Ichijoji

Sumi-e, strategy and swordsmanship - inspired by the arts of Miyamoto Musashi

Wednesday, 23 July 2025

Early summer rains – water and weather in swordsmanship

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Travellers sheltering from the rain ‘This endless rain’ wrote Ki no Tsurayuki in the 10th century in a poem about the rainy season. This is ...
Tuesday, 20 May 2025

Short Swords - tantô-chokunyû (単刀直入) – getting straight to the point

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  Still from the movie Sekigahara (2017) – good use of a short sword. The katana is, perhaps, the sword most closely associated with the sam...
Saturday, 15 March 2025

Decoding Armored Combat - the NHK Way

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I try not to spend too much time scrolling through online feeds, but like most of us, I suspect, I often find myself doing it more than I wo...
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Sunday, 9 February 2025

Duel in the Snow - The Sword of Doom

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The snow yesterday (not so common these days, and comparatively light compared to much of the rest of the country) reminded me of this cla...
Tuesday, 31 December 2024

After the Dragon: Enter the Snake - Japanese New Year 2025

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  So an old year leaves and a new one comes around. And in Japan that means the start of a new animal year according to the Chinese zodiac (...
Wednesday, 11 December 2024

The military rake in times of peace – from the battlefield to civilian protection – part 2

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  A real antique kumade - this one was more than  260cm long We looked at the military rake (kumade) last month, so now it’s time to see how...
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About Me

Chris Hellman
The title of this blog, Ichijoji, refers to the site of the battle between Miyamoto Musashi and the massed forces of the Yoshioka clan. It was also, as it happens, not more than ten minutes away from where I used to live, on the eastern edge of Kyoto. It is, for me, powerfully redolent of the mystery and romance of Japan. Musashi himself is an emblematic figure, and his skill in a range of arts to which I have devoted years of study myself -swordsmanship, strategy and sumi-e, make it an apt title for this blog.
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