Sakakibara Kenkichi
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Sakakibara Kenkichi, 榊原鍵吉 |
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Sakakibara Kenkichi, c. 1880
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| Born | Sakakibara Tomoyoshi 19 December 1830 |
| Died | 9 November 1894 (aged 63) heart failure due to beriberi |
| Native name | 榊原鍵吉 |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Notable school(s) | Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū |
Sakakibara Kenkichi (Japanese: 榊原鍵吉?, 19 December 1830 – 11 September 1894), was a Japanese samurai and martial artist. He was the fourteenth headmaster of the Jikishinkage school of sword fighting. Through his Jikishinkage contacts he rose to a position of some political influence; he taught swordsmanship at a government military academy and also served in the personal guard of Japan's last two shoguns.
After the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate Sakakibara was instrumental in preserving traditional Japanese sword techniques in the early Meiji Era. Despite his eventual opposition to the practice of sword fighting for sport, his work during this period laid the foundations for the modern sport of kendo. In his later years he taught a number of noted martial artists, and was honoured by the All Japan Kendo Federation after his death.
Sakakibara was born on the fifth day of the eleventh month of Bunsei (19 December 1830) into the Sakakibara clan; his given name at birth was Tomoyoshi (友善?). His family lived in the village of Otsuwa near modern-day Tokyo. He started studying Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū with Otani Nobutomo in 1843. He proved proficient in that style, and was granted a menkyo kaiden (licence of mastery) by Otani in 1856, despite his family being too poor to pay for it. He was later to become the fourteenth headmaster of the school. As a talented swordsman, he once duelled with Yamaoka Tesshū; the two men faced off for over forty minutes without moving, before sheathing their swords with neither striking a blow.
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