Where Kunii Zen’ya kept his Kashima Shin-ryū apart from the preservation committees, Nakayama Hakudō (中山博道, 1872–1958) is the same era’s institutional preserver. A Kaga (Kanazawa) man who built the Yūshinkan (有信館) in Tokyo, he worked squarely inside the Butokukai and the modern budō federations while carrying classical form across the same decades — organizing iai as Musō Shinden-ryū (夢想神伝流), helping bring Shindō Musō-ryū jō (神道夢想流杖術) from Kyushu to the capital, and teaching Ittō-ryū — and is remembered as a rare holder of hanshi rank across kendō, iai and jō. He is included here for contrast, not completeness: preservation in the Shōwa period ran through institutions as much as against them, and Hakudō is the clearest case of a koryū custodian who took the institutional road that Kunii refused.
The Shōwa Tenran-jiai (昭和天覧試合, 1934), the record of the imperial-viewing matches held to celebrate the Crown Prince’s birth, compiled by Dai Nippon Yūbenkai Kōdansha under Imperial Household Ministry (宮内省) supervision places Hakudō among the presiding hanshi judges — beside Nakano Sōsuke (中野宗助) and Ōshima Jikita (大島治喜太) — gives his line as Shintō Munen-ryū (神道無念流), and records his birth in Ishikawa in Meiji 6 (1873; other references give 1872). (Kōdansha 1934)
His disciple Yamamoto, entered as a senshi (選士; imperial-match competitor), is singled out there as the foremost match-tactician among the capital’s kendō teachers — but one example of the Yūshinkan’s competitive weight.
According to the biographical entry in the Tenran-jiai, from an early age Nakayama Hakudō trained in the kendō of Yamaguchi Ittō-ryū under Saitō Michinori (齋藤理則), obtaining licence in Meiji 33 (1900). In Meiji 34 (1901) he entered the school of Negishi Shingorō, hanshi of Shintō Munen-ryū, and became his adopted son (其の養子となる). He trained in Shintō Musō-ryū bōjutsu (lit. from the source, in contrast to using the character for jo) under Uchida Ryōgorō of Chikuzen (筑前内田良五郎). Meiji 35 (1902): full licence (免許皆傳). From Meiji 3〔6〕 to Meiji 38 (1905) he served as kendō instructor on commission (囑託) at Keiō Gijuku. He trained in and polished Morimoto-ryū and Hasegawa Eishin-ryū iai under Morimoto Hisami (森本久身) of Tosa, and — the line runs on — under Hosokawa Yoshimasa (細川義昌), obtaining licence in the same iai line. He then established the Yūshinkan dōjō at Hongō in Tokyo City. (Kōdansha 1934)
Imperial and Butoku Kai honours he received included:
- Meiji 41 (1908), 9th month — awarded the title of kyōshi in kendō by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai.
- Taishō 6 (1917) — the imperially-viewed martial arts match at the Fukiage Imperial Garden (吹上御苑), where he took part and served in the judging.
- Taishō 9 (1920), 5th month — awarded hanshi in both kendō and iaijutsu.
- Shōwa 2 (1927) — awarded hanshi in jōjutsu by the same body.
- Shōwa 4 (1929), 5th month — appointed a judge at the martial arts tournament commemorating the enthronement (御大禮記念武道大會).
Nakayama was appointed instructor at the Imperial University; circuit martial-arts instructor to the Metropolitan Police Board; kendō instructor to the Imperial Palace Police Department; Tokyo City; martial arts professor to the Navy; and instructor at various other institutions.
