is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

term meaning "license." It refers to the license to teach used by practitioners of various Japanese classical arts and martial arts certifying some license within the school or ryū. The ''menkyo'' system dates back to the 8th century.

Koryū Tradition

Although it is most commonly thought to be used for classical martial arts and ways, it can also be used for other arts such as painting ('' sumi-e''), tea ceremony (''

chadō The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is sel ...

''), flower arranging or calligraphy (''

shodō also called is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrin ...

''). Different martial art ''

ko-ryū is a Japanese term for any kind of Japanese school of traditional arts. The term literally translates as "old school" (''ko''—old, '' ryū''—school) or "traditional school". It is sometimes also translated as "old style". Martial Arts It ...

'' use different license; one outline is: * ''Okuiri'' : enter into art. * ''Mokuroku'' : certificate, and entered into official rolls. ** ''Sho Mokuroku'' ** ''Hatsu Mokuroku'' ** ''Go Mokuroku'' * ''Menkyo'': License. ** ''Shoden Menkyo'' ** ''Chuden Menkyo'' ** ''Okuden Menkyo'' ** ''Hiden Menkyo'' * ''Menkyo Kaiden'': Around thirty years' experience.

Menkyo Kaiden

, (めんきょかいでん) is a

term meaning "license of total transmission." means "initiation into an art or discipline." It is a license that is used by a school or ''

'', meaning that the student has learned everything and passed all aspects of his/her training within the ko-ryū. In the ''menkyo'' system of licenses, the ''menkyo kaiden'' is the highest level of license that exists under the ''menkyo'' system. Advancement of license is not determined by years spent learning, but how well one masters the discipline. However, the transition from ''menkyo'' to ''kaiden'' require usually at least thirty years' experience. A holder of ''menkyo kaiden'' is often, but not always, the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

successor to the ''

sōke , pronounced , is a Japanese term that means "the head family ouse" In the realm of Japanese traditional arts, it is used synonymously with the term ''iemoto''. Thus, it is often used to indicate "headmaster" (or sometimes translated as "head of ...

'' of the ''koryū''.

References

{{reflist Japanese words and phrases Licenses Titles and rank in Japanese martial arts

Koryū Tradition

Menkyo Kaiden

See also

References