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Miyamoto Musashi (1584 - 1645) was a Samurai, writer, philosopher and strategist who is known today as the greatest Japanese swordsman to have ever lived. He founded the revolutionary Niten Ichi-ryu style of swordsmanship. In the last year of his life, he penned The Book of Five Rings, his masterpiece on military strategy which offers insights into the Zen Buddhist state of "no-mind" that enables warriors to will themselves to victory, and the philosophy of Bushido--"the way of the warrior."
Koji Kondo is a manga artist based in Japan. He has published several manga titles including the popular
Run! T School Basketball Club series.
Translation by Makiko Itoh. Itoh is the author of the
Just Bento cookbook series and has translated many Japanese works into English including
Zen Wisdom for the Anxious and
Modern Japanese Ikebana. She writes regular columns on food for
The Japan Times.
