
While the former claim may or may not have some basis in reality, the latter seems improbable.

Another story claims that he never took a bath because he did not want to be surprised unarmed. Musashi contracted eczema in his infancy, and this adversely affected his appearance. In 1592, Munisai died, although Tokitsu believes that the person who died at this time was really Hirata Takehito. The Honiden family was displeased, and so Munisai was forced to move four kilometers (~2.5 mi.) away to the village of Kawakami. This training did not last for a very long time, as in 1589, Munisai was ordered by Shinmen Sokan to kill Munisai's student, Honiden Gekinosuke. He was apparently trained by Munisai in the sword, and in the family art of the jutte. This education is possibly the basis for Yoshikawa Eiji's fictional education of Musashi by the historical Zen monk Takuan. Both Dorin and Musashi's uncle by marriage - Tasumi - educated him in Buddhism and basic skills such as writing and reading. Regardless of the truth about Musashi's ancestry, when Musashi was seven years old, the boy was raised by his uncle, Dorinbo (or Dorin), in Shoreian temple, three kilometers (~1.8 mi.) from Hirafuku.

Musashi grew up treating Munisai's second wife, Omasa (daughter to Lord Shinmen) as his mother. Munisai divorced her after Musashi's birth, whereupon she decamped for her father's house, leaving Musashi with Munisai. Musashi, then, was born to Munisai's first wife, Yoshiko (daughter to Bessho Shigeharu, who formerly controlled Hirafuku village until he lost a battle in 1578 to Yamanaka Shikanosuke). Munisai lived a good deal longer, later than 1590 possibly. Omasa, Munisai's widow, was not Musashi's biological mother. He died in 1580, leaving two daughters his wife adopted a recently born child, from the Akamatsu clan, intended to succeed Munisai at his jitte school. Kenji Tokitsu has suggested that the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi is wrong, as it is primarily based on a literal reading of the introduction to the Go Rin No Sho where Musashi states that the years of his life "add up to 60" (yielding the twelfth year of the Tensho era, or 1584, when working backwards from the well-documented date of composition), when it should be taken in a more literary and imprecise sense, indicating not a specific age but merely that Musashi was in his sixties when he wrote it.īecause of the uncertainty centering on Munisai (when he died, whether he was truly Musashi's father, etc.), Musashi's mother is known with even less confidence. Further muddying the waters, according to the genealogy of the extant Miyamoto family, Musashi was born in 1582. Munisai's tomb says he died in 1580, which obviously conflicts with the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi. " Fujiwara" was the lineage from which Musashi claimed nominal descent. As for "Musashi," Musashi no Kami was a court title, making him the nominal governor of Musashi province. Hirata was relied upon by Lord Shinmen, and so was allowed to use the Shinmen name. Munisai, in turn, was the son of Hirata Shōgen 平田将監, a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, the lord of Takayama Castle in the Yoshino district of Mimasaka Province.
Musashi miyamoto star pupil fanfiction full#
Musashi gives his full name and title in Gorin no Sho as Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Genshin." (新免武蔵守藤原玄信) His father, Shinmen Munisai 新免無二斎, was an accomplished martial artist and master of the sword and jutte (also jitte). Musashi was most probably born here." His childhood name was Bennosuke (弁之助).

Niten Ki (an early biography of Musashi) supports the theory that Musashi was born in 1584: " was born in Banshū, in Tenshō 12, the Year of the Monkey." The historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashi's text, notes: " Munisai was Musashi's father.he lived in Miyamoto village, in the Yoshino district. Musashi himself simply states in Gorin no Sho that he was born in Harima Province. The details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify.
