Writing
The Truth of the Calm Spirit
For more information on Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū in English, please see:
- M. Raugas, The Truth of the Calm Spirit: The practice of Shinkage-ryū Heihō as Taoist Internal Alchemy (opens in a new tab), Inner Dharma, 2025.
This is a collected set of works that stem from martial arts essays centered around Shinkage-ryū, which were first hosted online at Inner Dharma (opens in a new tab) – that blog contains some of my personal training narrative.
From the Kōbusho to the Butokukai
In writing that work I became intrigued by the late Edo practitioners of Jikishinkage-ryū, the bakumatsu Kōbusho many of them taught at, and important traditions that had lasting impact as Japan modernized. The result of that investigation is now also available:
- From the Kōbusho to the Butokukai: Japanese Swordsmanship in Transition (opens in a new tab), Inner Dharma, 2026.
It is a survey of the late-Edo and early-modern institutions around Japanese kenjutsu — the Kōbusho, gekken-kōgyō, the Battōtai, the Keishichō police schools, the Dai Nippon Butokukai and the Busen — together with a register of the schools and teachers who carried the arts through their modern transformation.
Primary sources
Classical manuscripts and archival documents, with archive and shelfmark where held.
“Jikishinkage-ryū Hisho Ichi (直心影流秘書一).” n.d. Suzuka-ke monjo (鈴鹿家文書), All Japan Kendo Federation (全日本剣道連盟蔵). institutional holding. The seven kata categories including sayanouchi.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. n.d. Fencing Match at the School of Sakakibara Kenkichi
(Gekkenka). MFA Boston collections,
Https://collections.mfa.org/objects/462249/. Meiji-period print (MFA Boston) depicting Sakakibara’s
dōjō as a sparring (gekiken) venue.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Yamada Mitsunori. n.d. “Heihō Zakki (兵法雑記).” Tōkyō Naganuma Shōbee-ke (東京長沼正兵衛家蔵). family holding. Held by the Tōkyō Naganuma Shōbee house.
Takahashi Shigeharu. 1686. “Keiko Hōjō Jo narabini Riuta (稽古法定序幷理歌).” Tōkyō Naganuma Shōbee-ke (東京長沼正兵衛家蔵). family holding. Held by the Tōkyō Naganuma Shōbee house.
“Jikishinkage-ryū mokuroku (直心影流目録), Meiwa 5 (1768).” 1768. Waseda University, Kotenseki Sōgō Database. ケ05 01032 0001 · public scan; downloadable. Primary MS; the 1768 Meiwa-5 mokuroku of the same Waseda series. Yoshida Katsunori autograph addressed to Isaki Masaki, with verso transmission endorsements (Tenpō 14 / 1843).
“Jikishinkage-ryū mokuroku (直心影流兵法目録添状), Meiwa 5 (1768).” 1768. Waseda University, Kotenseki Sōgō Database. http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ke05/ke05_01032/ke05_01032_0002/. ケ05 01032 0002 · public scan; downloadable. Primary MS; the 1768 Meiwa-5 mokuroku of the same Waseda series. Yoshida Katsunori autograph addressed to Isaki Masaki, with verso transmission endorsements (Tenpō 14 / 1843).
“Ōga Ikken (大禾一件).” 1773. Tōkyō Naganuma Shōbee-ke (東京長沼正兵衛家蔵). family holding. Held by the Tōkyō Naganuma Shōbee house.
Kawasaki Tōnojō Yoshioi. 1789. “Sayanouchi Hidensho (鞘之内秘伝書).” Suzuka-ke monjo (鈴鹿家文書), All Japan Kendo Federation. institutional holding. The 54-form sayanouchi figure; license from Naganuma Tadasato, 1789.
“Jikishinkage-ryū Hōjō (直心影流法定) — Naganuma Tadasato; copied by Ogawa Yashichi.” 1800. Waseda University, Kotenseki Sōgō Database (早稲田大学古典籍総合データベース). ケ05 01032 0003 · public scan; downloadable. Primary MS; stable identifier. The 1800 Hōjō colophon (Naganuma Shōbee = Tadasato; copyist Ogawa Yashichi; Edo Mizaka). Part of the series ケ05 01032 0001/0002/0003 (the 1768 Meiwa-5 mokuroku; the 1768 leaf; the 1800 Hōjō).
天野 八郎. 1868. Heikyūroku (斃休録). National Diet Library Digital Collections. pid 2538286 · Digitized; also reproduced in full in Yamazaki, Shōgitai
Senshi (彰義隊戦史).. First-person prison memoir by the Shōgitai’s de facto
leader, written under confinement before his 1868 death; a
loyalist apologia and a primary Shōgitai-side testimony,
to be read as self-account rather than neutral record.
Cited in: Amano Hachirō
Tōkyō Shōka Daigaku. 1928. Tōkyō Shōka Daigaku ichiran, Shōwa 3-nendo
(東京商科大学一覧 昭和3年度). Maruzen. NDL Digital Collections. Official Hitotsubashi (Tokyo Commercial College) handbook;
lists Ōnishi Hidetaka (大西英隆, tagged 東京) in the
kendō-club context, corroborating the 一橋会剣道部
affiliation independently of the Yamada memorial volume.
Confirms affiliation, not lineage rank.
Cited in: Ōnishi Hidetaka
Ko-Yamada Shihan Kinen Jigyōkai. 1931. Ittokusai Yamada Jirōkichi den
(一徳斎山田次朗吉伝). Ko-Yamada Shihan Kinen Jigyōkai. NDL Digital Collections. NDL pid 1023242 (https://lab.ndl.go.jp/dl/book/1023242). Memorial biography from the Yamada Jirōkichi memorial
committee; contemporaneous and external to the register’s
sites. Documents Ōnishi Hidetaka as Yamada’s 仕太刀 in
public embu and as the 一橋会剣道部 members’
representative at Yamada’s 1931 funeral — primary
evidence of senior studentship under the 15th dōtō.
Commemorative genre; weigh eulogistic framing.
Cited in: Ōnishi Hidetaka
Takeda-ryū gungaku zensho (武田流軍学全書). 1935. Takeda-ryū Gungaku Zensho Kankōkai
(武田流軍学全書刊行会).
Secondary scholarship
Modern scholarship, reference works and tabulations.
Totsuka Yōshin-ryū founders’ graves
(戸塚彦介英俊の墓). n.d. Chiba City / Chiba Prefecture cultural-property pages. Totsuka biography and lineage.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū Hyakuren-kai —
"Kashima Jingū no kanren shisetsu"
(鹿島神宮の関連施設). n.d. Hyakuren-kai (百錬会), https://100ren.jimdoweb.com/. Transcription and photographs of the 1968 founder’s stele
and the four Kashima Jingū monuments. The site asserts
copyright over its images; obtain permission or use your
own photographs for publication. Tradition-internal
source.
Ishigaki Yasuzō (石垣安造). n.d. Jikishinkage-ryū gokui denkai
(直心影流極意伝開). Shimazu Shobō (島津書房). Exposition of the Jikishinkage-ryū gokui.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū — Issei-kai
(鹿島神傳直心影流 一誠会). n.d. Issei-kai homepage and "Rekidai Dōtōsha"
(歴代道統者) page, https://www.isseikaiweb.com/. The hakkō ichiu preamble and the lineage list.
Tradition-internal; not independent of the line.
Shōgitai (彰義隊). n.d. JapanKnowledge (Nihon Daihyakka Zensho / Sekai Daihyakka
Jiten / Kokushi Daijiten). Formation, Ueno, disbandment.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Dai Nippon Butokukai (大日本武徳会). n.d. Japanese Wikipedia. Reference article on the Butokukai — the shōgō system
(seirenshō; hanshi / kyōshi from 1902–03; renshi from
1934) and the 1919 unification of kenjutsu and gekken under
the name kendō. Tertiary institutional background.
Cited in: Tokunō Sekishirō
Japanese Wikipedia. n.d. Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu (直心影流剣術). Wikipedia. Accessed July 11, 2026. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/直心影流剣術. Tertiary; the JSKR-school article giving
真影流／薩摩影之流 as the Satsuma house-names for
Jikishinkage-ryū and listing Kawaji, Arima Shinshichi, and
Makino Nobuaki among the domain’s practitioners, with the
Naganuma Kunisato → Suzuki Yatōji transmission. Source
for the Satsuma-alias identification only; the upstream
node is cross-checked against 三州遺芳/Karukome, and
Kawaji’s own place in the line is not corroborated there.
Cited in: Kawaji Toshiyoshi, Tokunō Sekishirō
Japanese Wikipedia. n.d. Kawaji Toshiyoshi (川路利良). Wikipedia. Accessed July 11, 2026. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/川路利良. Tertiary; JA Wikipedia article on Kawaji Toshiyoshi.
Cited in: Kawaji Toshiyoshi
Japanese Wikipedia. n.d. Keishi-ryū (警視流). Wikipedia. Accessed July 3, 2026. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/警視流. Tertiary; the clearest summary of the Keishi-ryū kata
composition and its framing as a Nihon Kendō Kata
precursor. Verify the ten source ryūha individually
against a primary kata listing.
Cited in: Kawaji Toshiyoshi, Tokunō Sekishirō
Japanese Wikipedia. n.d. Sakakibara Kenkichi (榊原鍵吉). Wikipedia. Accessed July 6, 2026. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/榊原鍵吉. Tertiary; used for the datable facts — the 1863 Kyoto
escort of Iemochi and the opening of the Shitaya Kurumazaka
dōjō in the 11th month of Keiō 2 (1866) on leaving the
reorganized Kōbusho. Corroborate the dōjō date against
Hori, Dai Nippon Kendō-shi.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Japanese Wikipedia. n.d. Tokunō Sekishirō (得能関四郎). Wikipedia. Accessed July 11, 2026. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/得能関四郎. Tertiary; the fullest overview of the Numata/Naganuma-ha
Jikishinkage-ryū training, the 1880 Keishikyoku entry, the
first seirenshō (1895) and first hanshi (1903), the "three
elders" standing, and the 1908 seppuku. The death date (1
vs 17 July) is unresolved there.
Cited in: Tokunō Sekishirō
Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū — lineage
tabulations. n.d. Nihon Kobudō Kyōkai (日本古武道協会) entry;
Issei-kai (一誠会) "Rekidai Dōtōsha" (歴代道統者)
List. Source of the formal dōtō styles. Tradition-internal
house tabulations — corroborative of formal names, not
independent of the line.
Naganuma Kunisato (長沼国郷). n.d. Kōdansha, Nihon Jinmei Daijiten+Plus
(講談社『日本人名大辞典+Plus』), via Kotobank. Dates: 1688–1767.
Sakakibara Kenkichi (榊原鍵吉). n.d. Kōdansha Nihon Jinmei Daijiten and Nihon Daihyakka Zensho
(Nipponica), via Kotobank. Network, Kōbusho, transfer to 遊撃隊頭取 (Keiō 2 /
1866), gekiken-kōgyō, kabuto-wari.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Shimada Toranosuke (島田虎之助). n.d. Heibonsha Sekai Daihyakka Jiten (entry by Nakabayashi
Shinji) and Kōdansha Nihon Jinmei Daijiten, via Kotobank. Biography, Odani tutelage, ken-shin itchi
(剣心一致).
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Totsuka Hikosuke (戸塚彦介). n.d. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponica), via Kotobank. Dates (1813–1886), Numazu-han, "father of early-modern
randori," Kōbusho jūjutsu.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Kotobank. n.d. Kotobank. Accessed July 11, 2026. https://kotobank.jp/word/川路利良#w-48241. Secondary; Japanese Britannica Dictionary Entry.
Cited in: Kawaji Toshiyoshi
Sugimura Gitarō (杉村義太郎). n.d. Shinsengumi Nagakura Shinpachi: Ko Sugimura Yoshie no
Sōnen Jidai
(新撰組永倉新八：故杉村義衛の壮年時代). Otaru. Nagakura Shinpachi’s recollections, edited by his son.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Nakamura Tamio (中村民雄). n.d. Kendō Jiten: Gijutsu to Bunka no Rekishi (剣道事典
技術と文化の歴史). Shimazu Shobō (島津書房). Standard reference for the bakumatsu kenjutsu milieu.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Sakakibara Kenkichi (榊原鍵吉). n.d. National Diet Library, Kindai Nihonjin no Shōzō
(近代日本人の肖像). Career outline and dates; confirms the 遊撃隊頭取
transfer at the Kōbusho’s 1866 closure.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Pranin, Stanley. n.d. Saigō Tanomo and Takeda Sokaku. Aiki News / Aikido Journal, various issues. Documents the Saigō Tanomo–Takeda Sokaku claim; note
Saigō Tanomo is now believed not to have practiced
budō.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Jikishinkage-ryū (直心影流). n.d. Heibonsha, Kaitei-shinpan Sekai Daihyakka Jiten
(平凡社『改訂新版 世界大百科事典』), entry
By Nakabayashi Shinji (中林信二), via Kotobank. The Naganuma family as hereditary Numata instructors.
Nakabayashi Shinji (中林信二). n.d. “Sakakibara Kenkichi (榊原鍵吉).” In Kaitei-shinpan Sekai Daihyakka Jiten (改訂新版
世界大百科事典). Heibonsha (平凡社). Signed dictionary article; gives the kabuto-wari as 1887
(Meiji 20). Reference-grade for the core biography.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Watanabe Ichirō (渡辺一郎). n.d. Bakumatsu Kantō Kenjutsu Eimeiroku no Kenkyū
(幕末関東剣術英名録の研究). Built on the Man’en 1 (1860) register of Edo swordsmen —
close to a census of the Kōbusho-era Edo kenjutsu world.
Watanabe also edited Kendō no Rekishi (剣道の歴史,
AJKF).
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Hakkō ichiu (八紘一宇). n.d. Japanese Wikipedia. Orientation on the slogan’s 1903 coinage by Tanaka Chigaku
and its wartime adoption; corroborate against print
scholarship before citing in print.
Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu (直心影流剣術). n.d. Japanese Wikipedia. General lineage; the 称郷 terminus and the Kanō /
Wasato note — a pointer, not a source of record.
Matsuoka Katsunosuke / Shindō Yōshin-ryū
(松岡克之助・神道楊心流). n.d. Japanese Wikipedia. Matsuoka’s study under Sakakibara (and briefly Chiba
Shūsaku), his Kōbusho service from 1860, the randori loss
to Totsuka and the 1864 founding of Shindō Yōshin-ryū. A
pointer, not a source of record.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Sakakibara Kenkichi and the bakumatsu kenjutsu circle
(Japanese Wikipedia). n.d. Japanese Wikipedia:
榊原鍵吉・彰義隊・上野戦争・戸塚彦介・楊心古流・戸塚派楊心流柔術・嘉納治五郎・起倒流・伊庭八郎・島田虎之助・高橋泥舟・山岡鉄舟. Starting references — pointers, not sources of record.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
山崎 有信. 1910. Shōgitai Senshi (彰義隊戦史). 隆文館. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/773365. Near-contemporary (1910) compiled history of the Shōgitai
from survivor testimony and documents, independent of the
jūjutsu school traditions at issue; its section 26
(精鋭隊の性質) rosters the Seieitai and declares it
"entirely separate" from the Shōgitai — positive for
Matsuoka Yorozu’s membership under Chūjō, and negative
for any presence of Matsuoka Katsunosuke.
Cited in: Amano Hachirō
Shimada Hiroshi (島田宏). 1931. Ittokusai Yamada Jirōkichi Den
(一徳斎山田次朗吉伝). Hitotsubashi Kenyūkai (一橋剣友会). Biography of Yamada Jirōkichi; gives his second teacher
as "Yamada Hachirō" (山田八郎) — one side of a
contested attribution.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Hori Shōhei (堀正平). 1934. Dai Nihon Kendō Shi (大日本剣道史). Kendō Sho Kankōkai (剣道書刊行会). Comprehensive prewar history of Japanese swordsmanship;
treats Matsuzaki directly.
Cited in: Okumura Sakonta, Takayama Minesaburō
Watatani Kiyoshi (綿谷雪), and Yamada Tadashi
(山田忠史). 1978. Bugei Ryūha Daijiten (武芸流派大事典). Tōkyō Kopii Shuppanbu. The standard reference for ryūha; the authority for
Katōda Shinkage-ryū.
Cited in: Okumura Sakonta
Hobsbawm, Eric, and Terence Ranger. 1983. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge University Press. Especially Hobsbawm’s "Introduction: Inventing Traditions"
— frame for the invented-tradition reading.
Hardacre, Helen. 1989. Shinto and the State, 1868–1988. Princeton University Press. Standard scholarly account of the formation and contested
boundaries of "State Shinto."
Majima Isao (間島勲). 1996. Zenkoku Shohan Kengō Jinmei Jiten
(全国諸藩剣豪人名事典).
Cited in: Okumura Sakonta, Takayama Minesaburō
Nakamura Tamio (中村民雄). 1996. “Bakumatsu Kantō kenjutsu ryūha denpa keitai no kenkyū
(1) (幕末関東剣術流派伝播形態の研究(1)).” Fukushima Daigaku Kyōiku Gakubu Ronshū
(福島大学教育学部論集), no. 61.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Pranin, Stanley A. 1996. Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu: Conversations with Daito-ryu Masters. Aiki News.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Tominaga Kengo. 1996. Kendō Gohyaku-nen Shi (剣道五百年史). Shimazu Shobō (島津書房). Tsunasato and the 正兵衛家.
Numata-shi Shi, Shiryō-hen 2: Kinsei (沼田市史
資料編2 近世). 1997. Numata City (沼田市). p. 967 — the approx. 3,000-student figure and Numata-han
context.
Nagao Susumu. 1999. “A Study on the Process of Change in Quality of the
Japanese-Swordplay in the Eighteenth Century : Mainly in
the Analysis of Gekken-Sodan.” Memoirs of Institute of Humanities, Meiji University 45 (March): 121–33.
Cited in: The Naganuma-ha Jikishinkage-ryū
Nakamura Tamio. 1999. “Bakumatsu Kantō kenjutsu ryūha denpa keitai no kenkyū
(2) (幕末関東剣術流派伝播形態の研究(2)).” Fukushima Daigaku Kyōiku Gakubu Ronshū: Shakai Kagaku
Bumon (福島大学教育学部論集 社会科学部門) 66: 65–72. The genealogy underlying Karukome’s two-house account.
Iwasa Masaru. 2005. Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū
(鹿島神伝直心影流). Budō Shinkōkai (武道振興会). Lineage chart, p. 18 — source of the 宗家長沼派 /
別家長沼派 labels.
Hall, David A. 2013. Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts. Kodansha USA. Firmest English-language reference for the Hyakuren-kai,
Seitō-ha and modern Odani-ha lines (Namiki–Itō). Hall
is himself a practitioner in this line (studied under
Namiki and Itō), so on the line’s own succession claims
this is participant testimony, not independent
corroboration.
Karukome Katsutaka. 2013. “Jikishinkage-ryū no bunpa ni tsuite no ichikōsatsu
(直心影流の分派についての一考察).” Budōgaku Kenkyū (武道学研究) 46 (1). The Naganuma / Fujikawa / Odani branch taxonomy.
Karukome Katsutaka. 2013. “Jikishinkage-ryū ni kansuru kenkyū
(直心影流に関する研究).” PhD thesis, University of Tsukuba (筑波大学). Decisive source for the two-house split
(四郎左衛門家 / 正兵衛家): Tadasato as second
head of the 別家, the generational dates, the Edo Mizaka
locus and the sayanouchi material.
Amdur, Ellis. 2014. Old School: Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions. Freelance Academy Press.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Inazu Yūko (稲津裕子). 2014. “Heki-ryū kyūjutsu no kigen: Yoshida Shigekata to sono
senzo ni tsuite
(日置流弓術の起源：吉田重賢とその祖先について).” Supōtsu-shi Kenkyū (スポーツ史研究 / Japan
Journal of Sport History), no. 27: 17. On the origins of Heki-ryū archery and the Yoshida
ancestry.
Cited in: Kawashima Takashi
Ikezuki Ei. 2015. Aiki no Takeda Sōkaku: Musashi o koeta otoko
(合気の武田惣角――武蔵を超えた男). Rekishi Shunjū Shuppan (歴史春秋出版). Biographical study of Takeda Sōkaku; the author’s
given-name reading (映) is unverified here, and its
handling of the Saigō Tanomo transmission should be read
critically.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Karukome Katsutaka. 2015. “Jikishinkage-ryū no seiritsu to sono denkei oyobi denshō
ni kansuru ichikōsatsu
(直心影流の成立とその伝系及び伝承に関する一考察).” Budōgaku Kenkyū (武道学研究) 47 (3): 119–38. Formation and transmission lines.
Matsuo Makinori, and Goga Tomotsugu. 2015. “Tōchi-jidai no Taiwan ni okeru kyūdō ni tsuite:
Sekka-ha kyūjutsu to Kawashima Takashi
(統治時代の台湾における弓道について
－雪荷派弓術と川島堯－).” Nihon Budō Gakkai dai-48-kai taikai kenkyū happyō
shōroku
(日本武道学会第48回大会研究発表抄録), 16. Conference abstract, 48th Annual Conference of the
Japanese Academy of Budo (2015), by kyūdō historians
Matsuo (International Budo University) and Goga (Tsukuba);
strongest academic source on Kawashima to date. From Sakai
Hikotarō’s disciple register, confirms Kawashima as a
Heki-ryū Sekka-ha (雪荷派) disciple holding a
指南免許 and the first Tainan enrollee — resolving
the Sekka-ha/Chikurin-ha conflict against the 1939 Asahi’s
竹林派. Also: crossed to Taiwan as a kendō teacher,
taught kendō/jūdō at the police normal school, opened
the 覚眞館 kyūdō dōjō in 1931; a surviving furibō
(振り棒; Jikishinkage-ryū) group photo held by
Kawashima Katsuko places JSKR kenjutsu at the first Tainan
Butokuden. An abstract; fuller peer-reviewed treatment in
the team’s Budōgaku Kenkyū 54(2), 2022.
Cited in: Kawashima Takashi
Amdur, Ellis. 2016. Dueling with O-sensei. Freelance Academy Press.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Amdur, Ellis. 2018. It Ain’t Necessarily So: Banquo’s Ghost.
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Cited in: Sakakibara Kenkichi
Karukome Katsutaka. 2020. Jikishinkage-ryū no kenkyū (直心影流の研究). Kokusho Kankōkai (国書刊行会). Monograph build-out of the dissertation.