Chiba Sadakichi

Chiba Sadakichi (birth year unknown – December 5, 1879) was a swordsman active from the late Edo period into the early Meiji era. He was the younger brother of Chiba Shūsaku, founder of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū. Because he set up a dōjō in Okechō in Kyōbashi, Edo, he was called “Okechō Chiba” and “Ko-Chiba” (Little Chiba). He is known as the master of the dōjō where Sakamoto Ryōma, a gōshi (rural samurai) of the Tosa domain, trained in swordsmanship.

Life

He was born the third son of Chiba Chūzaemon Naritane, a swordsman of Mutsu Province, and from childhood he studied swordsmanship under their father's guidance alongside his elder brother Shūsaku. When Shūsaku founded the Hokushin Ittō-ryū and opened the large dōjō Genbukan in Otamagaike in Kanda, Edo, Sadakichi emerged as one of the swordsmen who took a share of that work.

The Okechō Chiba Dōjō and the Tottori Domain

Once the running of Shūsaku's Genbukan was on track, Sadakichi set up a dōjō in Okechō, Kyōbashi, that served as a branch of the Genbukan. In Kaei 6 (1853) he was appointed gekken toritate-yaku (fencing instructor) of the Tottori domain, a post stationed in Edo, and from then on he ran his dōjō alongside his domain duties.

Relationship with Sakamoto Ryōma

In Kaei 6 (1853), Sakamoto Ryōma of Tosa, who had come to Edo to train in swordsmanship, became a disciple at Sadakichi's dōjō. Because Sadakichi was busy with his duties for the Tottori domain, instruction is said to have been carried out mainly by his eldest son, Chiba Jūtarō. However, in Ansei 5 (1858) Sadakichi himself granted Ryōma the “Hokushin Ittō-ryū Naginata Heihō Mokuroku” (certificate in the school's naginata techniques).

Connection with Swords

Under the Hokushin Ittō-ryū, a system of swordsmanship that placed importance on practical combat and rationality, Sadakichi passed on sword techniques to many disciples. The Hokushin Ittō-ryū was characterized by a simplified ranking system of sho-mokuroku, chū-mokuroku menkyo and dai-mokuroku kaiden, and Sadakichi's dōjō also produced many capable people through this rational training method.

Later Reputation

Together with his eldest son Jūtarō and his second daughter Sanako, he is an indispensable figure in telling the life of Sakamoto Ryōma, and he frequently appears in later novels and dramas. He died in Meiji 12 (1879) and was buried in Zōshigaya Cemetery in Tokyo.