was a Japanese warrior of the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

. He was a retainer of

Mononobe no Moriya was an '' Ō-muraji'', a high-ranking clan head position of the ancient Japanese Yamato state, having inherited the position from his father Mononobe no Okoshi. Like his father, he was a devoted opponent of Buddhism, which had recently been intr ...

Biography

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

Soga–Mononobe conflict The Soga–Mononobe conflict, was a political and military dispute that took place in Japan during the Asuka period between the pro-Shinto Mononobe clan, led by Mononobe no Moriya, and the pro-Buddhist Soga clan, led by Soga no Umako, which would ...

, Yorozu was among the

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

loyalists who fought against the pro-

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

faction led by

Soga no Umako was the son of Soga no Iname and a member of the powerful Soga clan of Japan. Conflicting evidence has suggested that Soga no Umako was actually an emperor during the Asuka period. Umako conducted political reforms with Prince Shōtoku during t ...

. When he learned that his lord Moriya had been defeated by Umako's forces, Yorozu escaped into the mountains near Arimakamura in

Izumi Province :''The characters ''泉州'' are also used for the name of the Chinese city of Quanzhou''. was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of southern Osaka Prefecture. It bordered on Kii Province, Kii to the south, Yamato Province, Ya ...

. The

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

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 The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elasticity (physics), elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles (arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the ...

. Surrounded, he said: 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Totoribe, Yorozu 587 deaths Japanese Shintoists Japanese soldiers Suicides by sharp instrument People of the Asuka period 6th-century Japanese people Japanese warriors