Waka The thirty-one syllable poem. The word means "Song of Japan" or "Song in Harmony".

Pen and sword "Bunbu Itchi" or "Pen and sword in accord" is often presented in brushed calligraphy. Young men during the Tokugawa period were educated solely in writing the Chinese classics and exercising in swordplay. Pen and sword, in fact, filled the life of the Japanese nobility.

Resolute acceptance of death This idea can be summed up as the philosophy expounded in Ha Gakure or "Hidden Leaves", a book written in the seventeenth century by Yamamoto Tsunenori and a few other samurai of the province Nabeshima Han, present-day Saga. Under the Tokugawas, the enforced logic of the Confucius-influenced system ensured stability among the samurai, but it also meant the passing of certain aspects of Bushido. Discipline for both samurai and commoners became lax. Yamamoto Tsunenori had been counsellor to Mitsushige, lord of Nabeshima Han, for many years, and upon his lord's death he wanted to commit suicide with his family in the traditional manner. This kind of suicide was strictly prohibited by the new legislation, and, full of remorse, Yamamoto retired in sadness to the boundary of Nabeshima Han. Here he met others who had faced the same predicament, and together they wrote a lament of what they saw as the decadence of Bushido. Their criticism is a revealing comment on the changing face of Japan during Musashi's lifetime: "There is no way to describe what a warrior should do other than that he should adhere to the Way of the warrior (Bushido). I find that all men are negligent of this. There are few men who can quickly reply to the question "What is the Way of the Warrior?" This is because they do not know in their hearts. From this we can see they do not follow the Way of the warrior. By the Way of the warrior is meant death. The Way of the warrior is death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. It means nothing more than this. It means to see things through, being resolved. Sayings like "To die with your intention unrealized is to die uselessly", and so on, are from the weak Kyoto, Osaka Bushido. They are unresolved as to whether to keep to their original plan when faced with the choice of life and death. Every man wants to live. They theorize with staying alive kept in mind. "The man who lives on when he has failed in his intention is a coward" id a heartless definition. That to die having failed is to die uselessly is a mad point of view. This is not a shameful thing. It is the most important thing to the Way of the warrior. If you keep your spirit correct from morning to night, accustomed to the idea of death and resolved on death, and consider yourself as a dead body, thus becoming one with the Way of the warrior, you can pass through life with no possibility of failure and perform your office properly.
"The servant must think earnestly of the business of his employer. Such a fellow is a splendid retainer. In this house there have been generations of splendid gentlemen and we are deeply impressed by their warm kindness... all our ancestors. This was simply abandoning body and soul for sake of their lord.
"Moreover, our house excels in wisdom and technical skill. What a joyful thing if this can be used to advantage.
"Even an unadaptable man who is completely useless is a most trusted retainer if he does nothing more than think earnestly of his lord's welfare. To think only of the practical benefit of wisdom and technology is vulgar.
"Some men are prone to having sudden inspirations. SOme men do not quickly have good ideas by arrive at the answer by slow consideration. Well, if we investigate the heart of the matter, even though people's natural abilities differ, bearing in mind the Four Oaths, when your thinking rises above concern for your own welfare, wisdom which is independant of thought appears. Whoever thinks deeply on things, even though he may carefully consider the future, will usually think around the basis of his own welfare. By the result of such evil thinking he will only perform evil acts. It is very difficult for most silly fellows to rise above thinking of their own welfare.
"So when you embark upon something, before you start fix your intention on the Four Oaths and put selfishness behind you.
Then you cannot fail. "The Four Oaths: Never be late with respect to the Way of the warrior. Be useful to the lord. Be respectful to your parents. Get beyond love and grief: exist only for the good of man."

Kashima Kantori shrines The original schools of Kendo can be found in the traditions preserved in Shinto shrines. Many of the school ancestors are entombed in the Kanto area, not far from Tokyo, where the Kashima and Kantori shrines still stand. Arima Kihei, the samurai whom Musashi killed at the age of thirteen, was a fencer of the Shinto school associated with the shrines. The Yagyu school was derived from Kashima style. Shinto was a religion of industry in everyday life, and the War Gods enshrined at Kashima and Kantori are still invoked today as part of the everyday practice of the Shinto school.

Dojo "Dojo" means "Way place", the room where something is studied.

Four Ways See Translator's Introduction for an explaination of the four classes in Japanese society.

Carpenter All buildings in Japan, except for the walls of the great castles which appeared a few generations before Musashi's birth, were wooden. "Carpenter" means architect and builder.

Four Houses There were four branches of the Fujiwara family, who dominated Japan in the Heian period. There are also four different schools of tea.

Warrior house The warrior families who had been in control of Japan for most of her history kept private armies, each with its own commander.

Sliding doors Japanese buildings made liberal use of sliding doors, detachable walls, and shutters made of wood which were put over door openings at night and in bad weather.

Like a trooper, the carpenter sharpens his own tools Sharpening and polishing the Japanese sword is today undertaken only by a specialist, but perhaps the art was more widespread in the age of war. If a sword is imperfectly polished and the surface of the blade is incorrectly shaped, even if it is a very sharp, fine weapon it will not cut at all well.

Small shrines Small shrines to the Shinto gods are found in every Japanese home.

Five books Go Rin No Sho means a book of five rings. The "Go Dai" (Five Greats) of Buddhism are the five elements which make up the cosmos: ground, water, fire, wind, void. The "Go Rin" (Five Rings) of Buddhism are the five parts of the human body: head, left and right elbows, and left and right knees.

Wind The Japanese character for "wind" also means "style".

Void The void, or Nothingness, is a Buddhist term for the illusionary nature of worldly things.

Two swords The samurai wore two swords thrust thru the belt with the cutting edges upward on the left side. The shorter, or companion, sword was carried at all times, and the longer sword was only worn out of doors. From time to time there were rules governing the style and length of swords. Samurai carried two swords but other classes were allowed only one sword for protection against brigands on the roads between towns (see Translator's Introduction). The samurai kept their short swords at their bedsides, and there were racks for long swords inside the vestibule of every samurai home.

Spear and halberd The techniques for spear and halberd fighting are the same as those of sword fighting. Spears were first popular in the Muromachi period, primarily as arms for the vast armies of common infantry, and later became objects of decoration for the processions of the daimyo to and from the capital in the Tokugawa period. The spear is used to cut and thrust, and is not thrown.
The halberd and similar weapons with long curved blades were especially effective against cavalry, and came to be used by women who might have to defend their homes in the absence of menfolk. The art is widely studied by women today.

The gun The Japanese gun was matchlock, the form in which it was first introduced into the country by missionaries. The matchlock remained until the nineteenth century.

Dancing There are various kinds of dancing. There are festival dances, such as the harvest dance, which incorporate local characteristics and are very colourful, sometimes involving many people. There is Noh theatre, which is enacted by a few performers using stylizes dance-like movements. There are also dances of fan and dances of sword.

Indoor techniques Dojos were mostly indoors where a great deal of formality and ritual was observed, safe from prying eyes of rival schools.

Teruo Magonojo The pupil, sometimes called Teruo Nobuyuki, to whom Musashi addressed Go Rin No Sho.