Miyamoto Musashi
The Wandering Swordsman Written by Yoshikawa Eiji

Date：16, Apr, 2022
Investigated and Written by Misaka Youhei
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Miyamoto Musashi is the Japanese popular swordsman who really lived from the end of the 16th century to the early 17th century. Of course, we can't see him now in the 21st century. But he is still so popular among Japanese people. We can easily find many oral traditions about him, stories about him all over Japan. One of them is Miyamoto Musashi, the historical novel written by Yoshikawa Eiji.

Who is Yoshikawa Eiji? He is the Japanese late novelist born in the end of the 19th century. His novels got popular a lot over Japan in the middle of the 20th century. Miyamoto Musashi is the serial novel written 1935 to 1939. It is so old, must be out of print now! you may guess. And you can find the pocket editions still published by some like Shincho-sha and Kodan-sha.

The story begins with Musashi joining a war as a soldier. And it does not seem victory comes to the army he belongs to. One mother and daughter happens to help him. He survives somehow and one year after, he decides to go home. But several unhappy things bite him since he belonged to the lost army. He sees red, gets mad. "What did I do? Why do I have to face such things?" But one day he meets one person who reforms his mindset. And he keeps wandering, looking for light.

I hear it got so popular overseas, the English version appeared in 1981. I have never read the English version, I don't know how it is abroad.