Island Death Match

N APRIL 13, 1612, two of the finest swordsmen in all of Japan competed in a duel to the death to prove who was the country’s finest warrior. To prevent outside interference from their respective entourages, the duel was held on the small island of Ganryu-jima, found in the strait between the modern islands of Honshu and Kyushu. In the end, it was the Miyamoto Musashi who fatally wounded Kojiro Sasaki, declaring himself Japan’s ultimate warrior. For centuries, the island was a monument to that historic battle. And, on October 7, 1987, it would become a battleground once again, as New Japan Pro-Wrestling made it