Captain F. Brinkley

“ In the case of the bow, the unit of measurement was the distance between the tips of the thumb and the little finger with the hand fully stretched. Fifteen of these units gave the dimensions of the bow. Hence, with a six-inch stretch, the bow would be seven feet six inches long. The unit for the arrow was a hand's breadth, and from twelve to fifteen units gave the length,—i. e. from three feet to three feet nine inches.
Note 23.—Seventeen masters are universally recognised as the greatest that ever forged a blade. ”

“ There is reason to think that when the Japanese invested the Chinese forces in Ping-yang, in 1894, they acted upon the advice of the third-century strategists, for they deliberately left a road of escape for the enemy, who took it.
Note 31.—The Japanese military man is called indiscriminately samurai or bushi. Samurai originally signifies "guard," and shi is the Sinico-Japanese pronunciation of the same ideograph, which, with the prefix bu (military) , makes the compound bushi, or military guard. The terms samurai and bushi are used in these pages without distinction. ”

“ In his letter forbidding the act, Iyeyasu declared that should the practice be resorted to by any feudatory's vassals thereafter, the fief would be confiscated, his view being that true loyalty required, not sacrifice of life, but transfer of services to the deceased lord's successor. Nevertheless, when Kunimatsu, the eight-year-old son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was put to death in 1615, his tutor, Tanaka Rokuyemon, committed suicide ”

“ Note 27.—First among the swords of Japan ranked the sacred blade which formed one of the Imperial Regalia. Then came the Hirugoza (daily companion) , the Hateki (foe-smiter) , and the Shugo (guardian) of the Emperor ”