Hokushin Ittō-ryū

A school of swordsmanship that emerged in the late Edo period, the Honden Hokushin-ryu was joined by the Betsuden Itto-ryu. Its founder was Chiba Shusaku Masamasa (1794-1855). Shusaku was from Araya Village, Kurihara County, Mutsu Province (now Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture; other theories exist), and loved swords from an early age. He learned the family tradition of the Hokushin-ryu from his father, Chuzaemon, and showed extraordinary talent. The father and son set out for Edo, and settled in Matsudo-juku (Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture) on the Mito road. His father opened a practice as a veterinary surgeon, and Shusaku became a disciple of Asari Matashichiro Yoshinobu of the Itto-ryu Nakanishi school. He was recognized as a gifted young master, and after three more years of training under the head of the school, Nakanishi Chubei Tsugumasa, he received his Menkyo Kaiden in the first year of the Bunsei era. He traveled around the country and realized the need to reformulate the traditional Itto-ryu martial arts, adding his own originality and ingenuity to it, and came up with Hokushin Itto-ryu. In 1822 (Bunsei 5), he opened his first dojo in Shinagawa-cho, Nihonbashi, which he called Genbukan. His flexible teaching methods and simplified promotion system made him popular, and due to the rapid increase in the number of students, he moved to Otama-ga-ike in Kanda to expand and establish a new dojo. His younger brother Sadakichi also had a dojo in Okemachi, Kyobashi, and his eldest son Kisotaro, second son Eijiro, third son Dousaburo, and fourth son Tamonshiro were all gifted swordsmen, and among their disciples were such excellent swordsmen as Kaiho Hanpei, who served the Mito domain, Inoue Hachiro, Ooba Tozo, Shoji Benkichi, and Tsukada Kohei.It is said that the plaque dedicated to the Asakusa Kannon at that time included the signatures of 3,600 members of the family and school.

[Ichiro Watanabe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末に台頭した剣術の一流派、本伝北辰流に別伝一刀流の合流。始祖は千葉周作成政(ちばしゅうさくなりまさ)（1794―1855）。周作は陸奥国(むつのくに)栗原(くりはら)郡荒谷(あらや)村（宮城県大崎(おおさき)市。異説もある）の出身で、幼児より剣を好み、父忠左衛門に家伝の北辰流を学んで異才を現し、父子で江戸を目ざして水戸道中松戸宿（千葉県松戸市）に来住し、父は馬医を開業し、周作は一刀流中西派の浅利又七郎義信(よしのぶ)の門に入った。ここで天賦の英才を認められ、さらに宗家の中西忠兵衛子正(つぐまさ)のもとで修行3年、文政(ぶんせい)初年免許皆伝を受け、諸国歴遊に出て、伝統的な一刀流兵法を改組する必要を痛感し、自らの創意工夫を加えて北辰一刀流を唱えた。1822年（文政5）日本橋品川町に初めて道場を開き、玄武館(げんぶかん)と称した。その柔軟な教授法と昇級制の簡略化などで人気を博し、門人の急増のため、神田お玉が池に拡張移転した。弟の定吉(さだきち)も京橋桶町に道場をもち、長男の奇蘇太郎(きそたろう)、次男栄次郎(えいじろう)、三男道三郎(どうさぶろう)、四男多門四郎(たもんしろう)らも資質に恵まれ、門人中にも水戸藩に仕えた海保帆平(かいほはんぺい)をはじめ、井上八郎、大羽藤蔵(おおばとうぞう)、庄司弁吉(しょうじべんきち)、塚田孔平(つかだこうへい)らの優れた剣客を輩出し、当時浅草観音(かんのん)に奉納した献額には一族一門の連名者3600人に及んだという。

［渡邉一郎］

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