MIYAMOTO MUSASHI vs SASAKI KOJIRO
THE LAST DUEL (14/04/1612)
GANRYU ISLAND

SOUNDTRACK COMPOSER BY MILTON ISEJIMA

HISTORY (Wikipedia)

Like his adversary Musashi, he was also very tall (about 5 ft. 10 in. or 1.78 m), a giant compared to the average Japanese at that time.
Apparently, the young Musashi, at the time, around 29 years old, heard of Kojirō's fame and asked Lord Hosokawa Tadaoki, through an intermediary, Nagaoka Sado Okinaga, a principal vassal of Tadaoki, to arrange a duel. Tadaoki 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 were Kojirō to lose, they would probably 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 so close as to sever Musashi's chonmage. He came close to victory several times until, supposedly, he was blinded by the sunset behind Musashi, who struck him on the skull with his oversized bokken, or wooden sword, which was 110 centimetres (43 in) long. Musashi had supposedly fashioned the long bokken, a type called a suburitō due to its above-average length, by shaving down the spare oar of the boat in which he arrived at the duel with his wakizashi. Musashi came late on purpose in order to psychologically unnerve his opponent, a tactic he had used 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, blind with rage. Kojirō attempted his famous "swallow's blade" or "swallow cut", but Musashi's oversized bokken hit Kojirō first, causing him to fall down; before Kojirō could finish his swallow cut, Musashi smashed Kojirō'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. Kenji Tokitsu discusses a number of obscurities and counterintuitive claims that have been identified in the account by him and previous scholars. 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 Kojirō was actually assassinated by Musashi and his students – the Sasaki clan apparently was a political obstacle to Lord Hosokawa, and defeating Kojirō would have been 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 Kojirō'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.