Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, c. 1584 – 13 June 1645) was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a kensei (sword saint) of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū (or Nito Ichi-ryū) style of swordsmanship, and in his final years authored A Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho) and Dokkōdō (獨行道, The Path of Aloneness). Both documents were given to Terao Magonojō, the most important of Miyamoto’s students, seven days before Musashi’s death. The Book of Five Rings focuses on the character of his Niten Ichi-ryū school in a concrete sense; his own practical martial art and its generic significance. The Path of Aloneness, on the other hand, deals with the ideas that lie behind it, as well as his life’s philosophy in a few short aphoristic sentences.
First Appearance Historical figure (b. 1584 – d. 1645)
First Publisher ○
Appearance List Literature: Hyodokyo (The Mirror of the Way of Strategy), Hyoho Sanjugo Kajo (Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy), Hyoho Shijuni Kajo (Forty-two Instructions on Strategy), Dokkōdō (The Way to be Followed Alone, 1645), Go Rin No Sho (The Book of Five Rings, 1645), Niten Ki (二天記, c. 1770s), Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa (serialized 1935–1939).
Description Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, c. 1584 – 13 June 1645) was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a kensei (sword saint) of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū (or Nito Ichi-ryū) style of swordsmanship, and in his final years authored A Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho) and Dokkōdō (獨行道, The Path of Aloneness). Both documents were given to Terao Magonojō, the most important of Miyamoto’s students, seven days before Musashi’s death. The Book of Five Rings focuses on the character of his Niten Ichi-ryū school in a concrete sense; his own practical martial art and its generic significance. The Path of Aloneness, on the other hand, deals with the ideas that lie behind it, as well as his life’s philosophy in a few short aphoristic sentences.
The swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, armed with two wooden swords, sparring with the old master Tsukahara Bokuden, who defends himself using two wooden pot-lids (1845-46) | Kuniyoshi Utagawa
