Continually striving to perfect his technique, which leads him to a unique style of fighting with two swords simultaneously, he travels far and wide, challenging fighters of many disciplines, taking nature to be his ultimate and severest teacher and undergoing the rigorous training of those who follow the Way.

Ever so slowly it dawns on him that following the Way of the Sword is not simply a matter of finding a target for his brute strength. When he is set free again, he rejects the position of samurai and for the next several years pursues his goal relentlessly, looking neither to left nor to right. During three years of solitary confinement, he delves into the classics of Japan and China. The lovely Otsu, seeing in Musashi her ideal of manliness, frees him from his tortuous punishment, but he is recaptured and imprisoned. On his way home, he commits a rash act, becomes a fugitive and brings life in his own village to a standstill-until he is captured by a weaponless Zen monk. Lured to the great Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 by the hope of becoming a samurai-without really knowing what it meant-he regains consciousness after the battle to find himself lying defeated, dazed and wounded among thousands of the dead and dying. Miyamoto Musashi was the child of an era when Japan was emerging from decades of civil strife. About the Book The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman.īook Synopsis The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman.

Yoshikawa eiji