Below you can find links to published work on the history of Japanese martial arts that developed out of writing that was first featured on Inner Dharma.
From the Kōbusho to the Butokukai
From the Kōbusho to the Butokukai (opens in a new tab), Inner Dharma, 2026. 366 pages. The late Edo period Kōbusho, the martial academy of the Tokugawa, its swordsmen and their styles, and the institutions that followed it into the modern era.
During my research on Jikishinkage-ryū, I became interested in the late Edo period Kōbusho that many famous Jikishinkage-ryū swordsmen were attached to. That exploration grew into its own work covering over 20 traditions and 45 practitioners from this time period and serving as a companion to my first book.
Contents Includes: Overview of the Kōbusho Organization, Major Teachers and its roster, the 1839 Kenpō Ryakki of Kubota Sugane, Bakumatsu Units (Yūgekitai, Seieitai, Shōgitai), Gekken-kōgyō, Battōtai, Keihōkan, Keishichō, Dai Nippon Butokukai, Budō Senmon Gakkō, Nativist Shintō from Kokugaku to the Ketsumeidan, and Kobudō Preservation.
The work includes discussion of important figures of this time period including: Amano Hachirō (opens in a new tab), Amano Shōshō (opens in a new tab), Awa Kenzō, Chiba Shūsaku, Chūjō Kinnosuke, Fujita Taiichirō, Fukuda Hachinosuke, Hakomori Yosaburō Suokuni, Henmi Sōsuke, Honme Yarijirō (opens in a new tab), Iba Sōtarō, Imahori, Inoue Hachirō, Kajikawa Yoshimasa, Kawaji Toshiyoshi (opens in a new tab), Kobayashi Sadayuki, Kondō Yanosuke, Kunii Zen’ya, Matsudaira Chikaranosuke, Matsuoka Yorozu, Matsushita Seiichirō, Matsuzaki Namishirō, Mitsuhashi Kan’ichirō, Mitsuhashi Torazō, Mochida Moriji, Monna Tadashi, Naitō Takaharu, Nakayama Hakudō, Nakayama Tatsusaburō (opens in a new tab), Odani Seiichirō (opens in a new tab), Okumura Sakonta (opens in a new tab), Saimura Gorō, Sakakibara Kenkichi (opens in a new tab), Shibata Emori, Shimada Toranosuke (opens in a new tab), Shimoe Hidetarō, Shingai Tadaatsu, Takahashi Deishū, Takahashi Hatsuji, Takano Sasaburō, Takayama Minesaburō (opens in a new tab), Toda Hachirōzaemon, Tokunō Sekishirō (opens in a new tab), Ueda Umanosuke, Umezaki Yaichirō, Yamada Jirokichi (opens in a new tab), and Yamaoka Tesshū.
Major schools related to the figures above are treated alongside them, each carrying its own chapter or section: Chūya-ha Ittō-ryū, Hokushin Ittō-ryū, Hōzōin-ryū, Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū, Jitokuin-ryū, Kashima Shin-ryū, Katōda Shinkage-ryū, Kitō-ryū, Kyōshin Meichi-ryū, Musashi-ryū, Ryūgō-ryū, Seigō-ryū, Shingyōtō-ryū, Shintō Munen-ryū, Taisha-ryū, Tamiya-ryū, Tatsumi-ryū, Tenjin Shin’yō-ryū, Totsuka-ha Yōshin-ryū, and Tsuda Ichiden-ryū.