Ganryujima – A small boat shaped island
Located in the Kanmon straights lies a small unassuming boat shaped island, at first glance it appears like any other island there are no buildings or notable features. The island can be reached via a 10-minute ferry from Shimonoseki port or Mojiko Port for under 1000 yen. The island itself is very small just 100 meters at is widest, and visitors can spend around an hour here with time to sit and admire the sea. So why visit? What is so special about this island that a ferry is offered at all?
For these answers, let’s turn back the clock 400 years to April the 13th, the year is 1612 it is the early Edo period, we meet our protagonist for our story his name Miyamoto Musashi. A man renowned for his swordsmanship, famous for his strategies and using double blades in his fights. He is known for being one of the greatest swordsmen, a man who went undefeated in combat for 62 duals. This man is making his way to our unassuming island for what is to become one of the most celebrated duals of the samurai period. His rival is Sasaki Kojiro, it is still debated who challenged who, however we know both renowned swordsmen agreed to meet at 8am bright and early to test their strengths. This fight was the result of one year of planning and many were excited to see the result. The island took its name from a sword school which had been founded by Kojiro, the proper name for the island was Funajima. Spectators flocked to the small, tiny island and eagerly awaited Musashi’s arrival. Both men were renowned and famous for their skills.
It is agreed that Musashi arrived late, in fact he was two hours late and whilst paddling to the small, tiny island he had fashioned his oar into a striking new sword. Wooden swords are known as bokken and are usually used for practice. He was making his way up from Kumamoto. Whilst waiting for his opponent it is said that Kojiro began to loudly curse his opponent’s lateness and grew irritated, according to records he later regained his composure. This of course being a time long before the birth of the telephone, so perhaps in his mind he was wondering if he had been set up and his opponent had simply decided to not show. Kojiro perhaps a fan of the Monster hunter games is said to have wielded an overly large sword that required two hands to lift.
The crowd gathered must have grown very excited and loud when the small boat carrying our protagonist arrived on the island. In a true anime fashion, the loud Kojiro called Musashi out on his lateness and drew his overly large weapon, throwing its scabbard aside. Calmly Musashi replied, “You’ve lost”, after asking why he was so sure Musashi followed up with perhaps the coolest line from the season. “If you were going to win, you’d have needed your scabbard again later” sick burn! He took a few steps out of his boat and in true anime blink and you’ve missed it fashion, Kojiro went in for his attack! The calm composed Musashi not wasting a moment replied with the fastest of blows killing him instantly. He bowed and returned to his boat and rowed away. Perhaps spending the smallest amount of time possible on the island. Visitors today must wait about half an hour for another boat to take them of the island.
The island solidified its place in history and is famous today with anyone with an interest in swordsmanship, samurai or a fan of Musashi who went on to live a long life. The island has a statue depicting the famous duel and a boat shaped marker to pinpoint the moment the fatal blow was landed. Asides this the island is still unassuming there are places to have a BBQ and toilets. For Pokémon Go players there are two lids to be collected for the stamp rally depicting Team Rockets famous Pokémon from the show Koffing and Weezing. Asides this the island is easily overlooked by most.
I visited the island when I had some free time before a flight and it was certainly atmospheric. The views of the surrounding area are worth seeing if you have some time and the island has a great view of the bridge connecting Honshu and Kyushu. I hope today that sharing some history about the location allows readers to discover something new and perhaps grow an interest.
