Totoribe no Yorozu
捕鳥部 万
Totoribe no Yorozu, depicted by Kikuchi Yōsai
Personal details
BornUnknown
Kawachi Province, Japan
DiedJuly, 587 AD
Izumi Province, Japan

Totoribe no Yorozu (捕鳥部 万) was a Japanese warrior of the Asuka period. He was a retainer of Mononobe no Moriya.

Biography

The Totoribe were a shinabe clan of bird-hunters. Yorozu was likely a member of the Kawachi branch of the Totoribe clan.[1]

During the Soga–Mononobe conflict, Yorozu was among the Shinto loyalists who fought against the pro-Buddhist faction led by Soga no Umako. When he learned that his lord Moriya had been defeated by Umako's forces, Yorozu escaped into the mountains near Arimakamura in Izumi Province.[2]

The Nihon Shoki describes the scene that played out once Yorozu was cornered in a bamboo grove by Imperial Guard (衛士) forces in league with Umako. Yorozu used a system of ropes to rattle bamboo in order to confuse his pursuers as to his location within the grove, and killed a number of men with his bow and arrow.[2] Surrounded, he said:

"Though I have demonstrated nothing but valor as a shield for His Majesty, I have, without adequate explanation, been forced into a desperate situation such as this. If any man will tell me whether I am to be imprisoned or killed, let him step forward."

Yorozu was then struck in the knee with an arrow, but he pulled it out and continued to defend himself, killing about 30 more. After his sword was broken and bowstring snapped, he threw away his weapons and stabbed himself in the neck with a dagger.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 佐伯 Saeki, 有清 Arikiyo (1994). 日本古代氏族事典 Nihon kodai shizoku jiten (1st ed.). Japan: 雄山閣出版 Yūzankaku shuppan. ISBN 978-4639027614.
  2. 1 2 3 Aston, William G. (1989). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (1st ed.). Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 978-0804809849.
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