The Edo Yagyu Shinkage Ryu

Relatively early in Japan's Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868) the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu had become the sword system of the the Tokugawa. It is said that the daimyo Tokugawa Ieyasu, after experiencing Yagyu Muneyoshi's skill at muto (an open-hand technique for disarming a swordsman), wished to appoint him as his sword instructor. Muneyoshi declined due to age, however, and recommended his fifth son, Munenori, instead. Yagyu Munenori moved to the capital, Edo (present-day Tokyo), and his branch of the Yagyu ryu became known by that name. Munenori's eldest brother was given the post of advisor to the Tokugawa representatives in Nagoya, where he founded the Owari Yagyu Shinkage Ryu.

The Edo branch continued after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, but it is not known if it continued in Edo or elsewhere, perhaps in its original home in Yagyu no Sato, in Nara. In the present day, there are very few Edo Yagyu Shinkage Ryu dojo.

For more on our history, check the links above or click here.