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      One of the Edo period’s most famous samurai, Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi would probably have been relegated to obscurity in Japanese history if modern storytellers were not intrigued by a lapse of twelve years from his life in official records.

      A minor daimyō family, the Yagyū held lands in present day Nara Prefecture and founded the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū style of martial arts. Following a superb display of swordsmanship by Yagyū Muneyoshi and his younger son, Tajima no Kami Munenori, in 1594 in Kyoto, Tokugawa Ieyasu employed Munenori as kenjutsu instructor for the Tokugawa clan. Munenori fought on the side of the Tokugawa during the battle of Sekigahara, after which his pupil became the first Tokugawa shōgun (Japan’s military government leader). Yagyū Munenori continued to serve as official kenjutsu instructor to the Tokugawa shōgunate in Edo for three generations, passing the position to his son, Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi.

      Not much is actually known about Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi. Born Shichiro, he grew up in the Yagyū family’s domain near Nara until moving to Edo in 1616 to become an attendant to the second Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Hidetada. Eventually he assumed his father’s role as kenjutsu instructor under the third Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Iemitsu. Although generally regarded as the best skilled swordsman in the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, the 24-year-old Jūbei was summarily dismissed by the shōgun, supposedly for drunkenness. He is not heard from again in the records until 1643 when a 36-year-old Jūbei suddenly reappears at a martial arts demonstration before the shōgun, after which he is inexplicably reinstated as kenjutsu instructor to the Tokugawa shōgunate.

      It was a common Japanese practice to embark on long pilgrimages to religiously significant temples and shrines to obtain spiritual enlightenment through physical effort. To supplement and enhance their martial arts training, Japanese samurai would occasionally wander throughout the countryside, supposedly to challenge other schools and to further develop their own skills by matching themselves against worthy opponents. This form of spiritual and physical training is referred to as musha-shugyō (warrior journey).

      The missing twelve years and the lack of specific evidence has led many to speculate that his dismissal was actually a scheme devised to allow Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi to travel through various provinces on a musha-shugyō while secretly collecting information on political and military activities for the Tokugawa shōgunate. The mystery surrounding his whereabouts during this period has also sparked various myths and legends. One of the best known is the legend of Yagyū Matajuro, a story illustrating the importance of the mental state known in Zen Buddhism as zanshin (constant peripheral awareness).