Shinmen Sokan was a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese lord, daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 of the during the middle of the Sengoku period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

. Sokan was known as a rather petty daimyo in the mountainous regions of Sakushu, which was west of Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

. Even though this was so, the Shinmen clan had very good ties with that of the Hirata family, leading to the Shinmen receiving a good amount of support. One such swordsman of note that served under Sokan was the famous Shinmen Munisai

Shinmen Munisai

, also called Hirata Munisai, was a martial artist, expert in using the sword and the jutte. He was also the father of the samurai named Miyamoto Musashi. He was the son of Hirata Shōgen 平田将監, a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, the lord of Takayama Castle in the Yoshino district of Mimasaka Province...

, the father of the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi

, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age...

. In 1589, Sokan ordered Munisai to kill Honiden Gekinosuke (a minor student under Munisai) for unknown reasons. Due to this fact however, Munisai was forced to leave his village of Miyamoto

Miyamoto

Miyamoto is a Japanese surname.-People:*Shigeru Miyamoto, video game designer for Nintendo*Shunichi Miyamoto, musician and voice actor*Kazushi Miyamoto, professional wrestler...

.