Few warriors have inspired as many stories as Miyamoto Musashi, the most famous of Japanese samurais. Historian Hitomi Tonomura recalls how much his legend influenced children's games in Japan. As a child, she would duel with a friend using sticks, reproducing the two-sword combat technique of the samurai. "All children know Miyamoto Musashi," she exclaims. Venerated for his unmatched talent, Miyamoto Musashi has been immortalized in art, literature, cinema, theater, and manga, as well as in a recently released video game, Ghost of Yōtei. According to Nate Fox, artistic director at Sucker Punch, the game "is directly inspired by Musashi's Book of Five Rings, particularly regarding improvisation and the relentless search for any combat advantage." Two characters are also inspired by the revered swordsmen: a sensei who teaches the hero to wield two swords and a legendary character celebrated for creating the two-sword combat style. In addition, Nate Fox notes the presence of some references, as "we understand that with this hero who fights with two swords, it was necessary to recognize that the technique came from a great master who perfected it." Nearly four centuries after his death, here is what history reveals about the most persistent cultural icon of Japan. WHO WAS MIYAMOTO MUSASHI? The first thing to know about Miyamoto Musashi is that we have very little information about him. Whether it be his name or his date of birth, everything is debated among researchers. We know that he was a skilled samurai, born in the early 1580s (probably in 1582 or 1584) and died in 1645. "Miyamoto Musashi" is one of the many names he used throughout his life, but it was not his birth name nor the name indicated on his tombstone. According to researchers, the samurai was likely adopted. The translator and scholar Alexander Bennett goes so far as to suggest, based on the narratives describing his behavior and relationships, that the samurai would likely be considered today as having autism spectrum disorder. Miyamoto Musashi was mainly known as the founder of the two-sword school and is considered a kensei, or "saint of the sword." However, like most samurais of the time, Miyamoto's talents were not limited to combat. The man reached adulthood at the end of the Japanese Warring States period, a century of civil war that ended with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603. The return of peace forced samurais to redefine their role. These warriors then became scholars, bureaucrats, and artists. In his book titled Miyamoto Musashi. Master of the Japanese Sword of the 17th Century, sociologist and martial arts practitioner Kenji Tokitsu draws parallels between Miyamoto Musashi and Leonardo da Vinci, "due to the extension of his art into a multitude of domains and the way he pushed the limits of knowledge of the time." Miyamoto was an accomplished painter of sumi-e (monochrome ink painting), sculptor, and calligrapher. At the end of his life, the samurai wrote his most significant work: a series of scrolls titled The Book of Five Rings. In this work, Miyamoto explains that a warrior must remain calm and focused, that he must never let his emotions or distractions decide his actions. Although these writings were primarily addressed to other warriors, they provide strategic and philosophical teachings that still influence the modern world today. A LEGEND What we know about Miyamoto largely belongs to legend rather than history. Over the centuries, storytellers have filled in the shadows of his life with duels, rivalries, and almost miraculous feats. According to Miyamoto himself, he would have fought and killed a man in a duel at the age of thirteen. He also claimed to have fought and won more than sixty duels (an impressive number, even for an accomplished samurai). His most famous duel opposed him to the warrior Sasaki Kojirō (also nicknamed "Ganryū"). According to legend, he would have ended the fight with a single blow of a wooden sword. However, despite the countless stories and the existence of a commemorative statue on the island of Ganryujima, Kojirō himself may never have existed. Miyamoto's life quickly became a favorite subject for artists and dramatists. It has been the subject of various works, from kabuki plays to paintings. Although many of them date back several centuries, Alexander Bennett states that they were essentially works of art created by admirers rather than historical documents. It would take several centuries before Miyamoto's legend was revived among a new audience. In 1935, the writer Yoshikawa Eiji began publishing a series of stories about the famous samurai in a Tokyo newspaper. He did so for four years before the stories were finally compiled into a book, thus reintroducing Miyamoto Musashi to the average Japanese reader. Although these texts are almost entirely fictional, most modern portrayals of the samurai have been heavily influenced by the writer's work. Miyamoto Musashi's life may be surrounded by myths, but his impact is undeniable. His ideas on concentration and self-mastery still resonate today, from martial arts studios to modern pop culture. "Miyamoto Musashi is the ultimate duelist," says Nate Fox. "His story, that of a man who challenged conventions and imposed himself, is an inspiration."