Page 126 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

the force of arms. Musashi's ink painting of the monk Hotei (cat. 84) shows two fighting cocks and the

enlightened man looking on with a benign expression, much as the priestly Musashi himself must have
looked back on his own violent past. In his last days Musashi enjoyed the hospitality and sponsorship
of the Hosokawa daimyo, as later fencing masters were to obtain similar positions of trust with the feu-
dal lords. Musashi was an individualist, but other swordsmen throughout the Edo period followed the
constant, arduous fencing traditions laid down by their respective schools in pursuit of a similar state
of invincibility and spiritual enlightenment.

cat. 84 125
Miyamoto Musashi,
Hotei and Fighting Cocks,
seventeenth century,
hanging scroll;
ink on paper,
7
71 x 32.7 (28 x i2 /s),
Fukuoka Art Museum,
Important Art Object