Iizasa Ienao
Japanese spearman and swordsman in the service of the Chiba clan (c. 1387–1488), who founded the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu school at the Katori shrine, by tradition in 1447.
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Iizasa Ienao, also known as Iizasa Choisai, was a Japanese spearman and swordsman who founded the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu school at the Katori shrine. He was born around 1387, according to the English Wikipedia in the village of Iizasa in Shimosa Province, and died in 1488.
He served the Chiba clan in the area of today's Chiba Prefecture. When his lord (daimyo) was deposed, he gave up managing the household, according to the source, and devoted himself to martial studies in seclusion. After his hometown was destroyed he set out on the road and finally settled near the Katori shrine. We have found no information about his teachers in the sources.
By the traditional date he founded the school in 1447, but some researchers place its origin closer to 1480. The deity of the Katori shrine is Futsunushi, the kami of swords and lightning, and his link with swordsmanship forms the religious basis of the school's name and tradition. The curriculum rests on kenjutsu, supplemented by spear, staff, naginata and unarmed techniques.
In 1960 Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu became the first Japanese martial art to be designated intangible cultural heritage. We have found no information about Ienao's students in the sources.