Musashi is a Japanese epic novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa in the 1930s. It is a fictionalized account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings and arguably the most renowned Japanese swordsman who ever lived. Set in feudal Japan of the 1600s, Musashi is a novel in the best tradition of Japanese story telling. It is a living story, subtle and imaginative, teeming with memorable characters, many of them historical. Interweaving themes of unrequited love, misguided revenge, filial piety and dedication to the Way of the Samurai, it depicts vividly a world most Westerners know only vaguely. Full of gusto and humor, it has an epic quality and universal appeal. In essence, this book relates the journey of a man who dedicates his life to self-improvement and self-discipline, and how he reaches enlightenment.
Musashi is among Japan’s supreme folk heroes, a seventeenth-century warrior whose exploits have inspired books, plays, movies, and television shows. A search on YouTube yields dozens of results.
There’s plenty of action and adventure in the life of a samurai swordsman, but we also glimpse the lives of everyday people, and it’s a thoroughly engrossing read. Broken into sections named after the elemental forces from Earth, Fire, Wind or the last section, The Perfect Light, each division illuminates some aspect of Musashi’s life. If you want to step back into samurai Japan, look no further than the pages of Musashi.
Translated by Charles S. Terry in the 1980s, the book is 970 pages long. In the final three weeks of the sdg, we will discuss The Samurai Trilogy, the three films of the book directed by Hiroshi Inagaki in Japanese with English subtitles. Originally released in the 1950s, they were remastered by the Criterion Collection in 2012. The first of these films won an academy award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1955. The Samurai Trilogy follows the novel in concentrating on Musashi’s life from his midteens, when he left the village of Miyamoto, until his defeat of Kojiro Sasaki in combat on Ganryu Island, when Musashi was twenty-nine. Starring Toshiro Mifune, the acting is outstanding; the color cinematography is glorious.
The book is still in print and is available at Amazon in hardcover, paperback, audio, and on Kindle. It has received over 1100 five star ratings at Amazon. The films are available for purchase at Amazon and for rent with Amazon Prime and elsewhere. They can also be streamed with a subscription to the HBOMax app.
1. Foreword and p. 3-78
2. p. 78-171
3. p. 172- 258
4. p. 259-347
5. p. 347-436
6. p. 436-531
7. p. 531-618
8. p. 618-705
9. p. 706-793
10. p. 793-882
11. p. 882-970
12. Film: Samurai I Musashi Miyamoto
13. Film: Samurai II Duel at Ichijoji Temple
14. Film: Samurai III Duel at Ganryu Island
Yoshikawa, Eiji. Trans. by Charles S. Terry. Musashi. Kodansha International. 1981. Various publication dates.
Films: The Samurai Trilogy. Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Remastered 2012.