Vagabond is a seinen manga by Takehiko Inoue, serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Morning since 1998 and adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. Set between the late Sengoku period and the early Tokugawa era, it follows Shinmen Takezo (later Miyamoto Musashi), who flees after defeat at the Battle of Sekigahara together with his friend Hon'iden Matahachi and sets out on a path to master the sword and become "unrivaled under heaven." Along the way he fights for his life against swordsmen of the Yoshioka school and Yagyu Sekishusai's circle, while constantly examining his own murderous impulses and weakness. The Sasaki Kojiro storyline is Inoue's own invention, portraying Kojiro as a deaf-mute swordsman who achieves oneness of self and blade through a pure heart. From the Kojiro arc onward, Inoue's art shifts to a striking ink-wash style, and the cover calligraphy is by calligrapher Huang Ming-sheng. This volume is the eighth in the series (the color edition from Hong Kong's Comics World), picking up right after Miyamoto Musashi's fateful duel with Yagyu Sekishusai and the transitional passage that follows: two souls locked in fierce combat intertwine violently, and the duel will eventually be buried deep in history; meanwhile Matahachi churns endlessly through jealousy, romantic love, and self-doubt. The collected edition runs 37 volumes in total and has won the 24th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category, the 4th Japan Media Arts Festival Award in the manga division, and the 6th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for manga. Cumulative circulation in Japan has exceeded 60 million copies.
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Eiji Yoshikawa (1892–1962) was a native of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and a leading author of Japanese popular literature, hailed as a “national writer.” After leaving school early, he worked as a printer and a shipyard worker, among other jobs, while continuing to educate himself. He entered the literary world in 1914 and later became known for his historical novels. His works are mostly drawn from Japanese and Chinese history, and he excelled at portraying personal growth and the sweep of an era within a framework of historical fact, in a style that is accessible and deeply engaging. His major works include Musashi, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The New Taiko Chronicles, Kuroda Josui, and Minamoto no Yoritomo. This library holds 46 of his works, including several volumes of the Three Kingdoms series and the complete Musashi. His historical novels have long enjoyed a wide readership and have had a significant influence on the development of Japanese popular literature.
