Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami

Quick Facts

Date of Birthc. 1467

Date of Death1524

Country of OriginJapan

OccupationSoldier

Also known asMatsumoto Bizen-no-kami Naokatsu

Biography

Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami was a Japanese swordsman of the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries associated with the Kashima shrine, whom tradition names as founder of the shihanke line in Kashima Shin-ryu and of Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryu. Koryu.com calls him Naokatsu and gives the dates 1467 to 1524, a densho of 1800 Sugimoto Bizen-no-kami Masamoto and English Wikipedia Masanobu. His life is partly legendary.

According to English Wikipedia, the Matsumoto family was one of four families that looked after the Kashima shrine. The official Chiba Prefecture website ranks him among the four leading students of Iizasa Chosai, the founder of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu.

According to Kashima Shin-ryu tradition, around 1500 he worked out Kashima no tachi with Kunii Kagetsugu into the foundation of the school, and the technique ichi no tachi is attributed to him. Koryu.com gives him as founder of Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryu but dates its founding to around 1570, after the given year of his death. We have not been able to explain this contradiction.

The date of death differs in the sources, and English Wikipedia gives 1524, 1543 and 1537. According to an analysis of the densho on jikishinkageryu.org, the legend of the revelation of the god Takemikazuchi was probably invented only by Naganuma Kunisato in the 18th century. We have not found a quotation with a documented origin.

Early life

According to English Wikipedia, the Matsumoto family belonged to the four Kashima Shitenno families that looked after the Kashima shrine, the others being Ogano, Gakuga and Yoshikawa. The densho of 1800 states that he lived in a place called Hinatsu in Hitachi Province, and the author of an analysis on jikishinkageryu.org believes this is a corrupted writing of the name Kasuga. The same document calls him Sugimoto Bizen-no-kami Ki-no Masamoto, and Edo-period sources Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami Masamoto. Koryu.com uses the name Naokatsu and the dates 1467 to 1524.

Training and teachers

The official website of Chiba Prefecture on Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu ranks him among the four leading students of Iizasa Chosai, who are said all to have become founders of their own schools, but it gives no dates. The author of the analysis of the densho on jikishinkageryu.org considers it more probable that Kamiizumi Nobutsuna was taught by Matsumoto or Tsukahara Bokuden. According to an article in Budo World of the University of Tsukuba, Matsumoto proposed to Tsukahara Bokuden a thousand-day ascetic practice at the Kashima shrine.

Contribution and innovations

According to the tradition of Kashima Shin-ryu, around 1500 he worked out Kashima no tachi together with Kunii Kagetsugu into the foundation of this school. English Wikipedia attributes to him the technique hitotsu no tachi, or ichi no tachi, a counterstrike at the moment when the opponent begins an attack. Koryu.com gives him as the founder of Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryu, which today has no single head, and the Odani-ha branch is represented by Iwasa Masaru.

Legends and documented facts

The legend claims that he received the secrets of swordsmanship in a dream from the god Takemikazuchi. The author of the analysis of the densho on jikishinkageryu.org believes that the divine revelation was probably invented only by Naganuma Kunisato, who placed Matsumoto at the head of the line in a document of 1764. The date of death is disputed, and English Wikipedia gives 1524 in battle at Tamagahara, 1543 after an arrow wound and 1537 according to family records. Koryu.com places the founding of Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryu around 1570, that is, after the stated death of the founder, and does not explain the contradiction.

Legacy

According to English Wikipedia, Kashima Shin-ryu gives him as the founder of the shihanke line, whereas the soke line was founded by Kunii Kagetsugu. Its 18th holder, Kunii Zenya (1894–1966), helped bring the school wider recognition. The military chronicle Koyo Gunkan, in the edition of 1935, states that he fought with a spear in 23 battles and took 25 heads of officers and 76 heads of ordinary soldiers.

Associated Martial Arts