Diese epische Saga taucht in das Herz des feudalen Japans des 17. Jahrhunderts ein, ein Land, das sich von langwierigen Konflikten erholt und nach einer neuen Ordnung sucht. Sie verfolgt die Reise eines ehrgeizigen, aber zunächst herrenlosen Kriegers, der seinen Weg durch die Kunst des Schwertes findet. Die Erzählung ist eine tiefgründige Auseinandersetzung mit persönlichem Wachstum, unermüdlicher Ausdauer und dem Streben nach Meisterschaft im Kampf und im Leben. Sie schildert die Verwandlung eines einfachen Kämpfers in eine beständige Legende, die nicht nur die Schwertkunst beherrscht, sondern auch ein bleibendes philosophisches Erbe hinterlässt.
Eine Reise in die Welt der Samurai: Yoshikawa schildert den dramatischen Prozeß der Selbstfindung des bedeutendsten Schwertritters im Japan des 17. Jahrhunderts, der zugleich der Weg eines Mannes ist, der durch den Staub zu den Sternen geht. Das Epos über das Leben, die Geisteshaltung und Geschichte der Menschen eines faszinierenden Landes.
Miyamoto Musashi fue un samurai que ha pasado a la Historia como el mejor guerrero que ha dado Japón y se ha convertido en un símbolo nacional, ya que representa a la cultura japonesa más tradicional.- En su peregrinar por Japón, la fama de Musashi ha ido aumentando a la par que su creciente dominio del Camino de la Espada. Convertido en un espadachín ejemplar, los grandes señores del Japón feudal quieren emplearlo y hacer de él su siervo, convencidos de la tremenda valía de su brazo. Sin embargo, Musashi no es el único guerrero cuyo nombre está en boca de todos: como él, Sasaki Kojiro se ha hecho con una reputación sin parangón. Sólo uno de ellos puede quedar como el más grande
They were the two most feared swordsmen of their age: Miyamoto Musashi, mysterious and introspective, and Sasaki Kojiro, arrogant and ambitious. In war-torn Japan, each was thrust forward as a hero of opposing sides . . . and began their final epic confrontation.
The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi was the child of an era when Japan was emerging from decades of civil strife. Lured to the great Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 by the hope of becoming a samurai-without really knowing what it meant-he regains consciousness after the battle to find himself lying defeated, dazed and wounded among thousands of the dead and dying. On his way home, he commits a rash act, becomes a fugitive and brings life in his own village to a standstill-until he is captured by a weaponless Zen monk. The lovely Otsu, seeing in Musashi her ideal of manliness, frees him from his tortuous punishment, but he is recaptured and imprisoned. During three years of solitary confinement, he delves into the classics of Japan and China. When he is set free again, he rejects the position of samurai and for the next several years pursues his goal relentlessly, looking neither to left nor to right. Ever so slowly it dawns on him that following the Way of the Sword is not simply a matter of finding a target for his brute strength. Continually striving to perfect his technique, which leads him to a unique style of fighting with two swords simultaneously, he travels far and wide, challenging fighters of many disciplines, taking nature to be his ultimate and severest teacher and undergoing the rigorous training of those who follow the Way. He is supremely successful in his encounters, but in the Art of War he perceives the way of peaceful and prosperous governance and disciplines himself to be a real human being. He becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and been touched by. And, inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival.
