* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Matsuzaki Namishirō
松崎浪四郎
Kurume Domain Swordsman Who Fought Famous Bouts Against Momoi Shunzō and Ueda Umanosuke, an Adept Active into the Meiji Era
- Era
- Bakumatsu to Meiji
- Lifespan
- 1833-1896
- Associated Sword Tradition
- Katōda Shinkage-ryū → Yamaoka Mutō-ryū
Description
Biography
Born in 1833 in Kurume, Mii District, Chikugo Province (present-day Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture), as the son of Matsuzaki Hachiemon, a retainer of Kurume domain. His given name was Naoyuki, and in later years he took the pen name Ryūu Rōjin.
Swordsmanship
In 1844 he entered the school of Katōda Heihachirō of the Katōda Shinkage-ryū. In 1848 he received a license in Shinkage-ryū, and the following year a license in Hōzōin-ryū spearmanship. In 1855 he traveled to Edo for martial training, where he defeated Momonoi Shunzō, Saitō Shintarō and others, and is said to have fought Ueda Umanosuke to a closely contested draw. Through this training in Edo he also formed a friendship with Yamaoka Tesshū.
Principal Campaigns
He took part in the fighting at Iwaki-Taira during the Boshin War. In the eleventh month of Meiji 3 (1870–71), after the Restoration, he became swordsmanship instructor of Kurume domain, and he later also held administrative posts in succession. Even after entering the Meiji era he did not abandon the sword; in 1884 (Meiji 17) he went to Tokyo and fought numerous celebrated bouts against swordsmen from various regions.
Anecdotes
His skill was such that he was said to “always take the first point.” In his later years he changed his school to Yamaoka Tesshū’s Mutō-ryū, calling his own style “Yamaoka Mutō-ryū.” In 1895 (Meiji 28), though past the age of sixty, he took part in the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai’s Butoku Festival Grand Martial Arts Demonstration and was awarded a seirenshō certificate of mastery. This is said to have been his last match in life.
Later Assessment
Matsuzaki is remembered as a master who carried the old art of swordsmanship through into the new era, from the late Bakumatsu period into the Meiji era. He died in 1896 at the age of sixty-three.
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