April 13th, 1612 - Funeshima
Kojiro - "You are late."
Musashi - "You lost, Kojiro."
Kojiro - "Why is that?"
Musashi - "Why would you throw away that sheath if you would win?"
Miyamoto Musashi is a master swordman that everyone knows by his name.
Musashi never spoke about this duel on Ganryu Island against Sasaki Kojiro which made him famous.
MIYAMOTO MUSASHI
His Dream on Two Swords
The life of Miyamoto Musashi that everyone knows and talks about...
He is a unbeatable swordman with a trained mind.
A seeker of truth.
But those are false images drawn after his death.
A false image of having wild days of youth.
A false image of learning zen.
A false image of being an art enthusiast.
And a false images of the swordsmen who dueled against Musashi.
Miyamoto Musashi Researcher - Inukai Kiichi
He traveled to the captal at age of twenty-one,
met with the greatest fighter,
and went through several duels,
and always came out victorious.
After that, he travelled around the country,
he challenged fighters everywhere,
and continued his duels until he was passed age of sixty.
He never lost in the entire time.
Everyone knew his name in the history,
yet his life is largely unknown.
Such cases are common,
and Miyamoto Musashi was one of such cases.
Shinmen Musashi No Kami Fujiwara No Genshin, also known as Miyamoto Musashi,
has been documented in countless literatures, proving his existence.
But on the other hand, he has always been surrounded by various false images.
It may be a sign of how complex the impression of this swordman is in the minds of the Japanese population.
To eliminate these false images and to come up with the true image of Miyamoto Musashi.
That is the thesis of my research, and the main topic of this film.
He had the strongest mind, and best combat skills.
He admired the religeon, but never believed in them.
But on the other hand, he was a cold-hearted fighter who did not hesitate to kill a child in order to bring victory on his hand.
What is the key to explain these contradictory sides of him?
We cannot explain it without talking about Battle of Sekigahara.
Gifu-ken Fuwa-gun Sekigahara-cho
It's the battle to decide the next ruler.
Will it be the knowledgeable general Tokugawa Ieyasu of East who will rule after Hideyoshi?
Or will it be Mitsunari of West?
It's a ground-shaking big battle.
In this spark-inducing war, Ieyasu comes out victorious,
and settled his shogunate capital in Edo.
Musashi was then seventeen years old.
He was at the front of Ishida Mitsunari's army.
He was against Tokugawa Ieyasu's main force, led by Fukushima Masanori.
He was looking for a great recognition at the war ground.
He was trying to become a warlord on horse back.
There was a man by Musashi's side.
Musashi and he has promised to rise to the power together and fled from Miyamoto Village together.
He's Musashi's childhood friend, Hikoya.
Black smoke rose from every which way.
It was dark even during the day.
People and horses are suffering in pain.
Blood shed everywhere.
Rifles, arrows, and swords, all are taking away people's blood.
Enemies and allies are everywhere, turning everyone including your friend into corpses.
The battle is over, and the rain stops too.
He looks at the piles of corpse of his lost army.
What was going through Musashi's mind then?
Siege of Osaka
Musashi was then thirty-one
Musashi stated that he served in six battles, including Battle of Sekigahara.
Shimabara Rebellion
Musashi was then fifty-four
Even after his reputation as a great swordman, he insisted in serving in battles.
But in any of those cases, Musashi was treated lowly.
Even though he was a peerless fighter,
he could not do much more than running around as a soldier on the war ground.
His heart was controlled by his obsession of mixed feeling of love and hatred toward those generals on the horse back throughout his life.
More accurately, he was obsessed with horses.
It must be hard to believe that this feteshism for horses that led to his two-sword style.
What is bushi?
What did it mean to mean a bushi in this time of Japan?
Before we delve in to that topic, we should remind ourselves about western knights.
As you may know, and just like the bushi we will talk later,
the key to their existence lied in the horse.
The force formed by the nobles who are not in the laber force,
Achaemenid Empire, Persia, 550-330 B.C.
the elite force of the cavalry soldiers came into existence in Achaemenid Empire in the Persian region.
The cavalry force faces a big turning point during in the agricultural empire of Sasan.
Sasanian Empire 226 B.C.-651 A.D.
It was caused by the epoch-making inventions that made anyone able to ride the horses--
saddle and stirrup.
Especially in close quarter combats, having stirrup preventing falling of the riders was vital to the cavalry soldiers.
At the same time, they were essential to handling of various weapons on the horse,
especially for accurate aim of the bow and arrow.
This is my assistant, Miss Iori.
Later, during the time of Crusades,
three items became a part of knighthood that later became the symbols of them.
Those were armors, horse, and crests.
That does this mean?
It was a symbolism that said knights never die.
During the time of Crusades, many of the knights were captivated.
Later, they returned home alive in exchange for ransome.
The crests signified that the owner had the financial power to pay the ransome.
Conversely, foot soldiers without armors were killed upon capture.
Knights had the footsoldiers use bows and crossbows, but they never used them themselves.
It was because it's a weapon of little control that will kill knights and foot soldiers.
Knights were to never kill other knights.
So they used blunt weapons such as mace and flail.
If they were hit over the armor, they only gave concussion and other non-fatal blows.
But against unarmored saldier, these weapons gave deadly blows.
So the training menus of western knights did not consist of horseback archery or horse handling used by Japanese bushi,
but consisted of muscle building to be able to carry the weight of the armor
by means of repetition of swinging great swords, axes and clubs.
Being on the horse meant they had great survivability on the war ground.
It also was a sign of their power, being in the noble class.
This is off topic,
but when the modern Olympic Games were established in the late 19th certury,
the competitions included fencing, wrestling, weight lifting and such,
but did not include any archery related sports.
That tells how the spirit of the knighthood was carried into the athleticism of the western noble class.
History of Knighthood By Inukai Kiichi
And another side story.
In the English public schools,
they attempted teaching of gentlemanly, which is the modern version of knighthood.
But ironically, it lead to their army producing piles of deads during the trench battles in World War I.
In the mordern battle ground where high-speed bullets fly around,
knightly manner was extremely risky.
They learned their lessons from that,
and they attempted to bring back the immortal image of the knights.
As a result, they produced an heavily armored vehicle called a tank.
Now that I've shown you the brief history of birth of Western knighthood,
let's shift our focus from West to East.
Western Knight
B.C. 05 Rome
The first cavalry force in China was seen in the state of Zhao.
This lead to extinction of chariots which was the main power during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Chinese Force
B.C. 5 Centuries
But even with the financial power of Han Empire,
they were unable to support enough cavalry force of the time, the light-armored, horse-back archers, to drive the Xiongnu in the North.
Cost of Supporting the Force
Having the cavalry force also meant that the horses consuming their portion of agricultural products,
Risk of Formation of Military Factions and Spread of Power
and on top of that, there was a risk of the forces forming military factions.
The central government wanted to keep the cavalry forces close to the capital city,
but that will give opportunity for the nomads to strike first.
Pressure from remote region nomads
Their solution to this dilemma was the crossbow.
Xiongnu Force
The best part of crossbow was the fact that cost of training was nengligible.
Skills of spears, archery, and horse handling deteriorates quickly when they stop the training.
Therefore, the soldiers handling such tools had to be hired full time.
Conversely, the crossbow archers could return to their farm land as soon as the expedition is over.
Inclusion of crossbow archers meant optimal cost performance.
As such, there was no European style knight class with special treatment.
Their cavaliers were mere riding soldiers having no high ranks.
And their style of wearing light armors unlike the European style heavy armors,
and using bow and arrow as their main weapon,
was also brought to Japan as well by way of China.
That had a tremendeous effect on establishing the style of bushi.
But why was the Chinese style crossbow not brought over?
Trigger of a crossbow unearthed at Iji Castle in Miyagi-ken (replica)
Actually, during the Yamato period,
they used crossbow to fight against the forces in Ebisu in the North.
Japanese crossbow (restored model)
But, having the hot and humid climate,
the composite bows, with gelatin used as glue, deteriorated in their performance fast,
and were never able to deliver quality performance.
Also, the wargrounds often had mountaneous land with thick forestation,
which were not very fit for clash of large armies.
And thus, Japanese bushi carried the style of wearing light armor and handling bows and arrows on the horse back,
but as their cast system having four divisions in the society,
they were placed in the higher social ranks, much like the European knights.
And, at the core of Miyamoto Musashi's swordman style was the bushi on the horseback.
Now, before we get back to our main point, with having Miss Iori gone, let's take a break.
I will be introducing you to one of the better know opponent of Musashi...
Shishido Nanigashi
His name is Shishido Nanigashi.
He is a chainsickle master.
Musashi drew his short sword,
saw that Shishido was taken aback by that move,
and dashed toward his enemy.
The existence of Shishido Nanigashi in the history has not been proven or disproven.
But what is truly interesting is the fact that people like to talk about this fighter who mastered this unique weapon to prove how Musashi's two-sword style was useful.
How this two-sword style, which, on the surface, seems like a suicidal style, become useful?
It becomes clear by reading through a certain literal work.
Yes, that is The Book of Five Rings.
Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-shi Matsuo-cho Reigando
Miyamoto Musashi said
"I name my style of fighting Niten Ichi-ryu."
"I am putting what I have learned in writing for the first time."
It was early October in 1943.
He climbed up Iwatono Mtn in Higo region of Kyushu.
He worshiped the sky,
he bowed to Guanyin,
and he faced the Buddha statue.
Book of Five Rings is the book teaching fighting style that Miyamoto Musashi wrote.
But until the Edo period, it was known as Five Books of Fighting Style, or Teachings of Fighting Styles.
The name, Book of Five Rings, became common only after the Meiji peirod.
And later, the word "gorin" was used to mean the Olympics by a certain newspaper writer,
which made the word know more commonly.
What's more,
Book of Five Rings was only a draft,
so the modern rumor of Musashi dying right after finishing the writing of this book is a baseless false fact.
Book of Five Rings never had an autograph manuscript to start with.
What we can read are all just copies.
And there are numerous different copies.
The number of copies floating around or hidden everywere in the country is simply uncountable.
Such circumstance has lead to the situation that some topics that Musashi has written can be taken in complete opposite ways.
But let us read through these books to with our focus on the core value of the fighter named Musashi.
If you can win against a single enemy in any way you want,
you can win against anyone in the world.
"Winning" means the same thing whether you face one person or ten million people.
How a general leads an army to victory with his teaching of personal fighting style
is the same thing as constructing a large Buddha statue using a small model.
A one-on-one battle and army-on-army are the same thing.
Now, the reason Musashi had to write this book was because he had no intention of staying an insignificant fighter.
He mentions the same thing in various places throughout the book, not trying to make his style sound more authoritative,
but to the battle of army to army was what he ultimately dreamt about.
His lifetime dream was to become a great figure like a daimyo or its equivalent by being recognized of his work on the battle ground.
GREAT FIGURE
What I must emphesize here is the fact that his ambition of being promoted was not driven by greed for money.
In fact, Musashi has turned down numerous offers of 500-koku class officer positions.
His ideal was 3,000 koku or larger position.
Of course, there are views that take this move as being arrogant, ignorant of his position.
But it can also be seen that it is the smallest size of army to be effective on the battle ground.
Toward the end of his life,
before becoming an officer under Hosokawa clan,
he submitted a letter, stating that he did not care about the quality of housing,
but he made sure that he's given enough horses, including the spares to be used during a war.
And when he accepted the officer position,
Wild Horse by Musashi
he did not specify the size of his army,
and preferred to be in a position of a guest.
But he received a permission to participate in eagle hunting which are normally only granted to the family elders.
This also shows that Musashi's thought pattern, where he is willing to sacrifice his rank or stability of life in order to get an excuse of eagle hunting to ride the horses.
Musashi probably was never able to give up the opportunity to train himself of horseback riding in preparation for any wars to come up.
His through-and-through belief also affected his fighting style.
He always was thinking of the situation when he is riding a horse.
The core of such man's sword style was obviously that of a horse-back fighting.
Horse-back Swordmanship
Musashi also wrote the following in another section:
Hold the great sword as if you are lifting thumb and index finger from the grip.
The middle finger should neither be tight or lose.
The ring finger and little finger should grip the sword tight.
It is not good if the grip is too loose.
You must always hold the sword, ready to cut your enemy.
What he wrote is what has been taught in dojos since the Edo period.
But such style is useless when you handle the great sword using two hands.
It only becomes the life-and-death level critical difference when you handle the sword one-handedly,
such as when you fight on horseback.
If you cannot control the movement of the blade with utmost control,
you might cut the head of the horse you're riding, leading for you to fall.
Furthermore, if you happen to drop your sword during a chaotic fights on horseback from tired arm,
you lose all means of protecting yourself from attacks from sides.
As Musashi dreamt of fighting on horseback since he was a boy,
he must have trained himself to be able to fight with either hand,
so he can switch to left hand when his right hand gets tired.
Of course, as a boy, he had no way of owning a horse,
so he could only have done image trainings, simulating everything in his head.
Because of that, he ended up using the walking horseback fighting style,
Walking horseback fighting style
and that was the origin of the two-sword fighting style.
Use your feet like you are walking normally.
Don't only move one foot.
When you move out, step back, or to defend, always move both of your feet alternately.
Never, ever make your move with one foot.
Musashi suggested not to use the traditional, gallop style steps,
but use slow walking style.
We can also take that as his simulation of the riding horse making a straight forward movement.
Remember that the middle guard position is the greatest of all in sword fighting.
He wrote so,
yet he liked holding the great sword behind himself with one hand.
We can also consider this as another sign that the style was derived in preparation for full speed gallop attack,
Full speed gallop attack
in which the attacker passes the enemy from the enemy's left side,
or horseback close quarter combat where the fighter lures the enemy with left hand, then use right hand sword to thrust or cut the enemy.
Furthermore...
The most effective move using great sword is to extend the arm to its best and swing it with power.
When Musashi exercized as he wrote as above,
because he use his arm with one hand,
his reach was longer than when the swon was used with both hands.
Also, the swordman using the sword with both hands must draw back the sword with each swing.
But Musashi...
Swing from below when the enemy makes his move.
That also is in his writing.
Always aiming for the enemy's hand was also something every swordsmen exercized.
But this style shows how it was meant to be used in a fully armored combat.
Fully armored combat
Another important point is, when the swordsman is on horseback,
swings are more likely to get the target when they are made from lower position, with help of the moving force of the horse.
Assuming that Musashi practiced this ever since he was young,
it must have been easy for him to cut from low to high, when everyone else are swinging from high position, using both hands.
Also, by using the swords on his both hands,
he can attack the enemy at twice as fast as all enemies,
making him virtually unbeatable by most swordsmen.
Musashi's insatiable spirit of inquiry also lead to development of armors such as sword guard,
and horse-related items such as saddle and stirrup.
Sayuu Namako Sukashi Tsuba by Musashi (replica)
These were not done just for his enjoyment,
but they were a part of his research and development in preparation for any large battles that may come up.
Saddle by Musashi
He also said
any weapon must be used depending on the situation given.
Of course, he was extremely particular about his swords.
After Keicho era, when large battles were no longer fought frequently,
Sword owned by Musashi (replica)
the swords lost their usefulness,
yet the swordsmen still liked to carry them as their status symbol.
But Musashi did not see sword as his ultimate weapon.
Bokken, which Musashi liked to use,
Bokken by Musashi
was the weapon most associated with him, known for how he has made great number of improvements to them.
Bokken is mostly straight, so it has a longer reach despite its lightness.
Also it is easy to make break resistent swords.
There is a report that says the bokken he used to fight against Sasaki Kojiro had two-inch nails nailed for the entire length of the blade.
It's worthy of a note that such design is very similar to mace, which European knights often used.
Another point Musashi emphesized was to always think like the enemy.
Musashi made himself adaptive such that he would switch his weapon at moments notice as the situation called for, never sticking to bokken, his weapon of choice.
The most powerful school of swordsman, the Yoshioka Dojo.
1604, Kyoto, Yoshioka Dojo
The heir of the family, Seijuro and Musashi fought at Rakugai Rendaino.
Seijuro was beaten by Musashi's bokken, and dies from the damage.
Seijuro's younger brother, Denshichiro awaits for a fight against Musashi at Rakugai, trying to avenge his brother.
Several Days Later
It's past the promised time, but Musashi has no shown up.
Denshichiro supresses the rage inside of him, and quietly waits for his foe.
I was getting tired of waiting, Musashi!
Musashi doesn't even make a flinch.
He quietly looks down on the group.
I challenge you!
Denshichiro draws his odachi.
Musashi still stands mysteriously motionless.
Musashi slips under Denshichiro's swing, draws and attacks with his kodachi.
Denshichiro!
The clansmen searched for Musashi, but he was nowhere to be found.
Musashi has disappeared into a thin air.
Kyoto was said to be especially cold on that day.
Denshichiro's tachi handling must have been slowed from long wait in the snow.
But Musashi made his quick moves using his kodachi, slipped under Denshichiro's arms to earn his victory.
This was a very unusual move when most swordsmen at the time used only a specific weapon in any occasions.
Also, Musashi's effort to become a great man went far beyond the study of swordmanship.
He used his philosophy of the swordmanship in other areas of cultural activities,
so he said he does not need any teacher in any field.
There is no way for an ordinary swordsman to lead an army, rule over the citizens, and run the government.
"Senki" by Musashi
Musashi has done great deals of research on the topics related to ordinary common senses.
Caligraphy, paintings, sculpture, poetry, tea ceremony, go, shogi...
Koboku Meigeki Zu (A shrike on a twig) by Musashi
Musashi spent extraordinary amount of effort on those subject that were largely ignored by other swordsman of the day.
Kobai Hato Zu (Red plum and pigeon) by Musashi
And he proved himself to be experts in all of those subjects.
We must have same attitude when we deal with the society - always giving the wholehearted effort.
We should also pay attention to the simple writing style used in the Book of Five Rings.
No matter what the language is, any abstract language will become ambigous over time.
With Japanese culture, large use of imageries by ways of vague word is more effective than the rhetoric style.
The trend was further reinforced by the ideology of no dependence upon words and letters practiced in Zen.
No dependence upon words and letters
On top of that, the period of isolation limited people's exposure to foreign language,
creating the situation that nobody compared any words that people used with the equivallent words in any other languages.
As a result, one word produced unlimited number of association of images.
At the beginning of Edo era, when the Zen philosophy was not very wide spread yet,
the Book of Five Rings was about the only literature on the topic of combat styles written in colloquial style.
This was also a book that proved that Japanese being a rational language, when it was often thought to be highly irrational language.
"I do not use the old words of Buddhism, Confucianism, or Shintoism, nor I do not use the old terms used in military records or tactical methodes written in the past."
Contrally to how the other combat masters of his time used the foreign words or the Zen-centric vocabraries such as "Satsujintou", "Katsujinken" and "Houfutsu Satsubutsu",
Musashi only used his own experience and what he has seen and heard, and analysis of those subjects in his writings.
How he expressed his knowledge using colloquial style was completely different from the Zen practitioners' writings,
which claimed to use "Furyu Monji" but they played on words great deals in their writings.
People say that Musashi was a Zen master, but that is the utmost example of a baseless delusion that people created.
The fact is, because the influence of Zen was kept at minimum,
the rational approach shown in the Book of Five Rings could not be outperformed by anyone for a long time to come.
Musashi's rational approach was not understood by very many in his days.
The unneccesary amount of loss since the Edo period, caused by that lack of understanding,
comes back to bite them when Japan goes through the Meiji Restoration, the modernization of the country,
the mistakes made in the philosophical shift, and prosperity of false "Bushido."
It all started in Japan-Russo War that started in 1904,
in a close quarter battle to capture a fortress in Lushun City against the Russian army.
Japanese army in Meiji period was dazzled by the power of smokeless powder used in Franco-Prussian War.
Because of that, they were ready to abandon any close quarter combat as being uncivilized method of fighting.
But the truth is, European armies, including Russian, excelled at close quarter combat.
In Lunshun, Japanese force parked at hill top, relying mostly on the power of powder,
but the Russian soldiers pointed their bayonets at Japan, charged out of the trench, and carried out a counterattack.
The officers from Bushi family stayed in their post,
but low class privates enlisted from the civilian families were frightened by the charging Russians,
and disgracefully fled from the scene, turning their backs on their enemies.
This was because the government in Meiji meriod could not imagine that they would be fighting the tall white soldiers with spears and swords in the twentieth century.
The government believed that katana looked too barbaric from the Western civilization, banning them early on.
In Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, they prohibited the imperial army officers to possess Japanese swords.
Also the fact that they were abolishing all dojo, including kendo and judo, lead to the citizens losing the courage they needed on the war ground.
Because of that, Japanese population started having serious trauma against caucasians and gunshots starting 1905.
Japanese government needed to eliminate the nationwide anxiety as soon as possible.
They researched what can be done and what can be used to cure it.
The slogan they came up at the end was "Bushido".
BUSHIDO
"Bushido" became a Japanese word around the time of Japan-Russo War.
This might sound shocking, but Bushido was not know among common Japanese.
It was used in literatures,
but it was not a common noun at all in the mind of Japanese.
"Bushido" by Inazo Nitobe was written in United States in 1899, in English.
It was only know among the intellectuals in America.
The work by Nitobe was translated belatedly, reverse imported to Japan and published in 1908.
This was done by the request of Japanese government after the Japan-Russo War.
An authoritative biography of Miyamoto Musashi was written and published in 1911.
This was also a part of strategy carried out by the Imperial government.
This book became the base of a heroic war tale,
and was published as "Bushido Seika Miyamoto Musashi" by Tachikawa Bunko publishing house that was just starting their business.
This finally made Miyamoto Musashi's name known by the Japanese population in large.
And the popularity of this heroic tale formed the bases for Yoshikawa Eiji to write a popular fiction titled Miyamoto Musashi in the 1930's.
As this novel was printed as the Second Sino-Japanese War was fought.
And the term Bushido changed its meaning from study of rationalism to study of spiritualism.
Now, let's leave the false image that was created intentionally by the need of the government of the later era,
go back the history, and look further into the true personality of Miyamoto Musashi.
Musashi believed that the tide of a war is decided by the intellectual power of the leader,
March 1604, Rakugai
and it had to be trained in advance in order to use it effectively in large battles of future.
This was shown in his third battle against the Yoshioka family, which was fought in Ichijoji Sagarimatsu.
There is a following phrase in the Book of Five Rings.
You should always position yourself in the highest place possible, to be able to look down on the enemy.
So, where he should stand is very obvious in this occasion too.
He has slain the Yoshioka brothers.
He will now face the brothers' uncle, Genzaemon.
Also his son, Genjiro, also known as Matashichiro.
Awaiting for the battle tommrow, Miyamoto Musashi looks up to the sky.
As he thinks about the battle alone, the breeze run by above him.
Next Day, 4:00 AM
Musashi thought, what good is it to pray to gods now?
No matter how much I pray, why would gods listen to his selfish plea?
From the Chapter of Fire, Book of Five Rings.
It is critical to know the enemy's mood, learn the enemy's characters, find their strengths and weaknesses, and strike first.
Genjiro has not come of age yet.
And protecting this young head of family are seventy-some men under the Yoshioka clan.
Under the bright light of the torches, they ready their spears and bows.
The Yoshioka force is ready.
This is at Ichijoji, Sagarimatsu.
What could Musashi be thinking about now?
The regret from Battle of Sekigahara must be coming back to him.
This is a war.
The lord of Yoshioka Clan is within my reach!
As I promised, I, Miyamoto Musashi, in your presence!
I have slain the lord of Yoshioka Clan, Yoshioka Genjiro!
The clansmen desperately fights back with spears and swords,
but Musashi doesn't give them much chance.
They call and cry for him, but he turns back not,
and he runs off into the mist.
Ijichoji Sagarimatsu (Fourth Generation)
Kyoto-shi Sakyo-ku Ichijoji Sagarimatsu-cho
What we can observe in this battle at Ichijoji is Musashi's skill as a strategist.
It has been said that Musashi talked many times about this battle until his death.
Yamaguchi-ken Shimonoseki-shi Oaza Ikoshima Aza Funashima
However, he hardly talked about the legentary battle against Sasaki Kojiro that made him famous.
Why was that?
It is time to find the answer to this mystery.
Miyamoto Musashi is looking at the sea water passing by with a serious face.
He's traveling to Funashima on a boat.
He has bokken that he curved himself.
And tied around his head is a hand towel, making it work as a bandana.
April 13th, 1612, Funashima
The strongest of the swordmasters...
He is Sasaki Kojiro of Ganryu Style.
He awaits for Musashi with three-shaku long sword.
Why did you arrive late?
Kojiro has now lost.
Why do you say that?!
Why else would you throw away the sheath?
Nobody knows what were in the mind of these fighters.
No matter how strong the fighter is, he will one day be hurt, and will die one day.
Kojiro had a smile on his face.
But nobody could see Musashi's face.
Musashi does not pray Kojiro to rest in peace.
A black kite flies around above the starecase connecting heaven and earth.
You either win or lose.
It is all a destiny.
Why was Musashi not willing to talking about this battle on Funashima, also known as Ganryujima?
It's because Musashi did not considered to be a skilled swordsman,
Present Day Funashima
but a general who leads an army of such swordsman.
Sasaky Ganryu Monument
No matter how strong his enemy was, any one-on-one battle does not prove his skill as a war tactician,
and did not help him to become an established leader as he dreamt.
Statues of Musashi and Kojiro in Observation Square
What drove him from the beginning to the end was the large battles.
If we take this argument liberally, all of his battles were to avenge for his losses at the Battle of Sekigahara.
This is the man who has always dreamt of fighting on horse back.
What could he be thinking of after beating Kojiro?
Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-shi Ryuta-cho Musashizuka Park
Musashi ordered to put armors on him on his death bed.
It's a sign that he was ready to face a battle even in his death.
Miyamoto Musashi's Tombstone
Why was he so adamant to the battles?
His attitude almost appears strange to us.
If he were to be born several decades earlier, he could have become a great warlord who led numerious victorous battles.
Or if he were to be born several decades later, he could have spent all of his energy to become a great master of both fine arts and martial arts.
Musashi found and established Niten Ichiryu school of swordmastery.
But his methodology split up endlessly, and eventually died off.
Interestingly, in the Book of Five Rings, Nitou Ichiryu and Niten Ichiryu are used interchangeably.
Nitou Ichiryu
Niten Ichiryu
But in the end, Musashi chose Niten Ichiryu as the name of his style.
64:25 Niten Ichiryu
It was because the emphesis of his style was not in use of two swords.
His idea was that his fighting style was, if the world was to split in two and another large battle was to happen, to become the way to reunite those worlds.
He was born in a rare period between two large shogunate periods.
He was aware that his style was not a good fit for his time.
Yet he was unable to give up on his dream and his style.
That probably was his only, yet a very irrational side, when he was very rational in everything else he did.
Miyamoto Musashi.
The extreme rationalist with an ultimate dream.
This is the ultimate philosophy he reached after his extreme studies.