Miyamoto Musashi#Duel with Sasaki Kojiro

The details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify. Musashi writes in The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) that he was born in Miyamoto, a village in Harima Province.{{cite book| first= Miyamoto| last= Musashi| title= Go Rin No Sho |trans-title= The Book of Five Rings | editor= Kamiko Tadashi |place= Tokyo | publisher= Tokuma-shoten| year= | edition= 1963| isbn= }}{{rp|13}} Niten Ki, an early biography of Musashi, supports the assertion that Musashi was born in 1584. "[He] was born in Banshū, in Tenshō 12 [1584],{{cite book| title= Along the Samurai's Route| first= Jorge| last= Orpianesi |year= 2022| isbn= 9789878720210| publisher= Editorial Autores de Argentina | page= 130}}, quoting {{cite book| title= Tanji Hokin Hikki| trans-title= | place= Japan | publisher= | year= 1727| edition= |translator= | first= | last= | isbn= }} the Year of the Monkey."Toyota, p. 239 The historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashi's text, notes: "Munisai was Musashi's father ... he lived in Miyamoto village, in the Yoshino district [of Mimasaka Province]. Musashi was most probably born here."{{rp|18ff}}

Musashi gives his full name and title in The Book of Five Rings as Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu (新免武蔵守藤原玄信) .{{rp|13}} His father, Shinmen Munisai (新免無二斎) was an accomplished martial artist and master of the sword and jutte (also jitte).{{rp|18ff}} Munisai, in turn, was the son of Hirata Shōgen (平田将監), a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, the lord of Takayama Castle in the Yoshino district of Mimasaka Province.{{rp|17ff}} Hirata was relied upon by Lord Shinmen and so was allowed to use the Shinmen name. "Fujiwara" was the lineage from which Musashi claimed descent.{{Cite book| last= Musashi |first= Miyamoto |url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1076236783|title=Complete Musashi : the Definitive Translations of the Complete Writings of Miyamoto Musashi – Japan's Greatest Samurai |publisher=Tuttle Publishing|others=Alexander Bennett|year=2018|isbn=978-1-4629-2027-3|location=La Vergne |oclc= 1076236783}} Other names of his include Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke, and Niten Dōraku (his Buddhist name).{{Cite web |date=2022-11-15 |title=The Legendary Duel Between Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamoto Musashi |url=https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/the-legendary-duel-between-sasaki-kojiro-and-miyamoto-musashi |access-date=2025-03-11 |website= thearchaeologist.org| format= blog| publisher= |language=en-US}} Hirata's wife was Omasa. She died as a result of giving birth to Miyamoto.

Musashi developed eczema during infancy. It adversely affected his appearance.{{cite book |editor= Rosemary Brant |first=Miyamoto |last= Musashi |title=The Book of Five Rings: the classic text of Samurai sword strategy |year= | edition= 2006|publisher=Barnes & Noble|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7607-8457-0 |translator= Ashikaga Yoshiharu}} Another story claims that he never bathed himself because he did not want to be surprised unarmed.{{cite book| title= A Book of Five Rings |first= Miyamoto |last= Musashi | translator= Victor Harris |place= London| publisher= Allison & Busby| edition= 1974| others= Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press| isbn= }}{{rp|10}} Historian Kamiko writes, "For his entire life, Musashi never took a wife, cut his hair, or entered a bath".{{rp|18ff}}

According to The Book of Five Rings, Musashi testified that his first duel occurred when he was still 13 years old. His opponent was a Arima Kihei, a swordsman who practiced Kashima Shintō-ryū martial arts that were created by Tsukahara Bokuden. Musashi was victorious. The second duel happened when Musashi was 16 years old, when he won another victory against Tadashima Akiyama, a swordsman who was native to Tajima Province. Musashi's third duel, at age 21 was in Kyoto, where he defeated several students of a famous sword fighting school.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In 1599, Musashi left his village at age 15 or 16,{{efn|One source states 15,{{cite book| title= Tosakushi| trans-title= The Registry of the Sakushu Region| year= | language= ja | publisher= | edition= |translator= | first= | last= | isbn= }} but another states he was 16 years old in 1599{{cite book| title= Along the Samurai's Route| first= Jorge| last= Orpianesi |year= 2022| isbn= 9789878720210| publisher= Editorial Autores de Argentina | page= 47}}, quoting {{cite book| title= Tanji Hokin Hikki| trans-title= | place= Japan | publisher= | year= 1727| edition= |translator= | first= | last= | isbn= }} which aligns with the age reported in Musashi's first duel.{{Cite book| title= Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings |first=Kenji |last= Tokitsu |publisher= Shambhala Publications|year=2006|isbn=9780834824881|page= |chapter= }}}} His family possessions such as furniture, weapons, genealogy, and other records were left with his sister and her husband, Hirao Yoemon. He spent his time traveling and engaging in duels.

In 1600, Musashi is said to have participated in the Battle of Sekigahara. For a long time, the prevailing opinion has been that Musashi participated in the Sekigahara battle on the Western Army side due to the fact that Shinmen clan was longtime vassal to the Ukita clan. However, recent research by modern Japanese historians such as Masahide Fukuda and Watanabe Daimon about Musashi has opined that Musashi and his father, Shinmen Munisai, actually sided with The Eastern army during the war, based on the historical records that Munisai no longer served the Ukita clan, and the clan records of Kuroda clan, ally of Tokugawa Ieyasu during the war, had recorded the name of Shinmen Munisai among their vassals who participated in the war.{{cite web |first= Watanabe |last= Daimon |title=牢人・宮本武蔵の関ヶ原合戦事情…東軍西軍のどちらに属し、主君は存在したのか |trans-title= Prisoner Miyamoto Musashi's Battle of Sekigahara...Which side did he belong to, East or West, and did he have a master? |url=https://sengoku-his.com/238 |website=sengoku-his.com |access-date=26 May 2024 |language=Ja |year=2023 |quote=Yumekashi Harada, The True Story of Miyamoto Musashi (Ashi Shobo, 1984); Masahide Fukuda Miyamoto Musashi's Summer Siege (Rekishi Kenkyu No. 400, 1994); Masahide Fukuda, Proof of Musashi's Sekigahara Eastern Army (Miyamoto Musashi Research Paper Collection, Rekiken, 2003); Eiji Yoshikawa, Miyamoto Musashi, 6 volumes (Dainippon Yubenkai Kodansha, 1936-39)}}{{cite journal |title= Miyamoto Musashi| journal= Osaka Economic Review| number= 282–284 |date=2005 |publisher= Osaka University of Economics |page=55 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fzYSAQAAMAAJ |access-date=25 May 2024 |language=Ja}} Daimon, who quoted the "Matsui Clan Document", opines that the notion that Musashi fought on the losing side of Western Army, both in Sekigahara and in Osaka siege 14 years later, were only based on legendary romanticism about Musashi being a ronin. While the primary history records indicated that Musashi always fought on the side of Tokugawa, who emerged victorious in both conflicts.{{cite web |first= Watanabe |last= Daimon |title=宮本武蔵に関する史料は、なぜ極端に少ないのか。その理由を考える |trans-title= Why are there so few historical documents about Miyamoto Musashi? Consider the reasons |url = https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/d328fe8083b6003c2dd086986e298724f1b0b6c5 |website=yahoo.co.jp/expert |publisher=渡邊大門 無断転載を禁じます。 LY Corporation |access-date=2 June 2024 |language= ja}} The main issue debated, was if Musashi fought in the Sekigahara battle with the Eastern Army main forces, under Tokugawa, or did he fight in Ishigakibaru of western province theater under the Eastern Army commander Kuroda Yoshitaka.{{cite book |first= Kengo | last= Tominaga |title= 忠実宮本武蔵 |trans-title= Faithful Miyamoto Musashi| date=1972 |publisher= Baiquan Study |page=29 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=R3gwAAAAMAAJ |access-date=10 June 2024 |language=Ja}} Daimon suggests that Musashi fought in Ishigakibaru instead of Sekigahara, by historical record of The Transmission of Military Art to Master Bushu Genshin Meanwhile, Fukuda has determined that the name of Munisai appeared in Kuroda clan record under the category of Kogofudai, or Kuroda clan vassals who had entered service before 1586. Based on this fact, Fukuda concluded it was natural that Munisai and Musashi were on the Tokugawa side during the war, just as the Kuroda clan which they served.

Furthermore, Japanese history novelist Kengo Tominaga proposed a theory that Musashi during the Sekigahara Campaign did not fight in the main battle of Sekigahara, but instead he fought under Kuroda Yoshitaka against Ishida Mitsunari loyalists from the western provinces in the battle of Ishigakibaru, Ōita Prefecture.

In December 1608, It was reported that Musashi met with Mizuno Katsunari, a Tokugawa general. Musashi taught Katsunari the secret techniques of his sword style.『宮本武蔵奥伝（与水野日向守）』（小田原市立図書館蔵）、『兵道鏡』（高知城歴史博物館 山内文庫所蔵）

File:Miyamoto-Musashi-Fights-Sasaki-Kojiro-at-Ganryujima-Ukiyo-e.png

In 1611, Musashi learned zazen at Myōshin-ji Kyūshū after the Sekigahara battle. Musashi introduced Nagaoka Sado to an official of daimyo (lord) named Hosokawa Tadaoki.

Musashi dueled Sasaki Kojiro, another skilled swordsman, in one of his most famous battles. While there are differing opinions on how it happened, the prevailing notion is that Musashi challenged Kojiro, requesting Hosokawa Tadaoki to organize the time and place. Kojiro agreed to the challenge, scheduled one year later, on 13 April, at Ganryūjima Island. When the date arrived, the island was filled with spectators anxious to witness the duel.

Musashi, it is said, deliberately arrived late. Kojirō had lost his patience while waiting, and he taunted Musashi for his late arrival, though the latter remained composed.{{cite book |last=Lowry |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Lowry (martial arts) |date=1986 |title=Bokken: Art of the Japanese Sword |publisher= Ohara Publications |pages=21–27 |isbn=978-0-89750-104-0}} Kojirō was known for fighting with a nodachi, a sword with a long blade.{{cite book| last= Wilson| first= William Scott |title=The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi |year= 2004 |publisher= Kodansha International|location=Tokyo|isbn=978-4770029423 |page= 19 |edition=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0p0C7Y8lkH8C&q=musashi+came+late+and+unkempt&pg=PA18}} During his journey to the island by boat, he had carved an oar into a bokken, or wooden practice sword. The duel ended when Musashi quickly and fatally struck Kojirō, crushing his skull with a vertical stroke.

In 1614, during the Siege of Osaka, it was believed that Musashi participated in the Tokugawa army under the command of Musashi's personal friend, Mizuno Katsushige or also known as Katsunari. Musashi were reportedly carrying the banner of Katsunari,{{cite web |first= William |last= de Lange |title= The Siege of Osaka Castle |date=2019| website= miyamotomusashi.eu |publisher=William de Lange |url=http://www.miyamotomusashi.eu/battles/the-siege-of-osaka-castle/index.html |access-date=26 May 2024}} and also acted as bodyguard of Mizuno Katsutoshi, son of Katsunari.{{cite web |first= William |last= de Lange |title= Mizuno Katsunari (1564–1651) |url=http://www.miyamotomusashi.eu/patrons/mizuno-katsunari-15641651.html |website= miyamotomusashi.eu |publisher=William de Lange |access-date=22 May 2024 |language=En |year=2019}} It was said in a later era, during the Shimabara Rebellion, that Musashi once told a commander of the Tokugawa army that he had served under Mizuno Katsunari's command during the Osaka siege and knew the military system very well.{{cite web |first= Masahide |last= Fukuda |title=【寄稿17】宮本武蔵と水野勝成 『宮本武蔵の大坂夏の陣』１／２ |trans-title= [Contribution 17] Miyamoto Musashi and Mizuno Katsunari, 'Miyamoto Musashi's Summer Siege of Osaka' 1/2 |url= https://mizunoclan.exblog.jp/14496991/ |language= ja |year=2011 |website= mizunoclan.exblog.jp| publisher= |access-date=27 May 2024}} Miyamoto Mikinosuke, the adopted son of Musashi, also served under Katsunari during this battle.{{rp|95, Introduction}}

In 1633, Musashi began staying with Hosokawa Tadatoshi, daimyō of Kumamoto Castle, who had moved to the Kumamoto fief and Kokura, to train and paint.{{Cite web|year=2009|title=Art of Miyamoto Musashi |url=http://www.ecole-miyamoto-musashi.com/liens.html |website= ecole-miyamoto-musashi.com| publisher= Miyamoto Musashi Dojo |access-date=12 August 2020}} While he engaged in very few duels during this period, one occurred in 1634 at the arrangement of Lord Ogasawara, in which Musashi defeated a lance specialist named Takada Matabei. Musashi officially became the retainer of the Hosokawa lords of Kumamoto in 1640. The Niten Ki records "[he] received from Lord Tadatoshi: 17 retainers, a stipend of 300 koku, the rank of ōkumigashira 大組頭, and Chiba Castle in Kumamoto as his residence."Toyota, p. 250

File:Tombe de Miyamoto Musashi à Ōhara, province de Mimasaka.jpg,{{Cite web| year= 2009| title=宮本武蔵 – Musashi | trans-title= Miyamoto Musashi – Musashi| url= http://www.ecole-miyamoto-musashi.com/musashi_jp.html |language= ja |website= ecole-miyamoto-musashi.com| publisher= Miyamoto Musashi Dojo |access-date=August 13, 2020}} province of Mimasaka]]

In 1638, Musashi allegedly participated in the suppression of Shimabara Rebellion. In the journal Munekyu (Katsunari)-sama, a collection of statements made by Katsunari Mizuno after his retirement in 1639, there is a story about Mizuno's army during the Shimabara Rebellion: a man named Miyamoto Musashi entered the camp of general Ogasawara Nagatsugu, and Musashi said, "Last time (at Siege of Osaka), (Mizuno Katsunari) Hyuga-no-Kamidono's clan had this, and I knew the military system very well." Musashi continued, "He is a great general that no one can match."{{cite book |first= Uozumi| last= Takashi |title=宮本武蔵: 日本人の道 |trans-title=Miyamoto Musashi: The Japanese Way |date=2002 |publisher=ぺりかん |isbn=4831510114 |pages=93, 95, 111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8W0yAQAAIAAJ |access-date=27 May 2024 |language=Ja}}

In the second month of 1641, Musashi wrote a work called the Hyoho Sanju Go ("Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy") for Hosokawa Tadatoshi. This work overlapped and formed the basis for the later The Book of Five Rings. This was the year that his adopted son, Hirao Yoemon, became Master of Arms for the Owari fief. In 1642, Musashi suffered attacks of neuralgia, foreshadowing his future ill-health.

File:Reigandō.jpg cave in Kumamoto, Japan]]

In 1643, he retired to a cave, Reigandō, living as a hermit to write The Book of Five Rings. He finished it in the second month of 1645. On the twelfth of the fifth month, sensing his impending death, he bequeathed his worldly possessions, after giving his manuscript to the younger brother of Terao Magonojo, his closest disciple. Musashi died in Reigandō cave around 13 June 1645 ("Shōhō 2, 19th day of the 5th month"). Allegedly, his death resulted from lung cancer.{{cite web|url=http://kendo.com/miyamotomusashi|title=Musashi Miyamoto – the Legend |last= Almo |first= Leif |website= Kendo.com |publisher= Scandnet AB |archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171226185621/http://kendo.com/miyamotomusashi| url-status=dead | access-date=4 March 2017}} According to Hyoho senshi denki (Anecdotes About the Deceased Master):

{{quote|At the moment of his death, he had himself raised up. He had his belt tightened and his wakizashi put in it. He seated himself with one knee vertically raised, holding the sword with his left hand and a cane in his right hand. He died in this posture, at the age of sixty-two. The principal vassals of Lord Hosokawa and the other officers gathered, and they painstakingly carried out the ceremony. Then they set up a tomb on Mount Iwato on the order of the lord.{{rp|131}}}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}

The following timeline of Musashi biography in chronological order (of which is based on the most accurate and most widely accepted information).

It was said that Musashi practiced the way of the warrior and warfare strategy, which entailed the mastery of many art forms beyond that of the sword, such as tea ceremony (sadō), laboring, writing, and painting, all of which Musashi pursued throughout his life.{{Cite web| title=Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life: Five Lessons from Miyamoto Musashi's 'Way of the Warrior' |url=https://theobjectivestandard.com/2020/05/ancient-wisdom-for-modern-life-five-lessons-from-miyamoto-musashis-way-of-the-warrior/|access-date=2021-07-08|website=theobjectivestandard.com|date=28 May 2020}}

This predominant cultural view of Musashi is somewhat contradicted by old texts such as Dobo goen (1720) which relay his intimacy with the courtesan Kumoi in his middle age.{{Cite book|title=The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi| last= Wilson| first= William Scott |publisher=Shambhala Publications |year=2013| isbn=978-1590309872 |page=79}} The Bushu Denraiki details Musashi fathering a daughter by a courtesan. The daughter is said to have died young which caused him great grief. It is uncertain if this courtesan and Kumoi were the same person.{{cn|date= April 2025}} A rumor also connected Musashi with the oiran {{Interlanguage link|Yoshino Tayu|Ja|吉野太夫}}.{{Cite book|title=Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha|last=Downer|first=Lesley|publisher=Broadway Books|year=2002|isbn=978-0767904902|pages=}}

File:Kanjisenki.jpg by Musashi]]

{{Main|Niten Ichi-ryū}}

Musashi created and refined a two-sword kenjutsu technique called niten'ichi (二天一, "two heavens as one") or nitōichi (二刀一, "two swords as one") or Niten Ichi-ryū{{efn|A Kongen Buddhist sutra refers to the two heavens as the two guardians of Buddha.}} In this technique, the swordsman uses both a large sword, and a "companion sword" at the same time—a katana with a wakizashi.{{Cite book| last1= Ratti| first1= Oscar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y47TAgAAQBAJ&q=Musashi+created+and+refined+a+two-sword+kenjutsu+technique&pg=PA241 |title= Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan|last2=Westbrook|first2=Adele|date=2011|publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-1-4629-0254-5| page= 241 |language=en}}

The two-handed movements of temple drummers may have inspired him, although it could be that the technique was forged through Musashi's combat experience. Jitte techniques were taught to him by his father—the jitte was often used in battle paired with a sword; the jitte would parry and neutralize the weapon of the enemy while the sword struck or the practitioner grappled with the enemy. Today Musashi's style of swordsmanship is known as Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū.{{cite web|url=http://niten.org/english/instituto/miyamoto_musashi/musashi-biografia |title=The life of Miyamoto Musashi| publisher= Niten Institute |website= niten.org |language=en|access-date=15 January 2019}}

Musashi was also an expert in throwing weapons. He frequently threw his short sword and instructed others at throwing shuriken.{{rp|38}} Kenji Tokitsu believes that shuriken methods for the wakizashi were the Niten Ichi Ryu's secret techniques.{{cn|date= April 2025}}

Within the book, Musashi mentions that the use of two swords within strategy is equally beneficial to those who use the skill for individual duels or large engagements. The idea of using two hands for a sword is an idea that Musashi opposes because there is no fluidity in movement with two hands: "If you hold a sword with both hands, it is difficult to wield it freely to left and right, so my method is to carry the sword in one hand." He also disagrees with the idea of using a sword with two hands on a horse and/or riding on unstable terrain, such as muddy swamps, rice fields, or within crowds of people.

To learn the strategy of Ni-Ten Ichi Ryū, Musashi asserts that by training with two long swords, one in each hand, one will be able to overcome the cumbersome nature of using a sword in both hands. Although it is difficult, Musashi agrees that there are times in which the long sword must be used with two hands, but one skillful enough should not need it.

After using two long swords proficiently enough, mastery of a long sword, and a "companion sword", most likely a wakizashi, will be much increased: "When you become used to wielding the long sword, you will gain the power of the Way and wield the sword well."

In short, it could be seen, from the excerpts from The Book of Five Rings, that real strategy behind Ni-Ten No Ichi Ryu, is that there is no real iron-clad method, path, or type of weaponry specific to the style of Ni-Ten No Ichi Ryu:

{{blockquote|You can win with a long weapon, and yet you can also win with a short weapon. In short, the Way of the Ichi school is the spirit of winning, whatever the weapon and whatever its size.}}

Even from an early age, Musashi separated his religion from his involvement in swordsmanship. Excerpts such as the one below, from The Book of Five Rings, demonstrate a philosophy that is thought to have stayed with him throughout his life:

{{blockquote|There are many ways: Confucianism, Buddhism, the ways of elegance, rice-planting, or dance; these things are not to be found in the way of the warrior.{{rp|57}}}}

However, the belief that Musashi disliked Shinto the religion is inaccurate, as he criticises the similarly worded Shintō-ryū style of swordsmanship which is not the religion. In Musashi's Dokkōdō, his stance on religion is further elucidated: "Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help."{{cite web |url=http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/education/hinokuni/isan/siteijoukyou/2003.9.12/dokoudou.html |title= 獨行道 | website= kumamoto.jp| publisher= Kumamoto Prefectural Government| language= ja | trans-title= Lonely Road |date= September 12, 2003 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081218202853/http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/education/hinokuni/isan/siteijoukyou/2003.9.12/dokoudou.html |archive-date=18 December 2008| access-date= April 16, 2025}}

File:Kobokumeigekizu.jpg

In his later years, Musashi said in his The Book of Five Rings: "When I apply the principle of strategy to the ways of different arts and crafts, I no longer have need for a teacher in any domain." He proved this by creating recognized masterpieces of calligraphy and classic ink painting. His paintings are characterized by sumi-e, skilled use of ink washes and an economy of brush stroke. He especially mastered the "broken ink" school of landscapes, applying it to other subjects, such as his Kobokumeikakuzu (Shrike Perched on a Withered Branch;{{efn|Shrike Perched in a Dead Tree (Koboku Meigekizu, 枯木鳴鵙図)}}{{Cite web |title= 枯木鳴鵙図 | trans-title= Shrike Perched in a Dead Tree | url=https://www.ikm-art.jp/degitalmuseum/num/001/0010141000.html |access-date=2025-03-12 |website= ikm-art.jp| publisher= デジタルミュージアム |language=ja}} part of a triptych whose other two members were Hotei Walking and Sparrow on Bamboo), his Hotei Watching a Cockfight, and his Rozanzu (Wild Geese Among Reeds, 魯山図).{{Cite web |date= 2025-01-16 |title=Miyamoto Musashi {{!}} Samurai, Duelist, Swordsman |website= Britannica.com |url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miyamoto-Musashi-Japanese-soldier-artist |access-date=2025-03-12 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250116114703/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miyamoto-Musashi-Japanese-soldier-artist |archive-date=16 January 2025 }} The Book of Five Rings advocates involvement in calligraphy and other arts as a means of training in the art of war.{{cite web |title= Master Swordsman Miyamoto Musashi: The Man Behind The Book of Five Rings |website=Nippon.com |first= Uozumi| last= Takashi |date=25 July 2019 |url= https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00689/master-swordsman-miyamoto-musashi-the-man-behind-the-book-of-five-rings.html |publisher= Nippon Communications Foundation| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200305121209/https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00689/master-swordsman-miyamoto-musashi-the-man-behind-the-book-of-five-rings.html |archive-date= 5 March 2020}}

{{Further|Miyamoto Musashi Budokan}}

File:Musashi budokan02s2640.jpg in Ōhara-chō (Mimasaka), Okayama Prefecture, Japan{{Cite web| year=2009 |title=Budokan|url=http://www.ecole-miyamoto-musashi.com/budokan_uk.html |website= ecole-miyamoto-musashi.com| publisher= Miyamoto Musashi Dojo |access-date=August 12, 2020}}]]

On 20 May 2000, at the initiative of Sensei Tadashi Chihara{{Cite web| date=11 April 2020|title=the 10th, Tadashi Chihara, hyouhou niten ichiryū musashi seitannochi| url=https://54369d1c-e4d2-4025-8e17-8bf19b68e412.filesusr.com/ugd/c7032e_aab689e3cf384be28fbad53526b96dbd.pdf}} the Miyamoto Musashi Budokan{{Cite web|url=http://www.dojo-miyamoto-musashi.com/budokan_uk.html|title=Dojo Miyamoto Musashi|website=dojo-miyamoto-musashi.com}} was inaugurated. It was built in Ōhara-Cho in the province of Mimasaka, the birthplace of the samurai. Inside the building, the life and journey of Miyamoto Musashi are remembered everywhere. Dedicated to martial arts, the Budokan is the source for all of Japan's official traditional saber and kendo schools. Practically, historically and culturally it is a junction for martial disciplines in the heart of traditional Japan dedicated to Musashi.

The inauguration of the Miyamoto Musashi Budokan perpetuated the twinning established on 4 March 1999, between the inhabitants of Ōhara-Chō (Japanese province of Mimasaka) and the inhabitants of Gleizé. It was formalized in the presence of Sensei Tadashi Chihara, guarantor and tenth in the lineage of Miyamoto Musashi carrying a mandate from the mayor of Ōhara-Chō, and in the presence of the mayor of Gleizé Élisabeth Lamure.{{Cite web| date= February 1999|title=Reportage – Dojo – France3 – Miyamoto Musashi School |url=https://vimeo.com/387165059 | via= vimeo.com |publisher= | access-date= }}{{Cite web |year= 2018 |title= Heiho Niten Ichi Ryu Memorial|url= https://www.memorial-heiho-niten-ichi-ryu.com/reconnaissance| website= memorial-heiho-niten-ichi-ryu.com| publisher= | date= | access-date= }} This event was extended during the mandate of the new mayor of Ōhara-Chō Fukuda Yoshiaki, by official invitation from Japan and the consequent visit of the mayor of Gleizé for the inauguration of the Miyamoto Musashi Budokan on 10 May 2000, in the presence of personalities and Japanese authorities.

File:Memorial Heiho Niten Ichi Ryu.jpg|Memorial Lyon-Japan Japan-France Heiho Niten Ichi Ryu (Gleizé).

File:Stèle de la Mémoire du Japon à Jarnioux et Liergues.jpg|Memorial Lyon-Japan Japan-France Heiho Niten Ichi Ryu (Jarnioux).

{{unreferenced section|date=March 2024}}

{{in popular culture|date=March 2024}}

{{Further|Miyamoto Musashi in fiction}}

In Musashi's time, there were fictional texts resembling comic books and it is difficult to separate fact from fiction when discussing his life. There have been works of fiction made about or featuring Musashi. Eiji Yoshikawa's novelization (originally a 1930s daily newspaper serial) has greatly influenced successive fictional depictions (including the manga Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue) and is often mistaken for a factual account of Musashi's life. In 2012, writer Sean Michael Wilson and Japanese artist Chie Kutsuwada published The Book of Five Rings: A Graphic Novel, manga attempting to be more historically accurate, based on research and translations by William Scott Wilson. Musashi also appears in the manga Baki the Grappler as a revived clone of himself with his real soul intact as one of the strongest fighters in the series, and used his two-sword style in most combat in which he was shown.

The card game Magic: The Gathering has a card based on him, Isshin, Two Heavens as One, named for his two swords as one technique.

Onimusha, a video game series by Capcom, features Musashi as a secret playable character in Onimusha Blade Warriors, 2026's Onimusha: Way of the Sword will also see him returning as the lead character, with his likeness modelled after actor Toshiro Mifune. The 1994 video game Live A Live and its 2022 remake feature Musashi as a boss in the game's Twilight of Edo Japan chapter. The 2008 video game Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! was based on his life and personality. In the 2017 video game For Honor, the "Aramusha" hero is loosely inspired by Musashi. The character is a ronin who wields two swords.

The 2023 anime Onimusha was based loosely on the video game franchise of the same name and produced by Netflix. The series portrays a fictional version of an aging Musashi who embarks on a journey to defeat supernatural forces of evil using the Oni Gauntlet.

In the Japanese live action series Kamen Rider Ghost, Musashi is the first of many Luminary Eyecons that Takeru Tenkuuji uses as Kamen Rider Ghost.

The song "Sun and Steel" by heavy metal band Iron Maiden off the album Piece of Mind is based on Musashi's life.{{cn|date= April 2025}}

File:Miyamoto musashi LCCN2002700026.jpg|"Miyamoto Musashi on the banks of the Isagawa in Kawachi Province meets a remarkable man who shows him a magnifying glass", from a series Thirty-six Famous Battles by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1847

File:Miyamoto Musashi 宮本 武蔵 (BM 2008,3037.15507).jpg|"The swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, armed with two wooden swords, sparring with the old master Tsukahara Bokuden, who defends himself using two wooden pot-lids" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c. 1845-46

File:Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi.jpg|A statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi within Suizen-ji Jōju-en

File:Hidari mitsudomoe.svg|Mon of Miyamoto Musashi born in Ōhara-chō province of Mimasaka

File:Statue of Musashi & Kojirō battle.jpg|Statue of Musashi & Kojiro Battle

File:Miyamoto_Musashi_killing_a_giant_nue.jpg|Miyamoto Musashi kills a shark fish (Yamazame) in the mountains across the border of Echizen Province, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

{{Portal|Asia|Japan|History|Biography|Buddhism}}

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• Eiji Yoshikawa
• Bizen Province
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• Philosophy of war
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{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book | first = Stephen R. | last = Turnbull | author-link = Stephen Turnbull (historian) | title = The Lone Samurai and the Martial Arts | publisher = Arms and Armour Press | location = London | isbn = 978-0-85368-967-6 | year = 1990 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/lonesamuraimarti0000turn }}
• {{cite book | first = William Scott | last = Wilson | title = The Lone Samurai | publisher = Kodansha International | year=2004 | isbn = 978-4-7700-2942-3 | title-link = The Lone Samurai }}
• {{cite book | first = William | last = De Lange | title = The Real Musashi: The Bushu denraiki | publisher = Floating World Editions | year=2010 | isbn = 978-1-891640-56-8}}
• {{cite book | first = William | last = De Lange | title = The Real Musashi: The Bukoden | publisher = Floating World Editions | year=2011 | isbn = 978-1-891640-60-5}}
• {{cite book | first = William | last = De Lange | title = The Real Musashi: A Miscellany | publisher = Floating World Editions | year=2016 | isbn = 978-1-891640-86-5}}
• {{cite book | first = William | last = De Lange | title = Miyamoto Musashi: A Life in Arms | publisher = Floating World Editions | year=2014 | isbn = 978-1-891640-629}}

• Iwami Toshio Harukatsu soke (11th successor to Miyamoto Musashi), "Musashi's teachings – philosophy first: translation in English" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720223316/http://lakischool.free.fr/IWAMI%20dragon%20interview%20english.pdf |date=20 July 2011 }}, Dragon n°7, January 2005, ed. Mathis; French original text: [http://lakischool.free.fr/DRAGON%2001%202005-MUSASHI-ECOLE%20DES%202%20SABRES.pdf L'enseignement de Musashi est d'abord une philosophie]
• Iwami Toshio Harukatsu soke (11th successor to Miyamoto Musashi), "Musashi's principles" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720223734/http://lakischool.free.fr/interview%20niten%202006.pdf |date=20 July 2011 }}, Dragon n°13, January 2006, ed. Mathis; French original text: Les principes de Musashi {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720223459/http://lakischool.free.fr/DRAGON%2001%202006-INTERVIEW%20IWAMI.pdf |date=20 July 2011 }}

• Hyodokyo (The Mirror of the Way of Strategy)
• Hyoho Sanjugo Kajo (35 Instructions on Strategy)
• Hyoho Shijuni Kajo (42 Instructions on Strategy)
• Dokkōdō (The Way to be Followed Alone)
• Go Rin No Sho (The Book of Five Rings) Translated into English by Victor Harris as A Book of Five Rings, London: Allison & Busby, 1974; Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press.

• {{cite book | last= Wilson| first= William Scott| author-link = Sean Michael Wilson| title = Musashi (A Graphic Novel) | publisher = Shambhala | year=2014 }} (Manga/historical fiction)
• {{cite book | last= Wilson| first= William Scott| author-link = Sean Michael Wilson| title = The Book of Five Rings: a graphic novel | publisher = Shambhala | year=2012 }} (Manga/historical fiction)
• {{cite book | first = Takehiko | last = Inoue| author-link = Takehiko Inoue| title = Vagabond | publisher = Viz Communications | year=1998 | title-link = Vagabond (manga)}} (Manga/historical fiction)
• {{cite book | first = Eiji | last = Yoshikawa| author-link = Eiji Yoshikawa | title = Musashi | publisher = Kodansha International | year = 1995 | edition = reprint | isbn = 978-4-7700-1957-8| title-link = Musashi (novel)}} (Historical fiction)
• {{cite book | first = J.S.| last = Moore | title = Under the Sun: The Miyamoto Musashi Story | publisher = Understanding Apples Press | year=2014 | isbn = 978-1-5028-0491-4}}

{{commons}}

{{wikiquote}}

{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=yes}}

• [http://www.miyamotomusashi.eu miyamotomusashi.eu]
• [http://www.memorial-niten-ichy-ryu.com/musashi.html Miyamoto Musashi Dojo] {{in lang|fr}}
• [http://www.kampaibudokai.org/MusashiArt.htm Some artwork by Miyamoto Musashi] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20070707073253/http://www.kampaibudokai.org/MusashiArt.htm archive link])
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121103001238/http://www.asianart.org/blog/index.php/2009/05/29/5-samurai-facts/ The samurai warrior and Zen Buddhism] (website of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190125131917/http://www.bookoffiverings.com/ Complete texts in English by Miyamoto Musashi]
• [https://www.nitojuku.com/articles Miyamoto Musashi; his Swordsmanship and Book of Five Rings]

{{East Asian topics}}

{{People of the Sengoku period|state=autocollapse}}

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