(b Harima, Hyogo Prefecture, 1584; d Kumamoto Prefecture, 1645). Japanese painter and swordmaster. Niten is the artist's name (go) of Miyamoto Musashi, a samurai renowned for his swordsmanship and particularly noted for developing a two-handed fighting style. As a young man, he took part in the power struggles that marked the Momoyama (1568-1600) and early Edo (1600-1868) periods. After fighting on the losing side in the decisive battle of Sekigahara (1600), Niten became a masterless samurai (ronin) and wandered around Japan, fighting in major battles and reputedly winning over 60 duels before the age of 30. In the late 1630s he took the post of sword instructor in the service of the powerful Hosokawa clan and settled in Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu. In 1645 he wrote Gorin no sho ('A book of five rings'), an influential treatise on strategy in war and single combat. It is thought that most of Niten's 25 or so extant paintings, which are undated and seldom even signed, were executed during this late period of stability.

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