The Yagyū in the Gekiken Sōdan

3 October 2026

An excerpt from my 2026 book Mikkyō, Zen, and Daoist Sources in Shinkage-ryū.

The Gekiken Sōdan (撃剣叢談) of Mikami Genryū (1790), printed in the 1915 Bujutsu sōsho (Mikami Genryū 1790; 国書刊行会 (Kokusho Kankōkai, ed.) 1915), surveys the sword schools active between Okayama and Edo in the later eighteenth century. Its historical treatment of Kage-ryū, Shinkage-ryū, Shintō-ryū and the other lines is given in Shinkage-ryū in the Gekiken Sōdan of Mikami Genryū. Its entries on the Yagyū house are given here, as background to the Yagyū texts: Munenori, author of the Heihō Kadensho (兵法家伝書; “The Book of Family-Transmitted Military Arts”); his brother Gorōuemon; his son Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, author of the Tsuki no Shō (月之抄; “Notes at the Moon”); the succession; and the moon dōka.

Yagyū Munenori

In the Yagyū entry, we see written that Yagyū Sekishūsai Muneyoshi (柳生宗厳) deliberately changed shin (新; new) to shin (神; spirit) because he “combined other schools and added his own invention.” The Munenori material is the largest single entry in kan 1’s Kage section. Munenori heads the 神影柳生流 (Shinkage Yagyū-ryū) entry as the second-generation Tajima-no-kami (二代目宗矩), and the author gives him a short biographical note plus two set-piece anecdotes (printed pp. 164–166).

Biographical note:

“Item. The second-generation Tajima-no-kami, Munenori (柳生宗矩) 〔his early name was Matauemon 又右衛門〕, was a master surpassing even his father. After the Sekigahara campaign he was granted his original domain; as fencing instructor to Daiyūin (猷廟, i.e. Tokugawa Iemitsu 徳川家光) he was treated with the highest favor, and through repeated increases eventually reached 15,000 koku. This Munenori excelled not only in the martial arts but in intelligence, and many of his perceptive judgments and wise sayings were reported 〔as they do not concern the martial arts, I omit them here〕. Iemitsu himself is said to have often remarked, ‘It is by learning from Munenori that I grasped the essentials of governing the realm (天下の務)’ — from this one fact his capacity may be gauged. For this reason he received a posthumous grant of fourth court rank (四品) after his death — an unprecedented honor.”12

The 四品 posthumous rank “without precedent” is the author’s assertion.

Anecdote 1 — the cherry blossoms and the page-boy (殺気 perceived)

“Once, while a kogoshō (兒小姓; page-boy) carried his sword, Munenori was absorbed in admiring the cherry blossoms at their peak in the garden. The boy conceived the thought: ‘However great a master of the realm he is, if I cut him now from behind with this sword, how could he possibly counter it?’”3

At that instant Munenori looked sharply all about, went back inside, leaned against the alcove pillar in visible unease, and sat wordless for about an hour. His attendants grew fearful, some muttering he might have gone mad. A steward asked what was troubling him.

Munenori answered:

“There is a doubt I cannot dispel. Through long years of training, an adversary’s intent penetrates to my mind first. Yet just now, as I gazed at the cherry, a killing intent suddenly reached me — and looking about there was not even a dog, only this page-boy. That strangeness is what unsettles me.”

The boy then came forward and confessed that just such an errant thought (妄念) had risen in him. Munenori’s face relaxed — “So that is what cleared my doubt” — and he rose and went in without another word.

Anecdote 2 — the two trained monkeys and the boastful spearman

“Munenori kept two monkeys that had learned by watching daily practice, and their speed surpassed men’s. A rōnin seeking service on the strength of his spearmanship, familiar in the household, once caught Munenori in good humor and begged a bout to show his skill. Munenori replied, ‘Easy enough — first fight this monkey; if it loses, I’ll cross weapons with you.’ Offended — ‘insult me as you like, but dueling this little beast is an outrage; I’ll run it through’ — the rōnin took up a spear and stepped into the garden. The monkey donned a small cheek-guard, snatched a short shinai, and squared off. As the rōnin thrust, it ducked under, slipped inside his reach, and struck a crisp double-blow. The angrier rōnin set himself to keep it out, but the monkey darted in, sprang, and seized the spear. Red-faced and helpless, he returned to his seat; Munenori laughed, ‘There — your spear is exactly as I judged it.’ Shamed, the rōnin stayed away, but after half a year returned asking for another bout. Munenori said, ‘No — I won’t bring it out; your skill has plainly risen a level. There’s no need.’ The man insisted, so the monkey was brought — and the moment it faced him it dropped its shinai, shrieked, and fled. ‘Just as I said,’ remarked Munenori, and afterward recommended the rōnin into service at a certain house.”4

Yagyū Gorōuemon (五郎右衛門)

“Item. Munenori’s younger brother Gorōuemon, of the same surname, was likewise accomplished in swordsmanship and renowned. When Matsudaira Hōki-no-kami Tadakazu of Hōki (伯耆國松平伯耆守忠一) 〔originally surnamed Nakamura; first name Ichigaku〕 put to death his house elder Yokota Naizen (橫田內膳) 〔lord of Iiyama castle〕, [Naizen’s] younger brother Shumenosuke (主馬助), with his kin and confederates, shut themselves up in Iiyama castle (飯山城). Gorōuemon, being connected with them, joined the garrison and fought off the besiegers: of those who came within reach of his weapon, none escaped wounds or kept his life, and the attackers were daunted by Gorōuemon alone. But in time he was killed by a man named Fujii Sukebee (藤井助兵衛). His fame grew all the greater, and the extent of his constant training could thereby be gauged.”56

Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi (重兵衛三厳)

“Item. Munenori’s son, Jūbei Mitsuyoshi 〔one account has 宗三〕, was a master no lesser than his father. Fond in his youth of going incognito, he was passing Awataguchi (粟田口) in Kyoto alone at midnight when several dozen robbers appeared, drew, and snarled, ‘If you value your life, hand over your clothes and swords and pass.’ As Mitsuyoshi quietly slipped off his haori, the robbers — taking it that he meant to leave his clothes and go — pressed close, and the first was cut down at a stroke. ‘A troublesome fellow!’ they cried, and rushed him all at once; but being of matchless agility, he fought advancing and retreating on every side, felling all who came within his blade’s reach, until twelve had lost their lives and the rest fled, saying it was hopeless.”7

The second anecdote is the go-bu ichi-sun (五分一寸) reach lesson — the demonstration piece:

“Once, at a certain daimyō’s residence, Mitsuyoshi was matched against a rōnin who made his living by swordsmanship, who asked, with due deference, for a bout. Twice they crossed shinai and twice it was aiuchi (mutual strike). Mitsuyoshi asked, ‘Did you see it?’ The angry rōnin insisted both were mutual strikes; the host, asked the same, agreed the rōnin’s account looked right. Mitsuyoshi said, ‘If this bout can’t be told apart, so be it,’ and sat down. The rōnin, pressing harder, demanded a real-blade match; Mitsuyoshi, unmoved — ‘You have but one life; this is pointless, let it drop’ — declined. When the rōnin persisted (‘after this I couldn’t show my face’), Mitsuyoshi calmly stepped down — ‘Come, then’ — engaged as before, and cut the rōnin about six sun across the front of the shoulder; the man fell without a word. When Mitsuyoshi returned to his seat, [it was found that] his own black habutae kosode had been slit by the very tip of the blade as far as the silk floss (纊綿) of the underrobe, but the underrobe’s lining was left intact.”8

Showing this to the host, he said:

“Whether swordsmanship reaches or falls short lies within the span of five bu to one sun (五分一寸). I could have won by any means, but to show you that what I said at the outset held true, I did it thus.”

The host was moved and astonished.

Another example concerns a top disciple of Munenori, referred to only as 長州 (i.e., the Chōshū man); the point of the anecdote is that no licensed same-school opponent could strike him, and that even when he announced his cut in advance9 it still could not be evaded. The account is credited in the notes to Nakagawa Shuri (中川修理) and Komatsuzawa Uemon (小松澤右衛門), a retainer of Lord Oka (岡候).

Then the reverence-and-lineage note:

“Those who study this school revere Jūbei-dono above all others down to the present; and the famed Araki Matauemon (荒木又右衛門), who aided Watanabe Kazuma (渡部數馬) in his vendetta, is said to have been a high disciple of this man.”1011

The Araki Matauemon named here is the vendetta swordsman Araki Matauemon Shigekatsu (荒木又右衛門), who assisted Watanabe Kazuma at the Kagiya-no-tsuji / Iga-Ueno katakiuchi (鍵屋の辻, 1634).

Yagyū Succession Note

The succession note reads:

“After Munenori’s death, Mitsuyoshi (重兵衛三厳) held 8,000 koku and Munefuyu (飛驒守宗冬) 4,000. In Keian 3 (1650) Mitsuyoshi died without heir; his stipend passed to his brother Munefuyu, and Munefuyu’s own to their brother Gyōbu-shōyū Tomonori (刑部少輔友矩). Munefuyu became fencing instructor to Gen’yūin (嚴廟 = Tokugawa Ietsuna 徳川家綱), his stipend raised to 10,000 koku; thereafter the house continued hereditarily as instructors to the Shogunal family. Since the house has for generations been instructor to the realm, it is fitting that [its school] is called ‘the Honorable Style’ (御流儀).”12

A licensed student may take pupils but may not himself issue licenses; one wishing to transmit the art must re-enter the Yagyū gate. Provincials who style themselves “Yagyū-ryū” by successive relay are all hearsay, not orthodox transmission — only direct disciples take pupils.

The moon dōka

The text presents this as the school’s hika (祕歌; restricted verse), universally recited, “also said to be a poem written and transmitted at the point of death (末期),” and co-attributes it to Munenori and Mitsuyoshi (宗矩・三巖). Reading 理 as ri makes the second ku scan (5-7-5-7-7):

Waza ni koso / ri wa ariake to / shirinu beshi / shōji akureba / tsuki no sasu nari

“Know that principle (理) lies in technique itself, like the lingering dawn-moon (有明): once the paper screen opens, the moon streams in.”13

The verse turns on the ariake (有明; lingering dawn moon) / 明 pun and the image of the moon entering once the shōji is opened — the light was always there; removing the obstruction lets it in. For Tsuki no Shō collation this is an external attestation from 1790: it ties a moon-and-light dōka directly to Mitsuyoshi under a deathbed-transmission framing, independent of the Yagyū house densho.

End Notes

  1. The text says 一萬五千石 (15,000 koku), whereas the standard historical figure for Munenori’s fief is usually given as 12,500 koku — treat the Sōdan’s number as its own claim. ↩

  2. 一、二代目但馬守宗矩〔初の名は又右衞門〕は父にも勝れる上手也。關ケ原陣の後本領の地を賜ひ、猷廟の御師範にて眷遇最も厚し、度々の加恩蒙りて後一萬五千石に至る。此宗矩は武藝のみならず才智人に勝れて、達見金言共多く聞へし〔武藝の事にあづからざれば略して記さず〕。猷廟にも「天下の務、宗矩に學びてこそ大體を得つれ」と每に仰られし由、此一事にても其器量推量るべし。此故に卒後に四品の贈位有り、例なき事也。 ↩

  3. 此宗矩、或時兒小姓に刀持せて、庭の櫻の盛に開きたるを賞して餘念なく見入て居られしを、此兒小姓心中に「いかに天下の名人にておはすとも、今此刀にて後より切ならば、いかでか取合せ玉はんや」とおもふ念浮びたり。宗矩其時屹と四方を見廻して座敷に歸られ、甚だ不審なる體にて床の柱にもたれ、物を云はず一時ばかり居られしを、近習の面々皆恐れ怪み、或は狂氣などにやとつぶやきける。用人某進み出で「先刻より氣色何とやらん常ならず見えさせ玉ふ、思召旨も候や」と云ひければ、宗矩「さればとよ、不審の晴れざる事あるまゝ案じ居る也。我多年修鍊の功を以て、敵對する者の思ふ處、先づ此方の心に徹する也。然るに先に庭の櫻を詠め居る內、ふと殺害の氣徹したり。側を見れども犬一疋なし、唯此兒小姓計り也。此故にいぶかしさに心も快からず思案して此體也」と申さる。其時兒小姓進み出で「今はなど隱し候べき、恐れ入りて候へども、先刻かくこそ妄念浮び候へ」と申しければ、宗矩氣色和らぎ「夫にこそ不審晴しなれ」とて、立ちて内へ入られ、何の答へもなかりしといふ。 ↩

  4. 又此宗矩、猿を二疋飼はれしに、日々の稽古を見習ひ、其早業人にまさりたり。其比、槍術を以て奉公を望む浪人有り、心易く出入しける。或時宗矩の機嫌を見合せ「憚りながら、何卒御立合下され、某が藝の程を御覽候へかし」と望む。宗矩「易き事也、先づ此猿と仕合れよ、此猿負けたらば立合はん」と申さる。浪人心中に怒り「いかに我等を輕ぜらるゝとも、此小畜生と立合とは遺恨也、いで突殺してくれんず」と、追槍取りて庭に下り立ければ、猿は頰に合たる小き面を取りて打かぶり、短きしなへおつ取りて立合たり。浪人「此畜生何をかせん」と突きかゝるを、かひくゞりて手元に入り、丁と重ね打たり。浪人彌々怒りて、此度は入られじと構へ居る所へ、猿は速かに來り飛掛り槍に取附たり。浪人せんかたなく赤面して座に戾りければ、宗矩打笑ひ「それ見られよ、其方の槍、察する所に違はず」と嘲らる。浪人恥入りて退出し、久しく來らざりしが、半年餘り過ぎて又來り「今一度、猿と立合を賜らん」と望む。宗矩「いや〳〵今日は出し申まじ、其方の工夫一段上りたると思はる、最早無用也」と申さる。浪人是非々々と望む。さらばとて猿を出されしに、立向ふと其儘、しなへを捨て啼き號びて逃走りたり。宗矩「さればこそ申候へ」とて、後其浪人を或る家へ肝煎して出されしとなり。 ↩

  5. The print names the parties: the lord is Nakamura Kazutada (中村一忠), styled Matsudaira Hōki-no-kami after receiving the Matsudaira surname, which the Sōdan writes 忠一; the victim is his house elder Yokota Naizen (橫田內膳), glossed as lord of Iiyama castle. This is the Yonago disturbance (米子騒動) of Keichō 8 (1603). The Sōdan makes Shumenosuke Naizen’s younger brother. ↩

  6. 一、宗矩の弟、同姓五郞右衞門も同じく劔術に達し世に稱せらる。伯耆國松平伯耆守忠一〔本姓中村、初名一學〕、家老橫田內膳〔飯山城主〕を誅せらるゝ時、弟主馬助一族幷に一味の輩飯山の城に楯籠る。五郞右衞門もゆかりに付て城中に黨し寄手を防ぎ戰しが、彼の鉾に廻る者疵を蒙り命を落さずと云事なし。寄手も五郞右衞門一人に辟易して見えけるが、時移りて後に藤井助兵衞と云者の爲に討れたり。彌々世に名高く、平生修練の程もはかり知られたり。 ↩

  7. 一、宗矩の子、重兵衞三巖〔一に宗三〕も父に劣らぬ名人也。若き時微行を好み、京都粟田口を夜半に唯一人通られしに、强盗數十人出來り、各拔刀提げて、「命惜くば衣服大小渡して通れ」と罵りかゝりたり。三巖はしづかに羽織を脫るゝを、盜賊ども「衣服を置きて通らんとす」と心得て、近々に寄る所を、先づ一人手の下に切伏せらる。「こはくせものよ」とて一度に切りてかゝる。輕捷無雙の三巖なれば、或は進み或は退き四方に當りて戰はれしが、太刀先に廻る者は盡く切倒され、終に十二人まで命をおとせしかば、殘る者共「今は叶はじ」とて逃走りたり。 ↩

  8. 又或時、去る大名の許にて、劔術を以て世渡りする浪人御引合されたり。浪人「憚りながら御立合下さるべきや」と望む。三巖即ち立合ひて打合はれしに相打なり。「今一度」と望む、又相打なり。三巖浪人に向ひ「見えたるか」と問はる。浪人怒りて「兩度とも相打にて候」と云ふ。其時主人に向ひ「いかに見られたるか」と問はる。主人も「いかにも浪人の申す通りに見請け候」との挨拶なり。三巖「此勝負、見分けられずば是非なし」とて座に着く。浪人彌々せきて「さらば眞劔にて御立合下さるべし」と望む。三巖「二つなき命也、いらぬ事哉、やめにせられよ」とて顏色常の如し。浪人彌々募りて「此分にては明日より人前なり不申、是非々々御立合下さるべし」といさむ。三巖靜かに下りて「いざ來られよ」と立合はれ、初めの如く切結ばる。浪人は肩前六寸ばかり切られて、二言もいはず倒れたり。三巖座に歸られしに、着用の黑羽二重の小袖、下着の纊綿までは切先はづれに切りさき、下着の裏は殘りたり。主人に是を示され、「すべて劔術のとゞくとゞかざるは、五分一寸の間に有る物也。勝ちは如何樣にしても勝つべけれども、最初より申す所の違はざるを御覽に入るべき爲、如此に致し候」と申されたり。主人感じ且つ驚かれしと云ふ。 ↩

  9. 「今の太刀は來たぞ」 ↩

  10. Araki Matauemon is a different person from Araki Mujinsai Minamoto no Hidetsuna (荒木無人斎源秀縄), the founder of Araki-ryū (荒木流). Araki-ryū is instead found in kan 4 (pp. 199–200) in the Musashi-ryū (武藏流)〔Enmei-ryū 圓明流〕 related section along with Muteki-ryū (無敵流) 〔Sanwa Muteki-ryū 三和無敵流〕, Takenouchi-ryū (竹内流) and Tamiya-ryū (田宮流). The entry reads “Araki-ryū swordsmanship originally issued from torite 〔also called kogusoku〕. It is a downstream branch of Araki Mujinsai. There is also, someone told me, an Araki-ryū that takes Araki Matauemon as founder; if so, that one must be a branch of Yagyū-ryū” (「荒木流劔術はもと取手〔小具足共稱す〕に出たり、荒木無人齋が末流也、又荒木又右衞門を祖とする荒木流も有る由云ひし人有り、さあらば是は柳生流の一派成べし」) — it knows of a second Araki-ryū said to descend from Matauemon, which, if so, the author reckons a branch of Yagyū-ryū. ↩

  11. 此流を學ぶ者、「重兵衞殿」とて就中仰ぎ尊びて今に至る。世に名高き渡部數馬が仇討を助けし荒木又右衞門も、此人の高弟なりしとぞ。 ↩

  12. 一、但馬守宗矩卒して後、重兵衞三巖八千石、飛驒守宗冬四千石を分ち領ず。慶安三年、三巖歿して嗣なかりければ、遺祿を弟宗冬に賜ひ、宗冬の祿をば其の弟刑部少輔友矩に賜ひたり。宗冬、嚴廟の御師範となりて祿を加へ賜り、一萬石を領ず。是より代々相續して將軍家の御師範なり。此家代々天下の御師範なれば御流儀と呼ぶ事尤なり。此門に入りて學ぶ者、業成りて免許を得れば己が弟子取る事苦しからず、されども此者より又免許狀を出す事はならず。此弟子熟して人に傳へん事を欲する者は、改めて柳生家の門に入りて學ぶ事也といふ。邊鄙には段々受け傳へて柳生流と稱する者あれども、夫は皆話にて正傳にあらず、直弟ならで弟子取らぬ事也と云ふ。 ↩

  13. 一つに、宗矩・三巖、此流の祕歌とて世に遍く唱ふるに〔臨末期に書き傳へられし歌などとも云ふ〕、歌に、わざにこそ 理は有明と 知りぬべし 障子明くれば 月のさすなり ↩