Register record
Identity & authority
- Disambiguation
- 4th Shigakukan head, 1825–1885 — the famous one; "Momoi Shunzō" unqualified almost always means him. Born a Tanaka (田中); the master whose swordsmanship set the school's reputation for kurai (位; poise).
- Attestation
- corroboration: —
Names
| type | kanji | romaji | reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| myoji | 田中 | Tanaka | |
| myoji | 桃井 | Momoi | もものい |
| yomyo | 甚助 | Jinsuke | |
| tsusho | 左右八郎 | Sōhachirō | |
| imina | 直正 | Naomasa | |
| myoseki | 春蔵 | Shunzō |
Dates
- Born
- (1825)
- Died
- 明治18年12月3日 (1885-12-03)
Origin & status
- Domain
- Numazu-han (沼津藩), via father's post
- Status
- Bakushin gokenin (御家人) via the Shigakukan headship; resigned gokenin status after the death of Shōgun Iemochi.
- Offices
- Kōbusho kenjutsu kyōjukata (講武所剣術教授方), Bunkyū 3 (1863)
- shihan-yaku nami (師範役並), Keiō 2 (1866)
- Yūgekitai (遊撃隊) director, leading 500 men, on the bakufu's military reorganization
- kenjutsu master-instructor at the temporary Tamatsukuri Kōbusho (玉造講武所), Osaka; resigned the 11th month (Keiō 3, 1867) over an internal dispute
Lineage & parentage
- Father
- Tanaka Toyotane (田中豊種), a chief retainer (karō 家老) of Numazu-han; Naomasa was his second son. Dictionary sources give the father's name variously as 田中豊秋 / 田中重左衛門 / 田中十左衛門 — retained as contested.
- Attestation
- internal
- Teacher
- the 3rd Momoi Shunzō (Naoo 直雄)
- Rank
- shoden mokuroku (初伝目録) at 17, kaiden (皆伝) at 23, okuden (奥伝) at 25; succeeded as 4th head in Kaei 5 (1852) at ~27.
- Attestation
- external
Relations
Students
- Takechi Hanpeita (武市半平太)
- Ueda Umanosuke (上田馬之助)
- Henmi Sōsuke (逸見宗助)
- Sakabe Daisaku
- Kubota Shinzō
- Kanematsu Naokado
The fourth head of Kyōshin Meichi-ryū, Momoi Shunzō Naomasa (桃井春蔵直正, 1825–1885), was born into the Tanaka (田中) family, a second son of Tanaka Toyotane, a chief retainer (karō) of Numazu-domain; his childhood name was Jinsuke (甚助), his common name Sōhachirō (左右八郎).
“Momoi Shunzō” was the name successively assumed by the heads of the Shigakukan, and Naomasa was the fourth to hold it. After about two years of Jikishinkage-ryū training in Numazu he came to Edo in Tenpō 9 (1838), aged fourteen, and entered the Shigakukan under the third Momoi Shunzō. Earning the first mokuroku at seventeen and marked out for his talent, he was taken in as adopted son-in-law.
At seventeen he received the first-transmission catalogue (shoden mokuroku), at twenty-three full transmission (kaiden), and at twenty-five the inner transmission (okuden). In Kaei 5 (1852), at about twenty-seven, he succeeded as the fourth head of Kyōshin Meichi-ryū (鏡新明智流).1
Under Naomasa the Shigakukan recovered from a period of decline and rose to its lasting fame, counted with the Genbukan and the Renpeikan as one of the three great Edo dōjō. His swordsmanship was the model for the school’s reputation for kurai (位; poise), and he was widely styled the most dignified swordsman of his day — “poise, that is Momoi.”
He came to the Kōbusho later than the original cohort, appointed kenjutsu kyōjukata in Bunkyū 3 (1863) — a few secondary accounts give Bunkyū 1 (1861) — and promoted to shihan-yaku-nami in Keiō 2 (1866); with the bakufu’s military reorganization he was transferred to a directorship of the yūgekitai (遊撃隊), leading five hundred men.
In Keiō 3 (1867) he accompanied Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu to Kyoto, and afterward moved to Osaka, where he served at the temporary Tamatsukuri Kōbusho (玉造講武所) as a kenjutsu master-instructor before resigning that eleventh month over an internal dispute.
After the death of Shōgun Iemochi he resigned his gokenin status. In 1868 he renamed the dōjō the Shigakukan (士学館). This was one of the famous dōjō of the bakumatsu. Among his students were Takechi Hanpeita Zuizan (武市半平太), the Tosa loyalist leader, who served as head student (jukutō) at the Shigakukan and came up to Edo with a party that included Okada Izō. The “four kings” of the Shigakukan, such as Ueda Umanosuke (上田馬之助), also trained under him, along with Sakabe Daisaku, Kubota Shinzō, Kanematsu Naokado, and Henmi Sōsuke.
He passed his last years in the Osaka region and died on 3 December Meiji 18 (1885).
References
