Explaining Yosagi Yojimbo

I was asked during a station hit, which was ultimately unsuccessful, the origins of my name for Eve Online, Yosagi Yojimbo.

In 1988 a game was released for the Commodore 64 computer and others called Samurai Warrior : The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo

Mostly a sideways scrolling adventure game it had features of combat and honour which were not present in many games of that period.

Later on I discovered the game was based on a Japanese comic called Usagi Yojimbo, which translates as Rabbit Bodyguard.

By now my interest had been piqued but the best was yet to come.  Usagi Yojimbo is itself based on the legendary Japanese figure from the fifteenth and sixteenth century called Miyamoto Musashi.

I strongly recommend you read about his exploits via the Wiki link above, it's well worth the effort.


Musashi is known as the author of The Book of Five Rings which is considered a classic treatise on military strategy,  much like Sun Tzu's The Art of War. 


Time passed.


I finished up with another MMO whose name shall not be mentioned ( WNSNBM ) and decided to try out Eve Online. I had known about Eve for a while but some RL friends were in that MMO ( WNSNBM ) so I spent some time with them.


Then I gave Eve a go in 2007 and promptly fell in love.  Back in the C64 days I played quite a bit of Elite so I saw this as the logical modern extension, albeit more complex.


I created a starter character so I could learn the game, that character was disposable and is long gone, I don't even recall his name, but for a few weeks I learned the basics of the game.


One thing I discovered was by default the list of names in the chat channels was alphabetical, so I decided a name that started towards the end of my alphabet would be more desirable.


I thought about this while learning the game, I don't recall the exact process but the name Usagi Yojimbo appeared in my mind, I searched for that name in game and other people already had it, or versions of.


So I thought about how I would say the name out loud, and very shortly I arrived at Yosagi Yojimbo which was unique in game and also the internet, as a Google search for that name will lead you directly to this blog.


At the time of writing I'm now three and a half years into Eve Online.  I'd be lying if I didn't say the experience has had its rocky moments but the game is expanding, growing, and I want to see where it leads.