Samurai: The Legend of Miyamoto Musashi | Kyushu Tourism Organization

Day 1: An Ancient Shrine and Fukuoka Street Food

Photo credit: Todd Fong

We began in the Hakata district of Fukuoka city, on the grounds of the ancient Kushida Shrine (although astute Musashi fans know that Kokura Castle in nearby Kitakyushu was an essential part of Musashi lore, this packed three-day itinerary didn't allow me to make a visit there). The shrine's strong connection to samurai history is its patronage from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the powerful ruler of Japan who preceded the Tokugawa Shogunate. Founded around the middle of the 8th century, Kushida Shrine is one of Fukuoka's oldest. It hosts an exciting event called the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival every July. This nearly 800-year-old festival features huge teams of participants running with one-ton floats, some up to 13 meters tall, racing through the city streets. If you are lucky enough to be in Fukuoka during the event, you can join the festive crowd in cheering the participating teams, but even if you are not, you can get a glimpse of these incredibly crafted floats on display on the grounds of the shrine. On my visit, Kushida Shrine was buzzing with activity preparing for the main event happening days after.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

Dinner on this particular night was at a local yatai, a food cart parked along the street, an icon of Fukuoka city's nightlife. Modern yatai are descendants of mobile soba stands carried on the backs of vendors through the streets during the Edo Period, but current menus feature far more than just soba.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

After introducing ourselves to the friendly patrons sitting next to us (a fundamental element of yatai culture) and getting some recommendations, I sampled a delicious bowl of Hakata-style tonkotsu pork bone ramen, a selection of oden (vegetables, eggs, and tofu simmered in dashi broth), and perfectly crispy fried gyoza that popped with flavor in my mouth. Wondering what Musashi might eat at a yatai, I finished with yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) — with one in each hand, of course.

Day 2: Miyamoto Musashi's Late Life in Kumamoto

Less than an hour from Fukuoka by Shinkansen, I arrived in Kumamoto city. Home to Kumamoto Castle, Musashi spent the last few years of his life in this area at the invitation of Hosokawa Tadatoshi, who was then Lord of the Kumamoto Domain. Lord Hosokawa died soon after Musashi arrived, and Musashi, perhaps sensing his own end was near, spent more and more time retreating into the wilderness to meditate and write the documents that would become his life's work.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

I traveled into the mountains west of the castle to Reigando, a cave on the grounds of Unganzenji Temple. Reigando is a sort of pilgrimage for Musashi fanatics as it is where he wrote “The Book of Five Rings" — a meditation on martial arts which is even said to have influenced some foreign business leaders regarding its discourse on conflict which, it’s said, could be relevant to various industries. It is said he passed away in a state of meditation, seated atop the large rock at the mouth of the cave.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

To reach Reigando, I walked along a mossy mountain path wet with drizzle, passing the curious stone sculptures known as the 500 rakan, representations of the Buddha each with distinctive and sometimes comical expressions. Although Musashi had long passed before the rakan were placed here, they seem to act as watchmen over the sacred route to the cave.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

Atop a steep flight of stairs, the cave is sparse, as you'd expect of a place meant for mediation and prayer. But like me, you can sit on the rock where Musashi took his last breath and try to imagine the master swordsman's thoughts as he composed his life's work, “The Book of Five Rings.”
Back in Kumamoto city, another treasure trove for Musashi fans awaits. The Shimada Museum of Art stands in a grove of trees just a few minute's drive from Kumamoto Station. The museum is the incredible collection of Shimada Matomi, who served as a former President of the Musashi Society.

Among nearly 1,000 artifacts and antiques related to samurai history and culture are many materials specific to Musashi himself. Among the expected collection of weapons and arms are the unexpected: calligraphy and paintings. You might not expect a warrior like Musashi to have artistic talent, but Musashi stated in “The Book of Five Rings” that the Warrior's Way is both of the pen and sword, and it is something he clearly embodied.

Having learned a bit about Musashi's life and philosophy, it seemed appropriate to learn something about what he was most famous for — his fighting prowess. Iaido is the art of precision swordsmanship, and Musashi's Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu style is still taught and practiced in Kumamoto at the dojo of Matsunaga Akinori, the 18th-generation head of his branch school.
The first step in learning how to be an authentic samurai is learning how to dress like one. Matsunaga's first lesson is in how to wear hakama, the wide-legged pants that allow ease of motion during the practice of Iaido.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

After putting on the hakama, we moved to the main dojo, where Matsunaga first demonstrated one of the simpler forms of Iaido (he demonstrated more advanced forms after the lesson). The first practical lesson is how to draw and sheath the long sword, an action far more complicated than it sounds. Iaido teaches a swift and stealthy version of drawing a sword, making it difficult for an enemy to perceive exactly what you are doing and how quickly you will be ready to attack.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

After learning how to safely draw and sheath your weapon, Matsunaga instructed us in the first of 60 forms of attack, focusing as much on the footwork as the cutting action. As the master explains, Battou Jutsu is a very practical and efficient style, designed to inflict maximum damage with minimal movement. Ironically, it also focuses on avoiding, not provoking, armed conflict, whenever possible. This is not the swordplay of box office films.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

With the lesson complete, Matsunaga presented survivors, er, participants with a certificate of completion and a custom tenugui towel to wipe the hard-earned sweat from our brows.
You cannot complete your Musashi journey in Kumamoto without a visit to its historic castle. Although Musashi spent little time there after the death of Lord Hosokawa, Kumamoto Castle is a legendary fortress that stands with Himeji Castle and Matsumoto Castle as one of Japan's finest examples of military might and architectural engineering. A pair of major earthquakes in 2016 did considerable damage to the castle, but much of the restoration work was completed by 2021, bringing the castle back to its former glory.

Standing proudly on a hill overlooking the city, the castle proved impregnable during the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, when even 19th-century weapons were of little use to the rebels trying to take the castle from the Imperial government. As such a well-constructed example of historic architecture, you'll find several original buildings intact when visiting the castle.

Day 3: The Life of a Samurai Farmer vs. The Luxury of the Samurai Lords

From Kumamoto, I rode the Shinkansen about 30 minutes into Kagoshima Prefecture, disembarking at Izumi Station. I had literally crossed the border; the modern prefectural border and the historic border dividing the Satsuma and Higo domains (a territory owned or controlled by a particular ruler or government), where conflict could break out at any time during the era of samurai. As a deterrent, the Shimazu clan (one of Japan’s oldest and most renowned warrior families) who controlled the Satsuma Province, stationed their most skilled samurai and their families at Izumi, the stronghold of the border against an attack from the north, a strategy that worked well and kept the fragile peace.

Izumi's strategic importance meant that many that its land got allocated to the samurai as a salary, who built up their houses here, about 150 of which have been preserved today. Most are still private houses, but some are used as museums and even accommodation for visitors curious about the samurai lifestyle.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

Musashi understood the “Way of the Farmer” as one of the four ways warriors pass through life. Here in Izumi, samurai had to be prepared for battle, but during peaceful times they could also spent their lives in peace here, so they also became farmers or artisans to support their families. I visited the former Takezoe Residence and the Izumi-Fumoto History Museum, which display artifacts related to the lives of samurai farmers, including farming equipment and a loom for weaving silk. The other house opened to the public is the Seisho-tei, where the official who was in charge of taxation at Kirishima Shrine lived, and later held a key position in this area. As a ranking politician, his house was full of intriguing features: an escape hatch for his family should the house be attacked, a hidden upper room for private meetings, and an indoor mini-archery range to practice kyudo (a style of traditional Japanese archery) even in poor weather.

Photo credit: Todd Fong

One distinctive experience in Izumi is the opportunity to immerse yourself in samurai history by spending the night here. RITA Izumifumoto is a hotel-style accommodation with six rooms spread across three historical Izumi houses. Each of these houses is over 100 years old and, although the interior is renovated to comfortable modern standards, the exterior remains the same, and retains many of the features and decor of the original homes. Antique furnishing and household goods left behind by former owners are used in the interior design, but comfortable beds and luxurious baths have also been added.

To experience real samurai luxury, however, I needed to board the Shinkansen once more, heading to Kagoshima city. Here, in the well-protected stronghold of the Satsuma Domain, the 19th lord of the Shimazu clan built Sengan-en, a retreat for Shimazu feudal lords overlooking Kagoshima Bay and the volcanic island of Sakurajima. A central feature of Sengan-en is its large landscape garden, which incorporates the view of the bay as a pond and Sakurajima as a hill in its design.
I visited the main house, where members of the Shimazu clan lived and met with important guests. The design and decor of the house hint at the family's vast wealth, and the changing decor records the changing times from when the house was first built until the end of the last Lord of Satsuma's reign in the late 19th century.
The grounds themselves are a veritable treasure chest to explore, including one of Japan's rare shrines dedicated to cats and a stately grove of Moso bamboo imported from China in the 18th century. Wandering the villa's grounds reminded me that the life of the samurai wasn't all about battle but also about finding peace and tranquility through the beauty of nature.

My Miyamoto Musashi-inspired tour ended in Kagoshima, where I transferred to Kagoshima Airport for a convenient return flight to Tokyo International Airport at Haneda. Connections to the airport by bus are available from many major locations around Kagoshima, including the major train stations. I couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness at leaving Kyushu, but as Musashi wrote in “Dokkodo” — "Never let yourself be saddened by a separation." So I took heart in the hope that sometime in the near future, I would reunite with my beloved Kyushu.