that opposed and resisted the rule of the Jap-
strong. These gangs act as parasites on outlying
anese Emperors during the late Nara and early
communities, often enforcing the silence of the
Heian periods. At the end of the Heian period,
villagers by holding their children hostage or
those Emishi who were still outside the author-
simply by promising terrible retribution should
ity of the state became known as Ezo. Accord-
the shogun’s servants become involved.
ing to earlier Japanese tradition (and Ainu oral
history) the Emishi are said to be ancestors of,
Roving bandits still prove troublesome to
or related to, the Ainu. There are arguments and
travelers in the Edo period, though not usually
evidence for and against this theory.
near the eastern-central portion of Japan (the re-
gion surrounding Edo and Osaka). The shogun’s
The Emishi were represented by differ-
troops are thickest near the capital, making an
ent tribes. The Emishi in northeastern Honshu
assault against even the most tempting targets in
were semi-nomadic and relied on their horses in
the area an exercise in rank foolhardiness. Fur-
warfare. Their livelihood was based on hunting
ther away, though, a trader or merchant without
and gathering as well as the cultivation of grains
security of some sort is taking his life into his
such as millet, barley, wheat and beans. They
own hands. Even one bandit with a sword can
developed a unique style of warfare that relied
prove deadly to an unprepared merchant with-
on horse archery and hit and run tactics that
out a weapon or armor. These matters are fur-
proved very effective against the slower con-
ther complicated by the old habit that has not
temporary Japanese imperial army that relied
yet died out of some small villages turning to
on mostly heavily armed foot soldiers. The first
banditry when times become especially lean.
major attempts to subjugate the Emishi by the
emperors of Japan, particularly Emperor Kam-
The seas are also plagues by bandits—pi-
mu in the late 8th Century were largely unsuc-
rate bands called wako. These groups operate
cessful. The imperial armies modeled after the
almost identically to land-based bandits, save
mainland Chinese were no match for the brutal
that they have to rely on coastal terrain for con-
guerrilla tactics of the Emishi.
cealment rather than trees and hills, and they
are much more at the mercy of the elements.
During the 9th Century the emperors began
Wako also tend to grab bigger hauls on success-
to rely on the powerful regional clans, introduc-
ful raids, since ocean-going vessels are mostly
ing the title of shogun and relying on hereditary
limited to Dutch and Portuguese traders and the
warriors who later became the samurai. Ironi-
supply ships of the shogunate. They also tend
cally, it was the development of horse archery
to have fewer targets to pick from, often making
and the adoption of Emishi tactics by the early

118

Japanese warrior class that led to the Emishi de-
feat. They either submitted themselves to impe-
rial authority or migrated further north, some to
Hokkaido. By the mid-9th Century most of their
land in Honshu was conquered and they ceased
to be independent. However, they continued to
be influential in local politics as powerful Emi-
shi families who submitted themselves to Japa-
nese rule eventually created feudal domains in
the north that became semi-autonomous. In the
two centuries following the conquest a few of
these became regional states that came into con-
flict with the central government.
It is not known how much the Emishi pop-
ulation changed as Japanese settlers and fron-
tiersmen began to live in their territories even
before the conquest. The Japanese established
trading relations with them where horses were
imported and iron tools and weapons export-
ed. To complicate matters, some ethnic Japa-
nese allied themselves with the Emishi in their
wars against the Yamato court. The latter were
known in historical records as “Japanese cap-
tives” of the Emishi.
In many ways, the truth of the Emishi re-
mains a mystery even today. As a people that
were subjugated centuries ago, claiming to have
Emishi ancestry is hardly shameful (compared
to Ainu blood, which creates a great deal of so-
cial prejudice) but also hardly provable. At the
same time, many people believe that the Ainu
are descendants of the unconquered Emishi,
people who went north and returned “changed”
by their experiences in the distant wilderness of
Hokkaido.
Ainu
The Ainu are an ethnic group indigenous to
Hokkaido, the northern part of Honshu in North-
ern Japan, the Kuril Islands, much of Sakhalin,
and the southernmost third of the Kamchatka
peninsula. The word ainu simply means “hu-
man” in the Ainu language. There are most
The Way of the outcast
likely over one hundred thousand Ainu living
in Japan today; however, the exact figure is not
known as many Ainu hide their origins or in
many cases are not even aware of them, their
parents having kept it from them so as to protect
their children from racism.
The origins of the Ainu are uncertain. Some
historians believe that they derive from an an-
cient proto-Asian stock that may have occupied
most of Asia before the Han expansion. Vari-
ous other Asian indigenous peoples, from the
Ryukyu to Taiwan are also thought to be related
to them. The prevailing mythology in Japan has
been of the Ainu as a race of “noble savages,”
a proud but reclusive culture of hunter-gather-
ers distantly related to the conquered Emishi
people. That this mythology made it easier to
expropriate their lands is unquestioned. In fact,
the Ainu have been farmers from the earliest
centuries of the Common Era.
The Ainu language is significantly different
from Japanese in its syntax, phonology, mor-
phology and vocabulary. Although there have
been attempts to show that they are related, the
vast majority of modern scholars reject that the
relationship goes beyond contact, mutual bor-
rowing of words between Japanese and Ainu.
In fact, no attempt to show a relationship with
Ainu to any other language has gained wide ac-
ceptance, and Ainu is currently considered to be
a language isolated from all others.
Traditional Ainu culture is quite different
from Japanese culture. Never shaving after a
certain age, the men have full beards and mous-
taches. Men and women alike cut their hair
level with the shoulders at the sides of the head,
but trim it semi-circularly behind. The women
tattoo their mouths, arms and sometimes their
foreheads, starting at the onset of puberty. The
soot deposited on a pot hung over a fire of birch
bark is used for color in this process. The tra-
ditional dress of the Ainu is a robe spun from
the bark of the elm tree. It has long sleeves,
reaches nearly to the feet, is folded round the
body, and is tied with a girdle of the same mate-
119
The Omni System™
rial. Women also wear an undergarment of spun
cloth. In winter the skins of animals are worn,
with leggings of deerskin and boots made from
the skin of dogs or salmon. Both sexes are fond
of earrings, which are said to have been made
of grapevine in former times, as also are bead
necklaces called tamasay, which the women
prize highly.
Their traditional cuisine consists of the flesh
of bear, fox, wolf, badger, ox or horse, as well
as fish, fowl, millet, vegetables, herbs and roots.
They never eat raw fish or flesh, but always ei-
ther boil or roast it. Their traditional habitations
are reed-thatched huts, the largest being about
20 feet square, without partitions and having a
fireplace in the center. There is no chimney, but
only a hole at the angle of the roof; there is one
window on the eastern side and two doors. The
house of the village head was used as a public
meeting place when one was needed. Instead
of using furniture, they sit on the floor, which
is covered with two layers of mats, one of
rush, the other of flag; and for beds they spread
planks, hanging mats around them on poles, and
employing skins for coverlets. The men use
chopsticks when eating, while the women have
wooden spoons.
The Ainu believe in animism, or that every-
thing in nature has a kamuy (spirit or god) on
the inside, a similar belief to Japanese Shinto.
There is a hierarchy of the kamuy in Ainu lore.
The most important is grandmother hearth (fire),
then the kamuy of the mountain (animals), then
kamuy of the sea (sea animals), lastly every-
thing else. They have no priests by profession;
instead the village chief performs whatever re-
ligious ceremonies are necessary. Ceremonies
are confined to making libations of rice beer, ut-
tering prayers, and offering willow sticks with
wooden shavings attached to them. These sticks
are called inau (singular) and nusa (plural), and
they are placed on an altar used to sacrifice the
heads of killed animals. The Ainu people give
thanks to the gods before eating and pray to the
deity of fire in time of sickness. They believe
their spirits are immortal, and that their spirits
120
Ronin
will be rewarded hereafter by ascending to ka-
muy mosir (the Land of the Gods).
In many ways, the Ainu are to the Japanese
like the Native Americans are to the western set-
tlers of the 18th and 19th Centuries. They rep-
resent a truth about previous habitation which
a more powerful people would prefer to forget,
and the sentiment of “Go back where you came
from” is as commonly applied to Ainu as it was
to the Apaches. As a subculture in Japanese
society, the laws and caste system make no ar-
rangement for them, and a skin-wearing Ainu in
a major city would be as much an object of con-
fusion, bigotry and potential violence as a fur-
clad Eskimo in Tombstone, Arizona circa 1880.
In short, while most people regard the Ainu
as “noble savages,” they would prefer to admire
that nobility from a great distance if at all. The
samurai have not forgotten their origins as Emi-
shi-opposed clan warriors, and even the shogun
still holds his official title of “barbarian-quelling
general.” Their place in Japan is not assured,
but some still find their way into the main is-
lands. Their spirit quests and personal curiosity
often leads Ainu away from their traditional vil-
lages to explore the other islands.
Westerners
“The Japanese have nine faces and three
hearts.”
- Common Portuguese saying
The Europeans that have come to Japan
over the last few centuries barely understand the
Japanese people, and most have no real desire to
do so. To the Dutch and Portuguese who trade
with them, the Japanese are a barbaric lot still
wearing armor and wielding swords, submitting
themselves to a crazy despot who ritually mur-
ders Christians. Were it not for the vast profits
to be made off of Japanese silks and goods, it
is unlikely that any sailor would ever desire to
make the long and arduous trip to the unfriendly
nation of Japan.

In the Tokugawa Period, Westerners are
strictly limited to the island port of Dejima off
the coast of Nagasaki. Any “round-eye” found
anywhere else in Japan is subject to summary
execution for his presumption. By order of the
shogunate, any Westerner caught in any portion
of Japan other than Dejima port is considered an
enemy of the state, and one of the most danger-
ous. So great is the bakufu’s fear of imported
ideas that daimyo are not supposed to even in-
terrogate such trespassers before killing them.
In practice, of course, a “white barbarian”
who survives a shipwreck and falls into the
hands of a regional daimyo would be too valu-
The Way of the outcast
able a prize to execute immediately. He would
likely be first taught Japanese (no self-respect-
ing samurai will speak a Western tongue) and
then thoroughly questioned about his origins,
cargo, culture and history—and then executed.
After all, he would be too dangerous to allow in
an enemy’s hands, and allowing him to return
home alive might eventually allow the story to
get back to the shogunate.
Still, in a pseudo-historical game, there is no
reason that a Westerner might not be given spe-
cial permission to be in the country, perhaps at
the request of the shogun himself. Such a move
might represent the end of the sakoku isolation
121
The Omni System™
period, or it might just be a ploy to get enemies
of the bakufu to reveal themselves by introduc-
ing a new variable to the political scene.
Culture
Much of the culture of outcasts can be sum-
marized by the term ukiyo. Ukiyo, meaning
“floating world,” refers specifically to the im-
petuous young culture that bloomed in the urban
centers of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Osaka and
Kyoto that were a world unto themselves. It is
also an ironic allusion to the homophone term
“Sorrowful World,” the earthly plane of death
and rebirth from which Buddhists sought re-
lease.
Many outcasts—whether ronin or eta, per-
former or thief—saw themselves as trapped in
a world that changed on them from day to day,
but remained the same from year to year, rob-
bing them of any chance for advancement or
happiness. They made the world analogous to
the ocean, full of shifting tides and dangers for
the unwary but also full of beauty and riches for
the wise. Still, in many ways, they saw their
lives as adrift in the sea of humanity that flooded
the major cities, just one more face in a culture
that recognized no individuals. And, like being
adrift on the ocean, anyone who stopped swim-
ming would drown.
Not everything in the floating world was
hardship and poverty, however. Like the inner
city of modern America, or the art ghettoes of
Paris in the late 19th Century, culture flourished
in the ukiyo, much of which is still appreciated
in the present. Performance art and street enter-
tainment were common, present on nearly every
major street corner, and the shops and studios of
artists filled the merchant quarter. Tea houses
branched out from simply performing tradition-
al tea ceremonies for established clients to be-
come open houses of entertainment, providing
song and dance to a lower class of customers
than samurai. Theater broadened its horizons
122
Ronin
to the point that even some brash, young samu-
rai sought to make a place for themselves in the
masked kabuki productions.
An art form named for the floating world,
ukiyo-e (ink painting), rose to great popularity
in the metropolitan culture of Edo (Tokyo) dur-
ing the second half of the 17th Century, origi-
nating with the single color works of Hishikawa
Moronobu in the 1670’s. Ukiyo-e were afford-
able because they could be mass-produced.
They were meant for mainly townsmen, who
were generally not wealthy enough to afford an
original painting. The original subject of ukiyo-
e was city life, in particular activities and scenes
from the entertainment district. Beautiful cour-
tesans, bulky sumo wrestlers and popular actors
would be portrayed while engaged in appealing
activities. Later on, landscapes also became
popular. Political subjects, and individuals
above the lowest strata of society (courtesans,
wrestlers and actors), were not sanctioned in
these prints and very rarely appeared. Sex was
not a sanctioned subject either, but continually
appeared in ukiyo-e prints. Artists and publish-
ers were sometimes punished for creating these
sexually explicit shunga.
Also popular in the floating world was ka-
buki a form of theater developed originally in
1603. This style of dancing theater was so pop-
ular for a time after its creation that the founder
of the art, a priestess named Okuni, was asked to
perform before the imperial court. In the wake
of her success, rival troupes of actors quickly
formed, and kabuki was born as a dance ensem-
ble performed by women. The often ribald na-
ture of the performances drew crowds in droves.
Much like European acting of a century earlier,
however, the actresses of kabuki troupes were
often available for prostitution; for this reason,
the kanji for the art during the Edo period meant
“singing and dancing prostitute.” Women were
banned from the stage in 1629 by bakufu order,
more likely because the idea of women in sug-
gestive roles was a dangerous social concept
than because of the prostitution. Since kabuki
was already so popular, young male actors took

over the roles of women, and more emphasis
was placed on drama than on dance. The per-
formances remained ribald, and brawls often
broke out in rowdy audiences. The shogunate
again cracked down on the style in 1652, mak-
ing the performances somewhat more tame and
comedic.
Bunraku puppet theater and noh opera were
less popular among the lower class than the up-
per, but almost all of the performers were hinin,
making the arts distinctly ukiyo in nature. In
bunraku, the puppeteers manipulate the puppet
by means of handles located inside its body. An
important character requires three puppeteers,
one for the head and right arm, another for the
left arm, and the last for the legs. Puppeteers are
in many cases in full view of the audience, but
wear black outfits and black hoods over their
heads in order to remain inconspicuous. In per-
formance, the audience’s attention is drawn to
the puppets and the puppeteers become “invis-
ible,” a technique also used in noh stage perfor-
mance.
Noh itself is a musical drama performed on
a sparse wooden stage. The actors chant rather
The Way of the outcast
than speak their lines and their costumes are
lavish to stand in contrast to the bare stage. Tra-
ditional noh uses four functions for its actors:
shite, who play the main role, his companion
and the chorus, as well as acting as stagehands;
waki, who act as the foil of the main characters;
kyogen, actors who give exposition about the
play between acts; and hayashi, the musical per-
formers who accompany the acting. Both shite
and waki can become extremely famous for
their roles, and such celebrity actors are treated
almost as nobility by heimin and hinin alike.
Perhaps the best-known result of the float-
ing world’s cultural influence to a Western
mind is the practice of sumo wrestling. While
the sport itself predates the Edo period by cen-
turies, having its origins as a Shinto religious
ritual, its popularity as a spectator sport first be-
came exploited by the inner city of the ukiyo.
With gambling on a match’s outcome becom-
ing a popular pastime among the grifters and
criminals of the time, money flowed toward the
production of more and more sumo events un-
til the matches achieved the same sort of cult
status possessed by professional sports in mod-
ern America. Sumo matches were one of the
123
The Omni System™ Ronin

few places that samurai could be seen rubbing

shoulders with hinin on a regular basis. Even
though many sumo wrestlers were themselves
Outcast
Characters
peasants or outcasts, they gained a personal
popularity beyond anyone’s expectations. A
good number of wrestlers were samurai as well,
especially ronin seeking new sources of income Being an outcast isn’t easy. The system
in the rigid society of Tokugawa Japan. doesn’t recognize you, and you have no place in
normal society. Making ends meet can be hard,
Matches between sumo wrestlers, called and getting ahead is almost impossible. Still,
rikishi, occur in a circular ring called a hogyo. outcasts have an unprecedented level of free-
Rikishi must ritually purify themselves and dom in Japan, since no expectations also means
their arena before beginning a match, usually no responsibilities. Outcast characters are un-
by spreading salt on the ground and stomping likely to have a simple time of it, but as they say
their feet to drive away evil spirits. The first “Adversity builds character.”
wrestler to touch the ground with the anything
but the soles of his feet, or to have any part of
his body leave the ring, is the loser of the match.
On rare occasions the referee or judges may
award the win to the wrestler who touched the
Historical
ground first; this happens if both wrestlers touch
the ground at more or less the same time and
Concepts
it is decided that the wrestler who touched the
ground second had no chance of winning as, due Actor
to the superior sumo of his opponent, he was You are trained in the fine art of stage act-
already in an irrecoverable position. The losing ing, a noble profession if ever there was one.
wrestler is referred to as being shini-tai (“dead Someday you hope to write your own plays, but
body”) in this case. for now you content yourself with the adoration
of your fans and the moderate levels of mone-
There are also a number of other rarely used tary compensation you receive. Being a famous
rules that can be used to determine the winner. actor has other rewards besides money though,
For example a wrestler using an illegal tech- and you indulge yourself in those privileges as
nique (kinjite) automatically loses, as does one often as possible.
whose waist wrappings (mawashi) become com-
pletely undone. A wrestler failing to turn up for
his bout (including through a prior injury) also Skills
automatically loses (fusenpai). After the winner Acrobatics +2
is declared, an off-stage gyoji (or referee) deter- Animal Handling +2
mines the kimarite (or winning technique) used Balance +1
in the bout, which is then announced to the au- Deception +3
dience. Matches often last only a few seconds, Diplomacy +2
as usually one wrestler is quickly ousted from Etiquette +3
the circle or thrown to the clay. However they Perform (acting) +4
can occasionally last for several minutes. The Perform (japanese theatre) +7
sportsmen themselves are renowned for their Perform (poetry) +5
great girth, as body mass is a winning factor in Seduction +3
sumo.

124
 The Way of the outcast

you a position as the favored of several samu-

Talents rai; perhaps someday you will choose between
Mime & Music Talent Tree them.
 Expert Performer
 Naturally Charming
Skills
Open Talents Talent Tree Chado +3
 Skill Emphasis (perform) Deception +2
Deduce Motive +2
Etiquette +5
Ainu Hunter Handicraft (fine arts) +3
The totems have spoken to you, and they Lore (history) +3
have told you to go among the stealers of your Lore (law) +1
land to find your destiny. You do not under- Seduction +6
stand why the great elk and the mother of all Weapon (small blades) +1
have seen fit to place you among the prancing
and preening Nihonjin, but your understanding
is not required. All things will be revealed to Talents
you in the fullness of time. Until then, however, Intrigue & Politics Talent Tree
you must find a place for yourself among the  Naturally Charming
usurpers, even if they do not wish it—especially  Force of Personality
if they do not wish it.
Gomune Entertainer
Skills The streets were a rough place to spend
Animal Handling +4 your childhood but they made you tough and
Balance +2 strong, and you even learned a useful skill there.
Climb +3 “Real” professionals might doubt that your abil-
Heal +2 ity to juggle knives and sing classical opera
Stealth +4 makes you useful, but you make a decent living
Survival +4 at it. And when the streets are less crowded with
Tracking +3 generous spectators, you can still make a good
Weapon (spears) +4 profit picking pockets and cutting coin purses.
Weapon (small blades) +1
Skills
Acrobatics +3
Talents Balance +1
Wilderness Lore Talent Tree Brawling +2
 Survival of the Fittest Contortion +3
Lore (streetwise) +4
Perform (any one) +4
Geisha Sleight of Hand +5
As a child, your parents were killed by a Stealth +3
tsunami. After your aunt and uncle sold you to Weapon (small blades) +2
the house, you learned the finer points of per-
formance and art, etiquette and conversation.
Now, a grown woman, you are one of the few Talents
and skilled known as geisha, companions to the Street Rat Talent Tree
mighty. Your charms and wits have garnered  Gossip
 Knife Fighter
 Quick Hands
125
The Omni System™ Ronin

Investigation Assistant Skills

While the term “forensics” has yet to be Diplomacy +2
invented, your job is at least spiritually similar Etiquette +2
to that of modern autopsy experts. Your origi- Lore (history) +2
nal profession as a butcher of cattle and fowl Mounted Combat +1
has given you a unique insight into the internal Parry +3
structures of the body, one that magistrates and Ride +3
constables often find valuable when investigat- Weapon (large blades) +4
ing a murder or accidental death. As an eta, Weapon (bows) +2
you are beneath most people’s notice (and con-
tempt), which makes you skilled at “overhear-
ing” conversations. You might never rise above
your position of birth, but you have come a far Talents
distance from the mudhole village in which you Kenjutsu Talent Tree
were born.  Armor Tolerance
 Find Weakness
 Swing Through
Skills
Animal Handling +6
Deduce Motive +2 Ninja Spy
Etiquette +1 You’re not a ninja—they don’t exist, they’re
Handicraft (artisan) +3 just an old wives’ tale. You’re a successful mer-
Lore (streetwise) +4 chant moving goods between Osaka and Edo.
Profession (butcher) +4 Or you’re a samurai on leave and viewing the
Search +4 temples in Kyoto. Or you’re a ditch digger, or
Survival (urban) +2 a cook, or a bandit. Your identity changes from
Weapon (small blades) +2 day to day, depending on your master’s orders
and your own needs while traveling incognito.
But you’re not a ninja.
Talents Skills
Street Rat Talent Tree
 Gossip Climb +2
 Inconsipuous Contortion +2
 Haggle Deception +4
Evade +3
Offensive Martial Arts +2
Mercenary Yojimbo Stealth +5
Before your master died, you were his Weapon (small blades) +3
bodyguard. Obviously, you failed in your task, Weapon (thrown) +3
leading to your current state as a wave man. Weapon (flails) +2
Since then, you’ve acted as a personal protector
for various merchants and low-ranked samurai,
always seeking to enter the permanent service Talents
of a new lord. So far, you’ve had no luck, but Ninjutsu Talent Tree
you have to keep trying—protecting people is  Sneak Attack
all you know.  Amazing Dodge

126
 The Way of the outcast

Skills Fantastic Callings

Climb +2
Contortion +2
Deception +4 Ainu Shaman
Evade +3 The spirits of the elk and the hawk speak
Stealth +5 to you, as do the earth and the sky. The fire has
Weapon (thrown) +4 a voice and you know its name. You live half-
Weapon (flails) +2 way in the spirit world, frequently communing
with the greater powers that rule the world. It
is on your shoulders to keep the worlds of flesh
Talents and spirit in harmony, and if that means going
Shinobi Talent Tree among the Nihonjin you will do so.
 Hide in Plain Sight
 Shadow Puppets Skills
Fools & Their Money Talent Tree Animal Handling +3
 Opportunist Concentration +4
Heal +1
Lore (nature) +3
Ronin Wanderer Mode (sensory) +3
Your master cast you out of his service for Mode (ward) +3
an unintended slight, and ever since then you’ve Mode (summon) +5
been paying for your momentary lapse of at-
tention. You have vowed to yourself to never
let anything get past you again, but the prom- Talents
ise has been hard to keep. You’re lucky to still Mystical Heritage Talent Tree
have your swords, let alone your dignity, and  Shamanism Order
every day it seems harder to make ends meet.  Folk Remedies
Still, you’ve started to almost like being a wave
man—for the first time in your life, you’re a
person and not a rank. It feels good. If only it Maiko Enchantress
didn’t involve being hungry all the time. You never quite finished your training as a
geisha—your training as a sorceress was much
Skills more interesting. Now, you don’t even have to
Etiquette +1 be good at maintaining a conversation, since
Lore (history) +2 your magic can make a client feel as though he
Lore (law) +2 had the best conversation of his life while you’re
Parry +4 talking about stir-fry. Your mentor always said
Ride +4 that you shouldn’t use the gifts of the spirits for
Survival (any one) +3 “petty” things, but what could be less petty than
Weapon (large blades) +5 being rich, famous and pretty?
Weapon (small blades) +3
Skills
Concentration +3
Talents Deception +2
Kenjutsu Talent Tree Diplomacy +1
 Armor Tolerance Etiquette +1
 Weapon Focus (katana) Mode (influence) +5
Mode (illusion) +2

127
The Omni System™ Ronin

Mode (sensory) +3
Seduction +4 Skills
Deception +3
Diplomacy +1
Talents Evade +1
Mystical Training Talent Tree Mode (illusion) +5
 Mysticism Order Mode (manipulate) +3
 Memory Training Mode (ward) +3
Sleight of Hand +4
Stealth +1
Shadow Warrior Survival (urban) +2
Trained in the arts of invisibility and the
way of darkness, your mastery over the eso-
teric skills of the shinobi are next to none. You Talents
have a solid understanding of magic, but your Mystical Training Talent Tree
greatest tool is your mind. With cunning and  Wizardry Order
cleverness, you can overcome any obstacle, and
with patience and fortitude, you can achieve any
goal. The magic helps though. Unclean Sorcerer
They laughed at you when you sought to
better yourself, when you tried to clean yourself
Skills up and become something more than a lowly
Climb +2 eta. You left your squalid community and trav-
Evade +3 eled far, hoping to enter a distant temple and
Mode (manipulate) +3 start a new life, one in which you were better
Stealth +5 than human garbage. The temple’s spirits knew
Weapon (thrown) +4 you for what you were, and you barely escaped
Weapon (flails) +2 with your life. That very night, however, an-
other spirit came to you, one that didn’t care that
you were unclean or lowly. Your spirit gave you
Talents the power to change your destiny, and you in-
Shinobi Talent Tree tend to use that power. Your spirit asks strange
 Mysticism Order things of you, dangerous things, but nothing you
 Slip Between Sight haven’t been willing to do so far.

Street Magician Skills

You started off doing sleight of hand tricks Concentration +1
in the streets and occasionally using those tricks Lore (arcane arts) +2
to relieve your customers of their valuables. Lore (demonology) +4
One day, you picked the wrong pocket and Mode (attack) +4
found yourself in the iron grasp of a Daoist ma- Mode (summon) +4
gician. He found your antics more amusing the Mode (manipulate) +3
offensive, however, and deigned to teach you
magic, hoping to place you on a philosophically
more appealing path. You’ve changed your act Talents
certainly, but you still are a performer at heart. Mystical Training Talent Tree
Your magic leans more toward the flashy and  Dark Arts Order
impressive than the dangerous or practical, but  Pact
it’s real now.

128
Chapter Six
SOCIAL CLASS
AND CULTURE
If you are running a Ronin™ game set in
strict history, or even in loose historical drama,
then you may wish for more variation than an
all-human game normally presents. If that is
the case, then you can simply substitute the
concept of race for social class. That is, rather
than all humans receiving a +1 to an attribute
of their choice and receiving a standard list of
preferred skill, take the social classes presented
below and give them a more “racial” feel, such
as by changing their preferred skills or specify-
ing what attribute can be increased depending
on social class.
As an example, in your game, you might
decide that samurai receive a +1 bonus to either
Strength or Charisma, while heimin gain a +1
bonus to either Constitution or Will. As normal,
the character would select 2 preferred skills
from his social group.
In a fantasy setting, the reverse might be
true—race would become a substitute for social
class. Imagine a campaign setting in which all
samurai were Elves, heimin and hinin were hu-
mans, and the lowly eta were goblins. This ver-
sion of Tokugawa Japan would have an imme-
diate method of seeing who belonged to which
caste—making the caste promotions of previous
generations an especially interesting problem.
Further, each race might still speak its own ra-
cial language in addition to Japanese.
The standard rules, however, assume that
all characters are human as per the core Omni
System™ book, meaning that they receive a +1
bonus to an attribute of their choice and select 2
skills from their social group as additional pre-
ferred skills for their Calling.
All humans, regardless of culture or back-
ground begin play with the following preferred
skills: Literacy (native) +2, Lore (local) +6,
Lore (region) +2, Speak Language (Japanese)
+10.
Samurai
The noble rulers of Tokugawa Japan, the
samurai have been in command of the nation for
over five centuries. Only recently did Tokuga-
wa Ieyasu formalize that rule, however, finally
and permanently moving ultimate power away
from the Emperor’s court and placing is firmly
in the hands of the bakufu.
In the modern period, samurai can be taken
to mean any character of high birth, whether a
warrior, a courtier, or a member of the old noble
families. Those born into the samurai caste suf-
fer the greatest burden of responsibility but they
also benefit from the greatest level of personal
power and freedom. The word of the samurai is
law, and they enforce it strictly.
Characters of the Samurai Social Class be-
gin play with the following preferred skills:
Bushi: Administration, Animal Handling,
Appraise, Diplomacy, Etiquette, Heal, Herald-
ry, Literacy, Lore (any), Ride, Swim, Theology
(Japanese), Weapon. CR +1. Starting Honor
+1.
129
The Omni System™
Kugei: Administration, Alchemy, Animal
Handling, Appraise, Concentration, Deception,
Deduce Motive, Diplomacy, Etiquette, Her-
aldry, Literacy, Lore (any), Medicine, Perform
(any), Swim, Theology (Japanese). Starting
Honor +2.
Commoners
Any individual born to a family of farmers
or merchants, or any such person who later joins
the clergy as a priest or monk, is considered to
be a commoner—a heimin. These people are
the backbone of Tokugawa Japan, the salt of the
earth. It is from their labors and prayers that the
Japanese society continues to function. While
the samurai are busy with ruling Japan, the hei-
min are the ones who truly keep it running.
A commoner may be of low birth and little
honor, but his life is without the terrible weight
of duty suffered by the nobility above him.
Without the demands and rigors of that duty, he
can ennoble and enrich his existence through the
fruit of his own labors. A heimin may have to
pay a samurai’s taxes, but anything that he earns
above those taxes is his and his alone. As well,
a commoner does not live with the samurai’s
constant worry about maintaining his honor, nor
must he obey the rigid strictures of tradition that
a samurai endures. In some ways, a commoner
is freer than the masters he serves.
Characters of the Commoner Social Class
begin play with the following preferred skills:
Farmer: Animal Handling, Climb, Cook,
Diplomacy, Handicraft (any), Heal, Lore (local,
nature, region), Profession (any), Swim. Start-
ing Honor +0.
Merchant: Appraise, Cook, Diplomacy,
Handicraft (any), Heal, Lore (any), Profession
(any). Starting Honor +0.
130
Ronin
Clergy: Concentration, Cook, Diplomacy,
Handicraft (any), Heal, Lore (local, nature, re-
gion), Profession (any), Theology (Japanese).
Starting Honor +0.
Outcasts
Anyone who does not fit into the rigid soci-
ety of Tokugawa Japan can wind up an outcast,
even if they strive to remain in society. The de-
spicable eta fall into this category, as do the sus-
picious Westerners and the strange Ainu.
Characters of the Commoner Social Class
begin play with the following preferred skills:
Ronin: Animal Handling, Appraise, Diplo-
macy, Evade, Etiquette, Gambling, Heal, Her-
aldry, Literacy, Lore (any), Profession (any),
Ride, Swim, Theology (Japanese), Weapon. CR
+1. Starting Honor –1.
Hinin: Appraise, Cook, Diplomacy, Gam-
bling, Handicraft (any), Heal, Lore (any), Per-
form (any), Profession (any), Sleight of Hand.
Starting Honor –2.
Eta: Appraise, Climb, Cook, Deception,
Diplomacy, Handicraft (any), Heal, Lore (any),
Perform (any), Profession (any), Search, Stealth.
Starting Honor –5.
Ainu: Animal Handling, Brawling, Climb,
Evade, Heal, Lore (any), Navigate, Ride, Sur-
vival (alpine, forest), Swim. CR +1. Starting
Honor –3.
Westerner: Animal Handling, Brawling,
Climb, Handicraft (any), Heal, Lore (any), Nav-
igate, Profession (any), Ride, Swim, Theology
(Christian). Starting Honor –4.
Fantasy Japan
Hengeyokai
Animals capable of taking human form—or
perhaps people with an animal shape—heng-
eyokai are cunning shapeshifters with a mis-
chievous sense of humor and a desire to be part
of human society. Most hengeyokai are born
as animals, typically as foxes, badgers, cats or
some other type of traditional trickster, though
stranger ones like crabs and carps have been
known to exist.
In human form, hengeyokai are typically at-
tractive and pleasant to be around, but they re-
main devious pranksters on the inside. As well,
all hengeyokai have a single animal feature that
does not alter when they assume human form,
though this feature differs from character to
character. The most common feature is a tail,
which is then hidden beneath the character’s
clothes in human form (but has a tendency to
slip out at inopportune moments). The charac-
ter’s features are likely to be reminiscent of his
animal as well, like having a feline smile or a
vulpine face.
A hengeyokai in animal form is indistin-
guishable from a normal animal, but it also
shares the animal’s physical attributes rather than
the character’s normal ones. In animal form, the
character uses a normal animal’s STR, DEX,
and CON SPD if they are lower than his normal
physical attributes, and the animal’s SPD. Each
hengeyokai has only a single alternate animal
form, chosen at character creation. Changing
into or out of the animal form requires 5 full
rounds, during which the character is considered
an undefended target. The hengeyokai cannot
speak or use his hands in animal form, making
most human skills (including spellcasting) im-
possible.
Hengeyokai belong to no human social
class, and thus gain no benefit or penalty from
being members of such classes. No matter who
they might be pretending to be, they do not quite
understand the concept of caste and show it little
respect. A hengeyokai might live for centuries
barring accident or injury; as partial denizens of
the spirit world, they are physically immortal
and unaging.
Attribute Adjustments
Hengeyokai characters receive a +1 bonus
to CHA, INT, and MR, but a –1 penalty to STR.
Hengeyokai receive the talent Night Vision for
free. Hengeyokai have a starting Honor of +0,
which they can never raise or lower.
Preferred Skills
All hengeyokai begin play with the fol-
lowing preferred skills: Lore (nature) +4, Lore
(local) +8, Lore (region) +5, Speak Language
(Japanese) +10.
Starting hengeyokai characters, regardless
of background, may select 2 of the following
skills to add to their preferred skills list: Decep-
tion, Disguise, Lore (arcane arts, folklore), Per-
form (any), Survival (any), Tracking.
131
The Omni System™ Social Class and Culture
Ronin

Lore (region) +5, Speak Language (Japanese)

Hanyo +10. Starting hanyo characters, regardless of
background, may select 2 of the following skills
Hengeyokai are capable of blending in with to add to their preferred skills list: Disguise,
human society so thoroughly that they often take Lore (arcane arts, folklore), Perform (any), Sur-
human mates for a time. The offspring of these vival (any), Tracking.
pairings are sometimes normal humans with an
unearthly air to them and sometimes full heng-
eyokai who run away with their inhuman par-
ent when the deception comes to an end. Some
children, however, are born as true half-breed,
part human and part other. These children are
called hanyo.

A hanyo looks just like a normal human be-

ing with a slightly animal-like appearance, and
a single distinctive animal feature, like cat ears
or a fox tail. This marks the character as some-
thing other than human. This feature might be
concealed or might be worn openly as a badge
of pride depending on the given hanyo and his
feelings about his parentage. Most Japanese
humans regard hanyo with more warm feelings
than they do hengeyokai, who are seen as dan-
gerous tricksters.

A hanyo can belong to any human social

class—samurai, heimin or hinin. He gains the
benefits and restrictions of being a member of
that caste as normal, including abiding by the
human concept of Honor. Hanyo are not im-
mortal like their hengeyokai parent, but they do
tend to be longer-lived than a normal human.
The average hanyo’s lifespan is about a century
and a half to two centuries.

Attribute Adjustments
Hanyo characters receive a +1 bonus to CHA
and INT. Hanyo receive the talent Night Vision
for free. Hanyo suffer a –1 penalty to their start-
ing HON; their birth is the result of a personal
deception, and therefore slightly shameful.
Preferred Skills
All hanyo begin play with the following pre-
ferred skills: Lore (nature) +4, Lore (local) +8,
Spirit Folk
Some interactions between the mortal world
and the spirit world lead to more than just a reli-
gious connection. Because of their deep-seated
tie to the invisible reality of the world, some
people are born with an inner luminescence
that marks them as something more than hu-
man. These children are viewed as holy beings,

132
blessed by the spirits or the Buddha and with
a mission to bring spirituality into the lives of
those they encounter.
Not all spirit folk live up to this mighty task,
however, and more than a few turn their backs
on their holy mission to pursue a normal life.
Their inner light cannot help but draw others to
them, both beneficent and malicious, and few
spirit folk receive the normal life they so desire.
Their human appearance allows them to dis-
guise themselves in the short term, but lengthy
contact with one inevitably reveals their power-
ful personalities and uncanny senses.
Their affinity to the immaterial makes their
connection to the physical slightly weaker than
normal, leading them to be less physically adept
than normal humans. Their attractive appear-
ance and keen minds make up for this deficien-
cy, though, and most spirit folk gravitate toward
occupations that require keen senses and strong
wills, such as the clergy.
A typical spirit folk can expect to live for
two to four centuries, barring accident or vio-
lence. They can be born to any caste of human-
ity, and follow all the normal rules for social
class.
Attribute Adjustments
Spirit folk characters receive a +2 bonus to
CHA and a +1 bonus to PER and WIL, but a
suffer a –1 penalty to STR and CON. Spirit folk
gain a +1 bonus to their starting HON.
Preferred Skills
All spirit folk begin play with the following
preferred skills: Lore (local) +8, Lore (region)
+5, Speak Language (Japanese) +10.
Starting spirit folk characters, regardless of
background, may select 2 of the following skills
to add to their preferred skills list: Concentra-
tion, Diplomacy, Lore (arcane arts), Perform
(any), Theology (Japanese).
Demon-Blooded
Not every encounter with the spirit world
is a pleasant one, and not every child born of
such unions is holy. More than one woman
has awakened after a terrible nightmare to find
herself pregnant with a child she knows is not
quite human. These demon-blooded infants are
remarkably resistant to harm, resisting most ef-
forts to purge the child before birth. The act of
giving birth to demon-blooded children often
kills the mother, and a demon-blooded child
typically grows up twice as fast as a normal
child (or even faster).
Once fully grown, demon-blooded individu-
als are darkly attractive, though at the same time
fearsome and somehow repulsive. They are
marked by their demonic heritage, usually by a
pair of small horns on the crown of the head,
a bestial tail, claws on the feet or some other
legacy of their inhuman parent. A few bear no
mark at all, other than an aura of unearthly heat
or cold.
Demon-blooded men and women are more
cunning and clever than normal humans, and
significantly stronger, but they were given life
as part of their demon parent’s long-term goals.
These goals can be any number of things, but
a demon-blooded character is somewhat less
perceptive than normal, and his willpower is
poor—the children of demons often give in to
their lusts and vices without even thinking about
it.
A demon-blooded character can live forev-
er, theoretically, but the demon parent inevitably
returns to collect on their birth. They otherwise
follow the normal rules for being members of a
human caste.
Attribute Adjustments
Spirit folk characters receive a +2 bonus to
STR and a +1 bonus to INT and CHA, but a suf-
fer a –1 penalty to PER and a –2 penalty to WIL.
133
The Omni System™ Social Class and Culture
Ronin

They receive +1 to either their MR or their CR.

Preferred Skills
All spirit folk begin play with the following
preferred skills: Lore (local) +8, Lore (region)
+5, Speak Language (Japanese) +10.

Starting spirit folk characters, regardless of

background, may select 2 of the following skills
to add to their preferred skills list: Deception,
Intimidation, Lore (arcane arts, demonology),
Theology (Japanese).

134
Chapter Seven

SKILLS AND TALENTS

Skills in Ronin™
Skills available only in a fantasy setting are Mode†
marked with a dagger (†). Mounted Combat
Navigate
Acrobatics Offensive Martial Arts
Administration Parry
Alchemy Perform
Animal Handling Profession
Appraise Research
Balance Ride
Brawling Seamanship
Climb Search
Command Seduction
Concentration Siegecraft
Contortion Sleight of Hand
Cook Speak Language
Cryptography Stealth
Deception Survival
Deduce Motive Swim
Defensive Martial Arts Theology
Demolitions Torture
Diplomacy Tracking
Disable Mechanism Weapon (Blades, 2-handed; Blades, large;
Disguise* Blades, small; Bows; Crossbows; Hafted;
Enchantment† Hafted, 2-handed; Spears; Thrown)
Engineering (Mechanical, Structural)
Etiquette
Evade
Forgery
Gambling
Handicraft (armorer, artificer, artisan, bow-
yer/fletcher, brewer/vintner, gunsmith, fine
arts, weaponsmith)
Heal
Lore
Medicine

135
The Omni System™
New Uses for
Old Skills
Alchemy
The Alchemy skill can be used at its normal
skill level to make gunpowder, assuming ap-
propriate components are available. This also
allows the skilled character to create charges for
firearms, explosive devices such as hand bombs,
and fireworks (hanabi).
Lore: Region & Local
Japan is not a single region. Each province
counts as a region for the purposes of this skill.
Region (local) is used for individual villages,
towns and cities.
Perform
New sub-skills for Perform are available
in Ronin™. These include: Japanese theater
(CHA), poetry (CHA), and weapon maneuvers
(DEX).
Kabuki and noh are both different enough
from traditional acting that they deserve their
own sub-skill. Poetry describes the ability to
come up with spontaneous haiku as well as to
write and recite traditional poetry. Weapon ma-
neuvers allow a character to “show off” with
a weapon, effectively doing a series of flashy
stances and postures to entertain rather than in-
timidate.
Acting (of any sort) is considered to be a
low class, as are juggling and any other form of
“street performance.”
136
Ronin
New Skills
Chado (Tea Ceremony)
This skill is used, simply enough, to perform
tea ceremony. The tea ceremony is a three- to
six-hour ritual in which one or more guests par-
take of green tea under prescribed conditions.
By indulging in the chado, a samurai character
(or other character proficient with Chado) can
gain respect in the eyes of his peers and empty
himself of emotion and doubt, fortifying his
spirit through coming difficulties.
By participating in a successful tea ceremo-
ny, the participants (who must themselves make
Chado skill checks) gain a +1 bonus to any Skill
or Attribute check to avoid changing their emo-
tional state (such as resisting a fear spell or an
Intimidate or Seduction check). If the character
would not normally roll, the opponent instead
suffers a –1 penalty to his roll. In the case of a
roll not occurring, no benefit is gained from this
skill. The effects of a tea ceremony last for one
day, or longer with a critical success. On a criti-
cal failure, a guest must make an Honor check
to avoid losing Honor.
A character that performs a tea ceremony for
others successfully, in which at least one guest
has higher Honor than himself and all guests
successfully performed the ceremony, can af-
terwards immediately make an Honor check
to gain Honor. The Chado skill check takes a
penalty equal to the number of guests present,
but the subsequent Honor check gains a bonus
of the same size. On a critical failure, the host
must make an Honor check with a penalty equal
to the number of people present or the highest
Honor among the guests, whichever is greater.
Training Time: 26 weeks
Modifier: CHA
Talents
Talents help make a character truly unique,
representing special training and personal abili-
ties possessed by the character above and beyond
his initial skills. Talents can shape a character’s
path through life, marking him as a swordsman
or scholar, a merchant or a mage.
General Changes
In Ronin™, any core book talent that nor-
mally affects Renown or requires a certain Re-
nown rating as a prerequisite instead affects or
requires Honor. For example, the Nasty Repu-
tation talent normally requires REN –1 to take;
in Ronin, it instead requires HON –1.
Due to the technological level of the set-
ting, some talents from the Omni System Core-
book are not available in Ronin. The following
talents do not exist in Tokugawa Japan: Cyber
Tolerance; Dog Fighter; Drive By; Extreme
Sportsman; Mental Block; Mind Shield; Psionic
Power; Psionic Training; Raw Psionic Power;
Safe Cracker; Superior Driver; Tech Savvy;
Xeno-Friendly.
Core Talent
Trees
A number of talents and talent groups are of-
fered in the Omni System Corebook, but not all
of them are appropriate or even possible in a feu-
dal Japanese setting. Listed below are the exist-
ing talents and trees available in the Tokugawa
Period of Japan. A few of these trees have been
altered from the main book for the purposes of
local flavor, but they are largely identical.
Brawler
Talents: Brutal Throw; Cheap Shot; Impro-
vised Weapons; Intimidation Tactics; Opportun-
ist; Quick Draw; Sucker Punch; Taunt.
Fools and Their Money
Talents: Blend In; Fleet of Foot; Gossip;
Inconspicuous; Non-Lethal Force; Opportunist;
Quick Hands; Speed Climb; Surefooted; Tough
Trail; Urban Tracking.
Mime and Music
Talents: Coordinate; Expert Performer;
Naturally Charming; Pied Piper; Taunt.
Mounted Combat
Talents: Bred to the Saddle; Charge; Mount-
ed Evade; Mounted Stride; Trample.
Salt Water in the Veins
Talents: Acute Vision; Close Quarters
Fighting; Deep Breath; Nasty Reputation; Ral-
ly; Salt Spray; Skirmish; Tough as Nails; Well
Traveled.
Wilderness Lore
Talents: Danger Sense; Mountain Goat;
Mountain Man; Natural Remedy; Speed Climb;
Survival of the Fittest; Trackless I; Trackless II;
Trackless III; Weather Sense.
New Talent
Trees
The Tokugawa Period is a time of new learn-
ing as well as one in which the old ways are
preserved. A great many new sword styles are
developed during this time, as well as the arts of
rangaku, or the modern sciences. Many Japa-
137
The Omni System™ Social Class and Culture
nese are infatuated with firearms, even though
their availability is limited, and the stricter con-
trols over weapon ownership lead to the creation
of many new forms of unarmed martial arts.
All of these abilities and more are covered
by the talent system. No supplement can hope
to reflect every individual sword style, personal
feat, or unique ability, so games masters are en-
couraged to develop their own talents and talent
trees. However, a number of new talents and
their respective trees are listed below to offer a
starting point in the wide variety available in the
Tokugawa Period.
Some of these talents are available only if
your games master is using the “Mythical Ja-
pan” campaign option. Such talents reflect the
existence of magic, fantastic creatures, and oth-
er concepts not present in a historically accurate
game.
A few of the talent trees listed below were
originally printed in the Omni System Core-
book, but they are listed here in the “New Tal-
ents” section due to the addition of a significant
number of new talents (unlike the talent trees
above, which are listed nearly verbatim from
the main book). Talents new for this book are
marked with an asterisk (*). Talents and tal-
ent trees available only in a fantasy setting are
marked with a dagger (†).
Alchemical Philosophy
Though not as obsessively pursued in Ja-
pan as it is in China, the alchemical disciplines
are far from unknown in the Land of the Rising
Sun. Like the related Chinese arts, Japanese al-
chemy is based around a search for immortality
and spiritual perfection rather than the transmu-
tation of lead into gold. Eastern alchemy also
has an advantage over Western alchemy in that
chemistry has been known in the Orient for sev-
eral centuries longer.
Talents: Brew Elixir; Brew Potion; Chemi-
cal Resistance; Concoct Powder; Create Poison;
138
Ronin
Folk Remedies; Infuse Potion; Natural Rem-
edy.
Budo
A general term for warrior skills, budo rep-
resents an individual’s capacity for a straight-
up fight, rather than any semblance of tactics or
cunning. A person skilled in budo may not have
as much finesse as a duelist or as much battle-
field savvy as a tactician, but when the dung hits
the paper fan, he’s much more likely to survive
a melee.
Talents: Armor Tolerance I; Armor Toler-
ance; II; Basic Militia Training; Find Weakness;
Natural Tactician; Quick Draw; Second Wind;
Self Sufficient; Swing Through; Weapon Focus
(any).
Intrigue and Politics
Being samurai is not just about swinging a
sword, riding a horse, and shooting a bow. In
fact, in this modern time, the ability to kill with
steel is far less prized than the ability to kill with
words. A clever courtier is a far more danger-
ous opponent than a furious swordsman. The
swordsman can just kill you once, while the
courtier can kill you a thousand times without
ever touching you.
Talents: Aura of Nobility; Aura of Wis-
dom; Bureaucrat; Coordinate; Force of Person-
ality; Gossip; Intimidation Tactics; Middleman;
Naturally Charming; Negotiator; Royal Favor;
Social Chameleon; Taunt.
Kenjutsu
A samurai’s soul is in his sword, and none
know it better than the elite warriors trained in
the art of kenjutsu. You have focused on us-
ing your katana and wakizashi, though not at
the same time—only those dirty ronin would do
something as crazy as fighting with both swords.
You are a duelist and a soldier, and so long as
your honor sustains you, your sword arm cannot
falter.
 Talents: Adrenaline Rush; Armor Tolerance
I; Find Weakness; My Sword is My Honor*;
One Life, One Strike*; Smite; Swing Through;
Weapon Focus (katana or wakizashi).
Kyujutsu
Long before the sword and a warrior’s hon-
or became intrinsically linked in the Japanese
mentality, samurai were mounted archers. By
the Tokugawa Period, horsemanship and ar-
chery had become divorced, however, as battle-
field tactics gradually moved away from small,
elite units versus similar targets, and toward
mass battles, with elite units acting as backup
for larger armies of foot soldiers. Kyujutsu is
the way of the bow, a more meditative and calm
path than the blood-soaked path of the sword.
Talents: Archery Training; Advanced Ar-
chery Training; Disabling Shot; Improved
Range; Point Blank Shot; Quick Reload; Trick
Shot; Weapon Focus (bow).
Musashi’s Technique
Miyamoto Musashi is perhaps the most fa-
mous ronin in all of history, a swordsman so
skilled that he never lost a duel in his entire
long life. His book, The Book of Five Rings,
is considered a masterpiece of samurai litera-
ture and is very nearly required reading for any
kenjutsuka. Musashi himself fought with both
katana and wakizashi, a style that was poorly
developed among bushi before his time. Since
then, Musashi’s fighting style has become very
popular among skilled swordsmen.
Talents: Ambidextrous; Twin Steel Strike*;
Two Weapon Defense; Two Weapon Fighting;
Weapon Focus (katana or wakizashi).
Mystical Heritage†
Some people have magical power in their
ancestry, power that shines through no matter
what they try to do. This power often comes
with the understanding of specific kinds of mag-
ic, or an affinity with nature and natural crea-
tures. Strange senses are often possessed by an
individual with such ancestry as well.
Talents: Demon Blood* OR Shamanism
Order OR Shrine Maiden* OR Spirit Blood*;
Animal Affinity; Animal Companion; Animal
Magnetism; Animal Sense; Augury; Aura of
Wisdom; Danger Sense; Folk Remedies; Nature
Speak; Night Vision; Precognition; Prophecy;
Second Sight; Sense Evil; Spirit Sight*, Weath-
er Sense.
Mystical Training†
There are several “schools” of magical
thought in medieval Japan, most of them focus-
ing around the native religions—or perversions
of those religions. To the Japanese, magic and
spiritualist must work together, whether that
spirituality is the pure magic of the kami or the
tainted lore learned from gaki and oni.
Talents: Astrology Order OR Dark Arts
Order OR Elementalism Order OR Invocation
Order OR OR Mysticism Order OR Witchcraft
Order OR Wizardry Order; Arcane Resistance;
Enchanted Lore; Expert Enchanted Lore; Fast
and Pray; Magical Aptitude; Magic Resistance
(all); Memory Training; Pact; Refined Magic
Resistance (all); Spell Focus.
Ninjutsu
Not specifically a form of training for as-
sassins and spies, ninjutsu is the “way of endur-
ance,” a series of teachings designed to aid the
student in surviving in any condition or envi-
ronment. This endurance training, however,
allowed its practitioners to become masters of
infiltration and patience—traits perfect for a
long-range independent operative.
Talents: Amazing Dodge; Break Away;
Deep Breath; Extraordinary Dodge; Find Weak-
ness; Fleet of Foot; Highly Mobile; Improvised
Weapons; Inconspicuous; Kuji-kiri*; Shadow;
Skirmish; Sneak Attack; Speed Climb; Sudden
Strike.
139
The Omni System™ Social Class and Culture
Ronin

Where Are the Martial Arts?

As Ronin is a game of adventure and action set in the Far East, a number of people may
be disappointed in the lack of many of the more familiar forms of unarmed martial arts in
the rules. Yes, the martial arts skills are present, but there are almost no talents specifically
supporting unarmed martial arts while there are talents specifically supporting other fighting
styles. Where is the karate? Where is the judo? Where are the kung fu and tae kwan do?

Answer: Not in Japan. Or not in Tokugawa Japan, at least.

Most of the martial arts forms that modern people are familiar with were invented in
China or in Okinawa rather than in Japan. As well, most of the Japanese martial arts that
people know, such as judo and aikido, were not invented until many years after the end of the
Tokugawa Period. A few of them have precursors in the Edo era, but most simply do not yet
exist. The precursors to jujutsu exist in the setting, creating the basis for the martial arts skills
(and the Brawling skill, to some degree), but most forms of unarmed martial arts don’t exist or
aren’t locally practiced.

A few armed martial arts forms are listed in the new talent trees section, such as kyujutsu,
but there are simply very few unarmed martial options available for native Japanese charac-
ters. As Okinawa is a protectorate of the bakufu, a generous GM might allow a character to
know one of the “open-hand” disciplines from that island (such as karate), either as a local
student of an Okinawan master or as a native of Okinawa traveling in Japan.

For those that do not care about historical accuracy as much as they do about high-flying
martial arts adventure, here is a basic unarmed martial art talent tree. Since it is designed to be
completely generic and representative of no particular real world martial art, it is simply called
jindo, a nonsense word that could be translated as “way of the person.”

As a slight aside, practitioners of a fighting style or martial art are called “fighting style”-
ka. So a follower of jindo would be called a jindoka, just like a judo fighter is called a ju-
doka.

Jindo
Talents: Brutal Throw; Die Hard; Eagle Claw Strike*; Find Weakness; Leap of the
Clouds*; Smite; Tough Skin; Unarmed Master*; Weapon Focus (unarmed).

Attack I; Frenzied Attack II; Heat Endurance;

Open Talents
Talents: Acute Hearing; Acute Vision;
Advanced Firearms Training; Ambidexterity;
Amplify Spell†; Attribute Boost; Clockwork†;
Cold Endurance; Darkvision†; Die Hard; Dili-
gent; Disguise Spell†; Enchanting Beauty; Ex-
ceptional Craftsman; Expand Spell†; Frenzied
Inheritance; Linguistics; Master Craftsman;
Muted Spell†; Natural Talent I; Natural Talent
II; Night Vision; Non-Lethal Force; Personal
Firearms Training; Poison Resistance; Quick
Learner; Rage; Rally; Run Like the Wind; Sec-
ond Wind; Self Sufficient; Skill Emphasis; Spell
Extension†; Strong as an Ox; Swift Creation;

140
Thick Skin; Throw Anything; Tough as Nails;
Tough Skin; Trackless I; Trackless II; Trackless
III; Turn the Other Cheek (requires Christian-
ity); Wealthy.
Shinobi†
This word is derived from the same kanji
character that is used for the word ninja, but is
colloquially used to represent the mystical as-
pects of the ninja lifestyle. A shinobi is a shad-
ow warrior, one who uses darkness and trickery
to gain advantage over his opponents. A skilled
shadow warrior literally manipulates darkness
to do his bidding, making him fearsome even to
the bravest samurai.
Talents: Elementalism Order OR Mysti-
cism Order; Hide in Plain Sight*; Leap of the
Clouds*; Shadow Puppets*; Slip Between
Sight*.
Street Rat
Growing up in urban Japan isn’t easy for the
poor, but people who want to survive eventually
find a way to do it. Some take to thieving, while
others become muscle for the local yakuza fam-
ilies. Either way, it beats starving.
Talents: Close Quarters Fighting; Gossip;
Haggle; Honor Among Thieves*; Inconspicu-
ous; Intimidation Tactics; Knife Fighter; Nasty
Reputation; Non-Lethal Force; Quick Hands;
Quick Draw; Sneak Attack; Urban Tracker.
Zannen
The words zannen literally means “empti-
ness.” More properly translated, however, it
specifically refers to a state of Zen meditation
in which the self is emptied of all distractions,
allowing the individual senses to sharpen to a
nearly superhuman level. A master of the zan-
nen techniques can hear a leaf fall from a hun-
dred feet away, or smell water in a desert, or
feel the rumbling of approaching horses hours
in advance.
Talents: Blind Fighting I*; Blind Fighting
II*; Empty Mind*; Empty Soul*; Void Sens-
es*.
Talent
Descriptions
Blind Fighting I
You have learned to fight without sight, know-
ing that your eyes can deceive you.
Benefit: You suffer only half the usual penalty
for fighting blind (round down). Your other
senses compensate for your loss.
Prerequisite: PER +1
Blind Fighting II
Reaching out with all of your senses, you are
nearly as fine a fighter without vision as a sight-
ed man.
Benefit: Your penalty for fighting blind is never
greater than –1.
Prerequisite: PER +2, Blind Fighting I
Demon Blood
Creatures of Hell sometimes take human
mates—usually unwilling human mates—and
the resulting children have aspects of both hu-
manity and the infernal realms. You are the
descendant of a human-demon mating, though
most likely many generations removed.
Benefit: You may cast spells of the Dark Arts
Magic Order, even though you have never re-
ceived formal training, assuming you have ranks
in one or more Mode skills.
Prerequisite: Character creation only, CHA
+1.
Eagle Claw Strike
Your martial skills have taught you to strike an
opponent at his most vulnerable points—his
weapon and armor.
Benefit: You can deliver an unarmed strike
141
The Omni System™
against an opponent’s weapon or armor. When
you do so, a result of a critical success destroys
the weapon or permanently reduces the armor’s
PR by 1. A normal success halves the weapon’s
damage value or the armor’s PR for 1 round.
A critical failure allows the opponent to take
an immediate attack against you that does not
count toward his normal attacks for the round.
Prerequisite: STR +2, CON +1, Offensive
Martial Arts +3
Empty Mind
You can clear your mind of all distractions, al-
lowing you to clearly perceive the world around
you.
Benefit: If you spend one round doing nothing
but concentrating, any Perception-based skill
check you make in the following round suffers
no penalties due to environment or distraction.
Prerequisite: PER +2
Empty Soul
By becoming detached from the material, you
allow yourself to become one with the spiritual.
Benefit: If you spend one round doing nothing
but concentrating, any Will- or Intelligence-
based skill check you make the following round
suffers no penalties due to environment or dis-
traction.
Prerequisite: INT +1, WIL +1
Hide in Plain Sight
Your stealth training has made you an expert in
concealing yourself even in locations otherwise
inappropriate for hiding.
Benefit: When using the Stealth skill you suf-
fer only half the usual penalty for operating in
an unusual or unfamiliar environment (rounded
down). This talent also allows you to hide in
locations in which there is no cover or anything
else to hide behind; you move yourself into oth-
ers’ “blind spot” instinctively.
Prerequisite: DEX +2, PER +1, Stealth +3
142
Ronin
Honor Among Thieves
Your reputation among the underworld of Japan
is peerless. You get the job done, and you never
rat out your friends.
Benefit: You receive 2 free ranks in the Diplo-
macy and Lore (streetwise) skills.
Kuji-Kiri
You have mastered the mystical hand motions
associated with ninja training. By moving your
hands in these patterns, you can steady your
nerves and ease your mind from worry.
Benefit: As long as your hands are free, you
gain a +2 bonus on all Omni Table rolls to avoid
any unwanted mental condition, such as fear, in-
sanity or even mystical mind control.
Prerequisite: DEX +2, CHA +1, WIL +1
Leap of the Clouds
You are not limited to the cold and brutal earth.
Your ability to jump is amazing, making it seem
almost like you are flying.
Benefit: When attempting a jump, you triple
(rather than double) your Strength modifier to
determine how far your leap takes you. You are
not limited in distance by your height (or any
other factor).
Prerequisite: STR +2
My Sword is My Honor
Your personal honor and your fighting skill are
inherently linked in your mind and spirit. By
behaving according to bushido’s strict tenets,
you have gained the soul of a warrior.
Benefit: When fighting with a katana or waki-
zashi, you add your HON to your Weapon skill
rolls and to your damage values.
Prerequisite: HON +2, STR +1
One Life, One Strike
You can fuel your powerful blows with your
own life energy—after all, failure is a worse fate
than death by far.
Benefit: When making an attack with a katana
or wakizashi, you may choose to sacrifice your
own Hit Points for a bonus to damage. For every
3 Hit Points sacrificed in this manner, you gain
a +1 bonus to the damage value of your next
attack. You may sacrifice enough Hit Points
in this manner to fall below 0, but you cannot
keep sacrificing Hit Points when you go below
0. (For example, a samurai with 22 Hit Points
could suffer 24 points of damage for a +8 bonus,
but no more than that.)
Prerequisite: CON +2, Weapon Focus (katana
or wakizashi)
Shadow Puppets
You can use nearby light sources to confuse and
terrify your opponents.
Benefit: When fighting in an area of shadowy
illumination, you can spend a round manipu-
lating light sources and moving local shadows
to create an ambience of terror and confusion.
Any character in the area not trained in this tal-
ent must attempt a Will check. On a failure,
they suffer a –1 penalty on all rolls until the end
of the combat, doubling this penalty on a critical
failure. A success prevents this use of this talent
from affecting the foe, while a critical success
means that the foe cannot be affected by this tal-
ent for at least a full day.
Prerequisite: DEX +2, CHA +2
Shrine Maiden
As a miko you possess certain spiritual powers
granted you by the gods. So long as you remain
physically and spiritually pure, you can wield
mystical power far beyond your actual learn-
ing.
Benefit: You may cast spells of the Invocation
Magic Order, even though you have never re-
ceived formal training, assuming you have ranks
in one or more Mode skills.
Prerequisite: Character creation only, CHA +1,
HON +0. Character must be a virgin female of
the Shinto faith; if she ever loses her virginity
or has her Honor score reduced below +0, all
benefits of this talent are lost forever.
Slip Between Sight
Your ability to conceal yourself from sight di-
rectly contributes to your combat prowess, mak-
ing you especially deadly in situations where
you cannot be seen.
Benefit: When attacking from a position of con-
cealment (or any other undefended attack), you
may add your Stealth skill ranks to the damage
inflicted.
Prerequisite: DEX +2, PER +2, Stealth +3,
Sneak Attack
Spirit Blood
You are the generations-removed product of a
relationship between a nature spirit and a hu-
man, making you something more than human
but less than divine. This unearthly heritage
shines through in your innate understanding of
magic.
Benefit: You may cast spells of the Elementalism
Magic Order, even though you have never re-
ceived formal training, assuming you have ranks
in one or more Mode skills.
Prerequisite: Character creation only, CHA +1
Spirit Sight
You have long had the ability to see things that
other people said were simply not there. As you
got older, you came to realize that the things you
saw were real—spirits and ghosts.
Benefit: You can see normally invisible spirits
and ghosts as though they were visible. This
allows you to see the spirits present in the natu-
ral world as well as incorporeal entities such as
gaki and kami.
Prerequisite: PER +1, WIL +1
Twin Steel Strike
As a master of Musashi’s twin sword technique,
you have developed the skill of striking with
both of your weapons almost simultaneously,
destroying an opponent’s ability to effectively
defend.
Benefit: Taking a second attack during a round
suffers only a –1 penalty to the attack roll while
143
The Omni System™
you are fighting with two weapons, and you can
use your second weapon to attack while retain-
ing its defense bonus. If you choose to take only
one attack during the round and give up your
second weapon’s defense bonus, you can ignore
an opponent’s PR from armor and DEX to de-
fense.
Prerequisite: DEX +2, Two Weapon Defense,
Two Weapon Fighting
Unarmed Master
You are a skilled martial artist, capable of in-
flicting devastating blows with fists and feet.
Benefit: You can use your Offensive Martial
Arts skill rather than your Brawling skill to per-
form close combat and grappling, as well as the
prerequisite for any talent that normally requires
Brawling.
Prerequisite: STR +1, CON +1, Offensive
Martial Arts +1
Void Senses
Your senses are keen enough that even without
sight you are almost unimpaired.
Benefit: You can make visual skill checks nor-
mally even while blind. Your sense of touch is
sensitive enough that you can “read” by feeling
the ink and scratches on the paper.
Prerequisite: PER +3, Blind Fighting I, Blind
Fighting II
New Mechanic:
Flaws
Unlike the traditional Western hero, whose
only flaw is typically that he is good in a world
full of evil, the Japanese recognize a more fully
rounded model of a heroic figure. Just as the
Japanese world view is a complicated system of
right and wrong, where good and evil are more
often in the eye of the beholder than written in
stone, a Japanese hero is rarely without a signifi-
144
Ronin
cant character flaw. This may be a physical de-
formity, a psychological dysfunction, or even a
mystical curse. However, in struggling against
this flaw—by renouncing it in his actions or ex-
ceeding it in his deeds—a Japanese hero is re-
garded as stronger and braver than other, more
fortunate men. In striving against the adverse,
the Japanese believe, a hero’s true character is
revealed.
In that vein, Ronin introduces a new, op-
tional system of character flaws. These idio-
syncrasies represent personal defects that make
life difficult (though not impossible) for a hero.
By attempting to live in the shadow of this flaw,
a character is made more heroic by contrast.
Similarly, living with this adversity has made
the character have to work harder to achieve his
victories, making him slightly more skilled or
tougher than an unchallenged character.
In terms of game mechanics, taking a flaw
at character creation gives the player an addi-
tional 5 Creation Points with which to build his
character, but also gives him a significant chal-
lenge to overcome in the course of the game. A
player may select only one flaw, and flaws may
only be taken during character creation. While
many physical flaws are things that could hap-
pen to the character in the course of play (such
as being blinded by a powerful attack, or losing
an arm to a sword swing), such an occurrence
does not grant any additional CP to the player.
(At the GM’s discretion, a character that gains a
physical flaw during the course of play might be
able to gain the “secondary benefit” of that flaw,
such as a newly blinded character being able to
purchase Zannen talents for fewer points.)
Blind
The character is completely blind. He may
be able to perceive shapes as blobs of light and
dark, or the world may be entirely dark to him.
Either way, his eyes do not function well enough
for him to reliably use them as a method of sen-
sory input. The character automatically fails
any skill check based around visual perception,
including Search, and cannot recognize people
or objects by sight.
As a slight benefit from his blindness, the
character’s other senses have expanded to make
up for the lack. If the character wishes to pur-
chase talents from the Zannen talent tree, he
pays 1 fewer experience point to gain them.
This does not affect the purchase of talents at
character creation, only the later purchase of tal-
ents with experience.
Compulsive Honesty
Honesty is one of the seven virtues of bush-
ido, but a clever samurai knows that misleading
an enemy is occasionally necessary. Base trick-
ery is discouraged, but omissions of fact and
battle misdirection are considered acceptable to
achieve victory—the most honorable of condi-
tions. Still, some samurai develop the opinion
that any lie is one lie too many.
He suffers a –10 penalty on all Deception
skill checks. If asked a direct question, a re-
sult of a failure on a Deception check means
that the character cannot help but answer the
question honestly. On a critical failure, he actu-
ally volunteers information above and beyond
that which was asked. Even on a success, the
character cannot choose to lie; at best, he can
give a short and direct answer. Only on a criti-
cal success can the character attempt to deceive
another with misleading answers or directly lie.
The character can choose to simply not answer,
and not make the skill check, but there are many
situations in which silence is just as damning as
speaking.
Lame
The character has a significant problem
with moving quickly. He might have a clubfoot
or a permanent injury, something that impedes
his speed and agility. The character’s Speed rat-
ing is permanent decreased by 3 (to a minimum
of –5), and he cannot increase it through talents
or other special abilities. Magic and supernatu-
ral powers could still increase the character’s
Speed, however, as can riding a mount or other-
wise not moving under his own power.
Mute
The character cannot speak, perhaps be-
cause his vocal chords were severed in battle,
or perhaps he was just born voiceless. Regard-
less of the reasons, the character cannot express
himself through the spoken word. He cannot
sing or deliver speeches, shout warnings to oth-
ers, hold a conversation or otherwise talk in any
fashion. The character suffers a –5 penalty on
any skill check that normally requires conversa-
tion, including Diplomacy, since he must instead
convey his point through gestures and writing.
As an out-of-character consideration, it is
recommended that a player whose character has
this flaw not be allowed to communicate with
the other players by speaking. Unless he is di-
rectly speaking to the GM, he should be encour-
aged to “speak” to the other players through
pantomime, charades and written notes. This is
not required, of course, but it helps make the im-
pact of this particular flaw more personal.
Offensive
Something about the character annoys and
aggravates everyone around him. His attitude
is abrasive, or he misspeaks in social settings or
maybe he just pisses people off. The character
suffers a –5 penalty on all Charisma-based skill
checks. Obviously, this might cause the char-
acter to lose Honor in social settings, so being
careful in court is a good idea.
Personal Curse
The character was cursed in childhood by
breaking a spiritual taboo or simply by being in
the wrong place at the wrong time. This curse
has followed him like a dark cloud over his life
ever since, making everything he tries more dif-
ficult to achieve and even turning normal fail-
ures into critical losses. The character suffers
a –1 penalty on all Omni Table rolls, making it
145
The Omni System™ Ronin

easier for him to fail at checks as well as making
failures more likely to be critical failures.
One Arm
As might be apparent, the character has lost
one of his arms, either through accident or in
battle. Since this is supposed to be a flaw, he
has lost his primary arm, causing him to suffer
a –5 penalty on actions using his off-hand. If
the character selects the Ambidextrous Talent,
he can use the off hand at no penalty. But then,
he just spend his 5 Creation Points on getting a
Talent to offset his Flaw, so it becomes a zero-
sum game.
love’s troubles but does nothing to help, he re-
ceives no experience points. He learned noth-
ing from his own problems in his obsession with
his love’s difficulties. If the true love dies, the
character suffers a permanent 1-point reduction
to both his Charisma and Will Attributes; part of
his soul dies with his love.
Naturally, his superiors finding out about
this love could well lead to a loss of Honor if the
love is a hidden one, or to his enemies exploiting
the love if it is an open one. Worse still, the love
interest may know nothing of the character’s in-
terest and the love be unrequited, or the interest
be already married or promised to another.

True Love The GM is encouraged to build an interest-

In the Western world, love is seen as enno- ing story around this love interest, rather than
bling and perfect, an emotion to be pursued and simply killing him or her out of hand.
appreciated with all the vigor a person can sum-
mon. Yet, even so, there are a great many tragic
stories of how love turned sour, or how even
true love led to pain and suffering. The Japa-
nese view love in the latter light—as an emotion
that inevitably leads to attachments, and from
which pain and suffering become the inevitable
result.

To the samurai, especially, true love is con-

sidered a tragic state rather than an empower-
ing one. A samurai must be ready to give up
anything—even his life—at the demand of his
lord. Having a true love undermines the power
of a samurai’s lord, and thus is to be avoided.
Husbands and wives in the noble caste often de-
velop fondness for one another, but rarely true
love. This makes true love even more tragic,
since it usually occurs between a married indi-
vidual and someone else.

The character with this flaw has a true love,

one other person (typically an NPC) to whom
he has an unreasoning and devout attachment.
When this love is threatened, the character
should give up anything he is doing and attempt
to help the love interest. During any adventure
in which the character was aware of the true

146
Chapter Eight
MAGIC
Magic is a primary part of any fantasy cam-
paign. Indeed, by some definitions, the presence
of magic is what makes a campaign setting truly
“fantastic.” A fantasy Japan can be a dangerous
place, but also one fraught with adventure and
possibilities. This chapter discusses some of the
historical beliefs about magic in Japan, as well
as their application in a fantastic setting.
In fantasy Japan, not all characters must be
members of a magical Order, but not doing so
makes it very difficult to learn new spells or gain
magical aid of any sort. Most of the Orders are
religious organizations as well in Tokugawa Ja-
pan, affiliated with either Buddhism or Shinto.
Practitioners
of Magic
Miracle Workers
Shinto priests and Buddhist monks have
long been held as paragons of spiritual virtue by
the people of Japan. Mythically, they can cast
out demons, summon helpful spirits, cure dis-
ease with a touch and otherwise create strange
and wondrous magical effects. Both of these
groups are religious orders, so it might be sur-
prising to find how completely different their
approaches to mystical studies are.
First and foremost, most Buddhist monks
do not view their powers as “magical” in the
slightest and would even be somewhat insulted
to be told that their powers were supernatural in
origin. Since devout Buddhists regard the su-
pernal realms as just another step on the way to
enlightenment and not an end unto themselves,
manipulating magical energy is seen as just one
more trap that a soul seeking nirvana can fall
into. It creates a lure of power and attachment
that can be detrimental to a person’s personal
quest for inner peace.
Instead, the powers that others regard as
magical, Buddhist monks view as a natural side
effect of their increasing level of oneness with
the universe. By becoming one with all things,
the universe responds to the enlightened soul
by granting him greater privileges. At the same
time, it is the responsibility of the enlightened
soul to treat the universe with dignity and re-
spect.
Most Shinto priests belong to the Invoca-
tion Order, focusing on the great kami like Am-
aterasu and Susanowo, while a few are members
of the Shamanism Order, and spend their time
communing with the spirits of nature. Buddhist
monks who have supernatural powers are al-
ways trained in the Mysticism Order—having
any sort of genuine magical abilities is consid-
ered detrimental to a true Buddhist’s spiritual
advancement.
Shukenja
Another branch of mystical study based off
of Shinto beliefs, shukenja are elemental wiz-
ards rather than spirit-speakers. By understand-
147
The Omni System™ Ronin

Shrine Maidens
In ancient times, women who went into trances and conveyed prophecy or the words of
the gods were called miko, not unlike the Oracle at Delphi of ancient Greece. Later, miko
were young female attendants at Shinto shrines and temples. They were often the daughter
of the priest who presided over a given shrine. Roles of the miko included performing in
ceremonial dances (miko-mai) and assisting priests in various ceremonies, especially wed-
dings.

It is somewhat difficult to assign a strict definition or English equivalent to the Japanese

word “miko,” though “shrine maiden” is most often used (and the one used by this author
throughout Ronin). Other terms that have been used as equivalents are “prophet,” “medi-
um,” “priestess,” “nun,” “witch,” or “sorceress.” It should be noted that although Shinto has
female priests—the term “priestess” is not used in Shinto—they are not the same as miko.
It is also important to note that miko do not have the same degree of authority as that of an
actual priest, although they can serve as the senior cleric of a shrine if no priest is available.
The unique exception to this is that in ancient times, the prophecy revealed by miko was
considered to be handed down directly from the gods.

Miko are supposed to remain virgins during their time as shrine maidens. After marry-
ing, a miko abandoned her duties at the shrine in order to be with her husband and new fam-
ily. The traditional costume or dress of a miko is a chihaya, which consists of a scarlet red
hakama, either pants or a skirt; a white kimono shirt with swinging sleeves (and oftentimes
red trim); and tabi, hard-soled socks. It is also common for miko to wear hair ribbons or
ornaments, usually colored either red or white.

In Japanese folklore, the purity and innocence of a miko has enormous spiritual power.
Demons often seek to corrupt or rape shrine maidens, since defiling a true servant of the
gods is a great victory for the servants of Hell. Doing so is easier said than done, however,
since most shrine maidens have supernatural senses for detecting the presence of evil, and
many can see the future. In some legends, the blood of a miko can burn the impure, so
many shrine maidens, when faced with rape at the hands of a monster, will bite off their
own tongues and spit their blood into the creature’s mouth or eyes, grievously wounding it
or even slaying it outright. (Naturally, the miko dies as well, but most would rather die pure
than live in shame.

ing the innate connection between all things
and their construction from the five elements, a
shukenja can manipulate the fabric of the uni-
verse to his will. At first, this manipulation is
weak but it grows with the shukenja’s will.
As the special learning necessary to become
a shukenja is beyond the grasp the lower castes,
almost all shukenja are noble-born. Most of
them are drawn from the kugei houses, whose
regular income and large amounts of leisure
time allow many skilled sorcerers to develop
within their cloistered walls. These noble sor-
cerers serve their houses in many capacities, ev-
erything from spying on rival factions to aiding
friendly forces in battle with attack magic.
Shukenja are members of the Elementalism

148
Order—indeed, being a member of the
Elementalism Order automatically makes one a
shukenja.
Sohei
Sohei (literally “priest warriors”) are Bud-
dhist warrior monks. At certain points of his-
tory they held considerable amount of power,
obliging daimyo to collaborate with their re-
ligious organizations. For over a century, just
before the Tokugawa Period, a group of sohei
even held an entire province as a separate nation
within the boundaries of Japan. They were sim-
ilar to the mountain ascetics called yamabushi,
but unlike the solitary monks, sohei generally
organized into large armies or mobs from the
very beginning of their existence.
The sohei share many similarities with the
Western friars, members of monastic orders
who might not have been ordained. Much like
the Teutonic warrior monks of Germany or
other religious orders, such as those involved
in the Crusades, sohei were not individual prac-
titioners, or even members of small, isolated
temples, but rather warriors in a large extended
brotherhood. Any given “home temple” of a
sohei monastic order might have several, if not
tens or a hundred, smaller monasteries, training
halls and subordinate temples.
Warrior monks first appeared in a significant
way in Japan in the middle of the 10th Century,
when bitter political feuds began between dif-
ferent temples, different sub-sects of Buddhism,
over imperial appointments to the top temple
positions. More often than not, these were cases
of members of one faction being chosen as the
abbot of the other faction’s temple, after which
the monks would protest. The power of these
warrior monks was not broken until the last bat-
tles of the Sengoku Jidai, when Toyotomi and
Nobunaga broke the back of the sohei brother-
hoods. All the way through the Tokugawa Pe-
riod, however, the monks still exist, plotting a
return to the power that they once possessed.
Some even dream of an end to the samurai rule
of Japan, and of establishing a purely Buddhist
religious state.
Sohei are quite varied in their armament.
The naginata is the weapon most often asso-
ciated with them, though in legend as well as
history many warrior monks are known to have
been proficient with everything from bow and
arrow to tanto and wakizashi. Many fought on
horseback, and many with the thatched armor
of a samurai. Warrior monks, like most other
Buddhist monks of related sects, would wear a
series of kimono-like robes over one another,
usually white underneath, and tan or saffron
yellow on top. Footwear traditionally consists
of tabi socks and geta (wooden clogs), or waraji
(straw sandals). Warrior monks would often
fold and tie the white headcowl to cover more
of their head, or would substitute a hachimaki
headband over their lower faces. Finally, many
warrior monks would wear some form of samu-
rai armor.
The obi, or belt, of the kimono would often
be supplemented with a heavier sash, so a sword
could be slung from it. The tachi style of sword
was probably the most common, though many
monks may have carried tanto as well. Many
monks were also accomplished archers, and
used daikyu, the samurai longbow, with bam-
boo arrows. The sohei were also trained to use
the heavy tetsubo, a large staff or club forged of
solid iron. Although deadly, this weapon was
generally used to defeat an opponent without
bloodshed. A few sohei even became proficient
in the use of firearms, such as the arquebus or
musket. Finally, while not truly armor or arma-
ment, a very common item wielded by the mobs
of warrior monks was a banner with a Buddhist
slogan written upon it.
A sohei has Mind Powers rather than Magic
and is always a member of the Mysticism Or-
der.
149
The Omni System™ Social Class and Culture
Yamabushi
The yamabushi began as yamahoshi, isolat-
ed clusters (or individuals) of mountain hermits,
ascetics, and holy men, who followed the path
of shugendo, a search for spiritual, mystical, or
supernatural powers gained through asceticism.
This path may or may not have had a founder, as
the myths surrounding En no Gyoja are numer-
ous and complex; he is quite similar to a Japa-
nese Merlin in this way. Men who followed this
path came to be known by a variety of names,
including kensai (sword saint) and shukenja
(though the true shukenja are samurai).
These mountain mystics came to be re-
nowned for their magical abilities and occult
knowledge, and were sought out as healers or
mediums. Most of these ascetics, in addition to
their devotion to shugendo, studied the teachings
of the Tendai sect of Buddhism, or the Shingon
sect, established by Kobo Daishi in the 8th cen-
tury. Shingon was one of the primary sects of
Esoteric Buddhism, according to which enlight-
enment is found through isolation, and the study
and contemplation of oneself, as well as nature,
and esoteric images called mandala. Both the
Shingon sect and the Tendai viewed mountains
as the ideal place for this sort of isolation and
contemplation of nature. In their mountain re-
treats, these monks studied not only nature and
religious texts and images, but also a variety of
martial arts. Whether they felt they had to de-
fend themselves from bandits, other monks, or
samurai armies is questionable, but the idea of
studying martial arts as a means to improve one-
self mentally and spiritually, not just physically,
has always been central to Japanese culture, out-
side of the specific tenets of one religious sect
or another.
As their reputation for mystical insight and
knowledge grew, and their organization grew
tighter, many of the masters of the ascetic dis-
ciplines began to be appointed to high spiritual
positions in the court hierarchy. Monks and
temples began to gain political influence. By the
150
Ronin
13th Century, the yamabushi had formed orga-
nized cohorts called konsha, and these groups,
along with sohei and other monks began to take
direction from the central temples of their sects.
They assisted Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempts
to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate, and
proved their warrior skills to be up to the chal-
lenge of fighting professional samurai armies.
Several centuries later, in the Sengoku Pe-
riod, yamabushi could be found among the advi-
sors and armies of nearly every major contender
for dominion over Japan. Some, led by Takeda
Shingen, aided Oda Nobunaga against Uesugi
Kenshin in 1568, while others, including the
abbot Sessai Choro, advised Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Many fought alongside their fellow monks, the
Ikko-ikki, against Nobunaga, who eventually
crushed them and put an end to the time of the
warrior monks.
Like other types of warrior monks, yama-
bushi were skilled in the use of a wide variety
of weaponry. It is not surprising to find refer-
ences to them fighting with bow and arrow, or
with sword and dagger. However, like the so-
hei and Ikko-ikki, the weapon of choice for the
yamabushi was the naginata. In addition to their
spiritual or mystical abilities, yamabushi are of-
ten attributed with being skilled practitioners of
ninjutsu. The mountain monks are known to
have hired ninja to fight alongside them, and to
aid them in various, more clandestine ways. The
ninja are also known to have disguised them-
selves as monks or mountain ascetics, so as to
pass unnoticed more easily in certain environ-
ments. Most likely, this is where the confusion
can be said to have come from; it seems unlikely
that any significant number of yamabushi would
have become skilled in ninjutsu, given how dif-
ferent the two disciplines are.
Unlike sohei, the isolation of the yamabushi
has led some of them astray from the path of tra-
ditional Buddhism and into the study of genuine
magic. Yamabushi can either be members of the
Mysticism Order, or they can learn magic Modes
and spells. Most other Orders will not accept
yamabushi, but they have the distinc-
tion of being able to learn either Mind
Powers or Magic, at their choice.
Ofuda
As per the Omni System Corebook, a

Orders of character casting a magical spell for which

he has a properly prepared written version
of the spell gains a +5 bonus to his casting

Magic check and increases the time for the spell’s

Most of the magical Order listed
in the Omni System Corebook are ap-
propriate for use in Ronin, though ob-
viously not under their Western names.
Below, each one is discussed in short
detail to make the flavor of the magical
systems more appropriate to a Japanese
setting.
It should be noted that only two
groups should have access to Mind
Powers in a traditional Japanese set-
ting, and even then only through the
Mysticism Order: Buddhist monks and
shinobi. These two mystical groups
have developed techniques and train-
ing of “mind over body,” and as a result
these two disparate disciplines share a
common power source.
casting to 1 minute per Spell Level. In feu-
dal Japan, the appropriate written version of
spells are drawn on scrolls or prayer strips
and called ofuda (scripture). The scrolls
on which ofuda are written are typically
made of strong paper or parchment, while
the prayer strips are inked onto fragile rice
paper.
Because of the way in which calligra-
phy is tied to magic in the Japanese mindset,
a specially prepared prayer strip can have
the spell “tied” to it in such a way that the
casting time is not increased, but the strip
is mystically consumed after being used. A
scroll is not destroyed after casting, but it
increases the time for the spell to be cast as
normal.

In Japan, only two sources of magical power Astrology

are recognized: spirits and the elements. Since
there are spirits embodying the elements as well,
many forms of philosophy simply regard them
as one and the same. Truthfully, however, it is
possible to manipulate the five elements without
any understanding of the spirit world, though it
is generally considered callous or foolish to at-
tempt to do so. At the same time, not all spirits
that grants magical powers are beneficent; after
all, demons are spirits too.
This order is common among the nobility
of the kugei houses, who have a great deal of
time to stargaze and think about deep and eso-
teric thoughts. By studying the patterns of the
heavens, they hope to steer the course of the fu-
ture. Common folk also study astrology, largely
in the sense that Westerners would ascribe im-
portance to their horoscopes. A few, however,
uncover the deeper mysteries of the universe
through their observations.

151
The Omni System™ Social Class and Culture
Ronin

Dark Arts Mysticism

Trafficking with demons is frowned on in Mind Powers are nearly unknown in Japa-
virtually every society in history, and Tokugawa nese lore, with the exception of the self-control
Japan is no exception to this. Study of the Dark abilities of ninjutsu practitioners and the en-
Arts (called mahou-tsukai in Japanese) is offi- lightenment abilities of Buddhist monks. These
cially forbidden by the shogunate, as well as by individuals can use the invisible powers of Mys-
the tenets of both Shinto and Buddhism. Reli- ticism with ease, and many are not even aware
gious authorities warn that taking power from that they are using a supernatural force.
demons in any way is a sure path to Jigoku, the
Hell of the Wretched and the Tormented, but a
few power-hungry fools are willing to take any
risk for greater magical prowess. Shamanism
Both Shinto priests and Ainu shamans can
call upon the powers of shamanism, though
Elementalism Shinto followers are more frequently drawn to
Invocation.
Shukanja are the masters of the Elementalism
Order, wielding their mighty magics in the
name of the five elements. Since the traditional
Elementalism Order listed in the Omni System
Corebook lists only the four Western elements,
Witchcraft
here is an additional element for use in Ronin: Most “witches” in the Japanese sense are
actually practitioners of the Dark Arts. The
witches described by this Order are more prop-
Spirit erly sorceresses or enchantresses, wielders of a
A devotee of the Spirit element can see and naturalistic magic that few people actually un-
interact with spirits and ghosts as though they derstand.
were visible and tangible normally.
Modes: Spirit Elementalists do not have the
Manifest mode available; instead they gain Sen-
sory +3.
Effects: A Spirit Elementalist can Summon
Wizardry
ghosts and spiritual constructs. Their Manipu- The powers described in this Order are
late effects work only on objects from the spirit more appropriate to Chinese magic, which ma-
world. nipulates the raw fabric of creation through will
and lore. Still, a few Japanese alchemists and
wushi (students of lore) might possess skill in
the Wizardry Order.
Invocation
Most Invocation effects are appropriate for
Shinto priests, though obviously the names of
the gods in question are those of the Shinto pan-
theon.

152
Chapter Nine
EQUIPMENT
Units of Currency
The most basic unit of currency in the
Tokugawa Period is the koku, a measure of how
much rice one family consumes in one year.
Being the most basic unit of currency does not
make it the most commonly used one, however.
Koku are typically only used in determining the
value of a given samurai’s household, region, or
province, and thus in determining how much in
the way of taxes that samurai owes the bakufu
(and below that, how much in taxes the samurai
will take from his peasantry). Koku were not
actually described in coinage so much as in tax
records.
The coins minted by the bakufu were made
of precious and rare metals, such as copper,
silver, and gold. Their value in relation to the
koku shifted with each year’s harvest, but their
value in relation to each other remained con-
stant. Naturally, this inevitably led to inflation
over time, but the values described in this chap-
ter are meant to be an average representation of
the Tokugawa Period as a whole. As well, each
province minted its own coins from available
resources, though the control of gold reserves
was meant to be kept in the hands of the shogu-
nate alone.
The most common coin in circulation is the
mon, a small, circular copper coin with a hole
through the middle. (This coin shares the same
name as a heraldric crest, largely due to their
similar shape. This naturally leads to some
amount of Japanese puns relating family crests
to coins.) Above the mon is the kan, not a coin
but rather a bundle of one thousand copper mon
strung together and kept in a tight cluster.
The next largest coin in production is the
monme, a circular or rectangular silver coin.
Its value is difficult to relate in terms of mon
or kan, because it was meant to act as a middle-
range coin below the ryo, or gold piece. The ryo
is a circular or rectangular gold coin worth ei-
ther sixty monme or four kan (thus, 4,000 mon).
Because of this, the value of a monme is just
below seventy mon. Depending on the year (or
sometimes even the season), the ryo is worth be-
tween one and twenty koku. This varying value
can be of great concern to the shogunate and
to the regional daimyo, but it rarely matters to
the common merchants and workers, or even to
low-ranking samurai.
Most coins have holes through their centers
because, in previous times, traders and wealthy
commoners would keep their coins on heavy
strings that they would then wear under their
clothes (as necklaces or belts). This practice is
less common in Tokugawa Japan, but the holes
in the coins remain.
Buying Equipment
in Ronin
The basic currency unit (cu) described in
the Omni System Corebook is ascribed to be
equivalent to the value of one monme. Thus,
153
The Omni System™
starting characters in Ronin begin with two hun-
dred monme with which to purchase their be-
ginning equipment. For heimin and hinin char-
acters, this may seem like an enormous amount
of money—and it is. For low caste individuals,
it is assumed that this amount is the character’s
life savings or the results of a long period of
scavenging or theft.
Characters from the lower castes must
spend twice the listed value to buy weapons or
armor, and it is assumed that they illegally pos-
sess these items (but see the Ashigaru talent).
As their sole benefit, however, it is not dishon-
orable for peasants to handle money; in fact, it is
expected. A peasant can never suffer Honor loss
for accepting money or directly buying an item.
Eta may have some problems getting people to
accept their money, but it is hardly unusual for a
hinin to have scrounged some coins.
Samurai can buy any equipment they please
at character creation, though some items may
cause them to make Honor checks or simply
suffer Honor loss (as noted in the equipment
descriptions). As well, after character creation,
a samurai directly paying for anything without
going through the usual motions of “gift ex-
changing” can cause the character to make an
Honor check.
In this chapter, equipment appropriate from
the Omni System Corebook is given along with
its proper Japanese name (where applicable).
New equipment is listed with items of the same
type.
Weapons
The following weapons are appropriate for
Ronin. New weapons are marked with an as-
terisk (*).
Bladed Weapons: Claymore (no-dachi),
dagger (tanto), gladius (wakizashi), knife, long-
sword (katana), saber (tachi), sickle (kama).
154
Ronin
Hafted Weapons: Battle axe (ono), club
(bo), hammer (dai tsuchi), Hercules club (tet-
subo), maul (dai tsuchi), tonfa, war axe (ono),
warhammer (dai tsuchi).
Spears and Polearms: Hafmoon (lajatang),
mancatcher (sasumata), nagimaki, pole ace
(naginata), quarterstaff (rokushakubo), spear
(yari), trident (magari yari).
Ranged Weapons: Arrow (all), blowgun,
daikyu*, javelin (nageyari), short bow (yumi),
sling, shuriken.
Firearms: Blunderbuss, matchlock pistol*,
musket.
Other Weapons: Flail (nunchaku), garrote,
war fan*, whip.
New Weapons
Daikyu
The samurai long bow, a daikyu is designed
to be fired from horseback rather than on foot.
A shot while mounted suffers only half the usual
penalties (rounded down), while a shot from the
ground suffers a –1 penalty.
Class: Bow, DR: n/a, WT: 8, STR: +1, Cost:
30 cu., Effective Range: 350 ft.
Matchlock Pistol
This early firearm was developed around the
same time as the musket and the blunderbuss.
It is unwieldy, inaccurate and prone to backfire
disastrously. Still, its deadliness at short range
largely makes up for its flaws.
Class: Firearm, DR: 5T, WT: 6, STR: +0,
Cost: 175 cu., Effective Range: 100 ft.
RoF: 1/3, Ammo: 1
Sai
The Sai is a parrying weapon consisting of
an iron bar flanked by two short hooks. The bar
is not sharpened. When used to parry, a Sai will
break an opponents weapon on a Mishap attack
roll.
Class: Small Blades, DR: n/a, WT: 1, STR:
+1, Cost: 9 cu.
Tonfa
The tonfa is a hardwood rod with a handle
attached at a 90 degree angle and is used solely
as a parrying weapon. A tonfa grants a +3 bonus
to all Parry attempts.
Class: Special, DR: n/a, WT: 1, STR: +0,
Cost: 2 cu.
War Fan
A steel-ribbed fan with razor-sharp tines,
the war fan is often used to transmit battlefield
orders between samurai skilled in their use. It
is also sometimes kept as a concealed weapon
wielded by noble ladies or assassins.
Class: n/a, DR: 3S, WT: 6, Attribute: STR,
STR: –1, Cost: 25 cu.
Armor
The armor section in the Omni System
Corebook contains most of the armors com-
mon in Tokugawa Japan. The cuirass listed
from light cloth through metal lamellar, and all
of the peturgis, greaves and helmets listed are
appropriate for use in Ronin. Most of the ar-
mors given have different names in Japan, how-
ever. Cloth and padded armor, as well as the
bezainted types, are collectively known as ashi-
garu armor, since such light and cheap armor is
normally worn by those conscripts. The heavier
types of cuirass are collectively known as do-
maru, simply armor.
Chain mail full suits are mechanically ap-
propriate, but are usually made of lacquered
and layered wood rather than chain links. This
type of armor is worn by gunso and other sorts
of mid-ranked soldiers in samurai armies. The
samurai equivalent of full plate, o-yori, is a full
suit made of iron or steel strips layered over
a wood and silk backing. This armor always
comes with a steel helmet (kabuto) and a face-
mask (mempo) designed to look intimidating or
impressive.
Most forms of shield are not appropriate in
Ronin, since the use of shields has never been
common or popular among the warriors of Ja-
pan. A shield limits visibility and mobility in
ways that are not conducive to the Japanese
methods of warfare.
Miscellaneous
Gear
The costs and types of equipment given
in the Omni System Corebook appropriate to
Taokugawa Japan are listed below. Costs are
identical to those given in the list, though obvi-
ously adapted to the local currency system (as
described above).
Beasts: Cat (house), chicken, cow, dog
(guard or hunting), donkey/mule, hawk (hunt-
ing), goat, horse (any), monkey, pig, pony,
songbird.
155
The Omni System™ Social Class and Culture
Tack and Harness: Barding, harness, sad-
dle bag, yoke.
Travelers’ Equipment: Backpack, bedroll,
chest (large or small), coin purse, fan, flask (pot-
tery), gourd, lantern (most lanterns are made of
heavy paper), lantern oil, mirror (metal), pouch
(belt or shoulder), rope (hemp), sack (cloth),
tent, torch, walking stick, waterskin (large or
small), wineskin.
Clothing: In Tokugawa Japan, most cloth-
ing that would be made of leather is instead made
of heavy woven cloth (or sometimes wood, such
as for shoes), but clothes otherwise remain the
same in these descriptions. Boots, gloves, head-
band, loincloth, ritual vestments, robe, sandals,
slippers, tunic/breeches. Kimono have the same
price ranges as robes.
Tools and Professional Equipment: Aba-
cus, barrel, cage, chain, chart (astrological),
clockwork tool kit, costumes, crowbar, glass
worker’s tools, grapnel, jeweler’s tools, jug-
gler’s pins, lock (simple), locksmith’s tools,
ledger, loom, mallet, manacles, metalworker’s
tools, net (dredging, fishing), notebook, oil
cloth, performer’s make-up kit, pick/shovel,
saw, seal, sharpening stone, spikes/pitons, stone
worker’s tools, thieves’ tool, woodsman’s axe,
woodworker’s axe.
Alchemical and Magical Equipment: All
of the equipment on this list is appropriate, sub-
ject to the magic level of the campaign setting
(historical or fantasy).
Food and Lodging: Beer (cost is instead for
sake), mead (cost is instead for shochu), meals,
night’s lodging, rations (rice and pickles), stable
fees, tea, wine (fine sake).
156
Ronin
New
Equipment
Eggshell Grenades
Not really a weapon, these small fragile
bombs are designed to allow a character make a
stealthy getaway. Throwing one on the ground
creates a bright flash of light and a billowing
cloud of smoke that conceals all vision within
ten feet for one full round. During that time,
any character in that area can escape from com-
bat with no check.
WT: 1 per ten, Cost: 5 cu.
Musical Instruments
Japan’s musical instruments are varied and
many. They include the samisen (a plucked
lute), biwa (another lute), koto (zither), kokyu
(bowed lute), shakuhachi (bamboo flute), and
taiko (drums), among a great number of others.
WT: Varies, Cost: 5 cu. to 200 cu.
Tea Ceremony Set
All of the needed items to hold a formal tea
ceremony. Each part must be kept clean and in-
tact, and repairs can be highly expensive.
WT: Varies, but a lot, Cost: 500 to 2,000
cu.
Tetsubishi
These sharpened metal spurs are the Japa-
nese equivalent of caltrops. A character walk-
ing into an area scattered with caltrops takes 1T
damage and suffers a –1 penalty to SPD until
the damage heals. Multiple woundings inflicts
more damage, but the SPD penalty is not cumu-
lative. One bag of tetsubishi can cover an area
roughly ten feet square.
WT: 1 per bag, Cost: 10 cu.
Chapter Ten
A BESTIARY OF
FEUDAL JAPAN
Animals
Badger (Mujina)
These bad-tempered ground mammals
are common in all parts of Japan. Like tanuki
and kitsune, badgers are thought to be natu-
ral shapechangers, capable of assuming hu-
man form to taunt and tease other. Badgers
are thought to be more cruel than their fellows,
however, becoming human mainly to indulge
in rape and murder, though their crimes usu-
ally have an ironic or darkly humorous aspect
to them as well.
Bats (Komori)
Several types of fruit bats and insectivores
call Japan home, and the Japanese regard them
as lucky animals.
Bears (Kuma)
Brown bears inhabit the mountains and
northern forests of Japan, perhaps having
crossed over from Russia during the Ice Age.
Japanese bears are noted for their alternating
lethargy and bad tempers, making them avoided
whenever possible.
Cats (Neko)
Japanese folklore paints cats as a beneficial
animal, viewing them as creatures that act as
guardians of the home. Their strange eyes and
stranger behavior led the Japanese to believe
that they lived in two world—the material and
the spirit—simultaneously. Having a housecat
could drive away evil spirits in Japanese myth,
but a cat that was mistreated or killed could
return from the grave itself as a vengeful cat-
ghost.
Dogs (Inu)
Dogs are viewed as jovial helpers, in much
the same way that the Europeans of the time saw
them, but they are also regarded as extremely
dirty animals. Only certain kinds of purebred
attack and hunting dogs were proper creatures
for a samurai to keep, while mutts and mongrels
of all sorts could be found in peasant villages
and eta communities. Figuratively, samurai
often view themselves as wolves, making the
commoners over whom they rule analogous to
dogs—dumb, dirty, poorly bred and good only
to serve others.
Hawks ()
Many samurai keep and breed hunting
hawks and falcons of various kinds. The ability
to train a wild and noble beast such as a hawk
into a useful hunting animal is viewed as a high-
ly honorable pursuit. A well-trained hawk can
bring down a rabbit or other small game, while
an exceptional one can be used to trail and harry
human prey.
Foxes (Kitsune)
The legendry and myths surrounding foxes
are dealt with in greater detail later in this chap-
ter. Simply put, however, foxes are considered
to be mischievous trickster spirits by the Japa-
157
The Omni System™
nese—not just some of them, but all of them.
Several kinds of animals are thought to have
a greater intelligence than they let on in local
folklore, but none of them are supposed to be as
clever and cunning as the sleek red fox. Some
samurai hunt foxes for sport, while others rec-
ognize that doing so is a sure method to getting
in trouble with the fox’s relatives.
Monkeys (Saru)
Several kinds of long-tailed and short-tailed
monkeys dwell in the mountains and forests of
Japan, and their human-like antics amuse the
feudal Japanese as much as they do virtually any
other culture. A common saying in Tokugawa
Japan is “Even a monkey can fall from a tree,”
meaning that even an expert sometimes makes
mistakes. The round faces of monkeys are often
equated to overweight or drunk humans in Japa-
nese popular culture, making a drunkard a “red-
faced monkey.” A few monkeys grow to excep-
tionally large sizes and can even be somewhat
threatening to bathing or traveling humans.
Rabbits (Usagi)
Rabbits are considered one of the luckiest
animals in Japanese myth. They are viewed as
messengers of the gods, especially Tsukiyomi,
god of the moon. Where Westerners see a “man
in the moon,” the Japanese instead see a danc-
ing rabbit.
Snakes (Hebi)
Many kinds of poisonous snake inhabit Ja-
pan, and snakes are typically viewed in the same
light as they are in the West: treacherous, deceit-
ful and deadly.
Wolves (Okami)
No animal holds quite the same level of
respect and deference in the popular mind of
Japan than the wolf. While Japan actually has
two native species of wolf, most people make
no actual distinction between the two. Wolves
are seen as the more powerful cousins of dogs,
158
Ronin
pack hunters that are individually mighty but
find their greatest strength as a group. In many
ways, samurai seek wolves as their spiritual rel-
atives in the animal kingdom, noble hunters and
warriors that lord over all other animals. A great
many myths exist around the habits and prac-
tices of wolves, and a common saying is that “A
dead wolf can still bite,” meaning that killing
someone does not prevent them from striking
back. This belief is considered to be literal truth
in some places—that a dead wolf’s head will
strike at its killer even minutes after death.
If samurai see themselves as wolves, then
their wayward fellows known as ronin equally
earn their social title of “lone wolves.” They
take their deadly fighting skills and use them for
none but themselves, wandering without benefit
of family, home or mate. These “lone wolves”
are often considered to be as rabid and danger-
ous as the animals from whom they receive their
nickname, and their fate is often the same—
killed out of necessity by their own kind.
Spirits, Gods, and
Demons
Baku
Baku (“dream eaters”) are spirits found in
Chinese and Japanese mythology. They are
generally pictured as chimeras, either with the
head of an elephant and the body of a lion or
with the head of a lion, the body of a horse, the
tail of a cow and the legs and feet of a tiger. Al-
ternatively, they may be more pig- or tapir-like
creatures that range in color from black to pink.
Baku are generally benign creatures who
aid human beings by eating nightmares or the
evil spirits that cause such dreams. Sometimes
they do this unbidden, but other legends require
a nightmare sufferer to awaken and call upon
a baku to eat his dreams. According to some
beliefs, baku can change eaten dreams to good

luck. Other tales make the baku more trouble-
some, eating all dreams and thus depriving
sleepers of their beneficial effects, or simply
awakening sleepers and depriving them of sleep
in general. Baku are almost always seen as ben-
eficial, however, and pictures of the creatures
are often placed in Japanese bedrooms to help
ward off bad dreams. In the Edo period, pillows
with a baku picture on them are sold widely in
virtually every city.
Size: 10 ft., 1000 lbs.
INT +1 PER +5
WIL +3 CHA +1
STR +1 CON +1
DEX –3 SPD +0
Ability Level: 3-8 TR: 2 + Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Bite 3T
Special Abilities: Incorporeal; flight; dream
eating (a baku can “eat” a person’s bad
dreams while they sleep, giving them a +1
to Omni Table rolls for the next day, or eat
their good dreams, giving them a –1 penalty
instead).
Armor: PR 1/1/1
Hit Points: 20 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Spirit world
Dragons
(Ryu or Tatsu)
Unlike the monstrous reptiles of European
lore, the Japanese regard dragons as harbingers
of good fortune and the servants of the gods.
Dragons inhabit major natural landmarks, act-
ing as guardians of holy places and the embodi-
ments of significant sites. Every large mountain
has a dragon that serves as both protector and
voice, as does any long river. Even large clouds
can have dragons living within them.
Long and serpentine, Japanese dragons re-
semble a combination of snake, lion, and carp.
Their glittering scales reflect a multitude of
hues, usually indicative of their original habitat.
River dragons tend to be blue and white, while
dragons of mountains tend toward black and
gray. The mightiest of dragons, the dragons of
the celestial heavens, appear radiant, with scales
of burnished gold and silver. All dragons have
long, thin bodies, four legs with three claws on
each foot, whip-like tails, furry manes, and long,
lean snouts with carp-like mustaches.
Dragons are awarded great powers by myth
and legend. Among these extraordinary gifts are
included the ability to fly, breathe water, heal
with a touch, and change shape. Almost all
dragons can assume the form of beautiful men
or women, though their features still tend to re-
flect their true origins. Of green-eyed women,
the Japanese sometimes say that they are “drag-
on-touched.”
Despite their position as messengers and
emissaries of the gods, and as embodiments of
the forces of nature, dragons are no less sus-
ceptible to corruption than men. Indeed, with
their initial distance from human society and
relative ignorance to its nuances, some dragons
may become quickly overcome by human plea-
sures and ideas. Such corrupted dragons—even
if not actively evil or malicious—are renegades
159
The Omni System™ Social Class and Culture
by the standards of the spirit world, criminals
and outcasts to their own kind. The retribution
of heaven may be long in coming for “fallen”
dragons, but it is assured and inevitable.
The most common cause of a dragon’s fall,
perhaps obviously, is love for a mortal. Dragons
rarely feel the touch of kindness in their immor-
tal lives—often veneration and fear, but rarely
true love or compassion. Many tales tell of
mortal men or women who visited an elemental
dragon’s home to find peace and quiet, only to
fall in love with the pastoral beauty of a moun-
tain or stream. The dragon embodying that fea-
ture may hear the words of the adoring mortal
and transfer that love from the landscape to
himself—sometimes reciprocated by the mortal
and sometimes not.
Unlike their Western cousins, Japanese
160
Ronin
dragons do not breathe flame or possess wings.
They fly through their connection to the Celes-
tial Heavens rather than any mundane physical
ability. However, they are also highly intelli-
gent and skilled in the arts of magic.
Size: 10-60 ft., 750-5,000 lbs.
INT +3 PER +3
WIL +4 CHA +3
STR +4 CON +3
DEX +1 SPD +5
Ability Level: 10-20 TR: 1/ability level
Attacks/Damage: Bite 15T
Special Abilities: Flight; Regeneration (1
point per hour); Shape change (a single hu-
man form) at will; Night Vision; +3 to MR;
Astrology, Elementalism, or Shamanism
Order with 4 modes at ability level (known
spells equal to one-half ability level).
Armor: Half the dragon’s ability level
Hit Points: 20 + 5 per ability level
Habitat: Natural terrain or the spirit world
Hengeyokai
Among the many strange creatures and in-
habitants of mythical Japan, perhaps the most
accessible are the hengeyokai. While techni-
cally a type of demon because their spiritual
nature is not descended from the Heavenly or
Earthly Courts of gods, these creatures hardly
act demonic at all. Simply put, hengeyokai are
animal-people, some of whom are capable of
changing between a purely animal form and a
purely human form. Others are permanently
stuck in a sort of “hybrid” form, in which they
seem human except for slightly animalistic fa-
cial features, animal ears on the tops of their
heads, and animal tails. A small number also
have claws and fangs, while a few are even
more animal-like in appearance, seeming to be
nothing more than bipedal animals.
Unlike most denizens of mythical Japan,
hengeyokai are not inherently part of the spirit
world. Rather, they are earthly mortals with
more than a little magical blood in them, mak-
ing them aware of the spirit world without ac-
tually dwelling in it. Most hengeyokai are the
result of actual spirit beings (such as oni or spirit
animals) interbreeding with humans, thus creat-
ing half-breed children. Sometimes, these half-
breeds will gather in communities of their own
out in the wilderness, preferring nature’s allure
to the stifling confinement of human civiliza-
tion.
Size: 5 ft., 100 lbs., or as per animal
INT +1
WIL –1
PER +2
CHA +3
STR +0* CON +2*
DEX +3* SPD +2*
*or as animal
Ability Level: 1-10 TR: 1/Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: As human, or as per ani-
mal form
Special Abilities: Shapechange (between
human and animal form at will); low-light
vision.
Armor: None (or as animal)
Hit Points: 20 + 1 per ability level
Habitat: Any
Hebi-no-Onna
The Japanese fascination with tattoos comes
from a long-standing animistic tradition of sym-
pathetic magic. That is, in the Japanese belief,
by making a picture of something, you capture
part of its spirit. The next logical step in this
belief is that by making a picture on one’s own
skin, one could infuse that spirit into the self.
The hebi-no-onna is a woman who has tattooed
herself in snakes, becoming infused with the
deadly and treacherous spirit of the serpent.
Snake Woman
Size: 5’4” ft., 110 lbs.lbs.
INT +0 PER +3
WIL +1 CHA +3
STR +0 CON +1
DEX +4 SPD +3
Ability Level: 5-10 TR: 1/Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Snake bite 3T and poi-
son
Special Abilities: Poison (CON check to
avoid 10 extra damage); Illusion Mode at
Ability Level.
Armor: None
Hit Points: 20 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Any
Kitsune
In Japanese folklore, kitsune are believed to
possess great intelligence, long life, and magical
powers. Foremost among these is the ability to
take the shape of a human. A fox is said to learn
to do this when it attains a certain age (usually
a hundred years, though some tales say fifty).
Kitsune usually appear in the shape of a beauti-
ful woman, a pretty young girl, or an old man.
Other powers commonly attributed to the
kitsune include possession, the ability to breathe
or otherwise create fire, the power to manifest
in dreams, and the ability to create illusions so
elaborate as to be almost indistinguishable from
reality. Some tales go further still, speaking of
kitsune with the ability to bend time and space, to
drive people mad, or to take such nonhuman and
fantastic shapes as a tree of incredible height or
a second moon in the sky. Occasionally kitsune
are ascribed a characteristic reminiscent of vam-
pires—these kitsune feed on the life or spirit of
the humans they come into contact with. Some-
times kitsune are depicted guarding a round or
pear-shaped ball (hoshi no tama, or “star ball”);
it is said this ball contains some amount of the
kitsune’s power, and if it is stolen the thief can
coerce help from the kitsune.
The folkloric kitsune is a type of yokai, a
spirit of nature or small god. In this context, the
word kitsune is often translated as “fox spirit.”
However, one should not take this to mean that
a kitsune is not a living creature, nor that a kit-
161
The Omni System™
sune is a different creature than a nor-
mal fox. The word “spirit” is used in
its Eastern sense, reflecting a state of
knowledge or enlightenment. Any fox
who lives sufficiently long, therefore,
can be a fox spirit.
There are two major types of kit-
sune: the myobu, or celestial fox—
those associated with the gods, who
are presented as benevolent—and the
nogitsune, or wild fox (literally “field
fox”), who are often, though not al-
ways, presented as malicious. Myobu
kitsune are often associated with the
deity of rice known as Inari. Originally
kitsune were the messengers of Inari,
but now the line between the two has
become blurred to the point that Inari is
sometimes depicted as a fox himself.
Kitsune are often noted for their
tails—a fox may possess as many as
nine of them. Generally, an older and
more powerful fox will possess a great-
er number of tails, and some sources
say that a fox grows an additional tail
for each hundred or thousand years it
has lived. However, the foxes that ap-
pear in folk stories almost always pos-
sess one, five, or nine tails. In some
stories, kitsune have difficulty hiding
their tails—usually the foxes in these
stories have only one, which may be an
indication that this is a weakness born
of inexperience—when they take hu-
man form; the observant protagonist
sees through the fox’s disguise when the drunk-
en or careless fox allows its tail to show.
A famous kitsune is the great guardian spirit,
Kyubi. Revered by some, Kyubi is a protective
guardian spirit, helping young souls who appear
to be lost in their journey through this incarna-
tion. Kyubi usually does not stay for very long,
only for a few days, but may end up staying for
years at a time when it becomes attached to one
soul.
162
Social Class and Culture
Ronin
Nine-Tailed Foxes
When a fox manages to live to the ripe
old age of one thousand years, it becomes
a kyubi-no-kitsune, a nine-tailed fox. Even
more powerful and wise than normal foxes,
these ancient tricksters change color to silver,
white, or gold. As their name suggests, they
possess nine tails, arrayed like the feathers
of a peacock (though notably more flexible).
Having survived a millennium, according to
the stories, the gods grant the fox the power
of “infinite vision.” This might literally refer
to the ability to see anywhere and anything,
while certain stories indicate that nine-tailed
foxes are given the power of prophecy.
Ancient Trickster Fox
Size: 6 ft., 200 lbs.
INT +4 PER +5
WIL +4 CHA +4
STR +2 CON +2
DEX +4 SPD +3
Ability Level: 5-10 TR: 2 + Ability
Level
Attacks/Damage: Bite 5T
Special Abilities: Modes (Illusion and
Sensory) at Ability Level; darkvision; low-
light vision; scent.
Armor: 3
Hit Points: 25 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Forest
The nogitsune are often presented as trick-
sters—sometimes very malevolent ones. These
trickster kitsune employ their magical powers to
play tricks on people; those portrayed in a fa-
vorable light tend to choose as targets overly-
proud samurai, greedy merchants, and boastful
commoners, while the more cruel kitsune tend
to abuse poor tradesmen and farmers or Bud-
dhist monks.
However, there is a second common por-
trayal of kitsune in general: as a lover. These
love stories usually involve a young human male
and a kitsune who takes the form of a woman.
Sometimes the kitsune is assigned the role of se-
ductress, but often these stories are romantic in
nature. Such a story usually involves the young
man (unknowingly) marrying the fox, and em-
phasizes the devotion of the fox-wife. Many of
these stories also possess a tragic element—they
usually end with the discovery of the fox, who
then must leave her husband because of the eso-
teric rules of the spirit world.
The human progeny of human-kitsune mar-
riages are generally held to possess special
physical or supernatural qualities. The specific
nature of these qualities, however, varies widely
from one source to another. Among those who
are said to have such extraordinary power is the
famous alchemist and mystic Abe Seimei, who
is said to be a son of a half-breed kitsune.
Rain falling from a clear sky—a sun show-
er—is sometimes called kitsune no yomeiri,
“the kitsune’s wedding.”
Trickster Fox
Size: 4 ft., 75 lbs.
INT +3 PER +3
WIL +1 CHA +4
STR +1 CON +1
DEX +4 SPD +3
Ability Level: 2-5 TR: Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Bite 2T
Special Abilities: Illusion Mode at Ability
Level; darkvision; low-light vision; scent.
Armor: 1
Hit Points: 10 + 1 per ability level
Habitat: Forest
Oni
The word oni can be translated to mean ei-
ther “demon” or “ogre,” and is used interchange-
ably for both in folklore. Depictions of oni vary
widely but usually portray them as hideous,
gigantic creatures with sharp claws, wild hair,
and two long horns growing from their heads.
They are humanoid for the most part, but occa-
sionally, they are shown with unnatural features
such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and
toes. Their skin may be any number of colors,
but red, blue, black, pink, and green are particu-
larly common. Their fierce appearance is only
enhanced by the tiger skins they tend to wear
and the iron clubs they favor, called kanabou.
This image leads to the expression “oni with an
iron club,” that is, to be invincible or undefeat-
able. It can also be used in the sense of “strong
beyond strong,” or having one’s natural quality
enhanced or supplemented by the use of some
tool.
In the earliest legends, oni were benevolent
creatures said to be able to ward off evil and ma-
levolent spirits and to punish evildoers. Japa-
nese Buddhism incorporated these beliefs by at
least the 13th century, calling the creatures aka-
oni (“red demon”) and ao-oni (“blue demon”)
and making them the guardians of hell or the
torturers of the wicked there. They also came to
be recognized as Shinto spirits and gods. Over
time, the oni’s strong association with evil col-
ored the perception of the creatures themselves,
and they came to be seen as harbingers or agents
of calamity. Folk tales and theater began to de-
pict them as dumb, sadistic brutes, content only
to destroy. Foreigners and barbarians were often
said to be oni. They are variously described as
the spirits of the dead, of the earth, of the ances-
tors, of the vengeful, of pestilence, or of anger.
No matter what their essence, oni are now seen
as something to avoid and to ward off.
Since the 10th century, oni have been
strongly associated with the northeast direction
(kimon). Temples are often built facing that di-
163
The Omni System™ Ronin

rection, and Japanese buildings sometimes have
L-shaped indentions at the northeast to ward oni
away. Some villages hold yearly ceremonies
to drive away oni, particularly at the beginning
of spring. During the Setsubun festival, people
throw soybeans outside their homes and shout
“Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (“Demons out!
Luck in!”). Monkey statues are also thought to
guard against oni, since the Japanese word for
monkey (saru) is a homonym for the word for
“leaving.”
Some vestiges of the oni’s once benevolent
nature still remain, however. Men in oni cos-
tumes often lead Japanese parades to ward off
any bad luck, for example. Japanese buildings
sometimes include oni-faced roof tiles, which
are thought to ward away bad luck, much as gar-
goyles in Western tradition.
In Japanese versions
of the game tag, the
player who is “it” is
instead called the
“oni.”
flaws. Such transformed individuals usually go
on to embrace their evil and become enemies of
mortals, who remind them all too clearly of their
own origins.
In much the same way that a samurai’s soul
lies in his katana, an oni’s soul is said to find a
home in the creature’s horn or horns. An oni that
loses his horns either dies or becomes power-
less. Owning a demon’s horn can grant a mortal
great powers, and some demons will break off
one of their horns to give to a particularly use-
ful human ally (or pawn). Certain legends also
speak of demons tearing off their own horns to
try and become human.
Advanced sort of demons include the mezu-
oni (a horse-headed demon) and the gozu-oni (a
bull-headed demon). These advanced demons
often act as officers in the armies of Hell.

The most
poignant part of
the oni legend,
however, is their
relation to human-
ity. Since oni are
perceived not as
the fallen angels of
Western religious
belief, but mortals
elevated to a posi-
tion as torturers in
hell, it is commonly be-
lieved by the Japanese
that anyone could be-
come an oni, given the
right (or wrong) circum-
stances. Folktales are
full of spurned women or
jealous men who allowed
their own worse natures to
consume them and became
living monsters because of their

164
 Common Foot Soldier Demon
Size: 9 ft., 500 lbs.
INT –2 PER –3
WIL –1 CHA –1
STR +4 CON +4
DEX +0 SPD +0
Ability Level: 1-10 TR: 2 + Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Iron club 8B, horn gore
5T
Special Abilities: Turn invisible (at will),
fire immunity. Demons above Ability Level
6 have the Attack Mode of spells at Ability
Level –5 (and Dark Arts Order).
Armor: 5
Hit Points: 20 + 5 per ability level
Habitat: Hell
Shikigami
A shikigami is a familiar of an onmyo-shi,
Japanese alchemists practiced in the study of
Daoism and chemistry. A shikigami is conjured
by an onmyo-shi, and its ability is defined by its
master’s ability. In its natural form, the creature
looks like a small oni, though it can change its
form into a small animal or a bird.
Legend says that the shikigami of a pow-
erful onmyo-shi can possess and manipulate an
animal vessel. One of a really truly powerful
alchemist could even theoretically possess a
person. Because of their shapechanging powers
and ability to possess mortal and animal vessels,
the most common uses for a shikigami were as
spies and assassins for their mystical masters.
However, a shikigami is also very dangerous for
its summoner. Since the creature is summoned
with blood and strange chemistry, it often es-
capes the control of its master, goes berserk and
kills him. Indeed, when an onmyo-shi sends
his shikigami against another alchemist, or any
magic-user, the practitioner has a chance to de-
tect the small monster and use his own magic to
turn it against the creature’s master.
Abe Seimei is known as the most power-
ful onmyo-shi in Japanese history. Legends say
that he had twelve shikigami at his command,
though an average alchemist could barely con-
trol two shikigami simultaneously.
Alchemical Homunculus
Size: 1 ft., 15 lbs.
INT –4 PER +0
WIL –4 CHA –3
STR –3 CON –2
DEX +1 SPD +1
Ability Level: 1-3 TR: Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Bite 1T, claw 1S
Special Abilities: Shapechange (into a nor-
mal animal; keeps own stats); channel spell (a
spellcaster that has bound a shikigami can cast
his spells through it as though he were present
at its location); possession (once per day, a shi-
kigami can attempt to inhabit an animal or hu-
man for up to one hour; the target must attempt
a WIL check to avoid the effect).
Armor: 1/1
Hit Points: 5 + 1 per ability level
Habitat: None (created being)
Spirit Animals
Spirit Animal Template
To turn a normal animal into a spirit animal,
make the following changes to it:
INT Increase by 4 PER Increase by 2
WIL Increase by 2 CHA Increase by 4
STR Increase by 2 CON N/A
DEX No change SPD Increase by 2
Ability Level: The spirit animal now has an
ability level of 2 to 8
TR: The spirit animal has a threat rating of
3 + 1 per ability level
Attacks/Damage: The spirit animal has
bite and claw attacks for 5T
Special Abilities: Naturally incorporeal;
assume corporeal form (at will); spirit sight;
flight; shape change (into a normal animal,
at will); regenerate 1 hit point per hour; one
mode of spellcasting (at ability level).
165
The Omni System™ Ronin

Sample Spirit Animal: Bakeneko

When a cat dies at the hands of a cruel human or because of a master’s neglect, the ani-
mal’s powerful feeling of betrayal and strong ties to the spirit world can create a bakeneko, a
ghost-cat. The bakeneko is much larger than the cat that died to create it, often as big as a man,
and its features are dramatically exaggerated. The cat’s eyes become enormous, while its teeth
and claws elongate into deadly weapons.

Not all ghost-cats are malevolent, however, despite their fearsome appearance. Many of
them dislike humanity and go out of their way to harm or frighten humans, but others restrict
their depredations to unworthy or cruel human beings. Bakeneko are capable of speaking
human languages, and most of them are quite clever—even cunning. Most of them have the
ability to shapechange back into the semblance of a normal housecat, maintaining the charade
while it is useful to their personal goals.

Most ghost-cats are out to gain something for themselves. Their transformation has made
them selfish (though not necessarily evil), and they inevitably seek to gain some specific thing
that they believe will make them happy in their new existence. Often, this is a human bride,
someone that can love them in the same way that they wish their masters had while they were
alive. Bakeneko seeking a bride will often harass her household for days, weeks or months,
until they finally give in out of fear of the creature’s wrath. Women taken by a bakeneko are
rarely ever seen again, taken off to the spirit world to serve the ghost-cat for eternity.

Cat Ghost
Size: 1’6” ft., 4 lbs.
INT +0 PER +6
WIL -1 CHA+4
STR -6 CON N/A
DEX +4 SPD +5
Ability Level: 2 to 8 TR: 3 + 1/ability level
Attacks/Damage: Bite DR 5T; Claws DR 5S
Special Abilities: Naturally incorporeal; assume corporeal form (at will); spirit sight;
flight; shape change (into a normal animal, at will); regenerate 1 hit point per hour; one
mode of spellcasting (at ability level).
Armor: PR 2/2/2
Hit Points: 2 + 1 per ability level
Habitat: Variable

Armor: Animal’s armor value +2

Hit Points: Animal’s hit points + 2 per abil-
ity level

166

Tanuki
Tanuki is often mistakenly translated as rac-
coon or badger, but is in fact a raccoon-dog, a
distinct canine species native to Japan. Tanuki
have been part of Japanese myth since ancient
times. The mythical tanuki is reputed to be
mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and
shape-shifting, but somewhat gullible and ab-
sent-minded.
The current humorous image of the tanuki is
thought to have been developed during the Ka-
makura Period. The wild tanuki has unusually
large testicles, a feature often comically exag-
gerated in artistic depictions of tanuki. Tanuki
may be shown with their testicles flung over
their backs like a traveler’s pack, or using them
as drums. Tanuki are also typically depicted as
having large bellies, often hanging over their
knees. They may be shown drumming on their
bellies instead of their testicles, especially in
children’s art.
During the Kamakura and Muromachi eras,
some stories began to include more frightening,
man-eating tanuki. The story of “Kachi-kachi
Yama” features a tanuki that clubs an old lady to
death and serves her to her unknowing husband
as “old lady soup.” Other stories report tanuki
as being harmless and productive members of
society. Several shrines have stories of past
priests who were tanuki in disguise. Shapeshift-
ing tanuki are sometimes believed to be a trans-
formation of the souls of household goods that
were used for one hundred years or more.
A popular tale known as “Bunbuku cha-
gama” is about a tanuki who fooled a monk by
transforming into a teakettle. Another is about
a tanuki who tricked a hunter by disguising his
arms as tree boughs, until he spread both arms
at the same time and fell off the tree. Tanuki are
said to cheat merchants with leaves they have
magically disguised as paper money. Some sto-
ries describe tanuki as using leaves as part of
their own shape-shifting magic.
In metalworking, tanuki skins were often
used for thinning gold. As a result, tanuki be-
came associated with metal mines and metal
craftwork and were marketed as front yard
decoration and good luck charm for bringing
in prosperity. Statues of tanuki can be found
outside many Japanese temples and restaurants,
especially noodle shops. These statues often
wear a big, cone-shaped hat and carry a bottle
of sake. Tanuki statues always have a large
belly, although contemporary sculptures may
or may not show the traditional large testicles.
These exaggerated features represent fertility
and plenty.
Like the kitsune, a similar trickster
in Japanese folklore, the tanuki is a
contradictory creature, at once playful
and friendly, while also being prone to
outbursts of intense and unwarranted
violence. Theyseem to have the same
range of emotions as humans, though
obviously weighted away from person-
al responsibility and toward the pursuit
of pleasure and entertainment. Lazy
young men are sometimes referred to
as tanuki in reference to their avoid-
ance of work.
In a fantasy sense, tanuki often in-
filtrate human society, usually at the
167
The Omni System™ Ronin

level of heimin rather than samurai. They care

little enough for power that being a noble would The konoha tengu or daitengu are more
be more trouble than it was worth, though they human-like than their karasu cousins. They
appreciate comfort and prestige enough to dis- are tall beings with wrinkled, red skin or red
guise themselves as members of the clergy. faces, their most unnatural feature being their
extremely long noses. These tengu typically
Trickster Raccoon-Dog dress as mountain hermits (yamabushi), Bud-
Size: ft., lbs. dhist monks, or Shinto priests, leading them to
INT +0 PER +1 sometimes be called yamabushi tengu. They of-
WIL +1 CHA +1 ten carry a staff or a small mallet with which to
STR +2 CON +2 defend themselves. They sometimes have bird-
DEX +0 SPD +0 like features as well, such as small wings or a
Ability Level: 3 to 8 TR: Ability Level feathered cloak. Some legends give them fans
Attacks/Damage: Bite 2T made from feathers or leaves, which they can
Special Abilities: Shapechange (into hu- use either to control the length of their noses or
man form and back at will); see invisible to cause gale-force winds.
creatures; Modes (Manipulate and Illusion)
at Ability Level; night vision; scent. Tengu can change their appearance to that
Armor: 1 of an animal (often a fox or a raccoon-dog) or a
Hit Points: 15 + 2 per ability level human being, though they usually retain some
Habitat: Forests, mountains vestige of their true form, such as an unusually
long nose or a bird-like shadow. Although both
types of tengu have wings and can fly, they are
Tengu generally able to magically teleport as well.

Tengu are minor spirits of Japanese folklore,
commonly associated with the god Susanowo.
They are a part of the traditions of most Japa-
nese religions including Shinto and Buddhism,
and they are popular subjects of literature and
art during the Tokugawa Period.
Tengu inhabit the mountains of Japan, pre-
ferring deep forests of pine and other conifers.
They are particularly associated with Mount
Takao and Mount Kurama. The land of the ten-

The tengu are believed to come in two

major varieties. The karasu tengu or kotengu
are crow-headed humanoids. Their heads may
be red or green as well as black, and they of-
ten have human ears and hair. Their beaks are
sometimes lined with sharp teeth, and they have
clawed, birdlike hands and feet. They have
small wings as well, sometimes shown as beat-
ing extremely fast like those of a hummingbird.
Their wings and tails are feathered, as may be
the entire body. Coloration varies, but they are
generally depicted with red clothing, hair, or
skin. They sometimes carry ring-topped staffs
called shakujo to fight with or to ward off evil
magic.

168
gu is known as Tengudo, which may be a spe-
cific physical location, a part of some spiritual
realm, or simply a name for any tengu settle-
ment. Legends often describe tengu society as
hierarchical, in a similar way to human society.
The karasu tengu act as servants and messengers
for the daitengu. At the top sits the tengu king,
the white-haired Sojobo who lives on Mount
Kurama. In addition, many areas of Japan claim
to be haunted by other named tengu, often wor-
shipped in shrines. Though invariably pictured
as male, tengu lay and hatch from eggs.
Tengu are capricious creatures, and legends
alternately describe them as benevolent or mali-
cious. In their more mischievous moods, tengu
enjoy playing pranks that range from setting fires
in forests or in front of temples to more grave
offenses, such as eating people (though this is
rare). Tengu enjoy posing as human beings to
dupe lost mountain travelers. They tend to take
friendly forms for this game, such as wandering
hermits. After gaining a victim’s trust, the tengu
may simply toy with him by, for example, flying
him around on a saucer-like contraption or im-
mersing him in a masterfully created illusion.
Alternately, the tengu may kidnap him, a
practice known as kami kakushi—divine kid-
napping. Victims often awaken far from where
they were taken with no memory of the lost time.
Missing children are also often blamed on the
tengu. Kidnapped children that are found are
usually in a dazed, brainwashed state. Tengu
may also communicate with people as if by te-
lepathy, and they are sometimes accused of pos-
sessing human beings or taking over their minds.
Because of their malicious tricks, people some-
times leave offerings to keep the creatures from
bothering them (usually rice and bean paste).
Proud, vengeful, and easily insulted, ten-
gu are particularly intolerant of the arrogant,
the blasphemous, those who misuse power or
knowledge for their own gain, and those who
disrupt tengu-inhabited forests. This particu-
larly compels them to pursue crooked monks
and priests, and, in earlier eras, samurai. They
are sometimes shown with political instincts
as well, meddling in the affairs of humanity to
keep mankind from becoming too powerful or
disruptive. Despite their intolerance for such
behavior in others, tengu are notoriously ego-
tistical, leading to the phrase tengu ni naru (“to
become a tengu”)—that is, to be boastful. They
are not immortal, and a seriously wounded tengu
will change into a bird (often a crow or a bird of
prey) and fly away. At least one legend claims
that tengu can be reincarnated as human beings
if they behave altruistically during their lives.
Tengu are experts in martial arts, battle tac-
tics, and swordsmithing. They sometimes im-
part this knowledge to human beings. The hu-
man hero Minamoto Yoshitsune learned sword
fighting from the tengu king, Sojobo, for exam-
ple. Such instruction does not even require the
student to meet a tengu in person, as the tengu
can impart this knowledge through dreams. The
black mask worn by ninja is called the tengu-gui
due to the tengu’s association with fighting.
The tengu most likely have their origins in
China. The name “tengu” is probably derived
from the Chinese Tiangou (“heavenly dog”),
the Dog Star of Chinese astrology, or possi-
bly a name given to a dog-tailed meteor that
struck China in the 6th century BC. Eventu-
ally, an entire class of mountain demons called
Tiangou developed in China, behaving much
as the Japanese tengu in their more malevolent
moods. These Tiangou were brought to Japan
with the first Buddhists in the 6th or 7th century,
where they perhaps became identified with na-
tive Shinto spirits. The earliest tengu legends
feature only the karasu tengu, who are almost
invariably evil in these tales. Tengu grew more
humanoid over the years, as well as less evil and
more mischievous.
During Japan’s “middle ages,” corruption
infested much of the Buddhist clergy. It was
during this period that the tengu took to pun-
ishing the blasphemous, and this association
made them a favorite literary device used in the
Kamakura Period by authors wishing to safely
169
The Omni System™
criticize particular clergy or sects. The yama-
bushi mountain monks were also seen as fight-
ing against this corruption, and eventually, the
tengu took on their current yamabushi tengu
form due to this association.
During the Edo period, Dutch traders were
the only Europeans allowed into Japan, and it
has been suggested that the ruddy-faced, wide-
eyed, and big-nosed daitengu may have origi-
nated with peasants who thought that these
“not-quite-Japanese-looking” strangers must be
monsters in disguise. As late as the Tokugawa
Period, government officials posted notices
warning tengu to leave the area before visits by
the shogun.
Tengu Sensei
Size: 5 ft., 120 lbs.
INT +3 PER +4
WIL +4 CHA +0
STR +2 CON +1
DEX +1 SPD +1
Ability Level: 5-15 TR: 1 + Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: As per weapon
Special Abilities: Flight; darkvision; tele-
port (once per minute, unlimited range);
shapechange (into any animal or a single
human form); Modes (Illusion and Ward) at
Ability Level.
Armor: None
Hit Points: 25 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Mountains
Yuki-no-Onna
Yuki-no-onna (“snow woman”) is a spirit,
sometimes confused with the yama-uba (“moun-
tain crone”), but the two figures are not the
same. Yuki-no-onna appears as a tall, beautiful
woman with long hair. Her skin is inhumanly
pale or even transparent, causing her to blend
into the snowy landscape. She sometimes wears
a white kimono, but other legends describe her
as nude, with only her face and hair standing out
170
Ronin
against the snow. Despite her inhuman beau-
ty, her eyes can strike terror into mortals. She
floats across the snow, leaving no footprints (in
fact, some tales say she has no feet, a notable
feature for many Japanese ghosts), and she can
transform into a cloud of mist or snow if she is
threatened.
Yuki-no-onna is winter personified, par-
ticularly the storms common during that time
of year. She is at the same time beautiful and
serene, yet ruthless in her killing of unsuspect-
ing mortals. Until the 18th century, she was al-
most uniformly portrayed as evil. Toward the
end of the Tokugawa Period, however, stories
often color her as more human, emphasizing her
ghostlike nature and ephemeral beauty.
In many stories, yuki-no-onna reveals her-
self to travelers who find themselves trapped
in snowstorms and uses her icy breath to leave
them as frost-coated corpses. Other legends say
that she leads them astray so they simply die of
exposure. Other times, she manifests holding a
child. When a well-intentioned soul takes the
“child” from her, he or she is frozen in place.
Parents searching for lost children are particu-
larly susceptible to this tactic. Other legends
make yuki-no-onna much more aggressive. In
these stories, she often physically invades peo-
ple’s homes, blowing in the door with a gust of
wind, to kill them while they sleep (though some
legends require her to be invited inside first, like
a Western vampire).
Exactly what yuki-no-onna is after varies
from tale to tale. Sometimes she is simply satis-
fied to see her victim’s death. Other times, how-
ever, she is more vampiric, draining her victims’
blood or life force. She occasionally takes on a
succubus-like manner, preying on weak-willed
men in order to drain or freeze them through sex
or simply a kiss.
Like the snow and winter weather she rep-
resents, yuki-no-onna has a softer side. She
sometimes lets would-be victims go for various
reasons. In one popular yuki-no-onna legend,
for example, she sets a young boy free due to
his beauty and age. She makes him promise to
never mention her again, though, and when he
relates the story to his wife much later in life,
his wife reveals herself to be none other than the
snow woman. She reviles him for breaking his
promise but spares him yet again, this time out
of concern for the children she has borne him.
In a similar legend, yuki-no-onna melts away
once her husband discovers her true nature.
Snow Woman
Size: 5’4”ft., 112 lbs.
INT +0 PER +4
WIL +1 CHA +5
STR –1 CON +0
DEX +1 SPD +0
Ability Level: 5 to 10 TR: Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Cold touch (10 cold
damage)
Special Abilities: Manipulate Mode at
Ability Level (cold and ice only); immu-
nity to cold.
Armor: None
Hit Points: 15 + 1 per ability level
Habitat: Winter, mountains
Zashiki-Warashi
The zashiki-warashi, sometimes also called
a zashiki-bokko, is a kind of Japanese fairy
or spirit. “Zashiki” translates as “traditional
room,” which is a common place they are found,
while “warashi” is an old word for a small child.
In appearance, zashiki-warashi look like little
girls with large, luminous eyes wearing kimono
made out of leaves and bark. Typically, their
skin is porcelain-pale and their eyes are slightly
too large for a normal human.
These forest spirits are said to bring hap-
piness or good luck upon the house. Once a
zashiki-warashi inhabits a house, it brings the
house and its other inhabitants prosperity and
happiness, as well as keeping them from dan-
ger. On the other hand, however, if the zashiki-
warashi left them, the household would likely
suffer a rash of bad luck as karmic backlash hit
them. The zashiki-warashi usually resides in
the spirit world. Only when something happens
to its chosen household—such as the inhabit-
ants meeting danger or threats coming close—it
manifests to save the house and inhabitants.
The zashiki-warashi prefers old houses to new
ones, since they feel more like something “real”
to the spiritual being.
To keep these child-like spirits in a house-
hold, they must be paid attention—but not too
much. As the zashiki-warashi are somewhat shy,
bringing too much attention to them from those
outside the household is a sure way to lose their
favor. Keeping them around, though, requires
spending a few minutes every day speaking to
the empty house so that the spirits know that
the inhabitants remember them and care about
them. Showing too much anger in a household
with a zashiki-warashi might scare it off as well,
so inhabitants of a blessed home are advised to
keep their tempers in check.
Forest Child
Size: 3 ft., 55 lbs.
INT –1 PER +2
WIL –1
STR –2
CHA +3
CON –1
DEX +1 SPD +1
Ability Level: 1 to 4 TR: Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: None
Special Abilities: Manipulate Mode (house-
hold items); naturally incorporeal; manifest
(only when danger threatens)
Armor: None
Hit Points: 10 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Urban or rural homes
171
The Omni System™ Ronin

his bite damage automatically as part of the

Monsters and grapple action).
Armor: 1
Hit Points: 15
Beasts Habitat:

Ho-Oh
Bakemono The legend of the eternal phoenix has spread
Life, said one philosopher, is nasty, brutish all across the world. From its origins in the
and short. He may well have been describing Middle East, it has progressed its way into the
the bakemono with that very phrase. Japanese popular mythology of virtually every Asian na-
goblins are hideous monsters, vicious and with- tion, and Japan is no exception to this rule. The
out caring for other beings. They eat their prey Japanese version of the phoenix is called the ho-
alive and delight in tormenting others, both oh, after the sound the bird supposed makes. It
physically and psychologically. Their small is said to be roughly the size of a large falcon,
size belies their base cunning and ruthlessness, with feathers of brightest red, orange and gold.
and they often act as shock troops or ground sol- The creature constantly emits a dull red glow
diers for demonic armies. and immense heat, making it difficult to get near
one without discomfort.
Common Forest Goblin
Size: 4 ft., 90 lbs. For those that find favor in the eyes of the
INT –2 PER –2 phoenix (a highly intelligent creature with strong
WIL –3 CHA –4 ideals of right and wrong), the bird will dampen
STR +3 CON +3 its flames and light in order to grant a gift of its
DEX +1 SPD +1 feathers. A ho-oh’s feathers are one of the pri-
Ability Level: 1 TR: 2 mary ingredients in various alchemical formu-
Attacks/Damage: Bite 3T lae relating to the purification of the soul—per-
Special Abilities: Darkvision; latch (a gob- haps even in the legendary immortality potion
lin that successfully grapples a foe deals spoken of in Daoist belief. The feather by itself
can return life to the recently dead, making it a
powerful and worthy gift indeed.

After living for five hundred years, a phoe-

nix will find a place to build a nest and immolate
itself on a natural pyre. After it finishes burning,
a single egg will be found among the ashes—the
egg of the now-dead phoenix, and its own re-
incarnation. Such eggs are extremely valuable
to the unprincipled, but each one destroyed per-
manently reduces the number of ho-oh in the
entire world, since they reproduce only to re-
place themselves. A patient person can still be
rewarded from a phoenix’s egg, however, since
the shell is made of pure gold and the phoenix
typically abandons its birthing nest after hatch-
ing.

172

Phoenix
Size: 3 ft., 30 lbs.
INT +2 PER +5
WIL +4 CHA +5
STR +0 CON +1
DEX +2 SPD +4
Ability Level: 15 TR: 20
Attacks/Damage: Claw 5S + 10 fire
Special Abilities: Immune to fire; Modes
(Attack, Manipulate, and Manifest) at Abil-
ity Level; flight; immortality (when a phoe-
nix is killed, it immediately becomes a new
phoenix egg); immolate (after a phoenix
dies, it inflicts 50 fire damage to all crea-
tures within 100 feet).
Armor: 10
Hit Points: 75
Habitat: Mountains
Kamaitachi
Kamaitachi, or “sickle weasel,” is the name
given to a bizarre Japanese folk tradition. It
refers to a phenomenon where people would
be suddenly knocked down by a strong gust
of wind and find that they had been cut. The
cut was supposedly so fine that it did not hurt
at first, but would invariable become infected.
This phenomenon was dubbed kamaitachi and
blamed on malevolent spirits who thirsted for
human blood.
In a direct historical context, the kamaitachi
is most likely the result of a real phenomenon
created by Japan’s distinctly diverse weather
patterns. This phenomenon results in the forma-
tion of “vacuum bubbles,” invisible areas that
are created by thermal folds, in which a vacu-
um forms in midair. This vacuum bubble can
hold a cohesive form until something disturbs
it—usually a strong wind, or even a light one,
but sometimes the bubble holds until a person
comes close. When a human being (or animal)
disturbs this vacuum bubble, it pops with a loud
noise, creating enough of an implosion to knock
a grown man off his feet. This implosion, so
close to human skin, causes a shallow skin cut,
beneath which is a major blood clot or air bub-
ble that later causes infection.
Of course, in a fantasy game, the kamaitachi
is a very real and dangerous creature, resembling
a large weasel or ferret with knife-like blades
coming out of its body. These “blades” are like
a porcupine’s quills, but significantly sharper
and envenomed. A kamaitachi hunts by using
its enormous speed to rush past an unsuspecting
victim, leaving a small cut on the victim’s body
in the wake of being knocked down by its pas-
sage. This cut is quickly overwhelmed by the
kamaitachi’s poison, and the individual in ques-
tion dies within a few days. During this time,
the creature silently follows the victim, feeding
on his blood in dribs and drabs until his death,
when the monster will emerge from hiding and
drain the body dry.
Sickle Weasel
Size: 2 ft., 25 lbs.
INT –4 PER +1
WIL –1 CHA –3
STR –1 CON +1
DEX +5 SPD +3
Ability Level: 2 TR: 4
Attacks/Damage: Claws 2S + poison
Special Abilities: Multi-attack (a sickle
weasel may attack up to three times in one
round without penalty); Amazing Dodge tal-
ent; poison (a sickle weasel’s venom causes
a gradually weakening of the victim; a vic-
tim loses 1 CON each day until his CON
drops below –5, at which point he dies; this
can be cured by the Medicine skill)
Armor: 2
Hit Points: 10
Habitat: Hills and forests
Kappa
Mischievous and sometimes malicious wa-
ter imps, kappa are among the best known (and
173
The Omni System™
most common) mythical creatures of Japan.
Most depictions show kappa as child-sized hu-
manoids, though their bodies are often more like
those of monkeys or frogs than human beings.
Some descriptions say their faces are apelike,
while others show them with beaked visages
more like those of tortoises or with duck beaks.
Pictures usually show kappa with thick shells
and scaly skin that ranges in color from green to
yellow or blue.
Kappa inhabit the ponds and rivers of Japan
and have various features to aid them in this en-
vironment, such as webbed hands and feet. They
are sometimes even said to smell like fish, and
they can certainly swim like them. The expres-
sion kappa no kawa nagare (“a drowning kap-
pa”) means, “even the experts make mistakes.”
The kappa’s most notable feature, however, is
the water-filled depressions atop their heads.
These cavities are surrounded by scraggly hair,
and this type of bobbed hairstyle (called a “bowl
cut” in the West) is named okappa atama for
the creatures. The kappa derive their incred-
ible strength from these liquid-filled holes, and
anyone confronted with one may exploit this
weakness by simply getting the kappa to spill
the water from its head. One trusted method to
do this is to appeal to the kappa’s deep sense of
etiquette, for a kappa cannot help but return a
deep bow, even if it means losing its head water
in the process. Once depleted, the kappa is seri-
ously weakened and may even die. Other tales
say that this water allows kappa to move about
on land, and once emptied, the creatures are im-
mobilized. Stubborn children are encouraged
to follow the custom of bowing on the grounds
that it is a defense against kappa.
Kappa are mischievous troublemakers.
Their pranks range from the relatively innocent,
such as loudly passing gas or looking up wom-
en’s kimonos, to the more troublesome, such as
stealing crops, kidnapping children, or raping
women. In fact, small children comprise one
of the gluttonous kappa’s favorite meals, though
they will eat adults as well. They feed on these
hapless victims by sucking out the entrails (or
174
Ronin
blood, liver, or “life force,” depending on the
legend) through the anus. Kappa are also said
to be afraid of fire, and some villages hold fire-
works festivals each year to scare the monsters
away.
Kappa are not entirely antagonistic to man-
kind, however. They are curious about human
civilization, and they can understand and speak
Japanese just as well as any human. They thus
sometimes challenge those they encounter to
various tests of skill, such as shogi or sumo
wrestling (which some legends say they invent-
ed). They may even befriend human beings in
exchange for gifts and offerings, especially cu-
cumbers, the only food kappa are known to en-
joy more than human children. Japanese parents
sometimes write the names of their children (or
themselves) on cucumbers and toss them into
kappa-infested waters in order to mollify the
creatures and allow the family to bathe. There is
even a kind of cucumber-filled sushi roll named
for the kappa, the kappamaki.
Once befriended, kappa have been known
to perform any number of tasks for human be-
ings, such as helping farmers irrigate their land.
They are also highly knowledgeable of medi-
cine, and legend states that they taught the art
of bone setting to mankind (possibly to allevi-
ate the injuries caused by their earlier invention
of wrestling). Due to these benevolent aspects,
some shrines are dedicated to the worship of
particularly helpful kappa. Kappa may also be
tricked into helping people. Their deep sense of
decorum will not allow them to break an oath,
for example, so if a human being can dupe a
kappa into promising to help him, the kappa has
no choice but to follow through.
Kappa Brawler
Size: 4 ft., 100 lbs.
INT –1 PER –1
WIL –1 CHA –2
STR +3 CON +4
DEX +1 SPD +1
Ability Level: 1 to 8 TR: 2 + Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Unarmed attack 5B or
 bite 2T
Special Abilities: Brawler talent tree (all
talents); water breathing; head vulnerabil-
ity (if a kappa is thrown prone or otherwise
lowers his head, his STR, CON, DEX and
SPD become –4 until he can return to the
water).
Armor: 3
Hit Points: 20 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Rivers
speeds, wreathed as they do so in holy flame;
indeed, they travel so quickly that comets are
sometimes said to be kirin on missions from
heaven. They can create food and gold from
nothing, and they can transform raw materials
into finished goods with the touch of their horn.
With a stern glance from their purple eyes, they
can summon the “spear of heaven” (lightning) to
smite the unholy or the blasphemous, and they
can turn themselves into rain clouds to simply
drift with the wind.

Even though they punish the wicked in the

Kirin
Sometimes called the “Japanese unicorn,”
the kirin is originally a Chinese creature (known
in that language as a qi’lin). The resemblance
to the Western unicorn is mostly superficial,
however, in that the creature is four-legged and
possessed of a single long horn rising from the
middle of its forehead. Its body is more like that
of a deer or large stag than a horse, though much
larger (the size of an elephant, according to
some legends), and it is covered with luminous
scales of burnished gold or copper. The kirin’s
luxurious mane is of a deeper golden color, and
its eyes are of the deepest violet.
gods’ names, kirin are innately peaceful crea-
tures that desire nothing more than happiness
and prosperity for all. Many kirin would rather
reform villains than kill them, and their gentle
powers of persuasion can turn many to the side
of good. As natural pacifists, kirin subsist only
on plants, and they never eat a plant down to the
roots, so as to avoid killing it. They can actually
walk softly enough to not bend a single blade
of grass, despite their great size and power, and
this also allows them to walk on water without
making ripples.
Unlike many mythical creatures, kirin are

Despite their somewhat fearsome appear-

ance, kirin are servants of good and messen-
gers of the gods. It is given to them to make
important proclamations to mankind, as well as
to hunt down and punish those guilty of major
crimes against the gods. Some legends say that
the Chinese philosopher Confucius had his birth
announced by the arrival of a kirin (in a similar
way to the birth of Jesus being announced by
angels in Western belief). They are also kings
of the animal kingdom; all “hairy beasts” are
said to be subjects of the kirin, who sometimes
acts to defend animals that are unnecessarily
abused.

Kirin are among the most noble and virtu-

ous of beasts, and their great powers allow them
to carry out divine edicts. They can fly at great

175
The Omni System™ Ronin

not thought to be immortal or themselves di-

vine, and they can be killed through accident,
violence, or even sickness (though they are hale
enough that this is rare). Cruel alchemists un-
caring of the will of heaven sometimes hunt
kirin for their horns, which carry the secrets of
transmutation and longevity.

Japanese Unicorn
Size: 8 ft., 450 lbs.
INT +2 PER +4
WIL +4 CHA +4
STR +2 CON +1
DEX +2 SPD +3
Ability Level: 12 to 20
TR: 2 + Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Horn 6T or hoof 3B
Special Abilities: Spirit travel; flight; im-
mune to fire and cold; aura of justice (any
creature attacking a kirin adds its HON pen-
alty to its attack rolls); Modes (Manipulate,
Sensory and Ward) at Ability Level.
Armor: 4
Hit Points: 25 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Mountains, the spirit world
Orochi
The original orochi was a seven-headed sea
monster that was fought by the god Susanowo
himself. The chaotic deity managed to slay oro-
chi and save the girl it had taken for its meal,
and gave many gifts to the villagers that had
long endured the orochi’s depradations. Unfor-
tunately for everyone, either Susanowo’s prow-
ess was exaggerated and the beast survived, or
else it had offspring before its untimely demise.
Given that several of these creatures have been
see over the years at sea, the latter seems more
likely.
Orochi are enormous beasts, fully capable
of overturning a seaborne vessel with little dif-
ficulty and swallowing several sailors at a gulp.
They rarely approach coastal villages, given
how shallow the water becomes, but in places
where deep water reaches the shore (such as the
Dejima port ay Nagasaki) orochi can be a fre-
quent problem to fishing and trading vessels.
Sea Serpent
Size: 80 ft., 10,000 lbs.
INT –3 PER +0
WIL –1 CHA –1
STR +5 CON +5
DEX +0 SPD +1
Ability Level: 10 to 15
TR: 5 + Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Bite 15T
Special Abilities: Breathe water; swallow
whole (a creature bitten by an orochi must
make STR check to avoid being swallowed;
each round, a swallowed creature suffers
10B damage and risks suffocation; only
killing the orochi can free a swallowed crea-
ture); crush (an orochi can simply flop on
a large target, crushing it beneath its bulk;
this takes a full round and can only target
objects or creatures at least half the orochi’s
size; the target suffers 50B damage and the
orochi suffers 25B damage).
Armor: 10
Hit Points: 50 + 5 per ability level
Habitat: Ocean

176
 the rokurokubi’s face must attempt a WIL
Rokurokubi check or suffer a –1 penalty on all attacks
and skill checks against the monster)
Rokurokubi are goblins or demons that look Armor: 1
like normal human beings by day, but at night Hit Points: 20 + 1 per ability level
gain the ability to stretch their necks to great Habitat: Urban
lengths. They can also change their faces to
those of terrifying demons to better scare mor-
tals. In their daytime human forms, rokurokubi
often live undetected and may even take mortal
spouses. Many rokurokubi become so accus- Ghosts and the
tomed to such a life that they take great pains
to keep their demonic forms secret. They are
tricksters by nature, however, and the urge to
Dead
frighten and spy on human beings is hard to re-
sist. Some rokurokubi thus resort to revealing
themselves only to drunkards, fools, the sleep-
ing or the blind in order to satisfy these urges.
Gaki
Other rokurokubi have no such compunctions
Gaki (“hungry ghosts”) are the spirits of
and go about frightening mortals with abandon.
jealous or greedy people who, as punishment for
their mortal vices, have been cursed with an in-
According to some tales, rokurokubi were
satiable hunger for a particular substance or ob-
once normal human beings but were transformed
ject. Traditionally, this is something repugnant
by karma for breaking various precepts of Bud-
or humiliating, such as rotting garbage or feces,
dhism. Often, these rokurokubi are truly sinister
though in more recent legends, it may be vir-
in nature, eating people or drinking their blood
tually anything, no matter how bizarre. Unlike
rather than merely frightening them. These de-
yorei (see below), gaki are regarded as having
monic rokurokubi often have a favored prey,
earned their state through actual sin, rather than
such as others who have broken Buddhist doc-
individuals who were simply tragic or unlucky.
trine or human men. In many ways, these crea-
tures are more like the Western werewolves—
Gaki are often depicted in Japanese art (par-
men who transform into monsters because of a
ticularly that from the Heian Period) as emaci-
personal curse and gradually become more and
ated human beings with bulging stomachs and
more monstrous with each transformation.
inhumanly small mouths and throats. They are
frequently shown licking up spilled water in
Neck Stretching Monster
temples or accompanied by demons represent-
Size: 5 ½ ft., 110 lbs.
ing their personal agony. Alternately, they may
INT +0 PER +1
be shown as balls of smoke or fire. Gaki are
WIL –1 CHA –1
generally little more than nuisances to mortals
STR +1 CON +1
unless their longing is directed toward some-
DEX +1 SPD +0
thing vital, such as blood. However, in some
Ability Level: 1 to 5 TR: 1 + Ability Level
traditions, gaki try to prevent others from satis-
Attacks/Damage: Bite 2T
fying their own desires by means of magic, illu-
Special Abilities: Blood drain (a roku-
sions, or disguises. They can also turn invisible
rokubi that hits with a bite can attempt an
or change their faces to frighten mortals.
immediate grapple check; success allows
it to inflict another 2 points of damage by
Generally, however, gaki are seen as souls
draining blood); scare (a creature that sees

177
The Omni System™
to be pitied. Thus, in some Zen monasteries,
monks leave offerings of food, money, or flow-
ers to them before meals. Since 657, some Japa-
nese Buddhists have observed a special day in
mid-August to remember the gaki. Through
such offerings and remembrances (segaki), it is
believed that the hungry ghosts may be released
from their eternal torment.
A subset of gaki, jikininki are the spirits of
greedy, selfish, or impious individuals who are
cursed after death to seek out and eat human
corpses. They do this at night, scavenging for
newly dead bodies and food offerings left for
the dead. They sometimes also loot the corpses
they eat for valuables, which they use to bribe
local officials to leave them in peace. Never-
theless, jikininki lament their condition and hate
their repugnant cravings for dead human flesh.
Often, jikininki are said to look like decom-
posing cadavers, perhaps with a few inhuman
features such as sharp claws or glowing eyes.
They are a horrifying sight, and any mortal who
views one finds himself frozen in fear. Howev-
er, several stories give them the ability to magi-
cally disguise themselves as normal human be-
ings and even to lead normal “lives” by day. In
this fashion, jikininki are similar to the Middle
Eastern legends of ghouls.
Hungry Ghost
Size: 5 ft., 120 lbs.
INT –1 PER –1
WIL –2 CHA –3
STR +2 CON +0
DEX +1 SPD +0
Ability Level: 2 to 5 TR: 1 + Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Bite 3T + disease
Special Abilities: Disease infested (pick a
disease; the gaki acts as a carrier of that dis-
ease in his bite); ravenous hunger (a gaki
that bites a foe can attempt an immediate
grapple check; a success allows the gaki to
inflict his bite damage again).
Armor: 2
Hit Points: 15 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Urban
178
Ronin
Vampire
The Japanese vampire is a wildly different
creature from the more familiar Western vam-
pire. Rather than the seductive and immortal
creature of the night filled to the brim with angst
over his condition that Western minds have
come to expect from the word “vampire,” the
Japanese take on the beast is a plague-bearing
undead abomination, plain and simple. Japa-
nese vampires are bestial in the extreme, pos-
sessing twisted and inhuman features, the signi-
fier of a life full of sin leading to a terrible and
unholy life after death.
Like the European vampire, Japanese vam-
pires are burned by the touch of sunlight and re-
pulsed by natural sources of running water, like
rivers. As unclean creatures, they are unable to
stand the touch of the two most pure elements in
Shinto belief—water and fire. Specifically, as
they are unclean monsters, the cleansing proper-
ties of rivers and streams burn them, while the
touch of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, can de-
stroy them. Still, any pure element can bring
harm to creatures so far from the circle of life.
Earth can harm them in the manner of certain
herbs acting as repellants, while the burning of
holy incense can equally act as an airy deter-
rent.
Unlike the better-known Western vampire,
Japanese vampires are not destroyed by plung-
ing a stake into their hearts, nor do crosses cause
them fear and discomfort. Their appearances do
not reflect properly in mirrors (since mirrors are
another symbol of Amaterasu, and thus purity),
and they cannot bear the sight of a mirror. Per-
haps the most unusual facet of the Eastern vam-
pire is its method of locomotion: it springs from
place to place in great bounds and short leaps,
earning the creature the nickname “the hopping
vampire.”
Hopping Vampire
Size: 6 ft., 175 lbs.
INT –1 PER +1
 WIL –1 CHA –1
STR +3 CON +1
DEX +2 SPD +2
Ability Level: 2 to 5 TR: 2 + Ability Level
Attacks/Damage: Bite 2T + blood drain
Special Abilities: Regenerate (2 HP per
turn); blood drain (a vampire that bites a foe can
attempt an immediate grapple check; success al-
lows the vampire to deal its bite damage again
as blood drain); repelled by purity (mirrors, run-
ning water, and various other Shinto symbols of
purity can cause a hopping vampire to flee in
terror); Leap of the Clouds talent.
Armor: 2
Hit Points: 25 + 2 per ability level
Habitat: Any
Yorei
Yorei, or ghosts, are common in Japanese
folklore. The Japanese are, as a culture, aware
enough of death and its consequences to believe
that ghosts are virtually everywhere. Typically,
a ghost is formed when a person dies full of
sorrow and regret, and thus cannot move on to
the next world or next life. Sometimes, ghosts
are created from people too malicious or angry
to be accepted by the ancestors when they die,
cursing them to walk the earth forever, trapped
outside the cycle of death and rebirth.
Ghost stories are among the most frequently
told tales in the repertoire of peasant storytell-
ers, and even nobles enjoy hearing tales of trag-
edy and woe from time to time. Ghost tales are
a personal illustration of the horrors that can
befall a mortal even after death, and a warning
to live a virtuous and peaceful life lest the same
fate befall the listener. In a fantasy setting, such
tales are all the more blood chilling due to their
potential truth.
A ghost is traditionally bound to the area it
died, usually a single building or neighborhood,
though some exceptions exist. Ghosts of people
that died in the wilderness are often bound to a
nearby landmark or plant, often a tree of some
sort. Some ghosts are actually linked to a spe-
cific object, haunting any that possess it. If these
binding locations or objects are destroyed, the
ghost attached to the area is typically destroyed
as well, so ghosts tend to be highly protective
of their material anchors. As well, there are of-
ten logistical considerations for not destroying
a ghost’s anchor—such as the building being
the home of a wealthy man, or the object be-
ing sentimentally valuable to its current owner.
At the same time, there are enough stories of
ghosts being freed rather than destroyed by
their anchor’s dissolution that doing so remains
a poor choice for a first option in combating an
unfriendly spirit.
Rarely actually malevolent, ghosts are more
often simply sad and unintentionally terrifying.
Many of the dangerous activities attributed to
ghosts result from their inability to escape the
trauma of their deaths or their imperfect percep-
tion of the living world. A ghost might attack
a man because he resembles the ghost’s killer,
or might start fires where there was once a fire-
place, even if that room has long been converted
into a guest chamber. Since death is an extreme-
ly emotional event for most people, most ghosts
are trapped in the throes of their last emotion, be
it surprise, horror, rage, or simple regret.
Japanese Buddhists and followers of Shinto
alike have special traditions for the exorcism of
ghosts. Most of these include using special ma-
terials or objects to purify an area of evil influ-
ences. Others utilize strips of paper with prayers
written on them to act as wards against ghosts
and demons. Some especially holy Shinto prac-
titioners, such as miko (virgin shrine maidens),
can permit the spirits of the dead to inhabit their
bodies and relate their problems to the living.
Once this problem is known, the medium and
her allies can work to solve it and allow the
ghost to move on to the next world in peace.
This method is traditionally the most efficacious
way of ridding an area of a ghost, since it allows
the soul to willingly leave.
179
The Omni System™
Some common kinds of ghost include:
Akikage: These shadowy figures were ninja
in life, killed while stalking an important victim.
The duty and discipline that the ninja possessed
before death has become twisted into obsession
by its early passing. It cannot rest until its tar-
get meets his end, and it spends virtually every
moment working toward that goal. Most aki-
kage are bound to their target, or to his place
of residence. Unfortunately, the same stealthy
nature that aided them in life daunts their wishes
in death. Because of their status as “non-exis-
tent,” their spirit forms typically have little abil-
ity to interact with the real world in a physical
sense. Most akikage are relegated to trying to
drive their victim mad with their appearance, or
to kill him with fear.
Chu-u: These legless ghosts are the spirits
of mortals who were neither virtuous enough to
be rewarded or wicked enough to be punished in
the afterlife. As a result, they wander across the
earth, pulling themselves along with their arms
and in terrible agony. The chu-u acts as a reflec-
tion of the Japanese belief in perfection, and the
idea that the mediocre will suffer just as much
as the evil after death. A chu-u hopes to find
someone willing to testify before the judges of
the dead on its behalf, persuading the judges to
let it enter the afterlife. A person who encoun-
ters a chu-u and refuses to help it can expect to
be pursued and punished for his unkindness, but
helping them carries its own cost. Going before
the judges of the dead can be fatal for a mortal,
as failing to persuade them on the spirit’s behalf
can cause the hapless helper to forfeit his own
life.
Nopperabou: Primarily frighteners, the
“faceless ghosts” haunt areas that were impor-
tant to them in life, seeking to drive away peo-
ple that would exploit or damage those areas.
They usually first appear to a victim as normal
people, often impersonating someone familiar
to the victim, before causing their features to
disappear, leaving a blank, smooth sheet of skin
where a face should be. Nupperabou rarely have
180
Ronin
any other
powers
than ter-
rifying
onlookers,
though
they excel
at doing
so. These
ghosts
are some-
times con-
fused with
the trickster
spirits known as
tanuki or mujina be-
cause of their propensity for
assuming the form of faceless men or women.
Ubume: The “mourning ones” are the spir-
its of women who died in childbirth or while
pregnant. The mother and child cannot pass
into the afterlife until the child is “born.” An
ubume appears as a weeping woman dressed in
white, her hair long and unbound, usually flap-
ping as if in a strong breeze. This woman will
usually be encountered by the side of a road,
asking passers-by to hold her child. If a traveler
refuses, she will become enraged and reveal her
true face, a face of madness and death, which
will often cause the traveler to become mad or
die himself. If the traveler agrees to hold the
child, it grows increasingly heavy, making it
nearly impossible to hold. If the traveler drops
the child, the same thing occurs as if having
refused. A traveler that manages to hold onto
the child earns a grateful smile from the ubume,
who passes into the next world. In some stories,
the traveler is now holding a real newborn baby,
while in others, he is holding a valuable bundle
of gold, or just a large rock.
Ghosts have the same attributes as normal
humans, but they are naturally incorporeal and
often have strange powers relating to the ma-
nipulation of objects or fear. Most ghosts have
Manipulate and Illusion at their Ability Level.