The Fujikawa-ha today is best remembered for the historical record.
The Jikishinkage-ryū Kenjutsu Gokui Kyōju Zukai (直心影流剣術極意教授図解) by Saitō Akinobu, original edition from Meiji 34 (1901), published by Iguchi Kaishin Shorō, with a classical-Chinese postface by Tsuda Kanjirō (reprinted by Shimazu Shobō, 2003), preserves a view of its teachings.
Fujikawa Seisai (1791–1862) reshaped the branch’s philosophy. Drawing on Seisai’s own writings — particularly the Reiken Ryakkai (霊剣略解, 1857) — Karukome shows that Seisai explicitly criticized the contemporary obsession with competitive victory and made kata practice the primary vehicle for spiritual cultivation.
Yamada Jirōkichi studied Fujikawa-ha in addition to his time spent learning from Sakakibara. With Sakakibara’s permission, he continued his study of kata under Yamada Hachirō (山田八郎). For this reason there is a view that what Yamada transmitted differs from the Odani-ha as it stood before Sakakibara. Ishigaki maintains that Yamada Jirōkichi also trained under Saitō Akinobu after Sakakibara’s death.
