acrylic arts

Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi, or also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was born in 1584, but little is known about his birth. Miyamoto is known for his more that 60 confirmed kills, also being known as an artist, philosopher, and poet whose work is still noted today.

In his book, Book of The Five Rings he states that he was born in Harima Province. According to his book,  when he was thirteen he fought his first duel against a samurai named Arima Kihei. When Musashi was thirteen in 1596, a lone samurai was traveling to hone his art with his blade, and posted a public challenge in Hirafuku-mura. Musashi had written his name on the challenge and was later visited at the temple he was staying at. After being informed that the duel had been accepted by Kihei and that the challenger was his nephew, Musashi’s guardian and uncle was shocked and later begged the samurai to call off the duel, blaming the boy’s actions based on his nephew's age. The samurai also admitted that he didn't want to fight a child, but the only way he could call off the duel was for Musashi to apologize to Kihei when the duel was set to be scheduled. At the time the duel was scheduled to begin, instead of apologizing Musashi immediately charged Kihei with a six foot quarterstaff, and threw him to the ground, and while trying to get up Musashi repeatedly beat Kihei between the eyes, and beat him to death. Ultimately, this was the conclusion of Musashi’s first official duel and the start of his career as a warrior poet that would lead to him being remembered even today.

At the age of 15, in 1599, Musashi began his journey and left his village. Later on in his journey in 1611 Musashi began practicing zazen, (which is a the siting method of meditation which is ment to give you insight into your true nature of being) at the Myoshin-ji temple, where he met a man named Nagaoka Sado, The vassal to Hosokawa tadaoki The son of Hosokawa Fujitaka, a samurai daimyo of the Sengoku period, and the fifth prominent retainer of Ashikaga shogun. Hosokawa was an extremely powerful lord who had dominion over the Kumamoto Domain in west-central Kyushu. While staying at the temple Musashi met a man by the name of Sasaki Kojiro. Somehow another guest somehow proposed a duel between Sasaki and Miyamoto. Somesay the duel was proposed out of rivalry or jealousy, while some say it was politically motivated. The duel ended up being scheduled for April 23, 1612. 

Sasaki Kojiro, was known as the ‘Demon of the Western Province’ and was a master swordsman known around the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods. He earned his nickname from his skill with his blade, the nodachi in specific (the nodachi is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword, used by a class of feudal Japan. The weight and length are similar to the western battlefield equivalent to the Zweihander or claymore). And nodachi swords are often depicted as something a demon would use. People would state that Sasaki Kojiro was a very flamboyant man, and would often wear very exciting clothing which would make him stand out, but it mattered little if he stood out because a man of his skill level did not necessary have to worry about what people thought of his choice of clothing. Kojiro used a type of fighting style known as Ganryu (large rock style), which was associated with his fighting school he founded. The fighting style consists of his secret technique “The Swallow Cut” It is a strike that moves very fast and erratically, that can also change directions very quickly. One of his duels before fighting Miyamoto included one match where he fought three men armed with swords, while Kojiro was only armed with tessen, which translates into Japanese war fans. They are like typical japanese fans but the fan part is replaced with a razor sharp blade. Kojiro single handedly defeated all three swordsmen, which proves that he is a skilled warrior with more than just a sword. 

Once the date of the duel had come around both men were prepared for battle. The duel began with both warriors on guard to show respect for each other, because in the end there could only be one winner. Musashi had a technique of upsetting his opponents like a state of psychological warfare. So by starting off he had provoked Kojiro. Kojiro responded with his famous Ganryu slash, which Musashi quickly countered with his famous overhead strike It is inconsistent on how Musashi ended up killing Kojiro But the to most common stories are that he broke Kojiro’s rib which had ended up puncturing his lungs, and other sources say the musashi had countered Kojiro and a landed the final blow with his famous overhead strike cleaving Kojiro’s skull. The victory for Musashi caused him to achieve spiritual awakening and Musashi renounced ever participating in lethal duels in the future.

Six years later Musashi began staying with Hosokawa Tadatoshi Where Musashi Would officially become the retainer of the Hosokawa lords of Kumamoto in 1640. In the second month of 1641, Musashi wrote his first book titled Hyoho Sanju Go (Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy) also known as The Book of The Five Rings. The same year Musashi adopted his son, Hirao Yoemon.

In the late 1630s Musashi took up painting showing us his strategic mind through his work. He primarily works in the style of sumi-e, which is a style of ink painting. While creating minimalist, monochromatic works portraying nature. One of musashi’s most famous painting is titled shrike on a tree, and consists of a shrike “butcher bird” sitting on a tree branch.

I think his art is wonderful with its simplistic details, while also conveying emotion in the piece.

Musashi Miyamoto was and still is such an influential character. And has inspired so much medea including the popular manga Vagabond, which follows the main character “Miyamoto Musashi’ and covers a lot of his life story including his duel with Sasaki Kojiro.