45「呼びさます一人の敵も心せよ多勢の敵は前後左右に。」- 植芝盛平
Original Waka
呼びさます
植芝盛平 (Ueshiba, 1977)
一人の敵も
心せよ
多勢の敵は
前後左右に
Translation
“Call and awaken. Beware even of a single enemy; when they are many, the enemies are [arrayed] before, behind, left, and right.” – Morihei Ueshiba
Waka Translation
Rouse and awaken,
even one enemy too,
take heed and beware—
as for many enemies
before, behind, left, and right.
Morihei Ueshiba
歴史的仮名遣い（語構成を明示）1
呼び覺ます（よびさます）
一人の敵も（ひとりのてきも）
心せよ（こころせよ）
多勢の敵は（たぜいのてきは）
前後左右に（ぜんごさゆうに）
植芝盛平
Bungo Romanization
yobi‑samasu
hitori‑no teki mo
kokoro seyo
tazei‑no teki wa
zengo sayū ni
Ueshiba Morihei
Notes
1 Using 覺 (kyūjitai for 覚) is a conservative, bungo‑compatible orthographic choice; the okurigana remains as in standard historical usage. (Leaving の as kana rather than 乃 keeps the original diction while still reading in bungo.) For some editors, an explicitly admonitory classical normalization 呼び覺ませ (imperative) is also acceptable without changing meter (yo‑bi‑sa‑ma‑se = 5). See Vovin on classical imperatives.
Translation, Notes, Commentary, and Research by Latex G. N. R. Space-Coyote
Ueshiba, M. (2025). 植芝盛平道歌–045: Rousing a foe, many surround (L. G. N. R. Space-Coyote, Trans.; OpenAI ChatGPT-5 Pro, Ed.). Shugyokai.org. (Original work published 1977) https://shugyokai.org/hzxc
呼びさます（よびさます; yobi-samasu） — “to awaken / call forth.” In budō discourse this often implies that one’s attitude or Ki can invite opposition; hence the warning to be mindful even when it’s “just one” opponent. 呼びさます = 呼び(連用形 “call, summon”)+さます(終止形 “awaken”); “to call and awaken” can denote rousing oneself / others or ‘calling forth’ the opponent; in martial rhetoric it shades toward ‘bringing awareness online’; standard meanings include awakening from sleep and re‑evoking memory or feeling; dictionaries gloss ‘to bring to full alertness; to dispel intoxication or delusion,’ a range that supports martial alertness (DIGITALIO, n.d.a).
敵（てき; teki） — enemy (<啇 – stem/root|<冂 – upside down box)|古 – old, ancient, things past, simple, unsophisticated, history>|攵 – strike, hit>; kakekotoba as て (-te form) + ＜木｜樹＞・気・鬼・黄・起・姫・機・岐 （ki; Space-Coyote, 2026; [REDACTED])・。。
も（mo) — in this context, an additive / focus particle ‘even,’ and は is the topic particle, both fully productive in pre‑modern usage (Frellesvig, 2010; Komai & Rohlich, 1991).
一人の敵も（ひとりのてきも; hitori no teki mo）— “even a single foe” (一人 + genitive の + 敵 + 係助詞 も).
…せよ（せよ; seyo）— classical imperative; も (additive/emphatic) and は (topic) operate as expected in bungo discourse (Frellesvig, 2010; Wixted, 2011).
心せよ（こころせよ; kokoro seyo）— classical imperative “be mindful / take heed / beware” (サ変動詞「心す」連用形＋命令形「せよ」); “be mindful,” “beware”; common in prewar martial maxims.
一人の敵も心せよ（ひとりのてきもこころせんよ; hitori no teki mo kokoro seyo） — admonitory imperative; even a lone opponent warrants full awareness (心す = “be on guard, take heed”). Classical imperative ～せよ is normal bungo.
多勢の敵は（たぜいの敵は; tazei no teki wa） — “as for the many foes” (多勢 + の + 敵 + 係助詞 は).
前後左右に（ぜんごさゆうに; zengo sayu ni）— “in front and behind, to left and right” (locative に; copula omitted).
多勢の敵前後左右（たぜいの敵は前後左右に; tazei no teki wa zengo sayu ni） — evokes battlefield awareness and Aikido’s multi-attacker training (多人数掛け, taninzu-gake). The four directions formula (前後左右) 360° vigilance like 四方 (shihō); acting appropriately in all directions; the tactical picture: when they are numerous, foes surround in all directions (前後左右 “in every direction”).
Sense notes. The verb 呼び覚ます (‘to call and awaken; to rouse’) and the four‑direction set phrase 前後左右 are standard items in classical and modern dictionaries.
Martial intertext. The image of multiple assailants surrounding the swordsman resonates with 多敵の位 in Miyamoto Musashi’s Gorin no Sho (Water Book), which describes methods for engagement when “enemies press from four directions.”
Zanshin. Points to 残心 (zanshin) sustained, panoramic awareness and to managing 気 (Ki) so you don’t “awaken” conflict unnecessarily, while remaining prepared if it multiplies (i.e., geometric expansion!).
Imperatives and ellipsis. The poem’s command 心せよ is a textbook classical imperative. The first line 呼びさます can be read as finite predicate supplying the rhetorical setup (a common waka move), or normalized to the classical imperative 呼び覺ませ without disturbing meter. Classical handbooks note both the morphology and pragmatic uses of imperatives in admonitory verse.
Particles & zero‑copula. The chain 一人の敵も／多勢の敵は／前後左右に is purely bungo‑compatible: case particles の／は／に, with an elided 在り (copula / existential) at the end—an old written norm.
Lexical set phrases. 前後左右 is an old set compound (attested since the Engishiki, 927), exactly the sort of Sino‑Japanese four‑compass bundle favored in classical diction.
Mora‑timed 5‑7‑5‑7‑7. The poem scans cleanly to 31 morae; counting treats ゆう as two morae and えい (in たぜい) as two, which aligns with scholarly accounts of Japanese meter.
Punning / polysemy. Classical waka famously exploit kakekotoba—often made legible by kana that hide kanji distinctions (Brower & Miner, 1961). The poem’s さます (written in kana) invites both ‘awaken’ (覚ます) and, by echo, ‘cool / temper’ (冷ます), a nuance that pairs naturally with 心 (heart / mind).
Orthography. Writing 覚 as 覺 (kyūjitai) is a conservative bungo‑orthographic choice that does not alter reading. Retaining kana の preserves the authorial voice while keeping classical readability. (On bungo systems and editorial normalization, see Vovin.)
Waka pivot structure. The semantic “turn” after line 3 (imperative → justification) matches the classical kami‑no‑ku / shimo‑no‑ku rhetorical logic described in poetics studies of waka/tanka.
Budō tactics and “zanshin.” The admonition “beware even a single foe” leading to “many in all directions” aligns with multi‑opponent awareness in classical sword texts (e.g., Musashi’s 多敵の位, Water Book). Ueshiba’s dōka often operate simultaneously as technical cues and spiritual admonitions—train attention so that when “many” arise, mind is already oriented 前後左右.
Religious inflection (Ōmoto, Shintō, kotodama). Ueshiba composed dōka within a religious imagination shaped by Shintō (especially Ōmoto and its discourse on kotodama—“spirit‑power of words”). Scholarly treatments document how his budō language blends martial praxis with Ōmoto‑style cosmology; the “calling/awakening” of 呼びさます coheres with this word‑power frame.
Textual transmission. The same admonitory kernel reappears in later dōka variants (e.g., “一を以て万に当たるぞ丈夫の道”), showing how Ueshiba re‑keys a tactical image into a metaphysical principle (“with the One, face the many”). Published lists collect both #45 (“…前後左右に”) and the cognate versions.
解説; Commentary
このページの第45首は、原文「呼びさます／一人の敵も／心せよ／多勢の敵は／前後左右に」を掲げ、要は――自分が“呼びさまし（呼び起こし）”てしまう一人の敵でさえ油断するな。多勢になれば、敵は前後左右に配される――という警告歌だと示しています。ここで「呼びさます」は、語構成どおり「呼ぶ（喚起する）＋さます（覚醒させる）」で、相手や場の気を“呼び立てる／目を覚まさせる”ニュアンスを含み、過剰な示威や不用意な働きかけが敵意の芽を起こし得ることへの示唆になります。「心せよ」は文語の命令形で「用心せよ・気をつけよ」。「前後左右」は四方＝360度の注意を表す定型句です。以上を踏まえた批判的口語訳は――「（自分のふるまいが）敵を呼び覚ましてしまうこともある。たとえ一人でも用心しろ。多勢になれば、前後左右から囲んでくるのだから」――となるでしょう。
この警告は、六つのプライマーを運用の規範として直に呼び起こします。プライマーの第一原理〈武＝宇宙原理〉の座標に立てば、現象を煽らず秩序へ整合するのが武の芯であり、プライマーの第二原理〈人との合気〉は相手の意志を“呼び立てない”合わせ方と呼び立った場合の関係制御の両義を要請します。プライマーの第三原理〈心魂一如〉は隙のない注意（前後左右）を支え、プライマーの第四原理〈和合美化〉は敵意の拡散を招かない品位を与える。プライマーの第五原理〈体＝道場、心＝修業者／修行者心／学び手〉は日々の最小スケールでの周到な見張り（視線・構え・間合い）を鍛える秤となり、プライマーの第六原理〈「至愛」の源に順う〉は、挑発せず・壊さずという上位倫理を常に測りにかける基準になります。ページの注が強調するように、「呼びさます」は自他いずれにも向く語で、“心せよ”はまず自分のふるまいに向けられる――そこから多勢＝前後左右の視野へ拡張する流れが、この一首の作法です。
直前の三首とも自然に糸が戻ります。第42首は「言い立てぬ清さ」で過剰な自己誇示を抑える（＝無用に「呼びさまさない」）足場をつくり、第43首は「璽・鏡・剣」で正統（璽）・映し整える（鏡）・最小決断（剣）という守りの枠組みを与え、第44首は「武＝国の守り（ガーディアン）」というテロスを明示しました。そこへ第45首は、一人を“呼び覚ます”だけでも事態は連鎖し、多勢へ拡大するというリスクの機構を、四方の語（前後左右）で可視化します。したがって実地の合言葉は――誇らず（第42首）、映し・決め（第43首）を秤に、守りの武（第44首）で自他を煽らず、たとえ一人でも360度に心せよ（第45首）――です。
口語要約のひとこと
「呼び覚ました一人の敵にも用心せよ――多勢の敵は前後左右にいる。」
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Appendix I: Change Modification Log
21 DEC 25 - Phase V styling applied to waka.08 NOV 25 - Phase IV completion; commentary added.14 OCT 25 - Phase III completion.14 APR 20 - Initial notes transferred.