Ueda Umanosuke
上田馬之助
One of Momoi Shunzō's "Four Heavenly Kings" of the Shigakukan Who Helped Found Metropolitan Police Swordsmanship
Description
Life
Born in 1831 into a retainer family of the Higo Kumamoto Shindenhan domain, Ueda later went to Edo and entered the Shigakukan dojo led by Momoi Shunzō, studying the Kyōshin Meichi-ryū school of swordsmanship. He displayed outstanding skill and rose to be counted among the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Shunzō's students.
Swordsmanship and Anecdotes
In 1855, in an inter-school match held in Edo, he is said to have fought Matsuzaki Namishirō of Kurume domain to a draw. In 1867, he became embroiled in a dispute with a spear and sword instructor of Tendō domain and killed him, an episode illustrating his fierce temperament; after the Restoration he is also said to have experienced tense confrontations with the Shinchōgumi.
Establishing Metropolitan Police Swordsmanship
When the Metropolitan Police Department (Keishichō) created the position of gekken sewagakari (swordsmanship liaison) in 1879, Ueda was among its first appointees, together with Kajikawa Yoshimasa and Henmi Sōsuke. He helped establish the "Keishi-ryū," a codified system of swordsmanship and iaijutsu, reconstructing practical sword technique as a training system for police officers in the years after the sword-abolition edict. In 1883 he also served concurrently at the Imperial Household Ministry's Saineikan.
Connection to Swords
In 1887, at the "Tenran Kabutowari" — a demonstration of sword-cutting ability held before the Meiji Emperor — Ueda is said to have taken part alongside Sakakibara Kenkichi. As a transmitter of practical swordsmanship, he played a role in demonstrating the continued usefulness of the sword after the abolition of the sword-wearing edict.
Later Reputation
As a senior disciple of Momoi Shunzō and a leader who supported the founding era of Keishi-ryū swordsmanship, Ueda is remembered in the history of swordsmanship from the Bakumatsu through the Meiji period. He died of typhoid fever that same year, 1890.
Related Warriors
永倉新八
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勝海舟
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