Kensei
Decades ago I read Charles Terry's superb translation of Eiji Yoshikawa's stylized historic novel, "Musashi." I generally find translations lacking, but Terry, a Japanese scholar from Mississippi, seemed to catch all the nuances while able to phrase them almost poetically in English. "Musashi" has not only been one of my favorite books, but it led me down a casual path to both Japanese history and the life of Miyamoto Musashi himself.
Eiji Yoshikawa
Yoshikawa, the author from Yokohama, similar to his character, Musashi, developed his craft through adversity and personal development. His novel was first published in 1935 as a serialization in "Asahi Shimbun," an Osaka-based national newspaper.
As a rule, I'm not fond of historical fiction or fictionalized history, but in the case of Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke, aka Miyamoto Musashi, his exploits and life are a blend of known facts and folklore and the appreciation lies more in what he exemplifies than in whatever the reality might have been.
Yoshikawa's book begins:
Takezō lay among the corpses. There were thousands of them.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the great unifier of Japan, had died in 1598. His son and successor, Hideyori, was only five at the time and the rule was conducted by five regents, called the Council of Elders. One of the five, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the most powerful of the Elders, made a bold move, sending an army to seize Osaka Castle where little Hideyori lived. This began a complex series of events that culminated in a rift of opposing forces for control of Japan: Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army vs. Ishida Mitsunari Western Army. There were several battles, but the final and determining conflict was the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. The army of Tokugawa Ieyasu won this battle, leaving upwards to 32,000 of Mitsunari's warriors strewn across the battlefield. Takezō, Musashi's childhood name, was one of them, feigning death as the enemy returned to kill the wounded and stragglers - in the book. In reality no one knows if Musashi took part in that battle.
Battle of Sekigahara - October 21, 1600
Although seemingly young, sixteen at the time of the Battle of Sekigahara, Musashi had killed his first samurai in a duel at age 13. If nothing else, the battle—if he even fought in it— possibly made him a rōnin, i.e. a samurai without a lord. The samurai were the warrior class of feudal Japan retained by Lords. But it's been convincingly argued that Musashi wasn't a samurai. Samurai were a subset of Bushi -the warrior class. Musashi, instead, belonged to the subset Shugyosha - itinerant warriors, particularly swordsmen, who lived with nature, harshly disciplining themselves while perfecting their art through practice, adversity and competition (duels). A rōnin, on the other hand, having lost his lord and retainer, was a disgraced samurai who generally either became a bandit or committed Seppuku, retaining honor, as did Musashi's first adopted son, Miyamoto Mikinosuke after the death of his retainer, Lord Taiyu.
I have trained in the way of strategy since my youth, and at the age of thirteen I fought a duel for the first time. My opponent was called Arima Kihei, a sword adept of the Shinto ryu, and I defeated him. At the age of sixteen I defeated a powerful adept by the name of Akiyama, who came from Tajima Province. At the age of twenty-one I went up to Kyoto and fought duels with several adepts of the sword from famous schools, but I never lost.
—Miyamoto Musashi, Go Rin No Sho
Probably what fascinates me most about Musashi are the polar elements working together in his attempts to find "the Way." Musashi, in the novel, was initially trained by a Zen Buddhist monk named Takuan who led the warrior on a more spiritual path. Takuan was a real person but his involvement with Musashi is fictional. Musashi's spiritual path, however, was real. The code of the warrior, Bushido, elevates the warrior above a mere killer, soldier or fighter. Interesting enough, I came across a short piece by Prof. Shannon French, then of the Dept. of Leadership, Ethics, and Law of the Naval Academy. She discusses her class course called "The Warrior's Code," expressing not just the desirability for such a thing, but its necessity for both the warrior and for society. Musashi adhered to Bushido religiously as the framework in his Way of the Warrior.
Having fought numerous duels, often against multiple opponents, often to the death, Musashi attributed his victories to a natural talent. Most of the duels involved different schools, each school a center of a particular style of sword fighting. Two duels stand out among all the others. The first one, oddly enough, was against a 12 year old. How this came about was that Musashi had challenged the head of the Yoshioka Clan, which founded a famous school of sword fighting, to a duel. In March 8, 1604, armed only with a bokuto, a wooden sword, Musashi defeated Yoshioka Seijuro by breaking his arm. Dishonored, Seijuro entered a monastery and his brother, Denshichiro, took over as head of the clan. To avenge his older brother's defeat, Denshichiro challenged Musashi who again won using his wooden sword but this time killing his opponent. This made Matashichiro, at 12 years old the head of the clan. This time a trap was devised. A challenge was issued in the name of Matashichiro. Musashi sensed a subterfuge and arrived early (he usually arrived late to upset his opponents' balance) armed with the traditional long and short swords, the katana and the wakizashi. Seeing the boy and a small army of warriors armed with swords, bows and firearms, Musashi jumped out of his concealment and quickly killed the boy. Then in an unsuspecting manner, used both swords simultaneously to cut his way through the ambush. This use of two swords, Niten Ichi Ryu, would be Musashi's trademark.
When Musashi was 28, he fought his greatest duel against a warrior named Sasaki Kojiro. Kojiro was a master of the long, two-handed sword call the nodachi (his personal nodachi was called the monohoshizao or the Drying Pole which was about 36" vs the 27" of the average katana) and operated a school devoted to his style. The duel took place on April 13, 1612 on the island of Ganryu-jima. Although set for 8:00 a.m., Musashi didn't arrive until nearly 11:00 am. The duel was set on a secluded island where Kojiro waited with his seconds. While being rowed to the island, Musashi whittled a spare oar into a usable sword shape. There are many versions to this duel, but all versions end with Musashi killing Kojiro very quickly, but narrowing escaping death himself. A statue commemorating the duel was erected on the site of the battle:
Kojiro on the left; Musashi on the right
The book itself ends with this duel.
Musashi never fought another duel to the death but, although he had never lost, he saw this as the start of his journey towards the Way of the Warrior. His philosophy encompassed the equality of Ways—each person should follow his way with the goal of perfecting it, and upon perfecting it, all ways would be understood.
The Way of the warrior does not include other Ways, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, certain traditions, artistic accomplishments and dancing. But even though these are not part of the Way, if you know the Way broadly you will see it in everything. Men must polish their particular Way.
—Miyamoto Musashi, Go Rin No Sho
Musashi demonstrated this point by becoming a calligrapher, an artist, a writer and a philosopher.
Musashi's calligraphy
Musashi's watercolor of a shrike
Musashi's most famous writing is the Book of Five Rings or the Go Rin No Sho. This work on strategy, philosophy and swordmanship (kenjutsu) is comprised of five books: the Ground Book, the Water Book, the Fire Book, the Wind Book and the Void Book.
His final work, written one week before his death at about age 60, is called "The Way of Walking Alone" or "Dokkoto" and merely consists of 21 guidelines or rules one should live by.
His school of sword fighting, the "Nito Ryu" or the "Two-Swords School," became his legacy. While he probably didn't invent this style of fighting which no one else in his day used, he perfected it and demonstrated it's superiority.
For that reason, he is known as Musashi, the Sword Saint or Kensei:
剣聖宮本武蔵
Musashi's grave at Musashizuka Park in Kumamoto
“I fought more than 60 times, but not once was I beaten.”
—Miyamoto Musashi, Go Rin No Sho
