Miyamoto Musashi

Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer, artist, and rōnin

Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1584 – June 13, 1645), was also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku.[1] He was a Japanese Samurai and rōnin.[2] Even from a young age Musashi became well known for his excellent swordsmanship and won some sixty duels.[3] He always had money and had a number of other rōnins as followers.[4] Musashi is best known as the author of The Book of Five Rings. It is a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy. The book is very popular in modern Japan and the western world among successful business people.[5]

Miyamoto Musashi,a Self-portrait
Miyamoto Musashi
Japanese name
Kanji宮本 武蔵
Hiraganaみやもと むさし
Katakanaミヤモト ムサシ

References

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  1. Toyota Masataka, 'Niten Ki (A Chronicle of Two Heavens)', Gorin no Sho, ed. Kamiko Tadashi (Tokyo: Tokuma-shoten, 1963), p. 239
  2. Matt Doeden, Life as a Samurai: An Interactive History Adventure (Mankato, MN: Capstone Press, 2011), p. 76
  3. Nick Evangelista, The Encyclopedia of the Sword (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995), p. 318
  4. Kenji Tokitsu; Sherab Chodzin Kohn, Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings (Boston: Shambhala: Distributed in the U.S. by Random House, 2004), p. 124
  5. Leo Gough, Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings: A modern-day interpretation of a military classic (Oxford, UK: Infinite Ideas, 2009), p. 8