established in 1925 by a committee of senior experts of several sword traditions for the curriculum of the Rikugun Toyama Gakkō. The special school for training army personnel founded in 1873, called Rikugun Toyama Gakkō or " Toyama Army Academy" in Toyama,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, led to the establishment of Toyama-ryu.Draeger, Donn F. (1974) Modern bujutsu & Budo - The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan. (Vol. III). New York: Weatherhill. Page 65. Today, separate lines of Toyama-ryū are primarily located in the Kantō, Tokai and Kansai region of Japan.

Background

After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, officers in the Japanese Army were required to carry Western-style sabres. During the 1920s Japan went through a phase of Militant Nationalism that lasted until defeat in the Second World War. By adopting the

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the '' tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge f ...

, the traditional sword of the

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

, the Japanese were allying themselves with the samurai military tradition. Adopting the katana also served to calm discontent among the more politicized sections of the army who had been outraged at mechanization (another lesson learned from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

) which had de-emphasized the role of infantry and cavalry. In 1925, since not all officers had sufficient background in

kenjutsu is an umbrella term for all ('' ko-budō'') schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of ...

to deploy these weapons in combat, a simplified form of sword technique was devised that emphasized the most essential points of drawing and cutting. Takano Sasaburo and Nakayama Hakudo were senior teachers at the academy. Academy director Lieutenant Colonel Morinaga Kiyoshi (森永清中佐) selected 5 kata from Nakayama's Omori-ryu to serve as the basis of the "Gunto no Soho". The system was further refined by committee. The army '' iai-battō'' ''

kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practised ...

'' differ from those of many '' koryū'' sword schools in that all techniques are practised from a standing position. Also, this modern '' ryū'' has a strong emphasis on ''

tameshigiri ''Tameshigiri'' (試し斬り, 試し切り, 試斬, 試切) is the Japanese art of target test cutting. The kanji literally mean "test cut" (kun'yomi: ためしぎり ''tameshi giri''). This practice was popularized in the Edo period (17th ce ...

'', or "test-cutting." At the end 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 opposin ...

, the Toyama Military Academy became the U.S. Army's

Camp Zama is a United States Army post located in the cities of Zama and Sagamihara, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about southwest of Tokyo. Camp Zama is home to the U.S. Army Japan (USARJ), I Corps (Forward), U.S. Army Aviation Battalion Japan ...

. Nonetheless, the military iai system was revived after 1952. By the 1970s, three separate organizations represented Toyama-ryū

Iaido , abbreviated , is a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to sudden attacks.Christensen, Karen and Allen Guttmann et.al (2001) ''International Encyclopedia of Women and Spor ...

: in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, the Greater Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Federation (established by Yamaguchi Yuuki); in Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka area), the Toyama Ryu Iaido Association (established by Morinaga Kiyoshi former Head Instructor of the Toyama Academy); and the All-Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Federation (established by Nakamura Taizaburo). Each of these organizations was autonomous. Today, there are many active instructors of Gunto no Soho and all three mainline Toyama-ryū schools (Moringa-ha, Nakamura-ha and Yamaguchi-ha) inside and outside Japan, licensed by several organizations including the Zen Nihon Toyama-ryu Iaido Renmei (ZNTIR), the Toyama-ryu Iai-Batto Do Renmei (TIBDR), The International Battodo Federation (IBF), the Zen Nihon Battodo Renmei (ZNBDR), the International Shinkendo Federation, The United States Federation of Batto-do (USFBD) and the International Batto-Do Rengo-Kai. As well as in the Czech republic
Czech Toyama Ryu Federation
, Sweden, Poland, Australia, England and Italy.

References

Zen Nihon Toyama Ryū Renmei (全日本戸山流居合道連盟). url=http://toyamaryuiaido.jp/index_en.html Toyama Ryū Iai-Battodo Renmei (戸山流居合抜刀道連盟). url=https://www.toyamaryuiaibattodo.com/home Kokusai Batto Renmei (中村流/). url=https://www.ibf-battodo.org Zen Nihon Battodo Renmei (全日本抜刀道連盟). url=https://znbatto.com/en/about Kokusai Toyama Ryū Renmei url=https://www.toyama-ryu.org. International Batto-Do Rengo-Kai (国際戸山流連盟) url=https://www.genbukai-hq.org/batto/batto-history.php Dai Nihon Dentô Morinaga Toyama-Ryu Iai-Do Rengō-kai Nihon Toyama Ryu Iaido So-Renmei {{DEFAULTSORT:Toyama-Ryu Japanese swordsmanship Gendai budo Japanese martial arts Iaido

Background

See also

References