Sasaki Kojiro (佐々木 小次郎) known as the "Crazy Tiger from Echizen" is one of the main protagonists of Vagabond. He is the legendary arch-rival of Miyamoto Musashi. In Vagabond he is portrayed as deaf-mute.
Appearance[]
A young man with long, flowing hair and what others describe as an innocent, child-like face. He is slightly taller than Musashi.
Personality[]
His personality is very playful, almost child-like. Despite this he is also very sexually active. He enjoys duelling against opponents - his way of communicating with people.
Plot[]
Kojiro arc[]
Kojiro's Upbringing[]
Kojiro is born to Sasaki Sukeyasu and his wife. Late spring of 1583, the Kitanosho Castle is about to be destroyed in the Battle of Shizugatake. Kojiro as well as his mother are sent to his father's former master, Jisai Kanemaki, to avoid death. However, Kojiro's mother dies during travel.
Jisai after finding infant Kojiro
After three years of raising Kojiro, Jisai is visited by Ito Ittosai who once was a student of Jisai's. Ittosai informs him that Kojiro is deaf, a news that shocks Jisai who was unaware of Kojiro's disability. Whilst initially reluctant to raise a deaf child, Jisai comes to love Kojiro as his son. Meanwhile, Kojiro becomes fond of the long sword that belonged to his biological father. Although Kojiro exhibited incredible skill with the sword, Jisai is nevertheless reluctant to teach Kojiro, fearing that a deaf boy could never master the sword and would surely end up dead and believed that Kojiro would forever be dependant on him.
Jisai promising to protect Kojiro
Fudo's Menace[]
All changes when Kojiro is 9. After a bad year for fishing, the villages' resources diminish and so do the offerings for the rogue swordsman Yugetsusai Fudo who terrorizes and takes the village girls when they turn 14. Many years prior, Fudo was the village savior. The village decides to kill him however, the villagers are not trained in combat and instead ask Jisai to kill Fudo, knowing he is a swordmaster. Initially refusing due to his deteorating health, Jisai eventually accepts when a family that provides food for Kojiro and him plead for their daughter. In addition, Jisai places a condition where the villagers must attack Fudo should he fail to do so.
Concurrently, Kojiro begins to get picked on for being Jisai's son as well as deaf. Initially believing that the other kids were laughing and having fun, Kojiro attempts to play with them only to get tackled, beat up and in pain. Kojiro then gets up and beats up all the kids. After defeating the children, they bow down to Kojiro as acceptance of their loss but Kojiro does not seem relieved that he has won, rather Kojiro begins to cry. Subsequently, the kids in the village and their leader Tenki Kusanagi, befriend Kojiro and Tenki Kusanagi becomes best friends over their shared love of sword fighting. Nonetheless, a consequence of their love for sword fighting is that Tenki wants to defeat Fudo with Kojiro.
Fudo arrives. The village prepares the attack, but Kojiro and Tenki get ahead and burn Fudo's house, starting the fight. Fudo defeats Tenki, but Kojiro amputates his right arm. However, Fudo continues, steals Kojiro's sword and intends to kill Kojiro with it. Right then, Jisai pushes Kojiro out of the way and Jisai attacks Fudo. In the process, Jisai gets his right arm cut deeply to the point that he would not be able to use it correctly again, but ultimately succeeds in taking Fudo down. The village celebrates and gives Jisai honor, but he declines and continues living humbly. After Fudo's reign of terror concluded, Jisai begins teaching sword fighting to the village kids. His classes start to have many students, but he denies entry to Kojiro. From then on, Jisai and Kojiro battle everyday about allowing Kojiro to train, with Jisai always winning however in turn, this teaches Kojiro how to fight.
Ittosai's Return[]
Timeskip to when Kojiro is 17. Autumn. The village uneases in the prelude of the Battle of Sekigahara. While Jisai and Kojiro fight once again over Kojiro not being allowed to train, Ittosai Ito returns, much to the dismay of his former master Jisai, and meets Kojiro. Contrary to Jisai, Ittosai affirms that Kojiro is a natural fighter stating that Kojiro is a tiger and attacks Kojiro for being disrespectful for not fighting Jisai with his full strength. That night Ittosai is at the beach, when he is challenged by a group of 5 swordsmen from the Yoshioka school that includes the Yoshioka members Denshichiro Yoshioka and Ryohei Ueda. The group have been following Ittosai in an attempt to be trained by him. Ittosai sees Kojiro nearby and invites him to fight the men and numbers the men by points. Some men being worth 7 or 6 points while Ittosai is worth 10,000; making the fight into a game. Kojiro sticks his fingers into Denshichiro's nostrils which makes them bleed.
Ittosai attacks one man who was in his sword range. Then, Ittosai orders the men including Kojiro to fight each other for points until there is one left standing, who will fight him. In the fight, a Yoshioka student is killed, then Kojiro enters and defeats other two. Then Kojiro fights Denshichiro but Kojiro is too calm which causes Ittosai to stop observing and attack Kojiro and make him wounded to remind him that those who die first are the ones that are numb to fear. Once Kojiro realizes what's at stake after being wounded, the fight resumes with Denshichiro. The two are novice and have numerous problems during the fight. After they have lost too much blood, they hurry to a final collision. Kojiro wins. In the fight's aftermath, while Kojiro and Denshichiro recover, all characters coincide that Kojiro's destiny is to become a formidable fighter. Jisai finally understands this and concedes. He entrusts Kojiro to Ittosai.
After Kojiro departs with Ittousai, Jisai spends some time pondering, but eventually climbs a high point to stare out at the ocean. He declares his life dedicated to the sword was all worth it because he managed to leave behind a great swordsman like Kojiro. Eventually, his last major act is to write out a certificate of swordsmanship for Kojiro and sets Tenki out to give it to his old friend.
One of Jisai's last panels before the conclusion of his story
Wanderings[]
Now travelling with Ittosai, Kojiro is attacked by bandits who attempt to steal his money. Kojiro defeats them and Ittosai notices that Kojiro's eyes are more developed to compensate for his hearing. Ittosai names Kojiro's style as Ganryu (巌流, rock style) and, to get challengers, advertizes him as Invincible Under The Heaven. The fighter Gonnosuke Muso also claims that, and fights Ittosai and Kojiro: both defeat him. After realizing that Kojiro is accompanied by the legendary Ittosai, Gonnosuke joins them, but is told he is not mentalized yet for mortal combat. Later that night, a swordsmen enters the inn at which Kojiro and Ito are staying. The swordsman states that he saw the 'invincible under the sun' banner that caught is eye and wanted to fight Kojiro. Kojiro defeats him with ease by cutting his stomach and neck.
Eventually, the 3 go to the Battle of Sekigahara, but they arrive when it is already over. A young soldier approaches them: Takezo Shinmen (who will be Musashi Miyamoto). Takezo asks if the 3 are from the East or West army to which Ittosai responds saying they are just observers. The 4 fight together against squads of survival hunters, killing many. Eventually, Takezo is defeated when his left leg is shot by an arquebus. Ittosai kills the gunman and scares off the last hunters remaining. The 3 leave the battlefield, while Takezo lies wounded, setting the events shown at the story's start.
Survival Mission[]
In the battle's aftermath, groups of peasants that lost all because of the battle are vengefully hunting soldiers and hoping to capture Ishida Mitsunari the leader of the Western Army since his capture exempts the person's home village from the annual tax. Ittosai abandons Kojiro in the confusion of these fights, to toughen him up and convert him into his ultimate rival. Reluctantly, Gonnosuke follows Ittosai. The story then introduces a squad of 6 soldiers (Sadakore, Koun, Ichizo, Shinjiro, Ugen and Toshimune) that fought for the west side (losing side) and are now hiding from the manhunt. They are led by captain Sadakore. They vow to return to their lord in Osaka. Meanwhile, Kojiro is chased by peasants and attacks many of them while running. The soldier squad observes the light of the torches and hear the fight occurring from below the mountain. One member of the squad, Shinjiro, is injured from the battle and struggling to walk. The group devises a plan: they will dress as peasants and cross the nearby mountain to reach Osaka; if they find enemies, Sadakore will sacrifice himself, as the squad's oldest, so the rest can continue; if things go so bad and only one of them must survive, it will be Ichizo, the squad's youngest.
As Shinjiro's state worsens, members of the squad want to leave him to die but the strongest member of the group, Koun refuses to allow Shinjiro to die alone and carries him. The next day, Kojiro is seen exhausted and still fighting the refugee hunters and eventually seems to doze off but continues to fight and kill the hunters. After killing the surrounding hunters, Kojiro sits down and eats leaves and a group of soldiers cross paths with him. The squad of soldiers is seen still walking and Koun begins to get exhausted from carrying Shinjiro. Shinjiro requests that Koun leave him behind but Koun once again refuses. As the squad continues to walk, they cross paths with soldiers. Once the group of soldiers realize the squad are refugees from the west, a fight ensues.
That night, the squad sits as Shinjiro begins to sweat; nearing death. One of the squad members, Toshimune, gets up and finds three men hiding in the bushes who stab and kill him. Another fight ensues and Shinjiro is attacked by one of the men but saved by a squad member named Ugen. Ugen subsequently dies. The squad kills the men and take their clothes to dress as peasents.
Kojiro vs. Sadakore's Squad[]
As the squad continues on their journey, they see Kojiro at the top of a cliff. Kojiro is exhausted from two days of fighting and drinking contaminated water in which the peasents defecated in so that invaders fall ill. As Kojiro falls to the ground, he cries out for Jisai. Sadakore decides to execute the groups plan and tells the squad to leave him behind and continue on to Osaka. Sadakore then takes out chains and fights the exhausted Kojiro stating that Kojiro has a trait that he can't ignore and he must fight.
Meanwhile, Ittosai and Gonnosuke find a house that has been ransacked and they stay there.
As Sadakore continues to fight Kojiro, Sadakore uses his chains to wrap around Kojiro's sword and keeps the sword leaving Kojiro defenseless. Kojiro then hides behind a rock. Subsequently, Koun turns back to find Sadakore. As Kojiro hides behind a mountain, he uses cloth and a katana to produce a makeshift long sword since Sadakore took his. Sadakore explains that the reason he wanted to fight Kojiro is because of the unity, harmony and beauty Kojiro exudes with his sword. Kojiro eventually kills Sadakore as Koun watches from afar.
Koun, shocked at his masters death, attempts to fight Kojiro. However, Ichizo, the youngest of the squad, requests that he fight Kojiro instead since their lord most likely perished in battle and Osaka would not be any safer than where they are currently; Ichizo, knowing that death is inevitable since Osaka is no longer safe, hopes to be killed by Kojiro. Kojiro easily slits Ichizo's throat and defeats him. Shocked at his brothers death, Shinjiro attempts to attack Kojiro but trips due to his injured leg. Koun then fights Kojiro and during the fight Kojiro pinches his cheek: showing Kojiro's playful side even during such grim events. Koun eventually is killed.
As Ittosai and Gonnosuke continue on their journey, Ittosai tells Gonnosuke to go home stating 'Become me. If you can't do that, then go home'.
Attributes and Abilities[]
Improved Vision[]
Ittousai has also commented the possibility that Kojiro's eyes have become better developed to compensate for his lack of hearing.
This is shown when Gonnosuke Muso attempts to attack Kojiro from behind but Kojiro sees the attack and fights off Gonnosuke.
Swordsmanship: Ganryu - Tsubame-Gaeshi (燕返し) Kojiro was renowned for his Tsubame-Gaeshi, or “Swallow Cut” technique, inspired by the movement of a swallow in flight. He used this technique while fighting against Ittosai.
Mental Communication[]
Those who fight Kojiro are able to undestand what Kojiro wants to say. Denshichiro heard Kojiro telling him to get stronger so that they both can meet again. Ueda claims that Denshichiro spoke fondly of Kojiro as if the two were long time friends.
This is shown once again when Kojiro cuts down the man who fought him at the inn and the man believes that Kojiro is telling him that he was strong.
This is also shown when Gonnosuke Muso in his dream asks why Kojiro didn't want to fight him. Kojiro responds in the dream stating 'why cut down an opponent who isn't putting his enitre life behind his sword? You see... there's no point in cutting you down."
Equipment[]
Monohoshizao (The drying Pole) is a nodachi, or a long katana. It is a memento of his deceased father, Kojiro as a child was very fond of it. Kanemaki Jisai threw the sword in the ocean after Kojiro left him.
Trivia[]
- Kojiro went by the fighting name of Ganryū.
- It is questionable if Kojiro even existed, some of the historic dates don't match and Musashi's The Book of Five Rings doesn't even mention him.
- Kojiro is believed to have studied the Chujo-ryu style of swordsmanship under the instruction of either Toda Seigen or Kanemaki Jisai
- The Kojiro in Eiji Yoshikawa's 'Musashi'—the inspiration for Vagabond'—is a very different character. Vagabond's Kojiro is a deaf-mute with a child-like, innocent personality. Yoshikawa's Kojiro is not only able to hear/talk perfectly well, but is shown to be sadistic and bloodthirsty. He takes pleasure in watching people die, kidnaps girls he is in love with to tie up and rape, and Musashi describes him as deceitful and a schemer.