Samurai Executioner

Samurai Executioner
Samurai Executioner Volume 1
首斬り朝 (Kubikiri Asa)
Genre	Drama, Historical, Mature
Manga
Written by	Kazuo Koike
Illustrated by	Goseki Kojima
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	Dark Horse Comics
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	1972 – 1976
Volumes	10

Samurai Executioner, known in Japan as Kubikiri Asa (首斬り朝), is a 10-volume manga created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, the same team that created the popular Lone Wolf and Cub series. The series was first serialized in Japan, from 1972–1976, arriving two years after Lone Wolf and Cub's start.

The story is set in the Edo period of feudal Japan. It revolves around Yamada Asaemon (山田 朝右衞門, Yamada Asaemon), nicknamed Kubikiri-Asa (literally "Neck-chopper Asa", often transliterated as "Decapitator Asaemon"), a ronin who is responsible for testing new swords for the shogun. The character is based on a real-life line of sword-testers who served the Tokugawa Shogunate up to the early 19th century. He is also frequently called upon to perform executions.

Many of the stories focus not on Asaemon, but on several of the people he meets in the course of his work. More often than not they are the stories of the criminals he executes, told as their last words before receiving the fatal stroke. As with Ogami Itto later, such encounters often give Asa pause for thought and reflection.

The Samurai Executioner series was published in English translation in the United States by Dark Horse Comics beginning in 2004. The series was completed with the tenth volume, released on May 26, 2006.

Each volume is written with historical accuracy, although the characters themselves are fictional. In the back of each book, Dark Horse has provided a glossary to help define the many Japanese terms used to keep the stories authentic.

List of recurring characters

Yamada Asaemon, nicknamed Kubikiri Asa: A young ronin who assumes the post of sword-tester in the first volume. Asaemon's reputation is fearsome among the populace because he killed both his father and his first love. He performed the former at his father's insistence, as the terminally-ill man wanted to test his successor's swordsmanship in an act of seppuku; the latter was his first execution: a criminal who had seduced him as a boy years earlier. He is atypical of portrayals of ronin in that he has a governmental post, owns a substantial house, and does not normally roam the countryside.

Years later, Asaemon is ordered by his superiors to kill Ogami Ittō, but secret interference by Yagyu Retsudo causes his sword to become damaged. During his duel with Ogami, Asaemon's sword breaks, resulting in his death.

Sakane Kasajiro (坂根 傘次郎), nicknamed Catcher Kasajiro (畳捕り傘次郎): One of Edo's best policemen, who often uses a hook and rope to capture those he arrests. A lower-caste samurai, he looks up to Asaemon as a teacher and colleague and is the person closest to Asaemon. Asaemon adopted Kasajiro's wife Shinko and acted in the place of the father in law at Kasajiro's wedding.

Sakane Shinko (坂根 新子), nicknamed Shinko the Kappa (河童の新子): Kasajiro's wife, named for the kappa tattooed on her back. Daughter of an executed yakuza Yaheiji (弥兵次), she is a reformed criminal who joined her husband on the Edo police force.

List of Volumes

The ten volumes are as follows (in English from Dark Horse comics):

1. When The Demon Knife Weeps
2. Two Bodies, Two Minds
3. The Hell Stick
4. Portrait of Death
5. Ten Fingers, One Life
6. Shinko the Kappa
7. The Bamboo Splitter
8. The Death Sign of Spring
9. Facing Life and Death
10. A Couple of Jitte

Kozure Ōkami

Yamada Asaemon made an appearance in the 1970s Kozure Ōkami (Lone Wolf & Cub) television series in episode “Headhunter Asaemon”, where he was played by actor Gō Wakabayashi.