Sasaki Kojirō

"Ganryu" redirects here. For the sumo wrestler in the Tekken game series, see Ganryu (Tekken).

Sasaki Kojirō (佐々木 小次郎, also known as Ganryū Kojirō) 1585 - April 13, 1612) was a prominent Japanese swordsman, born in the Fukui Prefecture, from the Sengoku and early Edo period. He is most remembered for his death while battling Miyamoto Musashi in 1612.

History

He went by the fighting name of Ganryū (巌流 lit. "Large Rock Flow"), which was also the name of the kenjutsu school he had founded. It is said that Kojirō studied the Chūjō-ryu style of sword fighting from either Kanemaki Jisai or Toda Seigen. Toda Seigen was a master of the kodachi. If Kojirō had indeed learned Chūjō-ryu from Seigen, he would have been his master's sparring partner. Due to his master's use of the kodachi, Kojirō used a longer katana against him, therefore eventually excelling in its use. It was after defeating his master's younger brother that he left and founded the Ganryū. The first reliable account of his life states that in 1610, because of the fame of his school and his many successful duels, Kojirō was honored by Lord Hosokawa Tadaoki as the chief weapons master of the Hosokawa fief north of Kyūshū.

The Duel

Sasaki Kojiro (right) engages Miyamoto Musashi on the shores of Ganryū Island. Note that in this rendering, Musashi is using two bokken.

Sasaki Kojirō was a long-time rival of Miyamoto Musashi, and is considered the most challenging opponent Musashi ever faced.

There are a number of accounts of the duel, varying in most details except the essentials, such as Kojirō's defeat.

The age of Kojirō is especially uncertain - the Nitenki says that during his childhood, he

...received the instruction of Toda Seigen, a master of the school of the short sword, and having been the partner of his master, he excelled him in the wielding of the long sword. After having defeated his master's younger brother he left him to travel in various provinces. There he founded his own school, which was called Ganryu.

The Nitenki's account initially seems trustworthy, until it goes on to give the age of Kojirō at the time of the duel as 18 years old; it is known that two years earlier he had been a head weapons master for a fief - but then that would imply he had reached such a position at the age of 16, which is obviously wrong. A further complication is that Toda Seigen died in the 1590s. This unreliability of the sources means Kojirō's age could have varied anywhere from his 20s from to as late as his 50s. Even worse, a number of scholars contend that identifying Seigen as Kojirō's teacher is a mistake, and that he was actually trained by a student of Seigen's, Kanemaki Jisai.

Apparently, the young (at the time, around 29 years old) Musashi heard of Kojirō's fame and asked Lord Hosokawa Tadaoki (through the intermediary of Nagaoka Sado Okinaga, a principal vassal of Hosokawa) to arrange a duel. Hosokawa assented, and set the time and place as 13 April 1612, on the comparatively remote island of Ganryujima of Funashima (the strait between Honshū and Kyūshū). The match was probably set in such a remote place because by this time Kojirō had acquired many students and disciples, and had Kojirō lost, they would have attempted to kill Musashi.

According to the legend, Musashi arrived more than three hours late, and goaded Kojirō by taunting him. When Kojirō attacked, his blow came as close as to sever Musashi's topnot or ponytail. He came close to victory several times until, supposedly blinded by the sunset behind Musashi, Musashi struck him on the skull with his bokken (wooden sword), which was over 90 centimeters long. Musashi supposedly fashioned the long bokken by shaving down the spare oar of the boat in which he arrived at the duel with his wakizashi (the wood was very hard). Musashi had been late for the duel on purpose in order to psychologically unnerve his opponent (a tactic used by him on previous occasions, such as during his series of duels with the Yoshioka swordsmen).

Another version of the legend recounts that when Musashi finally arrived, Kojirō shouted insults at him, but Musashi just smiled. Angered even further, Kojirō leapt into combat, blinded by rage. Kojiro attempted his famous "swallow's blade" or "swallow cut," but Musashi's oversized bokken hit Kojiro first, causing him to fall down; before Kojiro could finish his swallow cut, Musashi smashed Kojiro's left rib, puncturing his lungs and killing him. Musashi then hastily retreated to his boat and sailed away. This was Musashi's last fatal duel.

Among other things, this conventional account (drawn from the Nitenki, Kensetsu, and Yoshida Seiken's account), has some problems. Would Musashi only prepare his bokuto while going to the duel site? Could he even have prepared it in time, working the hard wood with his wakizashi? Would that work not have tired him as well? Further, why was the island then renamed after Kojirō, and not Musashi? Other texts completely omit the "late arrival" portion of the story, or change the sequence of actions altogether. Harada Mukashi and a few other scholars believe that Kojiro was actually assassinated by Musashi and his students - the Sasaki clan apparently was a political obstacle to Lord Hosokawa, and defeating Kojirō would be a political setback to his religious and political foes.

The debate still rages today as to whether or not Musashi cheated in order to win that fateful duel or merely used the environment to his advantage. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide. He expected to be pursued by Sasaki's supporters in the event of a victory. The tide carried him to the island then it turned by the time the fight ended. Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight was thus helped by the tide.

"The Clothes / Laundry-Drying Pole"

Kojiro's favored weapon during combat was a straight-edged nodachi or odachi with a blade-length of over 90 cm. (3 feet) long. As a comparison, the average blade-length of the regular katana seldom surpasses 70 cm. It was called the "Monohoshi Zao" (Clothes/Laundry-Drying Pole, often translated into English as "The Drying Pole"). Despite the sword's length and weight, Kojirō's strokes with the weapon were unnaturally quick and precise.

Swallow Cut

Sasaki Kojiro preparing to use his famous "Tsubame Gaeshi" technique.

His favorite technique was both respected and feared throughout feudal Japan. It was called the "Turning Swallow Cut" or "Tsubame Gaeshi" (燕返し lit. "Swallow Reversal / Return"), and was so named because it mimicked the motion of a swallow's tail during flight as observed at Kintaibashi Bridge in Iwakuni. This cut was reputedly so quick and precise that it could strike down a bird in mid-flight. There are no direct descriptions of the technique, but it was compared to two other techniques current at the time: the Itto-ryu's Kinshi Cho Ohken and the Ganryū Kosetsu To; respectively the two involved fierce and swift cuts downward and then immediately upwards. Hence, the "Turning Swallow Cut" has been reconstructed as a technique involving striking downward from above and then instantly striking again in an upward motion from below. The strike's second phase could be from below toward the rear and then upward at an angle, like an eagle climbing again after swooping down on its prey.

Sasaki Kojirō in fiction

• The epic historical adventure fiction novel Musashi, by famed Japanese author Eiji Yoshikawa, features a separate parallel plotline and various sub-plots highlighting the exploits of Sasaki Kojirō Ganryũ. Eventually the Musashi and Kojirō plotlines intertwine, with the pair's famous duel the climax and final chapter of the novel.
• The male half of Team Rocket in the Pokémon anime (Kojirō) was named after him (in English, he is known as James). His partner is a woman named Musashi (or "Jessie" in the English version).
• In the game Brave Fencer Musashi, the title character's sworn rival was named after Kojirō. And in Musashi: Samurai Legend, the main villain was named Gandrake, named after 'Ganryũ'.
• Ukyo Tachibana, a character in SNK's Samurai Shodown series of games, is based on Sasaki Kojirō, and has a special move called the "Tsubame Gaeshi". Haohmaru, is based on Kojirō's rival Miyamoto Musashi.
• The birth and growth of Sasaki Kojirō is also featured in Vagabond (manga) by Takehiko Inoue, a manga dedicated to the life of Miyamoto Musashi, though in it, Sasaki Kojirō is portrayed as being deaf.
• Onimusha Blade Warriors features both Sasaki Kojirō and Miyamoto Musashi as bonus characters.
• Sasaki appears as a unique unplayable character in the video game Samurai Warriors 2, mainly as Musashi's rival swordsman. The only way to "play" as Sasaki is to use Nene's Transformation special maneuver, either with Sasaki as a rival general, or bodyguard. He also appears as a playable character in Samurai Warriors 2: Empires.
• Sasaki Kojirō appears in the manga and anime Kenyuu Densetsu Yaiba as a ghost of himself, and continues appearing as a zombie for the rest of the series.
• Sanada Kazuki, a character in the anime series Hajime no Ippo, employs a piercing double uppercut called the "Tsubame Gaeshi", a reference to Kojirō's special sword technique.
• In the manga and anime Prince of Tennis, one of the character Syusuke Fuji's special counters is called "Tsubame Gaeshi".
• In the anime Ranma 1/2 Kuno finds Kojirō's nodachi in the end of episode 53.
• In the visual novel game and anime Fate/Stay Night, Servant Assassin reveals his true identity as Sasaki Kojirō. His trademark technique is none other than the Tsubame Gaeshi.
• Kojirō appears as the main spirit in the manga Kensei Tsubame (剣聖ツバメ lit. Sword Saint Tsubame), a story about kendo practitioners who become possessed by the spirits of many famous Japanese swordsmen. The protagonist, who is possessed by Kojirō, is named Tsubame Kamoshita. His name is probably a reference to Kojirō's technique.
• Yoshimitsu, from Soul Calibur, has a sword called Monohoshizao, which is the longest sword in his arsenal.

References

• Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings, Kenji Tokitsu (trans. Sherab Chodzin Kohn), Shambhala Press, 2004. ISBN 1-59030-045-9
• Miyamoto Musashi, Eiji Yoshikawa (translated as Musashi by Charles S. Terry ISBN 4-7700-1957-2)
• Sengoku Jinmei Jiten Concise hen, Abe Takeshi and Nishimura Keiko. Shinjin Oraisha, 1990. ISBN 4-404-01752-9