Tsukahara Bokuden
A Japanese swordsman (c. 1489–1571), founder of the Kashima Shinto-ryu school, whose students included shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Kamiizumi Nobutsuna.
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Tsukahara Bokuden was born around 1489 in Hitachi Province as Yoshikawa Asako. He was adopted by the Tsukahara family, a side branch of the Kashima clan, and also bore the name Tsukahara Shin'emon Takamoto. He is the founder of the Kashima Shinto-ryu school.
From his adoptive father he learned Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu. Throughout his life he undertook musha shugyo, ascetic martial pilgrimages across Japan.
He systematized local martial arts, including Kashima no tachi and Ichi no tachi, into the Kashima Shinto-ryu school; he briefly called his system Mutekatsu-ryu, "victory without using the hands". According to tradition, he received divine inspiration when founding the school from the deity Takemikazuchi no kami at the Kashima shrine. His students included shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Kitabatake Tomonori, Hosokawa Fujitaka, Imagawa Ujizane, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna and Yamamoto Kansuke.
The historian Tokitsu Kenji estimates that he fought 19 duels to the death and 37 battles, was wounded six times, always by arrow, and killed 212 people; this is an estimate, not a documented record. According to an anecdote, he demonstrated his "swordless" style by pushing a challenger's boat away with an oar and winning through strategy instead of combat. He died in 1571 in Kashima; sources give either 11 February or 6 March. He is buried at the Baiko-ji temple in Suza, Kashima.