Shibukawa Bangorō

Japanese: 渋川伴五郎 - しぶかわ・ばんごろう

Year of death: 1704.6.8 (1.5.7)
Year of birth: 1654
A jujutsu practitioner from the early Edo period. Founder of the Shibukawa school. His given name was Yoshikata. His maiden name was Shitara. His ancestors are said to have been hatamoto (samurai vassals) who served the Ashikaga clan, and took the name Shibukawa, but later inherited the position of head of the Shitara Totomi no Kami family. From then on, he is said to have taken the name Shitara until his father Zenbei's generation. There is also a theory that his father was a Kyoto native called Shibukawa Tomoemon. His birthplace is said to be Kishu (Wakayama Prefecture) or Yamato (Nara Prefecture), but since his father Zenbei was from Kishu and Bangoro also opened a dojo called Dogyokan in 1680 under Wakayama Castle, the Kishu theory is more likely. At the age of 16, he became a disciple of the second Sekiguchi Ujiharu of the Sekiguchi school of jujutsu, and after 14 years of training, he was awarded the Kaiden title. It was in this year that a dojo was opened under Wakayama Castle, making Bangoro 29 years old. It is unclear when Shibukawa-ryu was founded, but he moved to Edo during the Tenwa era (1681-84) and established the dojo Bugido in Nishikubo, Shiba, so it was probably just before that. In Edo, he won a match against a jujutsu master named Sugaya, and gained fame. The school was based on jujutsu and incorporated swordsmanship, iaido, spearmanship, and other techniques, but the training was so strict that "the majority of students gave up halfway" (Hassui Zuihitsu). His successor was his senior disciple Yuba Masakata, who later took the name Shibukawa Bangoro. From then on, all successors to the Shibukawa-ryu lineage took the name Bangoro, and the third Bangoro Sukenori (1690-1763) moved the dojo to Azabu and also mastered Naganuma-ryu military science. The 4th generation Bangoro Tokihide (1720-1797) wrote the book "Jujutsu Taiseiroku" and was employed by the Kurume Domain, where he popularized the Shibukawa-ryu school, and is considered the founder of the Shibukawa-ryu school revival.

(Kouzo Kakaku)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：宝永1.5.7(1704.6.8)
生年：承応3(1654)
江戸前期の柔術家。渋川流の開祖。諱は義方。旧姓は設楽。先祖は足利家に仕えた旗本と伝えられ,渋川を名乗ったが,のち設楽遠江守の家督を継承。以来,父善兵衛の代までは設楽姓を名乗ったとされる。父を渋川友右衛門と称した京都の人とする説もある。生地も紀州(和歌山県),もしくは大和(奈良県)とされるが,父善兵衛が紀州にあり,伴五郎も延宝8(1680)年,和歌山城下で道凝館という道場を開いているので,紀州説が有力である。16歳で関口流柔術の2代目関口氏業の門に入り,14年の修行の末に皆伝を得た。和歌山城下での道場開設もこの年のことで,伴五郎29歳であった。渋川流創始の時期は定かではないが,天和年間(1681～84)には江戸へ出て芝西久保で道場武義堂を主宰しているので,おそらくその直前の時期であろう。江戸では菅谷某という柔術家と試合をして勝ち,その名を高めた。同流は柔術を基本に剣術,居合,槍術などをとり入れたが,その稽古ぶりは「(門人の)大かたは半途にしてやむ」(『八水随筆』)という厳しいものだった。跡目は高弟の弓場政賢が継ぎ,のち渋川伴五郎を名乗った。以後,渋川流の道統継承者はすべて伴五郎を称し,3代目伴五郎資矩(1690～1763)は道場を麻布に移し,長沼流兵学も究めた。4代目伴五郎時英(1720～97)は『柔術大成録』を著し,久留米藩に召し抱えられて渋川流を盛んにしたことから,渋川流中興の祖とされている。

(加来耕三)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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