Shishido Baiken was a Japanese swordsman active in the early years of the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 (1603-1868). Baiken was a skilled swordsman, and soon on became a skilled practitioner of the kusarigama

Kusarigama

The is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of a kama on a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. The kusarigama is said to have developed during the Muromachi period...

 (a metal chain attached to a kama

Kama (weapon)

The is a traditional Filipino and Japanese farming implement similar to a small scythe used for reaping crops and also employed as a weapon...

 and a weight, also known as the chain and sickle). Around the year 1607, Baiken dueled the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi

, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age...

 and was killed.

It is debatable if Baiken really existed or not. The first record of Musashi's duel with Shishido Bō is in the Nitenki (二天記) written in 1776. The name Shishido Baiken appears to first appear in Eiji Yoshikawa

Eiji Yoshikawa

was a Japanese historical novelist, probably one of the best and most famous authors in the genre. Among his most well-known novels, most are revisions of past works. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three...

's Miyamoto Musashi

Musashi (novel)

is a Japanese novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa and serialized in 1935 in Asahi Shimbun.-Introduction:It is a fictionalized account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings and arguably the most renowned Japanese swordsman who ever lived.The novel has been translated into...

. If fictional, he may have been based on Shishido Ietoshi (宍戸家俊).

In fiction

In the manga Vagabond

Vagabond (manga)

is an ongoing manga by Takehiko Inoue, portraying a fictionalized account of Miyamoto Musashi's life, on a loose adaptation of Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi....

, the original Shishido Baiken was a bandit leader who did use the kusarigama only to be killed by Tsujikaze Kohei, who then took up the name and weapon and became the source for the kusarigamas notoriety. His duel with Musashi would be significant for Musashi's use of both the long and short swords, allowing him to simply strike back with the katana

Katana

A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...

 after his wakizashi

Wakizashi

The is one of the traditional Japanese swords worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan.-Description:...

 was ensnared. Kohei/Baiken would be defeated but survived thanks to Musashi's medical assistance.

In the video game Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! he is an amnesiac Majima Gorohachi, who lost his left eye to an encounter with Sasaki Kojiro

Sasaki Kojiro

was a prominent Japanese swordsman widely considered as a Kensei, born in Fukui Prefecture. He lived during the Sengoku and early Edo periods and is most remembered for his death while battling Miyamoto Musashi in 1612.-History:...

 and therefore Baiken he wore a tsuba for an eyepatch.