was a Japanese swordsman who may have lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods and is known primarily for the story of his duel with Miyamoto Musashi in 1612, where Sasaki was killed. Although suffering from defeat as well as death at the hands of Musashi, he is a revered and respected warrior in Japanese history and culture. Later Miyamoto proclaimed that Sasaki Kojirō was the strongest opponent he faced in his life.

In popular culture

Like most of the well-known samurai of his era, Sasaki was depicted in several places: *He plays a central role in the novel, Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa. His life is described in a parallel storyline. *In various film adaptations of his story or that of Miyamoto Musashi. For example, in ''Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijōji no kettō'' (''Samurai 2: Duel at Ichijoji Temple''; 1955; Director / Screenplay: Hiroshi Inagaki). *In the manga '' Vagabond'', he plays a central role alongside Musashi and is shown here as deaf. *Tachibana Ukyo from the computer game '' Samurai Shodown'' is modelled after Sasaki, just like the character Haōmaru is modelled after Miyamoto Musashi. His signature technique is also called Tsubame Gaeshi. *In the visual novel and anime '' Fate/stay night'', Sasaki also played the role of a minor character. *In the video game '' Brave Fencer Musashi'', the archrival of the protagonist (Musashi) was named after him. *In the '' Pokémon series'', the original Japanese name for the Flying-type move Aerial Ace is ''Tsubame Gaeshi''. Additionally, the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

characters Jessie and James are known in Japan as Musashi and Kojirō, respectively. *In the anime and manga '' Record of Ragnarok'', Sasaki is one of the thirteen fighters chosen to represent humanity in the Ragnarok tournament. Known as "History's Greatest Loser", he faces against the Greek god Poseidon and beats him in the third round of the tournament. *An ōdachi named the "Washing Pole" is a weapon attainable by the player in the 2011 action RPG '' Dark Souls'' and its sequels '' Dark Souls II'' and '' Dark Souls III''. *In the anime and manga " Hajime no Ippo", a reference to Kojiro is made, and his sword movements are repurposed as boxing punches. The first time seen in a fight against the protagonist " Ippo Makunouchi" the user of the "flight of the swallow" is " Kazuki Sanada".

References

Sources

* ''Miyamoto Musashi: His Life and Writings'', Kenji Tokitsu (trans. Sherab Chodzin Kohn), Shambhala Press, 2004. * ''Miyamoto Musashi'', Eiji Yoshikawa (translated as '' Musashi'' by Charles S. Terry ) *

In popular culture

See also

References

Sources

Further reading