Book Review - Musashi, by Yoshikawa Eiji

The last blog post that I wrote for Ronin
Katana was a book review of The Book of
Five Rings, the penultimate work of master swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. I
had read The Book of Five Rings more
than once, and continue to re-read it each year as part of my
"rotation" (like many voracious readers, I have favourites that I
can't help but revisit on a regular basis). In reading it, I felt that I had
gained insight into Musashi's life, swordsmanship, and philosophy. At the time
of writing the previous blog post I didn't really have any intentions of
revisiting the historical figure in writing anytime soon.

This was before I picked up a copy of Yoshikawa
Eiji's classic novel Musashi, which
arrived on my desk quite by surprise earlier this spring. I had heard of the
novel, but was unaware of its full scope and place in modern Japanese culture.
After some encouragement I picked it up and began reading, and was completely
engaged in only a few minutes. My lunch breaks for the next few weeks were
filled as I engrossed myself in the book. Partway through reading I realized
that I was not finished writing about Musashi after all, and I began making
notes for this blog post.

Some background: Yoshikawa Eiji lived
from 1892 - 1962, and was a well-known historical novelist, winning many awards
during his prolific writing career. His novel based on the life of Miyamoto
Musashi is one of his best-known works, particularly outside Japan. The novel
was serialized in Japan's largest newspaper between the years of 1935 and 1945,
and became one of the definitive interpretations of the popular historical
figure. The novel itself has been the basis for a large number of film and tv
adaptations as well as countless stage productions.

Toshiro Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi in The Samurai
Trilogy

A side note before continuing - if you
choose to pick up this novel, try to find the version that has the forward
written by Edwin Reischauer. Reischauer was a Harvard professor and American
ambassador to Japan from 1961-1966, and his insights into the cultural and
historical context are not only useful but necessary to fully appreciate the
breadth and depth of the novel. He (quite rightly in my view) identifies it as
a "Japanese 'Gone with the Wind,'" and contrasts it sharply with James Clavall's Shogun. Both novels
occur during the same time period, which was a time of political upheaval and
change for Japan. However, in Reischauer's opinion Shogun shows the use of more artistic license, while Musashi is more historically accurate -
while still being written as a thrilling adventure story.

The story begins with Musashi (called Takezō
at that point in his life) on a battlefield, but it is a battlefield on which
he was not a victor. He awakens, wounded and confused, after being on the
losing side of a fairly decisive battle between two ruling lords or Daimyo of
Japan. Incidentally, this is the battle that is about to take place at the end
of Clavall's Shogun.

Unlike the writer of The Book of Five Rings the young Takezō we
meet at first is little more than a thug. Brash and headstrong, he stumbles
through the first several encounters of the book with more luck than skill, and
more selfishness than manners. Returning to his village after recovering from
his wounds he winds up on the run from the winning side of the war, and before
long is hopelessly embroiled in a fight for his life that he can't hope to
win.

Another image of Toshiro Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi

Enter the side characters, who as the
book progresses grow into fully three-dimensional personas with their own
complex lives and stories. The priest Takuan, Musashi's friend Matahachi,
Matahachi's fiancee Otsu, even Musashi’s rival Sasaki Kojirō all play various
roles in the story as their own journeys weave them in and out of Takezō’s. Takezō
is eventually captured and, as punishment, is imprisoned in a single room in a
castle with nothing but books for company. For three long years he studies
texts about war, philosophy, and swordsmanship (including Sun Tzu's The Art of War, which is liberally
quoted throughout the novel). Upon his release Takezō is a changed man, and
takes the name "Miyamoto Musashi" as he embarks on his journey to
perfect the Way of the Sword.

Miyamoto Musashi’s self portrait

The story goes on, and details twelve
years of Musashi's life and travels. The story may be familiar to you already,
but the tale of this wandering swordsman is expertly expanded upon by
Yoshikawa. He uses some truly incredible descriptive prose in his writing - one
early example that stuck for me was as he described a village, saying,
"[the town&91; harbored a bevy of women of the night, who, throats powdered
white as was the fashion, hovered before their business establishments like
white bats under the eaves." The translation work was expertly done, with
none of the "clunkiness" that sometimes occurs when reading older
texts originally written in vastly different languages. I found the book to be
both accessible and enjoyable.

Miyamoto Musashi duels Sasaki Kojirō

I will not write a full synopsis of the
novel here, partly due to space (it is a historical epic, after all) and partly
because l don't like to spoil endings - even well known ones. But I will say
this - if you like tales of swashbuckling adventure, if you like dramatic
rescues and daring escapes, if you like romance and intrigue and moments of
comedy throughout - you will almost certainly like this book. Fans of the films
of Akira Kurosawa, or even anime and manga, will recognize many familiar
"tropes" in this novel.

I
urge anyone who has an interest or, like myself, a love for the Japanese
culture to pick this novel up and experience it for yourself - because just as
Musashi himself discovered, some knowledge can only be gained by experience.

About the author:

Daniel Dacombe is a freelance writer, reviewer, and collector of swords
and sci-fi/fantasy memorabilia. He has been a sword collector since
2006, a student of martial arts and history since 1998, and a geek since
birth. His collection includes swords, countless books, lightsabers,
and even a sonic screwdriver. While far from an expert, Daniel works to
make his reviews, interviews, and articles informative and accessible to
a wide variety of fan groups and collectors.