Toda Shinryuken

Quick Facts

Date of Birth1824

Date of Death1909

Country of OriginJapan

Also known asShinryuken

Biography

According to the dictionary Bugei Ryuha Daijiten, Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu lived in 1824–1909, and it lists him as the chief master of the schools Gyokko-ryu koshijutsu, Koto-ryu koppojutsu and Shinden Fudo-ryu dakentaijutsu. Bujinkan also lists him as the 32nd soke of the ninjutsu school Togakure-ryu.

In the Bujinkan tradition, supported by Masaaki Hatsumi, Matsudaira Noriyasu appointed him in 1855 chief budo instructor at the military academy kobusho. Hatsumi also attributes to him the five principles of ninpo and the motto “even in the face of certain death, die laughing”, and we have not found an original document from Toda.

His pupil was Toshitsugu Takamatsu, whom Bujinkan lists as his grandson and the 33rd soke. We have not found in sources the year when the teaching began. Takamatsu then, in the Bujinkan tradition, passed the teaching to Masaaki Hatsumi, founder of Bujinkan. The Genbukan school lists Toda in its Togakure-ryu lineage without a number or dates.

The historicity of the Togakure-ryu lineage before Takamatsu is uncertain. The editors of Bugei Ryuha Daijiten state that its genealogy contains “improvements”, and the researcher Antony Cummins admits that the school may be a reconstruction. Sean Askew, a member of Bujinkan, claims that it was Toda Hisajiro and that Takamatsu disguised the names, and describes the Toda family as falconers serving the Tokugawa government. He cites no specific documents.

Associated Martial Arts