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is a Japanese
Japanese language

IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....
 novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa
Eiji Yoshikawa

was a List of Japanese authors historical novelist, probably one of the best and most famous authors in the genre. Among his most well-known novels, most are revisions of past works....
 and serialized in 1935 in Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun

The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 8.27 million for its morning edition and 3.85 million for its evening edition as of April 2004, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun....
.

s a fictionalized account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi

, also known as Shinmen Takezo, Miyamoto Bennosuke, or by his Buddhist name Niten Doraku, was a Japanese people swordsman famed for his duels and distinctive style....
, author of The Book of Five Rings
The Book of Five Rings

is a text on kenjutsu and the martial arts in general, written by the samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi circa 1645. It is considered a classic treatise on military strategy, much like Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Chanakya's Arthashastra....
 and perhaps the most renowned Japanese swordsman who ever lived.

The novel has been translated into English by Charles S. Terry
Charles S. Terry

Charles S. Terry was an American translator and academic in the fields of Japanese history, Japanese art, and Japanese literature.Born in Laurel, Mississippi in 1926, Charles would go on to graduate from Duke University....
, with a foreword by Edwin O. Reischauer
Edwin O. Reischauer

Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was the leading U.S. educator and noted scholar of the history and culture of Japan, and of East Asia. From 1961?66, he was the United States Ambassador to Japan....
. Published by Kodansha International ISBN 4-7700-1957-2.

The long epic (over 900 pages in the English version) comprises seven "books" detailing the exploits of Miyamoto Musashi, beginning just after the battle of Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Ieyasu to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate,...
, following his journeys and the many people who become important in his life, and leading up to his climactic duel with Sasaki Kojiro
Sasaki Kojiro

was a prominent Japanese swordsman, born in Fukui Prefecture. He lived during the Sengoku period and early Edo periods and is most remembered for his death while battling Miyamoto Musashi in 1612....
 on Ganryujima (Ganryu or Funa Island).






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is a Japanese
Japanese language

IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....
 novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa
Eiji Yoshikawa

was a List of Japanese authors historical novelist, probably one of the best and most famous authors in the genre. Among his most well-known novels, most are revisions of past works....
 and serialized in 1935 in Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun

The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 8.27 million for its morning edition and 3.85 million for its evening edition as of April 2004, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun....
.

Introduction

It is a fictionalized account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi

, also known as Shinmen Takezo, Miyamoto Bennosuke, or by his Buddhist name Niten Doraku, was a Japanese people swordsman famed for his duels and distinctive style....
, author of The Book of Five Rings
The Book of Five Rings

is a text on kenjutsu and the martial arts in general, written by the samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi circa 1645. It is considered a classic treatise on military strategy, much like Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Chanakya's Arthashastra....
 and perhaps the most renowned Japanese swordsman who ever lived.

The novel has been translated into English by Charles S. Terry
Charles S. Terry

Charles S. Terry was an American translator and academic in the fields of Japanese history, Japanese art, and Japanese literature.Born in Laurel, Mississippi in 1926, Charles would go on to graduate from Duke University....
, with a foreword by Edwin O. Reischauer
Edwin O. Reischauer

Edwin Oldfather Reischauer was the leading U.S. educator and noted scholar of the history and culture of Japan, and of East Asia. From 1961?66, he was the United States Ambassador to Japan....
. Published by Kodansha International ISBN 4-7700-1957-2.

The long epic (over 900 pages in the English version) comprises seven "books" detailing the exploits of Miyamoto Musashi, beginning just after the battle of Sekigahara
Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Ieyasu to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate,...
, following his journeys and the many people who become important in his life, and leading up to his climactic duel with Sasaki Kojiro
Sasaki Kojiro

was a prominent Japanese swordsman, born in Fukui Prefecture. He lived during the Sengoku period and early Edo periods and is most remembered for his death while battling Miyamoto Musashi in 1612....
 on Ganryujima (Ganryu or Funa Island). Musashi becomes famous during the course of the novel as he searches for both perfection in swordsmanship and in consciousness. Innovating Japanese swordsmanship, he invents the style of simultaneously wielding both the katana
Katana

A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. These are categorised in several types according to size and method of manufacture....
 and the wakizashi
Wakizashi

File:Edo period Wakizashi.jpgFile:Daisho Asian Art Museum SF.JPGThe is a traditional Japanese sword with a shoto blade between 30 and 60 cm , with an average of 50 cm ....
, something unheard of at that time in Japanese history.

Table of contents


Book 1 - Earth

  • The Little Bell
  • The Comb
  • The Flower Festival
  • The Dowager's Wrath
  • The Art of War
  • The Old Cryptomeria Tree
  • The Rock and the Tree
  • The Birth of Musashi

Book 2 - Water

  • The Yoshioka School
  • The Wheel of Fortune
  • Encounter and Retreat
  • The Water Sprite
  • A Spring Breeze
  • The Hozoin
  • Hannya Plain
  • The Koyagyu Fief
  • The Peony
  • Jotaro's Revenge
  • The Nightingales

Book 3 - Fire

  • Sasaki Kojiro
  • Reunion in Osaka
  • The Handsome Young Man
  • The Seashell of Forgetfulness
  • A Hero's Passing
  • The Drying Pole
  • Eagle Mountain
  • The Mayfly in Winter
  • The Pinwheel
  • The Flying Horse
  • The Butterfly in Winter
  • The Announcement
  • The Great Bridge at Gojo Avenue

Book 4 - Wind

  • The Withered Field
  • A Man of Parts
  • Too Many Kojiros
  • The Younger Brother
  • A Mother's Love
  • The Urbane Craftsman
  • Reverberations in the Snow
  • The Elegant People
  • The Broken Lute
  • A Sickness of the Heart
  • The Scent of Aloeswood
  • The Gate
  • A Toast to the Morrow
  • The Death Trap
  • A Meeting in the Moonlight
  • Stray Geese
  • The Spreading Pine
  • An Offering for the Dead
  • A Drink of Milk
  • Entwining Branches
  • The Male and Female Waterfalls

Book 5 - Sky

  • The Abduction
  • The Warrior of Kiso
  • Poisonous Fangs
  • A Maternal Warning
  • A One-Night Love Affair
  • A Gift of Money
  • A Cleansing Fire
  • Playing with Fire
  • A Cricket in the Grass
  • The Pioneers
  • Slaughter by the Riverside
  • Shavings
  • The Owl
  • A Plate of Loaches
  • Like Teacher, Like Pupil
  • Mountain Devils
  • First Planting
  • The Flies
  • The Soul Polisher
  • The Fox
  • An Urgent Letter
  • Filial Piety
  • Spring Shower in Red
  • A Block of Wood
  • The Deserted Prophet
  • The Talk of the Town

Book 6 - Sun And Moon

  • A Chat with the Men
  • Buzzing Insects
  • The Eagle
  • Green Persimmons
  • Eyes
  • Four Sages with a Single Light
  • The Locust Tree
  • Tadaaki's Madness
  • The Poignancy of Things
  • Two Drumsticks
  • The Demon's Attendant
  • Brother Disciples
  • The Pomegranate
  • Land of Dreams
  • The Challenge
  • The Gateway to Glory
  • The Sound of Heaven

Book 7 - The Perfect Light

  • The Runaway Ox
  • Hemp Seed
  • Sweepers and Salesmen
  • A Pear Blossom
  • The Port
  • The Writing Teacher
  • The Circle
  • Shikama Blue
  • The Mercy of Kannon
  • The Tides of Life
  • The Evening Boat
  • A Falcon and a Woman
  • Before the Thirteenth Day
  • At Daybreak
  • The Marriage
  • The Soul of the Deep


Release details

  • Yoshikawa, Eiji. Musashi. Trans. Charles S. Terry. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1981 (First edition) & 1993 (First paperback edition).
  • 1935, Japan, Asahi Shimbun (ISBN NA), Pub date ? ? 1935, Newspaper serial
  • 1981, USA, HarperCollins (ISBN 0-06-859851-3), Pub date ? July 1981, Hardcover
  • 1995, Japan, Kodansha International (ISBN 4-7700-1957-2), Pub date ? May 1995, Hardcover


Sources, references, external links, quotations