Yagyū Munefuyu

Yagyū Munefuyu was an Edo-period swordsman and daimyō, the third son of Yagyū Munenori — the first lord of Yagyū Domain in Yamato Province and swordsmanship instructor to the Tokugawa shogunal house. His elder brother was the celebrated swordsman Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi.

When Mitsuyoshi died suddenly in 1650, Munefuyu inherited his brother's holdings and became head of the Yagyū clan. Their father Munenori had died in 1646, and headship had initially passed to Mitsuyoshi, who left no heir of his own.

Munefuyu inherited and continued the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū sword tradition, serving as swordsmanship instructor to the shogunal house. In 1656 he was appointed instructor to the fourth shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna, transmitting the Shinkage-ryū teachings to him, and in 1661 he is recorded as having received a pledge of discipleship from the future fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi.

Under Munefuyu, the Yagyū family's holdings had reportedly fallen below the 10,000-koku threshold required for daimyo status. In 1668, he received an additional grant of 1,700 koku in Yamabe District, Yamato Province, bringing the family's total holdings to 10,000 koku and restoring the Yagyū clan to daimyo status 22 years after his father's death.

Yagyū Munefuyu is remembered, alongside his father Munenori and brother Mitsuyoshi, as one of the central figures who sustained Yagyū Shinkage-ryū as the shogunal house's official school of swordsmanship throughout the Edo period. He died on the 29th day of the 9th month of 1675 (Enpō 3), and headship passed to his son, Yagyū Toshikata (later Muneari). His grave is located at Hōtoku-ji temple in Yagyū-shimo-chō, Nara City, Nara Prefecture.