Like al of his kind, Musashi was not just a warrior by choice, but also by descent. One of the things that makes his case so fascinating is his complicated background. On his grandfather’s side, he was a descendant of the Hirata clan. Well before Musashi’s birth however, his father, Muni, had entered the service of the Shinmen Munesada, a minor local chieftain, and once the lord of Takeyama castle near Miyamoto village. He had done so by marrying Munesada’s daughter, Omasa.
Omasa died while giving birth to Musashi, and the young boy grew up being raised by his stepmother, Yoshiko, whose Bessho clan, belonged to a junior line of the Akamatsu. And it was through his stepmother that, at the tender age of nine, Musashi was introduced to Dōrin, the monk who would have a seminal influence on Musashi’s personality.
Reason enough, then, to take a closer look at the various members of Musashi’s clan and their fascinating lives in a world in turmoil.
