Ronin Thought of the Day

From Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai:

If you cut a face lengthwise, urinate on it, and trample on it with straw sandals, it is said that the skin will come off. This was heard by the priest Gyojaku when he was in Kyoto. It is information to be treasured.

What this means is… Holy crap! What was in this guy’s sake?
Eww…

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  1. Makes about enough sesnse as the Hmong belief that if you eat the heart of a diing enemy. You will absorb the enemy’s strength in life.
    Personally, I’m a fan of not pissing in the ass of an emolated Democrat if his or her guts were on fire.
    Is that wrong?

  2. My Father (God rest his soul) always used this ol’ sayin……(along with a plethora of others)
    “I wouldnt walk across the road to piss down his throat if his stomach was on fire!”

  3. I wonder at what point they worked out the whole urination angle. Did someone experiment with this for a while? Not to mention the ideal manner in which to cut the face.
    Still, nice change-up Frank. Did NOT see this one coming.

  4. “it is said”?
    What kind of samurai was this guy? Hadn’t he tried it out before he goes telling everyone else to try it? Do some experiments, find out if it is true, and then recommend it to others.
    Also, I’m glad we didn’t sign on to that Kyoto treaty thing, those guys sound whacked.

  5. BTW, what religion was this guy a priest of anyway….? The religion of “Cut your enemies face lengthwise then piss and stomp on it with your straw sandals until the skin comes off?” I mean really.. WTF?!!

  6. To elaborate some more …
    First we’re talking about a dead animal, not a person.
    Cutting the face lengthwise, you cut down the belly so you get more leather.
    Urinating bonds with the leather and starts to harden it.
    Trampling with hard sandles, or chewing it, works the urine into the skin. It roughens and hardens it. The skin then comes off of the bones.
    This creates durable leather armour which, of course, can often deflect the flimsy swords that samurai use.
    Samurai swords, contrary to our belief, were not very good weapons. They were prone to chipping and breaking, and hard to keep sharp. Some decent leather armour was all you needed to turn the tide in a fight.
    Of course, they tended to use spears far more than Samurai swords. They’re much more effective. But since Samurai swords look cool, we remember history a bit differently.

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