Tsukahara Bokuden

He was a master swordsman in the late Muromachi period and the founder of the Shinto school (Kashima Shinto school, Bokuden school, Tsukahara Bokuden school, etc.). There are many rumors about Bokuden's biography and it is not clear, but he was one of the four elders of the Kashima family of Hitachi Daijo, and was born as the second son of Urabe (Yoshikawa) Kakuken, a shrine official at Kashima Shrine (Kashima Jingu). His original name was Tomotaka, and from a young age he was raised by Tsukahara Tosa no Kami Yasumoto, a small lord of Tsukahara (Kashima City, Ibaraki Prefecture), and when he grew up he was called Shinzaemon no Jo Takamoto, and later he was called Bokudensai and Tosa Nyudo. He loved swordsmanship from his youth, learned the family tradition of Kashima Chūkyō-ryū from his father, then learned the Tenshinshōden Shintō-ryū from Iizasa Chōisai from his foster father, and further travelled around the country to train and become famous as a swordsman. In 1512 (Eishō 9), internal conflict within the Kashima clan intensified, and in 1523 (Taiei 3), when Bokuden was 35 years old, the Battle of Takamagahara took place, where Bokuden fought bravely and achieved military merit, including the taking of 21 heads. After that, Bokuden devoted himself entirely to the study of swordsmanship, retreating to the Kashima Shrine where he discovered the mysteries of military strategy, naming the secret technique "One Sword" (there is also an alternative theory that this was invented by Sugimoto Masanobu), naming his school Shinto-ryu, and traveling around the country with many disciples, devoting himself to spreading the art. According to the "Kōyō Gunkan," he brought along a total of 80 men, both senior and subordinate, and displayed his authority by having three large hawks and three horses lead the way, behaving extravagantly. His footsteps reached all over the western part of Japan, where he taught such men as Yamamoto Kansuke, a retainer of the Takeda clan of Koshu, and he also taught the art of the first sword to Kitabatake Tomonori, the provincial governor of Ise.He also went to Kyoto and taught the art of the sword and spear to daimyo such as Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Hosokawa Fujitaka.

In his later years, he retired to his hometown, and in 1556 (Koji 2), he adopted his son Hikoshiro Motohide. In February 1571 (Genki 2), he passed away at the age of 83 at the residence of his senior disciple Matsuoka Hyogonosuke Norikata, ending his eventful life. His posthumous name was Hoken Kochin Koji, and his grave is located at the site of Baikoji Temple near the old Tsukahara Castle. Around 1603 (Keicho 8), Matsuoka Hyogonosuke traveled to Edo at the invitation of Tokugawa Ieyasu, where he was rewarded for imparting the secret technique of the first sword technique and was given a black seal certificate to maintain the orthodoxy of the Shinto-ryu school. Two of Matsuoka's most famous disciples who spread the teachings of Matsuoka in Edo were Kabuto Gyobu Shoyu and Tada Umanosuke.

[Ichiro Watanabe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

室町末期の剣豪で、新当(しんとう)流（鹿島(かしま)新当流、卜伝流、墳原(つかはら)卜伝流など）の祖。卜伝の伝記は巷説(こうせつ)が多く明らかではないが、常陸大掾(ひたちだいじょう)鹿島家の四宿老(しゅくろう)の一つで、鹿島社（鹿島神宮）の祠官(しかん)、卜部(うらべ)（吉川(よしかわ)）覚賢(かくけん)の二男に生まれ、初名朝孝(ともたか)、幼くして塚原（茨城県鹿嶋(かしま)市）の小領主塚原土佐守(かみ)安幹(やすもと)に養われ、長じて新左衛門尉(しんざえもんのじょう)高幹(たかもと)といい、のち卜伝斎(ぼくでんさい)、土佐入道と称した。少年のころから剣を好み、父から家伝の鹿島中古流を、ついで養父から飯篠長威斎(いいざさちょういさい)の天真正伝神道(てんしんしょうでんしんとう)流を学び、さらに廻国(かいこく)修行を重ねて剣名をあげた。1512年（永正9）、このころから鹿島一族の内訌(ないこう)が激化し、1523年（大永3）卜伝35歳のとき高天原の合戦となり、卜伝も奮戦して高名の首21ほかの戦功をあげた。その後、卜伝はもっぱら剣術の修行に打ち込み、鹿島社に参籠(さんろう)して兵法の奥儀を開眼し、極意を「一(ひとつ)の太刀(たち)」と名づけ（杉本政信の創案とする異説もある）、流名を新当流と唱え、多数の門弟を率いて諸国を歴遊し、もっぱらその弘布(こうふ)に努めた。『甲陽軍鑑』によれば、一行の総勢、上下80人を召し連れ、大鷹(たか)三疋(びき)を据えさせ、馬三頭を引かせて威光を示し、華美にふるまったという。その足跡は西国に及んだが、甲州武田氏の家臣、山本勘介(かんすけ)らに教授したのをはじめ、伊勢(いせ)の国司北畠具教(きたばたけとものり)に一の太刀を伝授し、京都に上っては、将軍足利義輝(あしかがよしてる)や細川藤孝(ふじたか)らの大名に刀槍(とうそう)の術を指南したという。

　晩年は郷里に帰って隠棲(いんせい)し、1556年（弘治2）養子彦四郎幹秀(ひこしろうもとひで)を迎え、1571年（元亀2）2月、高弟松岡兵庫助則方(まつおかひょうごのすけのりかた)の屋敷で、83歳の波瀾(はらん)に富んだ一生を閉じたという。法号は宝剣高珍居士(ほうけんこうちんこじ)、墓は旧塚原城に近い梅香寺(ばいこうじ)跡にある。なお松岡兵庫助は、1603年（慶長8）ころ、徳川家康の招きで江戸に出府し、秘伝の一の太刀を伝授して感賞を受け、新当流の正統を保持すべきの黒印状を与えられた。江戸で松岡の伝を広めた大高弟として、甲頭刑部少輔(かぶとぎょうぶしょうゆう)と多田右馬助(うまのすけ)の両名が有名である。

［渡邉一郎］

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