The Real Musashi IV: The Bushū Denraiki (Expanded Edition) (Origins of a Legend)

Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1584–1645) is the most revered and celebrated swordsman in Japanese history. Unfortunately, our modern portrait of this folk hero is derived from popular books, comics, and film, with little heed paid to the early denki, the chronicles that faithfully recorded what was passed down by those who knew Musashi.The Bushû denraiki is the earliest such record still in existence. Completed in 1727 by Tachibana Minehira, alias Tanji Hôkin, the fifth-generation master of Musashi’s Niten Ichi school of fencing, it is the most reliable record of Musashi’s life and exploits outside those from the hand of the master swordsman himself. Now, after three centuries, Minehira’s insights into this solitary and enigmatic swordsman are available to the English reader. His text throws a new and refreshing light on many aspects of especially Musashi’s early life—his troubled relationship with his father, his first battle experience during Japan’s period of unification, the sad death of his illegitimate child, and of course his legendary duel on Ganryû Island. For those interested in the sword culture of Japan, this true story of its most iconic figure is essential reading.This newly expanded edition contains the biographies of the four first progenitors of Musashi’s Niten Ichi-ryū—Terao Nobumasa, Shibatō Yoshinori, Yoshida Sanetsura, and the Bushū denraiki’s author, Tanji Hokin. Read more