Law court records of duels?

[brianlkennedy]

One of the things I used in my reserach of Taiwanese martial arts was a set of law court records that had been preserved from jurisdictions in northern Taiwan during the late 1700s to the start of the Japanese colonial period. The records provided some interesting insights into Taiwanese martial arts of the time.

I was wondering if there were similar law court records that provided any insights into sword duels in Japan. I have long pondered what the outcome of sword duels usually was. I am familiar with some of the famous duels but I wonder about more "average", run of the mill swordsmen who ended up in duels. I would guess there had to be a fair number of mutual death duels (i.e. duels where both parties ended up dead). Even if they did not die right on the spot, they were sufficiently wounded that they died from infections or shock within a few days or weeks. Law court records might shed some light on such things.

Has anyone looked into this?

thanks much,
Brian L. Kennedy

[Cliff Judge]

You know what, doing a PhD thesis on this subject would be the most AWESOME waste of a person's late 20s and early 30s that I can imagine at this moment.

[Chidokan]

No reason as to why they wouldn't... especially if there may have been a little illegality involved...
Gladstone was the last British prime minister who is recorded fighting a duel, and no doubt Japan would be no different in recording stuff like this both in the newspapers and potentially in court records...