Negishi-ryu Shurikenjutsu
根岸流手裏剣術A Japanese school of shuriken throwing founded by Negishi Shorei in the late Edo period. According to the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the shuriken flies point first without rotating.
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About Negishi-ryu Shurikenjutsu
Negishi-ryu Shurikenjutsu is a Japanese school of shuriken throwing. According to the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, it was founded in the late Edo period by Negishi Shorei, the fourth master of Araki-ryu swordsmanship in the Annaka domain. From a Hokushin Itto-ryu teacher of the Mito domain he took over the shurikenjutsu of Ganritsu-ryu and added his own modifications, so the school came to be called Negishi-ryu. The Nihon Jinmei Daijiten dictionary gives Negishi's life as 1833 to 1897. We have not found the year the school was founded. According to the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the shuriken of Ganritsu-ryu were so thin and light that they could be tucked into the hair on both sides of the head. Negishi-ryu made them thicker and heavier. Of the three ways of throwing distinguished by the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the school uses the one with the point forward and the shuriken flying without rotation. The Nihon Kobudo Kyokai today leads the school with the seventh soke, Hayasaka Yoshifumi, in Ryugasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture. The Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai names the sixth soke, Tomabechi Yoshimi, as representative, together with Shirai-ryu. According to English Wikipedia, Hayasaka became the seventh soke after Tomabechi's retirement.
History
According to the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, Ganritsu-ryu, a swordsmanship including shurikenjutsu, was handed down in the Sendai domain and other northern domains. In Sendai one family held it for generations, and between 1764 and 1780 it produced a master of shuriken throwing, about whom a book from 1817 tells. According to the same source it reached Mito through the wife of the lord of Sendai and her father, the lord of the Mito domain, and Negishi Shorei took it over from a Hokushin Itto-ryu teacher. The Nihon Jinmei Daijiten dictionary states that Negishi's family taught Araki-ryu in the Annaka domain for generations. Negishi studied Hokushin Itto-ryu, and after returning to the domain he took over Araki-ryu as the fourth generation and became a swordsmanship teacher. He further modified the shurikenjutsu he had learned and founded Negishi-ryu. He died in 1897 aged 65. The current holder, Hayasaka Yoshifumi, in a 2019 article names the composite art of the Sendai domain as the root of the school, from which, in his view, the founder of Ganritsu-ryu took over shurikenjutsu. The name of the founder of Ganritsu-ryu differs among sources. According to English Wikipedia, the fifth soke Saito Satoshi, who lived from 1922 to 2014, began studying under Naruse Kanji in 1941 and chaired the Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai from 1997 to 2014.
How it differs
In a 2020 article, Hayasaka Yoshifumi compares Negishi-ryu with another throwing school, practiced until the end of the Edo period in the circle of the Tokugawa family in Owari. There one throws while stepping forward with the right foot, whereas Negishi-ryu throws from a stance with the left foot forward. According to the author, these are solutions of two founders and it cannot be said which is better. According to him, the Owari school included nail-shaped shuriken in three sizes, dagger-shaped shuriken, throwing a short sword, and two-sword fencing. English Wikipedia and the Kamakura Renbukan website call Negishi-ryu the last surviving Japanese school specializing in shurikenjutsu. Neither the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai nor the Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai states this.
Technique
The Nihon Kobudo Kyokai distinguishes three ways of throwing the shuriken. In the first the point faces forward and the shuriken flies without rotation, in the second the point faces the thrower and the shuriken turns 180 degrees in flight, and the third concerns a different shuriken shape. Negishi-ryu uses the first. According to the same source, the school made the thin, light shuriken of Ganritsu-ryu thicker and heavier. English Wikipedia adds that the Negishi-ryu shuriken has an octagonal head. In a 2020 article, Hayasaka Yoshifumi describes the stance: left foot forward, shuriken in the right hand, left arm stretched straight out in front, and the throw is made from this stance.
Training
The Nihon Kobudo Kyokai shows the school with a form that includes sword work. Japanese Wikipedia states that Negishi-ryu originally consisted of naginata and shurikenjutsu, that only shurikenjutsu survived, and that one school of iaijutsu is now handed down with it. English Wikipedia and the website of the Kamakura Renbukan dojo write that in the Edo period shurikenjutsu was reserved for students who had mastered the school's main curriculum. The Renbukan says it rejects the sporting approach and that nobody competes there for trophies.
Today
The Nihon Kobudo Kyokai lists the seventh soke, Hayasaka Yoshifumi, based in Ryugasaki in Ibaraki Prefecture, and branches in Tokyo, Kumamoto and Kamakura. According to the same source, the students include Americans, French, Croats and Australians. The school performs at kobudo festivals and since the 31st year of the Showa era has worked with film and television, for example teaching dagger throwing for a film. The Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai leads Negishi-ryu together with Shirai-ryu, which according to Hayasaka was taken over by Saito Satoshi in 1944 in Hamamatsu. It names Tomabechi Yoshimi as the representative of both.
Did you know
According to English Wikipedia, Naruse Kanji of Negishi-ryu wrote the first book on shurikenjutsu in 1943, titled Shuriken. Japanese Wikipedia relates that Negishi Shorei excelled at thrusting with both hands, but the lord of the domain forbade him to thrust because it was too strong.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Negishi-ryu?
Negishi Shorei, an Araki-ryu swordsmanship master in the Annaka domain, at the end of the Edo period. According to the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, he took over Ganritsu-ryu shurikenjutsu from a Hokushin Itto-ryu teacher and modified it.
Does the Negishi-ryu shuriken rotate in flight?
No. According to the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the school throws with the point forward and the shuriken flies without rotation.
Is Negishi-ryu the last school of shurikenjutsu?
English Wikipedia and the website of the Kamakura Renbukan dojo describe it as the last surviving school specializing in shurikenjutsu. Neither the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai nor the Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai states this.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.