was the founder of

Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū Written as 天眞正傳香取神道流 before adoption (1946) of Tōyō kanji. is one of the oldest extant Japanese martial arts, and an exemplar of '' bujutsu''. The Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū was founded by Iizasa Ienao, born in ...

which is a traditional ('' koryū'')

Japanese martial art Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usag ...

. His Buddhist posthumous name is ''Taiganin-den-Taira-no-Ason-Iga-no-Kami-Raiodo-Hon-Daikoji''.''Deity and the Sword, Vol 1 p. 16-17. He was reputed to be a respected spearman and

swordsman 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 ...

who served the Chiba family in what is today

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

. When his hometown was destroyed he began wandering the land until he settled down near the

Katori Shrine The is a Shintō shrine in the city of Katori in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shimōsa Province, and is the head shrine of the approximately 400 Katori shrines around the country (located primarily in the Kantō ...

and founded the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū in c.1447.

References

* De Lange, William (2006). ''Famous Japanese Swordsmen: The Warring States Period'', Floating World Editions. * Otake, Risuke (1977). ''The Deity and the Sword - Katori Shinto-ryu'', Vol 1, Japan, Japan Publications Trading Co. (Original Japanese title for all three volumes in this series is ''Mukei Bunkazai Katori Shinto-ryu'') * Hall, David Avalon. ''Marishiten: Buddhism and the warrior Goddess'', Ph.D. dissertation, Ann Arbor: University microfilms, p. 274-292 are about TSKSR * Skoss, Diane (editor) (1999). ''Sword & Spirit, Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan'', vol 2., p. 67-69 * Watatani, Kiyoshi (1967). ''Zusetsu Kobudōshi'', Tokyo

Notes

Samurai Martial arts school founders Japanese centenarians Men centenarians 1387 births 1488 deaths People from Chiba Prefecture {{Japan-martialart-bio-stub