was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Musashi is considered a kensei (sword saint) of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū (or Nito Ichi-ryū) style of swordsmanship. In his final years, Musashi authored and Dokkōdō (獨行道, The Path of Aloneness).
Both documents were bequeathed to Terao Magonojō, Musashi's most important student, seven days before Musashi's death. The Book of Five Rings focuses on the character of his Niten Ichi-ryū school in a concrete sense; his own practical martial art and its generic significance. On the other hand, The Path of Aloneness deals with the ideas that lie behind it, as well as his life's philosophy in a few short aphoristic sentences.
It is believed that Musashi was a friend of Mizuno Katsunari, a Tokugawa shogunate general. As part of the Tokugawa Army, they fought together in the Battle of Sekigahara, Siege of Osaka, and Shimabara Rebellion .
The Miyamoto Musashi Budokan training center in Ōhara-chō (Mimasaka), Okayama Prefecture, Japan, was erected in his honour.
Biography
thumb|250x250px|Supposed birthplace of Miyamoto Musashi
Details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify. Musashi writes in The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) that he was born in Miyamoto, a village in Harima Province. Niten Ki, an early biography of Musashi, supports the assertion that Musashi was born in 1583. "[He] was born in Banshū, in Tenshō 12 [1583], the Year of the Goat." The historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashi's text, notes: "Munisai was Musashi's father... he lived in Miyamoto village, in the Yoshino district [of Mimasaka Province]. Musashi was most probably born here." Other names of his include Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke, Hirata's wife was Omasa. She died as a result of giving birth to Musashi. Another story claims that he never bathed himself because he did not want to be surprised unarmed. Historian Kamiko writes, "For his entire life, Musashi never took a wife, cut his hair, or entered a bath." but another states he was 16 years old in 1599 which aligns with the age reported in Musashi's first duel.
Sekigahara campaign
In 1600, Musashi served in Kuroda Yoshitaka's army on the Eastern side and fought in the Battle of Ishigakihara and the Siege of Fuka Castle against Ōtomo Yoshimune's army from the Western side.
In this battle, the force of Kuroda Yoshitaka emerged victorious at 21 October.
For a long time, the popular theory stated that Musashi participated in the Battle of Sekigahara on the Western Army side due to the fact that Shinmen clan was a longtime vassal to the Ukita clan. However, recent research by modern Japanese historians challenged the theory, as they asserted that Musashi and his father, Shinmen Munisai, actually sided with The Eastern Army. This stemmed from historical records that Munisai no longer served the Ukita clan during that time, and the clan records of Kuroda clan, ally of Tokugawa Ieyasu during the war, had recorded the name of Shinmen Munisai among their vassals who participated in the war. Historians quoted The Transmission of Military Art to Master Bushu Genshin, Historian Masahide Fukuda has determined that the name of Munisai appeared in Kuroda clan record under the category of Kogofudai, or Kuroda clan vassals who had entered service before 1586. Owing to this fact, Fukuda concluded it was natural that Munisai and Musashi were on the Tokugawa side during the war. Japanese history novelist Kengo Tominaga proposed a theory that Musashi during the Sekigahara Campaign did not fight in the main battle of Sekigahara, rather he fought under Kuroda Yoshitaka against Ishida Mitsunari loyalists from the western provinces in the battle of Ishigakihara, Ōita Prefecture.
thumb|right|upright=1.2|Sasaki Kojiro, right, engages Miyamoto Musashi on the shores of Ganryū Island.
In 1611, Musashi learned zazen at Myōshin-ji, Kyūshū. Musashi introduced Nagaoka Sado to an official of daimyo (lord) named Hosokawa Tadaoki.
Duel with Sasaki Kojiro
Musashi duelled Sasaki Kojiro, another skilled swordsman, in one of his most famous battles. While there are differing opinions on how it happened, the prevailing notion is that Musashi challenged Kojiro, requesting Hosokawa Tadaoki to organise the time and place. During his journey to the island by boat, Musashi had carved an oar into a bokken, or wooden practice sword. The duel ended when Musashi quickly and fatally struck Kojirō, crushing his skull with a vertical stroke. and also acted as bodyguard of Mizuno Katsutoshi, son of Katsunari. It was said in a later era, during the Shimabara Rebellion, that Musashi once told a commander of the Tokugawa army that he had served under Mizuno Katsunari's command during the Osaka siege and knew the military system very well. Miyamoto Mikinosuke, the adopted son of Musashi, also served under Katsunari during this battle. The attendance of Musashi in this conflict under the Mizuno clan was also attested by contemporary Oba clan record documents. A document titled Munekyu-sama Godeko (a collection of Katsunari's words and actions after his retirement) also mentions Mikinosuke.
In 1633, Musashi began staying with Hosokawa Tadatoshi, daimyō of Kumamoto Castle, who had moved to the Kumamoto fief and Kokura, to train and paint. While he engaged in very few duels during this period, one occurred in 1634 at the arrangement of Lord Ogasawara, in which Musashi defeated a lance specialist named Takada Matabei. Musashi officially became the retainer of the Hosokawa lords of Kumamoto in 1640. The Niten Ki records "[he] received from Lord Tadatoshi: 17 retainers, a stipend of 300 koku, the rank of ōkumigashira 大組頭, and Chiba Castle in Kumamoto as his residence."
thumb|Miyamoto Musashi's grave in [[Ōhara, Okayama|Ōhara-chō, province of Mimasaka]]
In 1638, Musashi allegedly participated in the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion. In the journal Munekyu (Katsunari)-sama, a collection of statements made by Katsunari Mizuno after his retirement in 1639, a story is recalled about Mizuno's army during the Shimabara Rebellion: a man named Miyamoto Musashi entered the camp of general Ogasawara Nagatsugu, and Musashi said, "Last time (at Siege of Osaka), (Mizuno Katsunari) Hyuga-no-Kamidono's clan had this, and I knew the military system very well."
Later life
In the second month of 1641, Musashi wrote a work called the Hyoho Sanju Go ("Thirty-five Instructions on Strategy") for Hosokawa Tadatoshi. This work overlapped and formed the basis for the later The Book of Five Rings. This was the year that his adopted son, Hirao Yoemon, became Master of Arms for the Owari fief. In 1642, Musashi suffered attacks of neuralgia, foreshadowing his future ill-health.
thumb|250px|[[Reigandō cave in Kumamoto, Japan]]
In 1643, he retired to a cave, Reigandō, living as a hermit to write The Book of Five Rings. He finished it in the second month of 1645. On the twelfth of the fifth month, sensing his impending death, he bequeathed his worldly possessions, after giving his manuscript to the younger brother of Terao Magonojo, his closest disciple. Musashi died around 13 June 1645 ("Shōhō 2, 19th day of the 5th month"). Sources disagree on the location of his death. The Nitenki records that he died in Reigandō cave, while the earlier Bukōden states that Lord Nagaoka Yoriyuki prevailed upon Musashi to return to his yashiki at the former grounds of Chiba Castle in Kumamoto, where he subsequently died.. Allegedly, his death resulted from lung cancer. According to Hyoho senshi denki (Anecdotes About the Deceased Master):