by Stop Mike Lupica on April 8 at 11:06AM
Great game last night between Kansas and Memphis, to determine the national NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. I'll say this about the game: Memphis was going to lose a game at some point because of it's absolutely terrifying free throw shooting (59% for the season?!?). Maybe if they had played a tougher conference schedule they would have been better prepared to handle this situation, instead of laughing it off, dismissing the possibility of FTs mattering because "we'll outscore our opponent by too much". Yes, I'm aware that Memphis' out of conference schedule was tough, but those games were almost all done by December, which is before teams in college basketball really get sorted out. Point being: Memphis's demise was, in a bit, by it's own making.
Still, big props to Kansas for winning the big game, and pulling off a stunning upset.
Now, on to the non-sports portion of this post. I noticed yesterday that during the pregame intro, CBS used a sample of Tomoyasu Hotei's guitar epic "Battle Without Honor or Humanity". It's become well known in the US, mainly due to its use by Quentin Tarantino in the movie, and trailer, for Kill Bill. Prior to that I had never heard it used in US; now it's almost a cliche - you hear it in car commercials, movie scenes (Transformers), at baseball games (I noticed last year that it was Hideki Matsui's at-bat music at Yankee Stadium) and now even basketball game coverage.
Here is the trailer for Kill Bill, which still ranks as one of my top-four Most Exciting Movie Trailers of All Time:
Now for the story behind the song. First, Tomoyasu Hotei. He's a 6'3 Japanese guitar star; he's the Slash of Japan, if you will. If you want to see his ill guitar skills, check out this video, and watch from the two minute to 3:40 mark (it's a bit too Top Gun for me, but homeboy is definitely on some Carlos Santana ish). He did that song because had a role in a 2000 movie called Shin Jingi Naki Tatakai - "Another Battle" is one translation. Another translation is "Battle Without Honor", which is a take on Jingi Naki Takakai (Battles Without Honor or Humanity).
The "Battles Without Honor or Humanity" movie was the first in a series of Japanese movies from the 1970's about the Yakuza. That first film, released in 1973, has often been compared to The Godfather, in terms of scope, plot, and general acclaim received in Japan. It's worth noting that it was also shot in documentary-style, making it all the more interesting. The name was a reference to the movie's belief that modern-day Yakuza (the Japanese mob), as opposed to the old generations, had lost it's way, it's honor and humanity.
The whole "without honor and humanity" thing does remind me of the story of "The 47 Samurai", one of the most influential and important stories in Japanese culture. Oddly enough, it doesn't really get mentioned much in western culture... one would think that there would have been a movie based on it by now or something.
The story is based on real events, and it goes like this: There were two lords in Japan in the 18th century, named Asano and Kamei, were to be visited by the Emperor of Edo. A guy that worked for the Emperor, named Kira, came by to prepare and instruct them on the Emperor's visit. Kira was generally a rude guy. a real arrogant douche. Asano and Kamei had little choice but to put up with this ill-tempered fool, because he the Emperor's boy. At first Kamei was the pissed off one, and was set to kill Kira. However, his clan went behind his back, and bribed Kira. At that point Kira started acting nicely towards Kamei, but got even meaner to Asano, since he had not bribed him yet.
At one point Kira went so far as to insult Asano during a dinner in his own castle, calling him a "country boor". Asano got mad, and slashing him in the face with a dagger, and then missed on his second swipe, instead embedding his dagger in the castle wall. The fight was quickly broken up, but Asano was disgraced. Under Japan's bushido code, he had violated the rules against fighting in a castle. He committed suicide, as required. Meanwhile, the government took over the estate, and Asano's samurai were now master-less - they were Ronin.
47 of his most loyal men vowed revenge, despite the prohibition of this under bushido code. Their leader, Oishi, realizing that Kira was holed up in a fort with lots of security because he was afraid of retribution, decided that they would have to get him to lower his guard. So he told everyone to go their separate ways, and act normal. Everyone took up a job. Oishi himself moved to Kyoto, and became a drunk. As he was constantly spied upon by Kira's men, he had to really sell the acting job. He frequented taverns, brothels, and divorced his wife. He acted obscene in public, in hopes of convincing Kira's spies that he was no threat. He did this for more than a year.
After 18 months, he had finally convinced Kira that he was no threat. Kira was running out of money (he hadn't been working in this time), so he lowered his guard and stopped worrying about Oishi and his crew, considering them all "bad samurai".
And with the spies no longer trailing them, the 47 Ronin gathered in Edo, where Kira resided. Some of them had, over the previous 18 months, worked their way into different roles - some gathered weapons for the crew, and some got the blueprints for Kira's home, so they could plan their attack.
2 years after the initial death and dishonor of Asano, Oishi and his crew attacked Kira's house. It was an attack that featured archers, to take out anyone who tried to get help; warning the neighbors ahead of time that it was an organized attack on this home (and not robbers); and two sets of groups attacking from both sides. They succeeded, and cut off Kira's head, to take to the grave of Asano has a gift.
One ronin was sent off to tell the story to Asano's remaining friends and clan. The other 46, upon completing their delivery of Kira's head to Asano's grave, turned themselves in, and committed ritual suicide. The Asano clan was allowed to re-establish their lordship, now that such an extraordinary act of loyalty had taken place, and all their former workers and samurai (the ones that weren't involved) got their jobs back.
The funny thing about the story is that "honor" was not the issue with Oishi and crew. They wanted revenge, not honor. In fact, they acted in a dishonorable way for the two years they planned the attack. It would have been a terrible fate for the clan, and for Oishi's crew, if Kira had died before he got killed - for example, he could have died naturally. That would have left the crew without an explanation for why they had acted the way they had in those two years of preparation. In bushido code, the real move would have been to attack Kira right away, since death is honorable even in defeat. But Oishi was more concerned with success, and with revenge, than with honor.
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Still, big props to Kansas for winning the big game, and pulling off a stunning upset.
Now, on to the non-sports portion of this post. I noticed yesterday that during the pregame intro, CBS used a sample of Tomoyasu Hotei's guitar epic "Battle Without Honor or Humanity". It's become well known in the US, mainly due to its use by Quentin Tarantino in the movie, and trailer, for Kill Bill. Prior to that I had never heard it used in US; now it's almost a cliche - you hear it in car commercials, movie scenes (Transformers), at baseball games (I noticed last year that it was Hideki Matsui's at-bat music at Yankee Stadium) and now even basketball game coverage.
Here is the trailer for Kill Bill, which still ranks as one of my top-four Most Exciting Movie Trailers of All Time:
Now for the story behind the song. First, Tomoyasu Hotei. He's a 6'3 Japanese guitar star; he's the Slash of Japan, if you will. If you want to see his ill guitar skills, check out this video, and watch from the two minute to 3:40 mark (it's a bit too Top Gun for me, but homeboy is definitely on some Carlos Santana ish). He did that song because had a role in a 2000 movie called Shin Jingi Naki Tatakai - "Another Battle" is one translation. Another translation is "Battle Without Honor", which is a take on Jingi Naki Takakai (Battles Without Honor or Humanity).
The "Battles Without Honor or Humanity" movie was the first in a series of Japanese movies from the 1970's about the Yakuza. That first film, released in 1973, has often been compared to The Godfather, in terms of scope, plot, and general acclaim received in Japan. It's worth noting that it was also shot in documentary-style, making it all the more interesting. The name was a reference to the movie's belief that modern-day Yakuza (the Japanese mob), as opposed to the old generations, had lost it's way, it's honor and humanity.
The whole "without honor and humanity" thing does remind me of the story of "The 47 Samurai", one of the most influential and important stories in Japanese culture. Oddly enough, it doesn't really get mentioned much in western culture... one would think that there would have been a movie based on it by now or something.
The story is based on real events, and it goes like this: There were two lords in Japan in the 18th century, named Asano and Kamei, were to be visited by the Emperor of Edo. A guy that worked for the Emperor, named Kira, came by to prepare and instruct them on the Emperor's visit. Kira was generally a rude guy. a real arrogant douche. Asano and Kamei had little choice but to put up with this ill-tempered fool, because he the Emperor's boy. At first Kamei was the pissed off one, and was set to kill Kira. However, his clan went behind his back, and bribed Kira. At that point Kira started acting nicely towards Kamei, but got even meaner to Asano, since he had not bribed him yet.
At one point Kira went so far as to insult Asano during a dinner in his own castle, calling him a "country boor". Asano got mad, and slashing him in the face with a dagger, and then missed on his second swipe, instead embedding his dagger in the castle wall. The fight was quickly broken up, but Asano was disgraced. Under Japan's bushido code, he had violated the rules against fighting in a castle. He committed suicide, as required. Meanwhile, the government took over the estate, and Asano's samurai were now master-less - they were Ronin.
47 of his most loyal men vowed revenge, despite the prohibition of this under bushido code. Their leader, Oishi, realizing that Kira was holed up in a fort with lots of security because he was afraid of retribution, decided that they would have to get him to lower his guard. So he told everyone to go their separate ways, and act normal. Everyone took up a job. Oishi himself moved to Kyoto, and became a drunk. As he was constantly spied upon by Kira's men, he had to really sell the acting job. He frequented taverns, brothels, and divorced his wife. He acted obscene in public, in hopes of convincing Kira's spies that he was no threat. He did this for more than a year.
After 18 months, he had finally convinced Kira that he was no threat. Kira was running out of money (he hadn't been working in this time), so he lowered his guard and stopped worrying about Oishi and his crew, considering them all "bad samurai".
And with the spies no longer trailing them, the 47 Ronin gathered in Edo, where Kira resided. Some of them had, over the previous 18 months, worked their way into different roles - some gathered weapons for the crew, and some got the blueprints for Kira's home, so they could plan their attack.
2 years after the initial death and dishonor of Asano, Oishi and his crew attacked Kira's house. It was an attack that featured archers, to take out anyone who tried to get help; warning the neighbors ahead of time that it was an organized attack on this home (and not robbers); and two sets of groups attacking from both sides. They succeeded, and cut off Kira's head, to take to the grave of Asano has a gift.
One ronin was sent off to tell the story to Asano's remaining friends and clan. The other 46, upon completing their delivery of Kira's head to Asano's grave, turned themselves in, and committed ritual suicide. The Asano clan was allowed to re-establish their lordship, now that such an extraordinary act of loyalty had taken place, and all their former workers and samurai (the ones that weren't involved) got their jobs back.
The funny thing about the story is that "honor" was not the issue with Oishi and crew. They wanted revenge, not honor. In fact, they acted in a dishonorable way for the two years they planned the attack. It would have been a terrible fate for the clan, and for Oishi's crew, if Kira had died before he got killed - for example, he could have died naturally. That would have left the crew without an explanation for why they had acted the way they had in those two years of preparation. In bushido code, the real move would have been to attack Kira right away, since death is honorable even in defeat. But Oishi was more concerned with success, and with revenge, than with honor.
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