Statistics:
Date-mid 16th century and present day 1998
Age-around 400 years old
Time period-Feudal era Japan and a modern day museum
Location-Old Japan, around the Kyoto province, and a museum

     His name is Grass cutter.  One rarely sees his real face.  He wears around his head a hood of
red, a curved hood to hide his curved face, which hides his real intentions.  However, one can
identify him by his body.  He has a slender body, not nearly as long as his face.  Around his body, he
wears a unique piece of armor made of ivory and carved to resemble a dragon.  And around his
neck, he wears a round, gold plated disc of iron.
     Grasscutter rarely takes off his hood.  When he does, it is usually at the bidding of his
master, whoever that may be (in this case, a samurai).  Whenever he does take off his good, it is
usually his face a person sees before their life is stolen by him.  Yet, one has to have a good heart
before Grasscutter can be ordered to his task.  He will not take off his hood and serve someone who
has evil intentions.
     This is his story. . .


























December 12, 1578

     Today was the first day I spent with my new master, Toshiro Obata.  I was given to him
yesterday by my father, Masamune, as a new servant.  My father had told my new master that my
name was "Usagi Yojimbo," but my new master calls me "Grasscutter" for short.
     Before leaving him, my father warned me not to show my face to anyone unless my master
bids me so.  And, even then, my father warned me not to obey my master unless he is a good man. 
Taking these words to heart, I went on my way with my new master.
     Toshiro lives in Kyoto, a big city.  The Shogun visits here once a year, and my master
ultimately is his bodyguard.  Other than that, my master serves the primary lord of this province,
Sokaku Takeda.  Toshiro lives in the main castle with his lord.  My master is not wed, but his lord
has been trying to set him up, or so I've heard.
     My master is a quiet man, having quarters totally to himself and having no possessions
except for me and a paint brush set.  He constantly works on ink drawings and his sword work.  I
believe his heart is pure and his only desire is to serve his lord to the best of his ability, and so I will
strive to serve him as well as he serves his lord.
     For the most part, this day was very quiet.  My master spent lots of time working on an ink
sketch of a bird sitting on a tree.  It looks very pretty.  After working on that, my master took me
around the castle and showed me off to his friends.  He bragged of the great work my father did in
preparing me for this job.  I even took off my food for some of them to show off my face.  They
marveled at its beauty and perfection.
     After showing me off, my master took me to the back of the castle to test my prowess in my
intended job.  He gave me to a tester and the tester put me through an grueling battery of exercises,
one of which was to see how many dead bodies I could cut through.  I was able to half five of the
seven.  In the end, the tester deemed me worthy.
     At the end of the day, my master practiced a little bit of shadow sparring with me.  He grip is
very loose and his form, relaxed.  I believe he must be a master swordsman and am very proud to be
in his service.  I look forward to our future together.















March 7, 1579

     After the long winter, my master looks forward to the coming spring.  The winter was truly
uneventful, filled with long days of strolling about with my master and his lord.  They are very good
friends, seeming to know each other since childhood, though I can't confirm it, since I can't speak
with my master, I can only listen.
     Toshiro and I work quite well together.  He know when and where I can be most effective. 
There was this rebellion last month, some cult calling themselves "Christians" were causing trouble. 
Our lord asked my master to lead a party down to Osaka, where it was to stamp our these pagans.  I
went with my master and we did well in disposing of the rebels, though I am unsure as to how
seemingly innocent, unarmed peasants could be such a threat to my master's lord.
     The snow is melting and I am seeing the grass and other plants for the first time in my life.  It
is a pleasure seeing the color green after all this white.  I can't wait to see what other colors will pop
up.
     On a side note, my master seems to be paying more and more attention to this woman in the
castle.  I believe she is the daughter of our lord.  Having pasty white skin and always wearing
brightly colored kimonos (robes), she looked very much like the royalty that she is.  Her movements
are of the utmost refinement, seeming to glide rather than walk.  I do not understand what has come
over my master.  Perhaps, in the coming months, he will reveal it to me.























June 11, 1579

     Spring is as wonderful as they say it is.  I have never seen flowers before, they are very
colorful.  The animals are out too, and they are very interesting.  My master loves this season.  He
spent a whole day painting ink sketches of the birds, flowers, and our lord's daughter.
     Her name is Tsukiko.  Toshiro and her have been spending hours and hours together, doing
nothing else but talking.  I don't mean to eaves drop, but they talk about the silliest and most inane
subjects.  My master acts like a little child when around her, and surprisingly, she acts the same way. 
I don't know what's wrong with them, perhaps some sort of spring fever.
     The days are much hotter and the sun is much brighter.  My master is the chief instructor in
swordsmanship for our lord's armies and it is once again that time of year again, when young boys
want to join the ranks and become fighting men.  Over 100 boys of all ages have come to the castle
to show their prowess with the sword.  They cringe whenever they must show their skills in front of
my master.  I do have to admit, it must be intimidating seeing my master and I perform the correct
way to perform a beheading.  My master is so fluid and skillful, and with me, he is probably
unbeatable.  I suppose we will see who will be in the lord's army within weeks, these young boys
seem not to know anything.  Reminds me of me.


























September 2, 1579

     The days are starting to grow colder and colder.  The trees are turning brown and loosing
their leaves for the coming autumn.  Everything is a darker color now, a sharp contrast from the hot,
bright seasons of spring and summer.  Yet it is still as bright and happy for my master.  Why?
     Toshiro and Tsukiko have consented to become husband and wife.  I think this means they
will be spending a lot more time with each other, and that includes me.  My master seems really
happy, almost to the point of stupidity.  He still practices with me, but a bit less, since he spends the
rest of his time painting Tsukiko, or spending time with Tsukiko.  This thing called love is very
strange, I don't understand it one bit.
     Our lord is very happy with the match up.  He has said that it's about time that my master
found someone suitable, and even happier that it is one of his daughters that my master has chosen. 
He can now call my master "son-in-law" as a joke.  Our lord, I think, has caught a little bit of the
happiness bug.
     There weren't very many new recruits into the army.  Very few of the young samurai
showed any real skill with the sword.  I believe 30 of the 100 who came actually made it.  Some of
the others showed promise and are now apprenticing under one of the other retainers in the castle. 
This is very bad for my master and lord, since there is an upcoming war.
     "Christians," some of which we wiped out months ago, have allied themselves with a lord in
the Iga province.  That lord knows we wiped out the others and is now starting to attack outer
villages in our Kyoto province.  I am still disturbed as to how unarmed peasants were such a threat. 
It seems to me that they were only following a gaijin (white people) religion, not too much unlike
our own Shintoism, without causing any harm.  I am troubled, deeply troubled.




















December 12, 1579

     It is the winter again.  Short days and long nights plague the land.  A white blanket once
again covers the ground.  The war is in full action now, being fought on many fronts, all over the
Kyoto and Iga provinces.  Luckily, my lord hasn't picked my master to lead the army.  Or at least,
he hasn't picked him yet.
     Tsukiko is an excellent wife.  My master know what he was doing when he married her.  She
takes care of his needs and, to a certain extent, my need also.  This is fairly unusual, since wives
aren't even supposed to touch their husband's swords.  Yet, she does and Toshiro allows it.  They
are a truly wonderful couple.
     My master is spending more and more time training the main army in the arts of warfare. 
He knows as well as I that if the forces if Iga were to get far enough into Kyoto, they would attack
the main castle and try to seize it.  We must be prepared to defend this place with our live.
     I have learned more of this "Christian" religion from listening to my master and lord talk of
it.  They believe in one "God," as opposed to our many gods.  They believe in a person named
"Jesus" who was persecuted and died so that all men's evil deeds would be forgiven by their "God." 
I don't think this is very bad, but my master and lord despise the Christian beliefs.  Why?  I do not
understand.

























January 9, 1580

     Today has been a miserable day.  I can't even describe everything without feeling the utmost
nausea.  I might as well try.
     The war is coming to an end, after only a month's worth of fighting.  The Iga lord has
advanced far enough into Kyoto to be able to reach the castle.  Our lord found out about this only
two days ago, and everyone has become a whirlwind of activity, all to prepare for the siege.  My
master will lead the main army out into the battlefield to take on the other lord's armies and,
hopefully, to stop them.  He has been running around all day, telling his commanders what the
strategy will be, which people to put on the front line, and that weapons to use.  This will be a
memorable battle.
     I despise my master.  I now know his true nature.  Yesterday, him and Tsukiko had a
moment to talk.  Tsukiko seemed to be reluctant about telling Toshiro something, but she finally
did.  She told him not to fight in the battle because she is Christian, and she doesn't want my master
to fight against her own.  How she kept this secret so long, I don't know, but my master became
furious.  At that moment, he took off my hood and used me to steal the life from her.  I will never
forget that look in Tsukiko's eyes before I sent her to the next world.  She was as calm as I've ever
seen someone, and her eyes were strong with her beliefs.  As she was dying and my master put my
hood back on, I heard her call out to my master, saying she forgave him.  My master, in turn, spit on
her and walked away.
     This event has finally opened my eyes.  The hatred my master has for these Christians is evil
and wrong.  I will never take my hood off for my master again, not even in the upcoming battle.  I
swear to help these Christians any way that I can.




















April 28, 1998

     It's a busy day today, in the museum.  I'm not sure which one I'm in, but I seem to be the
centerpiece.  People of all ages and races walk by, gazing at my now exposed face, behind a glass
wall.  I am a religious symbol of a time when Christians were persecuted in Japan, when times were
different, much different.
     I stuck to my vow that day of battle, so long ago.  When my master tried to take my hood
off, I didn't let him.  So, he was cut down by one of the Christian forces.  I didn't have any regrets,
he was not who I thought he was.
     The tour guide tells of my other adventures through time, from that first battle where it was
now legendary that I would not be drawn by anyone who was evil, to my last one where the
Christians were finally eliminated, only to rise again in today's world.  Anyhow, there is no more
use for me in today's world, what with all these guns and bombs and such.  I am thus reduces to be
nothing but and antique, a symbol, and an icon of the "Christian"crusades of Japan.  They still call
me Grasscutter, a name I've carried all my life, amazingly enough.  What an interesting place and
time to end up.
     But, I still feel guilty.  If I had seen Toshiro's true self so long ago, than I could have
protected Tsukiko.  Maybe the, she could have lived a longer life, believing in her Christian faith. 
Then, I'd be truly happy.  As it is, however, faith dealt me a strange hand.
     It is nearing closing time.  Everyone is starting to migrate to the exits.  It will be Easter soon
and everyone will be gone for the weekend.  There is this little boy in front of me, staring in awe at
my face.  Perhaps I can tell him a story or two about my adventures on this particular holiday. . .






                             The End