Yamaoka Tesshū

The Birth of a Swordsman

Born in Honjo in Edo in Tenpō 7 (1836) as the son of a hatamoto, Yamaoka Tesshū (Tetsutarō) was one of the Three Shū of the Bakumatsu (together with Katsu Kaishū and Takahashi Deishū) and the founder of Ittō Shōden Mutō-ryū. He was a rare figure who mastered both the sword and Zen. He was a man of imposing stature, 6 shaku 2 sun (about 188 centimeters) tall, and the swords he wielded from his massive frame were tremendously powerful.

The Bloodless Surrender of Edo

Tesshū's greatest achievement was paving the way to the bloodless surrender of Edo Castle in Keiō 4 (1868). After the shogunate's forces were defeated at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi and the new government's forces advanced on Edo as the eastern expeditionary army, Tesshū went to Sunpu, where the eastern expeditionary army was stationed, as an envoy of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, and faced Saigō Takamori in a face-to-face negotiation. It is said that he advanced through the imperial troops guarding the route, announcing himself in a loud voice: "Yamaoka Tetsutarō, retainer of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, enemy of the court, passing through!" On the 9th day of the 3rd month, he met Saigō at Sunpu. This face-to-face negotiation laid the groundwork for the negotiations between Katsu Kaishū and Saigō over the handover of Edo Castle, and it led to saving the million citizens of Edo from the ravages of war.

Training in Sword and Zen

Tesshū's swordsmanship drew on the Ittō-ryū lineage, but through his own training and enlightenment he came to found Ittō Shōden Mutō-ryū. From his youth Tesshū devoted himself to the sword, studying Hokushin Ittō-ryū under Inoue Kiyotora. He later fought Asari Yoshiaki (Matashichirō) of the Nakanishi-ha Ittō-ryū, was unable to win, and became his student. Even afterward he could never defeat Asari, and after years of anguish he found a breakthrough through Zen training.

Great Enlightenment and Mutō

In 1880, Tesshū is said to have suddenly attained great enlightenment while sitting in zazen. To subdue the enemy without a sword in hand: this state is the origin of the name "Mutō-ryū". Mutō, the state of mind that subdues the enemy without holding a sword, does not mean physically being without a sword. It means the state of enlightenment in which one transcends attachment to the sword and the mind itself becomes the blade. After this enlightenment, Tesshū visited Asari, and it is said that the moment he took a stance for a duel, Asari surrendered, saying "I yield."

Founder of Mutō-ryū

In 1885, Tesshū received from Ono Tadamasa, the ninth head of the Ono family of the Ittō-ryū, the Kamewari-tō, Shubiki no Tachi, and manji seal, which had been handed down since Itō Ittōsai, and he named his own school Ittō Shōden Mutō-ryū. At Tesshū's dojo, the Shunpūkan, a grueling training method called "tachikiri (seigan)" was practiced, in which one person fought 1,400 bouts over seven days. This grueling training shows that Tesshū's swordsmanship was underpinned not only by technique but by mental discipline.

Chamberlain to the Meiji Emperor

In 1872, at Saigō's request, Tesshū entered service at court, serving as a chamberlain to the Meiji Emperor under a ten-year agreement. The Meiji Emperor placed deep trust in Tesshū and highly valued his character and judgment. As chamberlain, Tesshū also took part in the Emperor's education, playing a role in passing the spirit of bushidō on to the new era.

The Legacy of His Thought

Tesshū's view of swords was his own, reached through a Zen-like state of mind. For Tesshū, the sword was a "mirror of the mind," and what had to be polished was not the blade but one's own heart. The inner secret of Mutō-ryū lies in transcending the sword; he held that the true way of the sword lies where even attachment to the sword has been abandoned. However, this does not mean Tesshū looked down on swords. Rather, it was by continually facing the sword and looking into himself through it that he reached a state beyond the sword.

Tesshū was also accomplished in calligraphy and was especially skilled at large-character brushwork. His calligraphy, written under the name Tesshū, combines the sharpness of the sword with the depth of Zen and is still highly regarded today. From the killing sword (setsunin-tō) to the life-giving sword (katsujin-ken), and on to no-sword (mutō): the path Tesshū traced is one of the most profound spiritual achievements in Japan's sword culture.

On 19 July 1888, Tesshū died of stomach cancer in Tokyo. He was 53 years old. It is recorded that he drew his last breath while seated upright in full lotus, that is, in the zazen posture. Having lived for the sword and for Zen, and having passed away within them, Tesshū's final moments were, as the completion of his life, as beautiful as could be.