Matagi

マタギのジョニー

Also Known As:

  • Johnny


A seemingly crazy old hermit with really ugly teeth. First appears in ep. 21; offscreen, where he found Jin in the river and brought him back to his primitive hut, which is rather liberally festooned with dead fish. When Jin wakes, the old man tells him that he can’t move yet, and sets a bowl of food on the other side of the hut. After painfully dragging himself over, Jin discovers the bowl to be empty. The old man points out that he was at least able to move that much, and heads down to the river to fish. Musashi's up to his knees in the water, calmly observing the fish, when Jin hobbles down, dressed and leaning on a stick. He tells Jin that fish have eyes in the water itself, and you must entrust yourself to the flow to catch them. He lunges—and comes up with nothing. “Well, it doesn’t always work.” Jin looks gobsmacked. When Jin gets ready to go, he thanks the old man for his lesson, quoting the old Chinese proverb about teaching a man to fish. The old man denies being any help whatsoever. Jin asks his name, and he replies (with great pomp and circumstance) “Miyamoto Musashi”. Jin obviously recognizes the name, and the geezer laughs it off as he walks away, saying that’s impossible! and his name’s really Johnny. Jin looks gobsmacked again. "Matagi" is given as his name on the series' website.