March 13, 1584 - Miyamoto Musashi
Musashi occupies an unusual place on this site — his harm was personal and consensual by the standards of his era, confined to the dueling ground rather than directed at populations or institutions. What earns him a entry is the cold, methodical efficiency with which he ended lives across 62 recorded duels, never losing, and the philosophical architecture he built around that record in The Book of Five Rings, which codified killing as a discipline.
From Wikipedia
Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵; Japanese pronunciation: [mʲi.ja.mo.to (|) mɯꜜ.sa.ɕi], c. 1583 – 13 June 1645) was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Musashi is considered a kensei (sword saint) of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū (or Nito Ichi-ryū) style of swordsmanship. In his final years, Musashi authored The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho) and Dokkōdō (獨行道, The Path of Aloneness).
Both documents were bequeathed to Terao Magonojō, Musashi's most important student, seven days before Musashi's death. The Book of Five Rings focuses on the character of his Niten Ichi-ryū school in a concrete sense; his own practical martial art and its generic significance. On the other hand, The Path of Aloneness deals with the ideas that lie behind it, as well as his life's philosophy in a few short aphoristic sentences.
It is believed that Musashi was a friend of Mizuno Katsunari, a Tokugawa shogunate general.
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