, Kagetada by his
nanori
are the often non-standard kanji character readings (pronunciations) found almost exclusively in Japanese names.
In the Japanese language, many Japanese names are constructed from common characters with standard pronunciations. However, names m ...
. Hikita was a Japanese swordsman during the
Sengoku period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615.
The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...
of the 16th century. Hikita Bungoro was the nephew of the famous swordsman
Kamiizumi Hidetsuna
Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, (上泉 信綱), born Kamiizumi Ise-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Hidetsuna, (c.1508 – 1572/1577) was a samurai in Japan's Sengoku period famous for creating the Shinkage-ryū school of combat. He is also well known as Kamiizumi Iseno ...
, in which they were both very well versed in the ways of
bujutsu. Another famous swordsman by the name of
Yagyū Muneyoshi (the father of
Yagyū Munenori
was a Japanese daimyo, swordsman, and martial arts writer, founder of the Edo branch of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, which he learned from his father Yagyū "Sekishūsai" Muneyoshi. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the Tokugawa ...
) had seen the superb skills set by Hidetsuna. Following this
Hōzōin In'ei
was a bhikkhu, Buddhist monk and sōhei, abbot of Hōzōin temple, and guardian of all the temples of Nara Prefecture, Nara. He is founded a school of Sōjutsu called Hōzōin-ryū in 1560s.
In'ei was born in the first year of Daiei (1521) as t ...
, the head monk of the Hōzōin temple in
Nara
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
, arranged for a duel between Muneyoshi and Hidetsuna. However, Hidetsuna sent Bungoro to take up the challenge as to underestimate the abilities of Muneyoshi. Throughout the course of Bungoro's duel, he had struck Muneyoshi several times with his
shinai
A is a Japanese sword typically made of bamboo used for practice and competition in ''kendo''. ''Shinai'' are also used in other martial arts, but may be styled differently from ''kendo shinai'', and represented with different characters. T ...
, which greatly impressed those in attendance.
Bungorō carried on the Shinkage-ryū lineage separately from Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, a martial arts school called Hikita Kage-ryū (疋田陰流), primarily a sword and spears school, but also using kusarigama, naginata and Odachi. It is taught in numerous places in Japan, like the Shumpūkan of
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
.
Notes
References
Bibliography
*De Lange, William (2010), ''Famous Japanese Swordsmen, The Warring States Period'', Floating World Editions.
Hikita Bungoro
16th-century Japanese people
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