If you visit Kumamoto, you will likely encounter the name Miyamoto Musashi or his most famous work, 五輪書 (The Book of Five Rings). Although Musashi is well recognized in Japan as a historical figure and even received the title of 剣聖 “sword saint,” the highest title a warrior can be given, his accomplishments and works are not as well recognized outside of Japan. Whether you are a fan of Musashi, looking for a summary of what makes this Kumamoto cultural heritage so amazing, or have been putting off reading the book for too long, let us be your guide.

Miyamoto Musashi

For those unfamiliar, Miyamoto Musashi (1584 – 1645) is arguably the greatest swordsman in Japanese history. Although it’s thought that his father taught him how to wield a sword, there are no records of formal training or sword-school associations. Despite this, he struck down his first opponent in a duel at age 13 and went his whole life refining his instincts and strategy into his own school, 二天一流 (niten ichiryu, two heavens, one style; sometimes referred to as 二刀一流 nito ichiryu), named for his use of two swords (although he was not the first, the katana has traditionally been considered a two-handed weapon).

I admit that I am not a master of the blade, so I’m sure there are many categories that experts evaluate to decide who receives this honor. Miyamoto Musashi’s claim to fame is his undefeated record of at least 60 duels in the most war-heavy period of Japan’s history, the Warring States Period. Sounds like Greatest of All Time material to me, but maybe that’s just me.

The Book of Five Rings

Mushashi wrote this work in his later years for his closest student, which is notable because he is recorded as instructing his disciples to burn any written accounts of his teachings. The book is often described as the “Japanese Art of War,” and in terms of topic and length, I can certainly see where this comes from (I read it in a day, and it’s available for free on Internet Archive).

However, there are some clear differences. Sun Tzu’s work, eponymously attributed or not, reads like a textbook giving guidance to future generations; Miyamoto Musashi is clearly the sole author of The Book of Five Rings (though edits were most likely made posthumously) imparting wisdom he’s gathered in his personal life. The Art of War is fascinating in its own right, but The Book of Five Rings has a definitive voice reminiscent of a mentor figure from a work of fiction. The main focus is the “Way of Strategy,” but it is framed within a minimalist, harsh philosophy given from the perspective of a warrior who has experienced the realities he speaks of.

Much to the chagrin of Avatar fans everywhere, the work is divided into 5 “books”: Earth (地), Water (水), Fire (火), Wind (風), and Void (空). This is in line with Buddhist aesthetics (this is also why Japanese pagodas are often 5 stories, apparently) and is a convenient way of breaking up the aspects of the Niten Ichiryu school.

Earth

Earth is the foundation where he describes strategy as the craft of warriors in the same way that design is to carpenters.

The Way of the warrior is to master the virtue of his weapons. If a gentleman dislikes strategy he will not appreciate the benefit of weaponry, so must he not have a little taste for this? … The Way of the carpenter is to become proficient in the use of his tools, first
to lay his plans with a true measure and then perform his work according to plan. Thus he passes through life… The carpenter uses a master plan of the building, and the Way of Strategy is similar in that there is a plan of campaign.

It is the job of warriors to understand their weapons and techniques to achieve the goal: win. Ironically, he is quick to point out that this involves more than pure swordsmanship. Instead, he frames warriors as parallel to craftsmen, and extends the metaphor to define warriors as strategists instead of pure fighters.
This was easily my favorite of the five books, especially his discussion of timing:

Timing is important in dancing and pipe or string music, for they are in rhythm only if timing is good. Timing and rhythm are also involved in the military arts, shooting bows and guns, and riding horses. In all skills and abilities there is timing. There is also timing in the Void. There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing.

This becomes a pattern throughout: Musashi bookends most of his claims by reminding the reader that nothing is guaranteed, and that opportunity is just as important as skill mastery. If you read nothing else, Earth is a captivating read.

Water

Water represents flexibility and adaptability, but primarily this book discusses the fighting style of Niten Ichiryu. His instructions are short, vague explanations often followed by “you must practice this.”

Continuous Cut
When you attack and the enemy also attacks, and your swords spring together, in one action cut his head, hands and legs. When you cut several places with one sweep of the long sword, it is the “Continuous Cut”. You must practice this cut; it is often used. With detailed practice you should be able to understand it.

Suddenly, it’s easy to believe that he told his students to burn all their notes. Although he discusses a lot about how difficult it is to describe these things in writing, I think it also serves as a devices that reinforces a core precept: practice and training before all else.
Another thing of note: Musashi is an archetypal sword master, but he does not endorse particular stances or a set style in the same way that most masters practice drills.

The five attitudes are: Upper, Middle, Lower, Right Side, and Left Side. These are the give. Although attitude has these five divisions, the one purpose of all of them is to cut the enemy. There are none but these five attitudes.
Whatever attitude you are in, do not be conscious of making the attitude; think only of cutting. Your attitude should be large or small according to the situation.

He talks of attitudes, which are stances in which you hold the sword in different ways, but his suggestion is to know of them and practice them, but never develop a particular style. If I had to describe it, I would say that Musashi is a win-at-all-costs-warrior that treasures unpredictability. His suggestions are primarily to overwhelm one’s opponent, never let them control a situation, confuse them, and more than anything, adopt whatever strategy will strike and kill them the fastest. I wouldn’t say it’s reactive per-say, but would be foolish to call it anything but “adaptive.”
In this way, Musashi bucks much of the elegance we associate with Japanese samurai imagery in favor of assessing the best and quickest way to victory.

Fire

Fire represents the way of fighting, and this is the section devoted to discussing the conditions under which one should battle. This was the chapter that I found most in common with The Art of War. He discusses the importance of positioning, timing, but also the psychological aspects of conflict.

“To tread down the sword” is a principle often used in strategy… “Treading” does not simply mean treading with the feet. Tread with the body, tread with the spirit, and, of course, tread and cut with the long sword. You must achieve the spirit of not allowing the enemy to attack a second time. This is the spirit of forestalling in every sense. Once at the enemy, you should not aspire just to strike him, but to cling after the attack.

The most consistent aspect of Musashi’s strategy is to overwhelm one’s opponent. He doesn’t suggest brute force, but a more effective oppression: stifle the enemy’s attack, do not allow them to act as planned, lead them, force the enemy to break. I think this is probably common in books on war, but I think it stands in contrast to fantasies of honorable combat. Musashi speaks of honor and even understanding of the opponent, but he emphasizes conflict as a competition to be won.

“To become the enemy” means to think yourself in the enemy’s position. In the world people tend to think of a robber trapped in a house as a fortified enemy. However, if we think of “becoming the enemy”, we feel that the whole world is against us and that there is no escape. He who is shut inside is a pheasant. He who enters to arrest is a hawk. You must appreciate this.

While goading and psychological warfare has been part of conflict since time immemorable, I thought this was a particularly unique quote. It is easy to understand an enemy’s strengths in conflict, and victory is often framed as finding their weaknesses. However, there is a bias inherent to this particular analysis: something may seem like a strength or weakness from your perspective. Much in the same way as Sun Tzu, Musashi does not cower in the face of a large opposing army, but realizes they may struggle to feed and supply such a huge force.
Musashi may be a contender for the Greatest of All Time, but he recognizes we are all the same in the eyes of a blade and ensures he isn’t in striking distance.

Wind

Wind represents the other schools of the time, which Musashi claims one must understand or at least recognize in order to understand Niten Ichiryu. It’s hard not to read this as a 17th century diss track to all his contemporaries.

Other schools make accomplishments their means of livelihood, growing flowers and decoratively colouring articles in order to sell them. This is definitely not the Way of Strategy. Some of the world’s strategists are concerned only with sword-fencing, and limit their training to flourishing the long sword and carriage of the body. But is dexterity alone sufficient to win? This is not the essence of the Way. I have recorded the unsatisfactory point of other schools one by one in this book.

Musashi proceeds to coldly break them down logically, one by one. From his perspective, the game is out of whack with new schools popping up everywhere claiming they have the silver bullet to winning any competition. Even if they are dexterous and talented, Musashi is quick to point out that he could easily dismantle their delusional philosophy. As a man who fought many battles and won dozens of duels against a variety of opponents, it makes sense that he would see schools preaching the superiority of a certain weapon or attack method as grifters. In the end I found myself nodding, saying, “makes sense, but… what did the crow foot people do to make him so mad?!” Just goes to show you can be entertaining and instructional at the same time.

Void

Void represents that which does not exist, which is not to be confused with that which we do not know. In reference to strategy, I think that he is using Void in a couple of key ways: studying Void is primarily a way of assessing situations, real vs. perceived and known vs. unknown. This reinforces previous tactics of overwhelming, frustrating, and controlling opponents and helps to provide the tools to build the kind of strategies he suggests in previous books.

Philosophically, Void is also a reminder to humble oneself and not to fall into fallacy that just because you don’t see a win condition for the opponent doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Thirdly, and finally, it is a spiritual and psychological tool to ground oneself. Musashi stresses that other schools are fixated on fame and riches from selling their glorified workouts (this is not an exaggeration). In contrast, Niten Ichiryu is focused the struggle between life and death. To embody the void is both to recognize mortality and aspire to the insurmountable force of the unknown that life often confronts us with.

Frankly, this book is more of an epilogue, but it stood out to me as people rarely talk about Miyamoto Musashi’s Buddhist practice. I won’t pretend to understand the religious principle he is trying to teach me, but if you go to Reigando Cave in Unganzenji Temple, you can see that the religion’s philosophy’s and practices resonated deeply with the sword saint.

In Conclusion

If The Art of War is a seminal guide to understanding the realities of war (force, resources, and politics), The Book of Five Rings is a plea for reformation and a grim reminder that all your crow stepping won’t save you from his (or anyone else’s) blade. In my research, other reviews often pointed out Musashi’s “instructions” are vague and resembling common sense. I think this is both accurate and the source of the author’s exasperation.  The Warring States Period was a time when nothing was promised. On the brink of unifying Japan, Obu Nobunaga (the First Great Unifier, also known as the Demon King, btw) got jumped by one of his most loyal followers (supposedly) during a tea ceremony. As someone who lived through this time wrecking entire schools at a time, I can see why he sees his contemporaries as sell-outs hawking gimmicks. As a guy who was really out in those streets holding his own, he must have felt insulted.

Regardless of his impetus, the book is a fascinating insight into a man who mastered his craft. I learned a lot about history, strategy, and insulting my contemporaries in both a polite and savage way. Even if you don’t end up reading the book (I do highly recommend reading it for yourself), there is so much that we can learn from those around us. Musashi recognized that all craftsmen require creativity just as much as dedication and skill. There are so many distractions that sometimes even going back to basics and sharpening your focus can take you much further than you expect. Who knows, if you commit to your foundational principles and keep yourself focused on the work instead of the fame and glamor, you may one day find yourself meditating on the side of a mountain wondering how it is you came to be the greatest of all time.