also known as Butoku Gakko, Bujutsu Senmon Gakko, or Busen (武専), was a school for training young men and women in Japanese martial arts. There were four departments; kendo,

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

naginata The ''naginata'' (, ) is a pole weapon and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades (''nihontō''). ''Naginata'' were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei ...

and

kyūdō ''Kyūdō'' ( ja, 弓道) is the Japanese martial art of archery. Kyūdō is based on '' kyūjutsu'' ("art of archery"), which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. In 1919, the name of kyūjutsu was officially changed to kyūdō, a ...

. The school was based at Butokuden, a famous training hall in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

, Japan. The building is still in use for martial arts exhibitions.

Founding

The need for Busen arose from a nationalistic fervour in Japan after the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). Increased

Japanese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture, and promotes the cultural unity of the Japanese. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas ...

led to an increased interest in the "martial way". Traditionally, Japanese martial arts had been taught as part of the standard curriculum in schools across Japan. The arrival of

Commodore Matthew Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the op ...

's " Black Ships" in 1853 caused the Japanese to abandon their "archaic" martial arts and use western firepower. Martial arts were considered outdated and part of Japan's feudal

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, and schools deemphasized traditional martial arts. Interest in martial arts was raised again in 1873 by

Sakakibara Kenkichi , was a Japanese samurai and martial artist. He was the fourteenth headmaster of the Jikishinkage school of sword fighting. Through his Jikishinkage contacts he rose to a position of some political influence; he taught swordsmanship at a gover ...

, a proud man of

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as '' gokenin.'' Howev ...

status who was disturbed by the loss of traditional

swordsmanship Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to a ...

and martial arts. He arranged a series of performances by well known martial artists called ''gekken kogyo''. Despite the entrance fee, these events became immensely popular and once again raised interest in martial arts. By 1880 the police had recognised the importance of Kendo and other traditional martial arts and wrote it into the Police Academy guidelines that all cadets should be instructed in Kendo.

Beyond Kendo

This popularity also raised interest in the field of education. In the 1870s, there were a number of people who were raising concerns over the total westernisation of Japanese schools. The

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

carried out an investigation, the most notable in 1883 by the National Institute of Gymnastics (Taiso Denshujo), and then the 1896 investigation carried out by the School Health Advisors' Board (Gakko Eisei Komonkai). The conclusion of both of these surveys was that it would be inappropriate to introduce bujutsu (Japanese martial arts in general) into the school curriculum, in anything other than a spiritual way (the 1896 survey suggested that boys over 16 could study bujutsu). This led to a number of people, notably Ozawa Unosuke and

Nakajima Kenzo is a Japanese name. It is also sometimes romanized as Nakashima and sometimes written as . It may refer to: Places * Nakashima District, Aichi, former district in Japan, now part of Inazawa, Aichi. * Nakajima, Ehime, former town in Japan * Nak ...

, to try to develop a gymnastics adaptation of bujutsu. This was met with some criticism, and it was noted that the techniques were ineffective and did not take into account the blade or the direction of travel. 1895 marked the 1,100th year of Kyoto becoming the capital of Japan.

Emperor Kanmu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the sco ...

is said to have constructed a Butokuden (Hall of Martial Virtue) to promote martial spirit and encourage warriors. In commemoration of this, the

Dai Nippon Butoku Kai ''Dai Nippon Butoku Kai'' (DNBK, ja, 大日本武徳会, en, "Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society") was a martial arts organization with strong ties to WWII-era Japanese government, originally established in 1895 in Kyoto. Following the end of ...

(Butoku Kai) was established in Kyoto, under the authority of the Minister of Education. The formation of the Butoku Kai was a major turning point for getting martial arts back into the school curriculum. The goals of the Butoku Kai were to standardise the plethora of martial disciplines found throughout the nation. In 1905, a division of the Butoku Kai was formed to train bujutsu instructors called Bujutsu Kyoin Yoseijo. This system was revised and improved a number of times, and then led to the formation of the Butoku Gakko (School of Martial Virtue) in 1911. This became known as the Bujutsu Senmon Gakko (Bujutsu Specialist School) in 1912, and then the Budo Senmon Gakko in 1919 when the term 'budo' officially replaced 'bujutsu'. The Budo Senmon Gakko (or Busen as it became known) together with the Tokyo Koto Shihan Gakko (Tokyo Higher Normal School) led the way in producing young instructors; these would be posted to schools throughout the country, to teach children the arts. The first class of 8 students graduated in March 1914. Budo Senmon Gakko continued to produce excellent instructors until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, as more and more students were drafted into the Japanese military. After the war, Allied occupation forces prohibited opening the school. It remained vacant for decades. The buildings have since been restored and upgraded, and now tournaments are held in the dojo.

Daily Routine

Training at Budo Senmon Gakko followed a rigorous schedule: * 0600-0700 ''Asa-geiko'' (Morning Practice): In their first year, students trained in one basic cutting technique for the whole year. In further years, they moved on to train in more complex techniques. * 0700-0800 Breakfast * 0800-1200 Lectures: Instruction usually consisting of

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

, calligraphy, and the

old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial. Old Jap ...

language. * 1200-1300 Lunch * 1300-1500 ''Keiko'' (Practice): Training in the same way as during the morning practice. * 1500-1600 Voluntary Practice: Additional training, of which attendance was nominally voluntary but informally required as a social expectation.

References

External links

Rod N. Omoto, a student at Budo Senmon Gakko

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Founding

Beyond Kendo

Daily Routine

See also

References

External links