was a ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' and a teacher of

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 o ...

and military strategy in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Family

Munefuyu, who also went by the name Matajūrō, was the third son of Yagyū Munenori. One of his elder brothers was Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi. His younger brother was Retsudō Gisen, the real person who is fictionalized as Yagyū Retsudō, leader of the ''Ura-Yagyū'' (Shadow Yagyū), in ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. It was serialized in Futabasha's manga magazine '' Weekly Manga Action'' from September 1970 to April 1976, with its chapters collected in 28 ' volumes. ...

''.

Life

Born in 1613, in 1650, Munefuyu became the head of the Yagyū clan. In 1657 he received the title '' Hida no kami''. In 1668 he rose to the rank of daimyo of the Yagyū Domain when he received an additional grant of land, bringing his holdings above the 10,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' minimum.

Career teaching kenjitsu

Initially weaker than his brothers and father, a kōa tells how Munefuyu managed to become an expert after training his ''zanshin'' (vigilance) for several years in a temple. Despite his success and fame, he was defeated in a single stroke by Yagyū Renya Toshikane (fourth headmaster of the

Yagyū Shinkage-ryū is one of the oldest Japanese schools of swordsmanship (''kenjutsu''). Its primary founder was Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who called the school Shinkage-ryū. In 1565, Nobutsuna bequeathed the school to his greatest student, Yagyū Munetoshi, who ...

), who had previously fought, before Tokugawa Yoshinao lord of Owari, over 30 duels without being hit. It is said since that time, Owari Yagyū and Edo Yagyū broke ties. Mumefuyu’s highest-ranking pupil was Tokugawa Ietsuna, fourth Tokugawa ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

''.

Family

Life

Career teaching kenjitsu

Further reading