was a Japanese daimyo, swordsman, and martial arts writer, founder of the Edo branch of
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 ...
, which he learned from his father
Yagyū "Sekishūsai" Muneyoshi. This was one of two official sword styles patronized by the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
(the other one being ''
Ittō-ryū
, meaning "one-sword school", is the ancestor school of several Japanese Koryū kenjutsu styles, including Ono-ha, Mizoguchi-ha, Nakanishi-ha, Kogen, Hokushin, Itto Shoden and even Mugai Ryu. The style was developed by Itō Ittōsai Kagehisa.
...
''). Munenori began his career in the Tokugawa administration as a
hatamoto
A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...
, a direct retainer of the Tokugawa house, and later had his income raised to 10,000 ''koku'', making him a minor ''fudai
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 ...
'' (vassal lord serving the Tokugawa), with landholdings around his ancestral village of Yagyū-zato. He also received the title of ().
Career
Munenori entered the service of
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
at a young age, and later was an instructor of swordsmanship to Ieyasu's son
Hidetada. Still later, he became one of the primary advisors of the third shōgun
Iemitsu.
Shortly before his death in 1606, Sekishusai passed the leadership of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū to his grandson
Toshiyoshi.
[Wilson, William Scott, "Introduction", ''The Life-Giving Sword'' by Yagyu Munenori, trans. William Scott Wilson, Kodansha International, 2003.] Following a period of
musha shugyō, Toshiyoshi entered the service of a cadet branch of the Tokugawa clan that controlled the Owari province. Toshiyoshi's school was based in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
and came to be called (), while Munenori's, in
Edo
Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
, the Tokugawa capital, came to be known as (). Takenaga Hayato, the founder of the ''Yagyū Shingan-ryū'', was a disciple of Yagyū Munenori and received ''gokui'' (secret teachings) of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū from him.
In about 1632, Munenori completed the
Heihō kadensho, a treatise on practical Shinkage-ryū swordsmanship and how it could be applied on a macro level to life and politics. The text remains in print in Japan today, and has been translated a number of times into English.
Munenori's sons,
Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi and
Yagyū Munefuyu, were also famous swordsmen.
The essay "The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom" by
Takuan Sōhō was a letter written from Sōhō to Munenori.
Bibliography
*''
A Hereditary Book on the Art of War''
References
Further reading
*
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External links
Summary of the book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yagyu, Munenori
1571 births
1646 deaths
Daimyo
Hatamoto
Japanese swordfighters
Martial arts writers
People of the Azuchi–Momoyama period
People of the Edo period
People of the Muromachi period
Yagyū clan
17th-century martial artists