Tebun’s Journal

To be honest, I don’t know why I decided to keep a journal, but it seems like a good idea especially since a lot of interesting things have been happening since I became an apprentice for Marumasa.

Well, the day started like any other. Marumasa had me start the forge and begin getting Choji oil out to sharpen and polish the blades he had set out for me. But today someone came to our forge, and I was shocked to see it was Tokugawa Ieyasu. I immediately got to my knees and bowed.

Tokugawa looked down. “Stand up. I need to speak with your master. It is of utmost importance.”

I stood up. “Unfortunately, Master is out collecting metal, and I have no idea where he is. Would you like some tea while you wait for him?” I gestured toward the private waiting room while opening the door for him to sit. Tokugawa walked to sit down. “I will be right back,” I said.

As I walked off, all I could think about was how peculiar the item was that the lord was holding. It was small and made of metal and wood. What was that? I began to ponder while making the tea, accidentally grabbing the wrong type of tea. “Sorry for the wait,” I said as I put down the tea, “May I sit with you, my lord?”

Tokugawa gestured for me to sit near him.

After sitting down, I began pouring the tea and setting the cups in the right place. “My lord, if I may ask, how do you know my master?”

Before taking a sip of his tea, Tokugawa put the cup down. “Well, I met Marumasa when we were much younger, he made these swords you see at my side. You have quite the teacher. Make sure to learn a lot.” Tokugawa picked up the teacup and took a sip, but as he did, his face turned sour. “What the hell did you just give me?!”

Another voice suddenly spoke up. “What do you want? You outcast me, now you are here to visit.”

Tokugawa looked over to see Marumasa holding a bag and a kiseru smoking in his other hand.

“To what do I owe the great Tokugawa to visit my humble shop?” Marumasa asked sarcastically.

Tokugawa sighed. “The tea is not important, but what is this?” Tokugawa put the flintlock on the table.

Marumasa looked inquisitively at the flintlock. “What is it? It doesn’t look like anything I have ever made.”

“It isn’t something you have made. We received it from a trade with the Portuguese. I will show you how it works,” Tokugawa explained.

Marumasa dropped his bag. “Kid, take this to the forge quickly and meet us outside,” he said while walking outside with the lord.

I stood up and grabbed the bag Marumasa had dropped. It made a loud rattle as if a bunch of swords were bouncing off each other. I put the bag in the forge room and ran over as instructed. When I got outside, a tatami mat had been placed on a table and the lord held the flintlock in one hand as I thought I heard thunder and saw smoke come from it. When I glanced at the tatami mat, there was a hole that was perfectly round. I couldn’t believe it.

Marumasa spoke up, “What is that, Tokugawa?”

“It is called a flintlock. I believe the Portuguese had another name for it, a firearm is what they called it. It uses these things called musket balls.” Tokugawa pulled out a ball and set it on the table.

“What do you want me to do about it, Tokugawa?!” Marumasa exclaimed. “Can these metal balls be stopped?!”

Tokugawa perked up as if an idea struck him. “Now I know you are not an armor smith, but do you think you could make an armor set that might be able to stop it?”

Marumasa took a drag of his pipe while sighing. “You know I am a weapons smith, not an armor smith. Although if you leave the armor with me, I may be able to make it more effective.”

Tokugawa looked surprised at how something like the flintlock could be improved. “Well, I will show you and your apprentice how to reload it.” After a long lesson on how to reload and shoot it, Tokugawa left.

“Well, now that he has left, kid, we’ve got some work to do,” Marumasa said while smiling.

“Do you want me to start sharpening blades?” I asked.

“You know, kid, I think you should join me in the forge today. I think you may like it. I am going to show you how to make plates for armor. Follow me.”

I followed Marumasa diligently. He entered the forge and grabbed an old armor set off the shelf along with the flintlock. “So, first you are going to test the flintlock against this old armor.” He proceeded to hand them over to me and pushed me outside while he remained inside.

Guess I am on my own again to learn, I thought. I walked over and put the armor against the tree line and took aim at it. My first shot missed completely; it took more attempts than I would like to admit. When I did finally hit the armor, the shot broke through the leather on the front, but stopped after hitting the metal plate in the back. I ran back inside to tell Marumasa what happened, but when I went inside, I was told, “Tebun, it is time for dinner,” so I stopped what I was doing and went to eat.

For the next couple of weeks, Marumasa taught me about armor smithing. He taught me how to put armor plates and leather together until I had a rough idea, then he said I could make my own chest piece, so I decided to start by drawing up a design for him. It was an armor that opened on the left like other armor, and Marumasa approved of my design. I began to assemble the plates and get the leather ready to shape, but I thought of an extra design change. What if I added extra plating in between the leather and metal? After I finished putting the armor together, it was heavier than the others I made with Master. I wanted to test the armor, but I had to wait for the leather to cure.

All of a sudden, Marumasa picked up the armor and brought it outside, grabbing the flintlock and shooting it at point-blank range. Marumasa looked at me and smiled. “The ball did not pierce the metal, but it dented where it hit. Now let’s open the armor.”

As he tried to open the armor, Marumasa realized that the hinge bent when the metal dented. “Well, that’s a problem. Maybe instead of it opening from just one hinge, we could make the armor also open at the shoulders so even if it gets damaged, they still can take it off. Let’s try again with these new changes.”

Marumasa walked back inside and turned on the forge. “Are you going to stand outside or are you going to make it with me?” Marumasa shouted. I ran inside as fast as I could, excited to make my next item.

This was how I started my journey as a smith.

 

Work Cited

Bedrosov, Boris. “The Evolution of Japanese Armour.” myArmoury.Com, myarmoury.com/feature_jpn_armour.html. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.