All Topics  
Yagyu Munenori

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Yagyu Munenori
 
 
  Topics Yagyu Munenori Topic Home

(1571 - May 11, 1646) was a Japanese swordsman, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu
Yagyu Shinkage-ryu

is one of the oldest Japanese schools of swordsmanship . Its primary founder was Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who called the school Shinkage-ryu. In 1565, Nobutsuna bequeathed the school to his greatest student, Yagyu Muneyoshi, who added his own name to the school....
, which he learned from his father Yagyu "Sekishusai" Muneyoshi
Yagyu Muneyoshi

Yagyu Sekishusai Taira-no-Munetoshi was a samurai in Japan?s Sengoku period famous for mastering the Shinkage-ryu school of combat, and introducing it to the Tokugawa clan....
. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the Tokugawa Shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the , and the , was a feudalism regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family....
 (the other one being Itto-ryu
Itto-ryu

, meaning "one-sword school", is the ancestor school of several Japan koryu kenjutsu styles, including Ono-ha, Mizoguchi-ha, Nakanishi-ha, Kogen, Hokushin, and Itto Shoden....
). Munenori began his career in the Tokugawa administration as a hatamoto
Hatamoto

A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in History of Japan had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa house, and the gokenin were the lower va...
, a direct retainer of the Tokugawa house, and later had his income raised to 10,000 koku, making him a minor fudai daimyo
Daimyo

The were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. The term derives from a shortening of the title , which literally means "great named land" and originally simply referred to the owner of a large estate....
 (vassal lord serving the Tokugawa), with landholdings around his ancestral village of Yagyu-zato.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Yagyu Munenori'
Start a new discussion about 'Yagyu Munenori'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


(1571 - May 11, 1646) was a Japanese swordsman, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu
Yagyu Shinkage-ryu

is one of the oldest Japanese schools of swordsmanship . Its primary founder was Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who called the school Shinkage-ryu. In 1565, Nobutsuna bequeathed the school to his greatest student, Yagyu Muneyoshi, who added his own name to the school....
, which he learned from his father Yagyu "Sekishusai" Muneyoshi
Yagyu Muneyoshi

Yagyu Sekishusai Taira-no-Munetoshi was a samurai in Japan?s Sengoku period famous for mastering the Shinkage-ryu school of combat, and introducing it to the Tokugawa clan....
. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the Tokugawa Shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the , and the , was a feudalism regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family....
 (the other one being Itto-ryu
Itto-ryu

, meaning "one-sword school", is the ancestor school of several Japan koryu kenjutsu styles, including Ono-ha, Mizoguchi-ha, Nakanishi-ha, Kogen, Hokushin, and Itto Shoden....
). Munenori began his career in the Tokugawa administration as a hatamoto
Hatamoto

A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in History of Japan had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa house, and the gokenin were the lower va...
, a direct retainer of the Tokugawa house, and later had his income raised to 10,000 koku, making him a minor fudai daimyo
Daimyo

The were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. The term derives from a shortening of the title , which literally means "great named land" and originally simply referred to the owner of a large estate....
 (vassal lord serving the Tokugawa), with landholdings around his ancestral village of Yagyu-zato. He also received the title of Tajima no Kami.

Munenori entered the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu at a young age, and later was an instructor of swordsmanship to Ieyasu's son Hidetada
Tokugawa Hidetada

was the second shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa bakufu....
. Still later, he became one of the primary advisors of the third shogun Iemitsu
Tokugawa Iemitsu

Tokugawa Iemitsu , sometimes Romanisation Iyemitsu, was the third shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate who reigned from 1623 to 1651. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu....
.

Shortly before his death in 1606, Sekishusai passed the leadership of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu to his grandson Toshiyoshi. Following a period of musha shugyo
Musha shugyo

is a samurai warrior's quest or pilgrimage. The concept is similar to Knight Errantry in feudal Europe. A warrior, called a shugyosha, would wander the land practicing and honing his skills without the protection of his family or school....
, Toshiyoshi entered the service of a cadet branch of the Tokugawa clan that controlled the Owari province. Toshiyoshi's school was based in Nagoya and came to be called Owari Yagyu-ryu, while Munenori's, in Edo
Edo

, literally: Headlands and bays-door, "estuary", ), also Romanization of Japanese as Yedo or Yeddo, is the Geographical renaming of the Capital of Japan Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868....
, the Tokugawa capital, came to be known as Edo Yagyu-ryu. Takenaga Hayato, the founder of the Yagyu Shingan-ryu, was a disciple of Yagyu Munenori and received gokui (secret teachings) of the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu from him.

In about 1632, Munenori completed the Heiho kadensho, a treatise on practical Shinkage-ryu swordsmanship and how it could be applied on a macro level to life and politics. The text remains in print in Japan today, and has been translated a number of times into English.

Munenori's sons, Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi
Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi

Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi is one of the most famous and romanticized of the samurai in Japan's feudal era.Very little is known about the actual life of Yagyu Mitsuyoshi as the official records of his life are very sparse....
 and Yagyu Munefuyu
Yagyu Munefuyu

was a daimyo and a teacher of kenjutsu and military strategy in Japan during the Edo period. His highest-ranking pupil was Tokugawa Ietsuna, fourth Tokugawa clan shogun....
, were also famous swordsmen.

Munenori in Fiction and Legend

Like his father, and his son Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi
Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi

Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi is one of the most famous and romanticized of the samurai in Japan's feudal era.Very little is known about the actual life of Yagyu Mitsuyoshi as the official records of his life are very sparse....
, Munenori has achieved a degree of legendary status. A number of tales and abilities have been attributed to him.

One of the most often repeated is the tale of his amazing sense of danger approaching. He was meditating in his garden facing away from the door when his assistant brought him his sword silently and without any declarations. His assistant, being a young and imaginative sort of person, thought to himself how it would be interesting to see if he could attack Munenori from this position. Before he could act on the fantasy, Munenori leapt to his feet and turned around, stunned to discover only his assistant was behind him. He was sure there was some impending danger.

Later on he was still troubled by the event. How could he have mistaken his assistant for impending danger? Was he losing his edge? He spoke of the incident to one of his trusted advisors while his assistant was in the room, and, being a virtuous youth, his assistant admitted that he had "thought" about attacking him earlier, but made no physical movements in accordance with the attack. Therefore, Munenori concluded that he was not in fact losing his edge but had actually achieved a new level of swordsmanship, one where a man can anticipate impending danger even when people are thinking about it.

Recent fiction has not always been as kind to Munenori as it has been to his son or his father. Munenori has sometimes been depicted as having an adverserial relationship with his son Jubei, (the legends that say that Jubei lost an eye as a boy while sparring with his father are often used to further this), or even being jealous of Jubei's supposedly greater skills. The film Shogun's Samurai shows him as a master of intrigue, repeatedly using tactics such as assassination to secure the post of Shogun for Tokugawa Iemitsu
Tokugawa Iemitsu

Tokugawa Iemitsu , sometimes Romanisation Iyemitsu, was the third shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate who reigned from 1623 to 1651. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu....
 when Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga vied for the title. The same film also shows Munenori ordering the ruthless slaughter of his own followers when they become a potential obstacle.

In other movies and television shows he is shown as having a bitter rivalry with legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi
Miyamoto Musashi

, also known as Shinmen Takezo, Miyamoto Bennosuke, or by his Buddhist name Niten Doraku, was a Japanese people swordsman famed for his duels and distinctive style....
, and being willing to stoop to underhanded tactics to attempt to kill Musashi. For example, in the anime series Shura no Toki, Munenori sent two samurai to assassinate Musashi as he left Edo.