3

KEIBUKAN, THE DŌJŌ OF KAGA PROVINCE

Kaga was the name of the domain in which Hagiwara, Niki, and others served in the mid to late seventeenth century. They would have trained and taught privately, of course, taking on personal students, continuing their school. It would not have been known to them that in 1792 the 10th lord of the Kaga domain, Lord Maeda Harunaga (前田治脩), who is sometimes considered the 11th, established two domain schools, the Meirindō and the Keibukan, adjacent to each other.

• The Keibukan (経武館) taught the military and martial aspects of samurai education.

• The Meirindō (明倫堂) school taught the literacy and scholarly side of samurai education.

Mubyōshi Ryū became a staple samurai school within this establishment, and while it had both versatile and varied skills within its curriculum, the school became one of the official jūjutsu (grappling) schools of the Keibukan. Students studied Mubyōshi Ryū alongside other schools of martial arts. Clearly, the school became popular in this time period. Listings and blood oaths taken show that vast numbers of students joined its ranks.

The school moved its physical location during its existence:

• 1792–1819: near the Kenrokuen Garden’s plum grove and Kanazawa Shrine

• 1819–1822: the Okumura family house site, today the Kanazawa Medical Center

• 1822–1868 or 1870: around the Ishikawa Museum of Modern Literature

The school closed its gates in 1868 or 1870 and merged with the newly founded Western military school, the Sōyūkan (壮猶館).

JAPANESE LITERATURE ON MUBYŌSHI RYŪ

Although there are a few publications that briefly discuss the school, the main Japanese book that deals with Shinjin Ryū and Mubyōshi Ryū is pictured in figure 3.1.

Title: Kensei Kusabuka Jinshirō (剣聖草深甚四郎)

Year of publication: 1990

Author: Kensei Kusabuka Jinshirō Editing Committee

Publisher: Kawakita-machi town office

Figure 3.1.