Takuan Sōhō

Takuan Sōhō was a Japanese Rinzai Zen monk, calligrapher and writer of the early Edo period. He became an important religious figure associated with Daitoku-ji and wrote on the relationship between disciplined awareness, action and the martial arts.

Takuan was exiled by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Purple Robe Incident after opposing state interference in Zen ecclesiastical appointments. Later recalled and reconciled with shogunal authority, he became associated in tradition with leading swordsmen including Yagyū Munenori.

In Eiji Yoshikawa’s Earth, Water & Fire, capture and confinement under the Zen monk Takuan Sōhō begin his transformation into Miyamoto Musashi, but a new name does not immediately quiet his pride.