The Withered Field

First Published: November, 1996 by Dark Horse Comics

• Miyamoto Usagi
• Nakamura Koji
• FIXME char-ueno
• Sensei Katsuichi

Shugyosha

Challenging an established fencing school was a common practice for the shugyosha <Student Warriors>, the samurai who went on the road seeking to hone their skills rather than serve a lord. Miyamoto Musashi did it a number of times, the most famous of which, his duel with the Yoshioka school, inspired a scene in "The Withered Field."

I heavily condensed the pre-fight etiquette ritual because of space, but for a more detailed depiction I refer you to The Deity and the Sword by Risuke Otake. Another fine book is Flashing Steel by Shimabu Kuro and Pellman (thank you, Chuck Arnold for giving it to me). Both books contain lots of photographs and are excellent references. I also recommend the movies Tange Sazen and Inagaki's Duel at Ichijoji Temple (the second part of his Samurai Trilogy) which has some nice sequences of duels in a school.

After watching a match at the Sururdoi School of Swordsmanship, Usagi makes the acquaintance of the master swordsman Nakamura Koji. Instructor Ishii of the School, jealous of Koji's skills, sends students to assassinate him, but Usagi and Koji kill the would-be assassins and leave town.

When Master Ueno of the Surudoi School arrives to make amends for the wrongful act of his Instructor and students, Koji accepts his invitation to a duel. Then, Koji coerces Usagi into a duel, and gives a verbal message for Usagi's own master, Katsuichi, to meet him in one year's time at the Kitanoji Temple....

Last change: 19. May 2003

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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.