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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 Kyūshū 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 Chūjirō (山本忠次郎), 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, Nakayama Hakudō first studied the kendō of Yamaguchi Ittō-ryū under Saitō Michinori (齋藤理則), obtaining his license in Meiji 33 (1900); he then entered the school of Negishi Shingorō (根岸信五郎) to study Shintō Munen-ryū, taking the mokuroku in “the 26th year” (同二十六年目錄, as printed) and full license (免許皆傳) in Meiji 35 (1902). In Meiji 36 (1903) he received full license in Shindō Musō-ryū bōjutsu (棒術; so the source, rather than the character for jō) and in Tendō-ryū kendō from Uchida Ryōgorō (內田良五郎) and Takeda Kōhachirō (竹田幸八郎) of Chikuzen. In Taishō 5 (1916) he received a license in Ōmori-ryū and Hasegawa Eishin-ryū from Hosokawa Yoshimasa (細川義昌) of Tosa, and afterwards studied Ōmori-ryū and Hasegawa-ryū iaijutsu under 大森免久身 (so printed), taking full license in Taishō 11 (1922). He then established the Yūshinkan dōjō at Hongō in Tokyo. (Kōdansha 1934)
Other accounts add that he became Negishi’s adopted son (其の養子となる) and that from Meiji 3〔6〕 to Meiji 38 (1905) he served as kendō instructor on commission (囑託) at Keiō Gijuku; neither point is in the Tenran-jiai entry.
Imperial and Butokukai honors he received included:
- Meiji 41 (1908), 9th month — awarded the title of kyōshi in kendō by the Dai Nippon Butokukai.
- 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 imperially-viewed martial arts matches commemorating the enthronement (御大禮記念武道天覽試合).
- Shōwa 9 (1934), 5th month — judge at the martial arts tournament celebrating the Crown Prince’s birth (皇太子殿下御誕生奉祝武道大會), where he also fought in the specially-selected matches (特選試合).
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 and to Tokyo City; martial arts professor to the Navy; and instructor at various other institutions.
