Joseph Svinth
13th August 2000, 21:50
In "The East," Vol XXVI, No. 1, there is a translation of "Kamiizumi Nobutsuna" by Naoki Sanjugo. This is part of Naoki's "Profiles of Japan's Great Swordsmen" (Nihon Kengo Retsuden), published posthumously in 1941.
According to Naoki, Nobutsuna is credited with popularizing fukuro-shinai, the ancestors of today's shinai. Descendant styles of his school of swordsmanship include Chokushin-kage-ryu, which in turn was adopted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police as its official kendo system, and whose teacher Naganuma Shirozaemon is said to have created the modern shinai, mask, and gloves.
In the next issue, the featured swordsmen will be Ito Ittosai of the Itto-ryu and his student Ono Tadaaki.
According to Naoki, Nobutsuna is credited with popularizing fukuro-shinai, the ancestors of today's shinai. Descendant styles of his school of swordsmanship include Chokushin-kage-ryu, which in turn was adopted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police as its official kendo system, and whose teacher Naganuma Shirozaemon is said to have created the modern shinai, mask, and gloves.
In the next issue, the featured swordsmen will be Ito Ittosai of the Itto-ryu and his student Ono Tadaaki.