The definition and terminology of Budo is a frequently discussed topic in the area of the science of Budo. In recent years, at the 2005, 2006 and 2007 congress of the Japanese Academy of Budo, a forum was opened with the title ‘Searching for a modern definition of Budo' and discussion continued along with topics like ‘what is the difference between Budo and competitive sports?', ‘what are foreigners looking for in Budo?'. On the other hand, as Sakai has pointed it out, basic research in the field of Budo must deal with the problem of ‘making it clear what terminology and how it was used in a given era'. He added, ‘as for the future, I hope for an unraveled general picture of what terminology, from what period, which way was in use', claiming the need for a clear understanding of terminology which could help in defining Budo and its cultural implications.
The necessity to clarify Budo terminology is connected to the problem of translation of Budo-related terms in the progress of internationalization. To translate Budo terminology properly, a thorough understanding of all the contents of its meaning is mandatory. We are convinced that an analysis of the terminology having been in use through the history of Budo would create the foundation for this work. Research on the examples of terminology in the history of Budo would greatly help people with different cultural backgrounds to comprehend these expressions, contributing to not to lose the real goals of Budo culture in this rapidly changing world.
Objectives of the research is as below,
1. Concentrating on Kojiki, the oldest historical record in Japanese history, we analyze all occurrences of expressions connected to Budo, exploring the distribution of these expressions in the text.
2. Especially in the case of sword-related terminology, clarification of context and tendencies of usage.
Our research produced the following results:
1. We organized the Budo-related expressions in Kojiki, Japan's oldest book, into three categories: warriors, weapons (and their use) and general terms on warfare. We found that while there were no instances in the general terms category, 85 % of the terms fell into the category 'weapons'.
2. We clarified how terms falling into the categories 'warriors' and 'weapons' are distributed in the three volumes of Kojiki. As an interesting result the fact can be cited that the term 'totsukatsurugi' appears only in the first volume about the age of gods, while the term 'tachi' can be found only in the second and third volumes.
3. From its context it is clear that the term 'totsukatsurugi' was used to describe swords worn by the gods.
4. The term 'tachi' was used in connection with swords that came to earth from heaven.
