A selection of important 19th and 20th century swordsmen who practiced Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū can be found below, in order of birth when available. Their records, and the school’s lineage, are kept at jikishinkageryu.org (opens in a new tab).
- Odani Seiichirō (opens in a new tab) (男谷精一郎; 1798–1864). Foremost Jikishinkage-ryū swordsman of the Tenpō era and head of the Kōbusho, whose Edo dōjō trained Sakakibara Kenkichi and Shimada Toranosuke.
- Shimada Toranosuke (opens in a new tab) (島田虎之助; 1814–1852). One of three swords of the Tenpō era (天保三剣士).
- Amano Shōshō (opens in a new tab) (天野将曹; 1819–?). Odani-line Jikishinkage-ryū swordsman and Kōbusho fencing instructor, the fellow-disciple Sakakibara Kenkichi bested at Nijō Castle.
- Sakakibara Kenkichi (opens in a new tab) (榊原鍵吉; 1830–1894). Jikishinkage-ryū swordsman, Kōbusho instructor, and organizer of the Meiji gekken-kōgyō, remembered as “the last swordsman.”
- Amano Hachirō (opens in a new tab) (天野八郎; 1831–1868). Jikishinkage-ryū swordsman and de facto leader of the Shōgi-tai, who fell at the Battle of Ueno and died in prison in 1868.
- Kawaji Toshiyoshi (opens in a new tab) (川路利良; 1834–1879). Satsuma-born founder of Japan’s modern police and first Grand Superintendent, whose Gekken saikō-ron revived swordsmanship within the force.
- Takayama Minesaburō (opens in a new tab) (高山峰三郎; 1835–1899). Iyo Ōzu-domain Jikishinkage-ryū swordsman, famed for defeating thirty-six Metropolitan Police fencing instructors in succession.
- Shida Utanosuke (opens in a new tab) (信太歌之助; 1837–?). Born Aoyagi Kumakichi in Edo in 1837, a pupil of Odani Seiichirō and a Kōbusho instructor who threw Sakamoto Ryōma, served Katsu Kaishū in 1868, argued Nara out of melting down the Great Buddha of Tōdai-ji and, in his last years in Taiwan, was the first Jikishinkage-ryū teacher of Kawashima Takashi.
- Okumura Sakonta (opens in a new tab) (奥村左近太; 1842–1903). Okayama Jikishinkage-ryū swordsman who devised his own two-sword Okumura Nitō-ryū and made his name challenging the Metropolitan Police in the great tournaments of the 1880s.
- Tokunō Sekishirō (opens in a new tab) (得能関四郎; 1842–1908). Naganuma-line Jikishinkage-ryū master and Keishichō instructor, first recipient of the Butokukai’s hanshi title and foremost of Tokyo’s “three elders” of kendō.
- Yamada Jirōkichi (opens in a new tab) (山田次朗吉; 1863–1930). Preserver of Sakakibara Kenkichi’s Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu.
- Kawashima Takashi (opens in a new tab) (川島堯; 1883–1957). Master of sword and bow.
- Ōnishi Hidetaka (opens in a new tab) (大西英隆; 1906–1966). Captain of the Kendō Club of Hitosubashi University. Jikishinkage-ryū master.
- Namiki Yasushi (opens in a new tab) (並木靖; 1926–1999). Late 20th century Jikishinkage-ryū master.
- Honme Yarijirō (opens in a new tab) (本目縫次郎). A Jikishinkage-ryū swordsman of the Odani house and a spear-side appointee, senior assistant instructor at Odani Seiichirō’s Honjo dōjō, identified with the “Honme” who fought Kondō Isami in Nagakura Shinpachi’s Shinsen-gumi memoir.
