Tsukahara Bokuden

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An ukiyo-e print depicting the fictional encounter between Tsukahara Bokuden and the legendary swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi.

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Tsukahara".

Tsukahara Bokuden (塚原卜伝, 1489 - March 6, 1571) was a famous swordsman of the early Sengoku period. He was widely regarded as a kensei (sword saint). He was the founder of a new Kashima style of fencing, and served as an instructor of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Ise provincial governor Tomonori Kitabatake.^[1]

Early life

Bokuden was born into the Yoshikawa family within the Hitachi Province of Honshu. The family was one of four Karō families serving the Kashima clan; one of the cadet branches of the Imperial House of Japan (descendants of the Imperial Prince Kazurahara (葛原親王, 786–853)). Bokuden was adopted by the Tsukahara family, an offshoot of the Kashima clan; he was styled as Tsukahara Bokuden Takamoto.

Career

Bokuden learned the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū from his adopted father and later honed his skills by engaging in musha shugyō (warrior's ascetic training), traveling throughout Japan and training with most of the skillful and knowledgeable swordsmen of the day. Tsukahara Bokuden was the classic knight-errant; a rich nobleman, he travelled the Japanese countryside, often with a full entourage. He later systematized the teaching of the Kashima area's local martial arts, including such approaches to combat as Kashima no tachi and Ichi no tachi. After allegedly receiving a divine inspiration from Takemikazuchi no kami, the deity of Kashima Shrine, he named his martial system as Kashima Shintō-ryū. He also, for a brief period, called his system Mutekatsu-ryū ("winning without hands").

In one anecdote, Bokuden was challenged by a mannerless ruffian. When asked about his style, Bokuden replied that he studied the "Style of No Sword". The ruffian laughed and insultingly challenged Bokuden to fight him without a sword. Bokuden then agreed to fight the man without his sword but suggested they row out to a nearby island on Lake Biwa to avoid disturbing others. The ruffian agreed, but when he jumped from the boat to the shore of the island, drawing his blade, Bokuden pushed the boat back out, leaving the ruffian stranded on the island. Bokuden explained: "This is my no-sword school".

A famous Japanese folk tale tells of the young Miyamoto Musashi challenging Bokuden to a duel during a meal. When Musashi struck first, Bokuden parried the sword with the lid of the iron pot he was eating from. In reality the story has no basis in fact, Bokuden had died 13 years before Musashi was born.

Death and legacy

Bokuden died of natural causes in 1571. His grave at Temple Baiko of Suga (須賀の梅香寺) is in Kashima, Ibaraki. Those devoted to the art of Japanese sword-fighting, would make pilgrimages to the Kashima Shrine because it is considered the spiritual home of kenjutsu.

References

↑ KASHIMA CITY/The Statue of Tsukahara Bokuden

Steven Turnbull: The Samurai Swordsman. Tuttle Publishing 2008, ISBN 4-8053-0956-3 (restricted online version (google books))
Jinichi Tokeshi: Kendo: Elements, Rules and Philosophy. University of Hawaii Press 2003, ISBN 0-8248-2598-5

v t e Prominent people of the Sengoku period

Three major Daimyo	Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu

Shōguns	Ashikaga Yoshiharu Ashikaga Yoshiteru Ashikaga Yoshihide Ashikaga Yoshiaki Tokugawa Hidetada

Emperors	Go-Nara Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei

Other daimyo	Akechi Mitsuhide Amago Haruhisa Araki Murashige Asakura Yoshikage Asano Nagamasa Asano Yoshinaga Azai Nagamasa Chōsokabe Morichika Chōsokabe Motochika Date Masamune Date Terumune Fukushima Masanori Gamō Ujisato Hachisuka Koroku Hattori Kazutada Hōjō Sōun Hōjō Ujiyasu Hōjō Ujimasa Hōjō Ujinao Honda Masanobu Honda Tadakatsu Honda Tadamasa Honda Tadatomo Hori Hidemasa Hoshina Masanao Hosokawa Fujitaka Hosokawa Tadaoki Ii Naomasa Ii Naotora Ikeda Terumasa Ikeda Tsuneoki Imagawa Ujizane Imagawa Yoshimoto Ishida Masatsugu Ishida Mitsunari Katakura Kojūrō Katō Kiyomasa Katō Yoshiaki Kikkawa Hiroie Kikkawa Motoharu Kinoshita Iesada Kobayakawa Hideaki Kobayakawa Takakage Konishi Yukinaga Kōriki Kiyonaga Kuroda Kanbei Kuroda Nagamasa Kyōgoku Takatsugu Maeda Gen'i Maeda Toshiie Maeda Toshinaga Mashita Nagamori Matsudaira Hirotada Matsudaira Ietada Matsudaira Kiyoyasu Matsunaga Hisahide Miyoshi Nagayoshi Mogami Yoshiaki Mōri Hidemoto Mōri Motonari Mōri Okimoto Mōri Takamoto Mōri Terumoto Nabeshima Naoshige Nakagawa Hidenari Nakagawa Kiyohide Natsuka Masaie Niwa Nagahide Oda Nagamasu Oda Nobuhide Oda Nobuhiro Oda Nobukatsu Oda Nobutoki Okudaira Nobumasa Ōtani Yoshitsugu Ōtomo Sōrin Ōuchi Yoshitaka Rokkaku Yoshikata Ryūzōji Takanobu Saitō Dōsan Saitō Tatsuoki Saitō Yoshitatsu Sakakibara Yasumasa Sakai Tadatsugu Sanada Masayuki Sanada Yukitaka Sassa Narimasa Satake Yoshinobu Satake Yoshishige Shibata Katsuie Shimazu Takahisa Shimazu Tadayoshi Shimazu Yoshihisa Shimazu Yoshihiro Tachibana Dōsetsu Takahashi Shōun Takeda Katsuyori Takeda Nobutora Takeda Nobuyoshi Takeda Shingen Takigawa Kazumasu Tōdō Takatora Toki Yorinari Torii Mototada Toyotomi Hidetsugu Tsutsui Junkei Uesugi Kenshin Uesugi Kagekatsu Uesugi Norimasa Ukita Hideie Ukita Naoie Yamauchi Kazutoyo Yūki Hideyasu

Other notable Samurai	Akechi Hidemitsu Akechi Mitsuharu Akechi Mitsutada Akechi Mitsutsuna Akechi Mitsuyoshi Akiyama Nobutomo Anayama Nobukimi Anayama Nobutomo Andō Morinari Azai Hisamasa Baba Nobuharu Ban Naoyuki Chaya Shirōjirō Chōsokabe Nobuchika Date Shigezane Gotō Matabei Hashiba Hidekatsu Hattori Masanari Honda Narishige Honda Shigetsugu Hōjō Ujikuni Hōjō Ujinori Hōjō Ujiteru Hoshina Masatoshi Ii Naochika Ii Naomori Inaba Yoshimichi Ishikawa Kazumasa Isono Kazumasa Kani Saizō Karasawa Genba Katakura Shigenaga Kimura Shigenari Kobayakawa Hidekane Kōsaka Masanobu Kuki Yoshitaka Kuki Moritaka Maeda Nagatane Maeda Keiji Maeda Toshimasa Matsuda Masachika Matsudaira Nobuyasu Mori Nagayoshi Mori Ranmaru Mori Yoshinari Mōri Katsunaga Mōri Motokiyo Mōri Yoshikatsu Murai Nagayori Nagao Fujikage Nagao Masakage Nagao Tamekage Nakagawa Hidemasa Naoe Kagetsuna Naoe Kanetsugu Natsume Yoshinobu Niiro Tadamoto Nomi Munekatsu Obata Masamori Obata Toramori Oda Hidenobu Oda Hidetaka Oda Katsunaga Oda Nobuharu Oda Nobukane Oda Nobutada Oda Nobutaka Oda Nobuyuki Oniniwa Tsunamoto Saitō Toshimitsu Sakai Masahisa Sakuma Nobumori Sanada Nobutsuna Sanada Nobuyuki Sanada Yukimura Shibata Naganori Shima Sakon Shimazu Iehisa Shimazu Toshihisa Shimazu Toyohisa Sue Harukata Tachibana Muneshige Takeda Nobukado Takeda Nobushige Takenaka Hanbei Takenaka Shigekado Torii Suneemon Toyotomi Hidenaga Toyotomi Hideyori Tsutsui Sadatsugu Uesugi Kagetora Ujiie Naotomo Yamagata Masakage Yamamoto Kansuke Yamanaka Shikanosuke

Swordsmen	Hikita Bungoro Kamiizumi Nobutsuna Miyamoto Musashi Sasaki Kojirō Tadashima Akiyama Tsukahara Bokuden Tsutsumi Hōzan Yagyū Munenori Yagyū Munetoshi

Ninja, rogues, and mercenaries	Fūma Kotarō Hattori Hanzō Ishikawa Goemon Katō Danzō Kirigakure Shikaemon Kōzuki Sasuke Mochizuki Chiyome Ogurusu Nakamura Ohama Kagetaka Saika Magoichi (Suzuki Sadayu Suzuki Shigehide Suzuki Shigetomo) Suzuki Magoroku Igasaki Dōshun Tsuda Nobusumi

Monks and other religious figures	Ankokuji Ekei Aya-Gozen Chacha Honganji Kennyo Honinbo Sansa Hosokawa Gracia Izumo no Okuni Ishin Sūden Jion Kyōgoku Maria Nankōbō Tenkai Nene Rennyo Sessai Choro Shimozuma Chuko Shimozuma Rairen Shimozuma Rairyū Takuan Sōhō

Onna-bugeisha	Ikeda Sen Kaihime Komatsuhime Maeda Matsu Ōhōri Tsuruhime Tachibana Ginchiyo

Other notable women	Asahi no kata Gotokuhime Kitsuno Nōhime Oeyo Oichi Ohatsu Okaji no Kata Lady Kasuga Lady Saigō Lady Tsukiyama Senhime Tokuhime Tsuchida Gozen

Persondata
Name	Tsukahara Bokuden
Alternative names
Short description	Japanese samurai
Date of birth	1489
Place of birth
Date of death	1571
Place of death

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