Для тех, кто совсем не читает по-английски: два самурая встретились на мосту с другим самураем, который шел с компанией друзей. Они разминулись, но ножны мечей двоих из них столкнулись, когда они проходили друг мимо друга. Оба немедленно восприняли это как вызов и начали биться насмерть, и все остальные подключились. Те, которых было больше, убили тех, которых было двое, потом подключились родственники убитых, и так далее.
When a fight was only a matter of honor between reputable samurai, the case was sometimes considered their private affair. Unless they disrupted the state's internal order, impulsive fights that had to do with honor occasionally went unpunished by the authorities. One particularly clear example of official forbearance was a bloody quarrel between two young samurai, which occurred in 1630, again in Lord Maeda's domain (Kaga han). This quarrel took place fifteen years after the last great Japanese conflict, the Osaka Summer Battle.
In the Six Month of the seventh year of Kan'ei (1630), according to Kaga han shiryo, Maeda Higo, a noble young samurai (a grandson of Lord Maeda Toshiie), went to a river accompanied by a group of young comrades. After enjoying a pleasant swim, he and his companions were crossing a bridge to return home. From the opposite side of the bridge, two other young samurai, Murase and Sakabe, came walking toward them. In the middle of the bridge, Kaga han shiryo describes, "the sword sheaths carried by Higo and Sakabe bumped each other. At once, Higo slapped Sakabe's shoulder with his fan and Sakabe drew out his sword with a shout." The accidental contact of their swords was taken as a challenge and immediately precipitated a deadly fight. Higo's friends came up to help him, and both Murase and Sakabe were killed in the river. Soon the tragic report reached their families, and the incident instantly escalated into a family feud. Murase's father, Murase Kuemon, rushed to the site with a long sword in hand to avenge his son's death. Kuemon killed two of Higo's retainers and injured another before finally being killed himself. Sakabe's father, Sakabe Jirobei, also came rushing up with a spear to seek revenge, but "the press of the curious crowd hampered his way." It is not clear if this detail was true or not; it may be the excuse of Sakabe's father, who failed to get involved in the fight. In any event, feeling ashamed of his failure to exact revenge, Jirobei voluntarily went to a temple to enter the priesthood, leaving the city. The episode was reported to Lord Maeda, but nobody in either party was punished. The document does record that Higo was obliged to live the rest of his life in constant fear of revenge.