Post by viper6924 on Sept 18, 2015 9:50:28 GMT
I thought it best to put this in a new thread so if we find more info or related pictures, we can just add it under "one flag".
Tsuda-ryu Hojutsu was the first established gunnery school in Japan. Founded on the fifth day in the third month 1544 by Tsuda Kenmotsu (he also used the names Sancho or Kazunaga). Picture below.
When the abbot of Negoro-ji, Suginobo, found out about this new weapon, he understood the importance it would play for his temple. So he ordered Tsuda Kenmotsu to travel down to Tanegashima and bring back a matchlock, so production could be started.
We have read Piers lovely little story how he might have taken one of the two Portuguese, that was the first europeans every to set fot in Japan, back to his home in Kii. And eventually making him his son.
Upon his return with the new matchlock, Tsuda Kenmotsu gave the orders to Shibatsuji Seiemon (a smith from Sakai who was staying at Negoro at the time) to start forging. So the connection Negoro-Sakai seems to have been established 1544.
It didn´t take long for the gunsmiths on Kii, which already was very skilled at forging swords and naginatas, to manufacture guns which ended up in the hands of some of the 20000 warrior monks from Negoro-ji. These monks soon became feared all over Japan due to their skill with the matchlock. All thanks to the Tsuda-ryu Hojutsu, I guess.
Below is a makimono with the secret instruction for the Tsuda-ryu Hojutsu. I managed to translate the first kanjis of the line to the right. It reads "Tsuda Hojutsu..."
At the end of the scroll is the date Tenpo 5 (1834) followed by a signature of the sensei with his kao and seal. Would love to know the name
The scroll is over 8 meters long and seems to consist of many chapters. There are long long texts mixed in with short instructions.
Must have been quite some work behind writing all this down. At two places, someone's corrected the text with red ink. Probably the sensei himself.
This scroll is a little time capsule. Imagine the samurai leaning over this scroll eager to part take of the secrets of the Tsuda-ryu. At a time, less than 20 years before the arrival of Matthew Perrys fleet, which would turn this samurais life up side down for ever.
An extra bonus is that you can still smell the incense that permeated this scroll. Def adds an extra dimension.
Apologies in advance for any historical hiccups!
Jan
Tsuda-ryu Hojutsu was the first established gunnery school in Japan. Founded on the fifth day in the third month 1544 by Tsuda Kenmotsu (he also used the names Sancho or Kazunaga). Picture below.
When the abbot of Negoro-ji, Suginobo, found out about this new weapon, he understood the importance it would play for his temple. So he ordered Tsuda Kenmotsu to travel down to Tanegashima and bring back a matchlock, so production could be started.
We have read Piers lovely little story how he might have taken one of the two Portuguese, that was the first europeans every to set fot in Japan, back to his home in Kii. And eventually making him his son.
Upon his return with the new matchlock, Tsuda Kenmotsu gave the orders to Shibatsuji Seiemon (a smith from Sakai who was staying at Negoro at the time) to start forging. So the connection Negoro-Sakai seems to have been established 1544.
It didn´t take long for the gunsmiths on Kii, which already was very skilled at forging swords and naginatas, to manufacture guns which ended up in the hands of some of the 20000 warrior monks from Negoro-ji. These monks soon became feared all over Japan due to their skill with the matchlock. All thanks to the Tsuda-ryu Hojutsu, I guess.
Below is a makimono with the secret instruction for the Tsuda-ryu Hojutsu. I managed to translate the first kanjis of the line to the right. It reads "Tsuda Hojutsu..."
At the end of the scroll is the date Tenpo 5 (1834) followed by a signature of the sensei with his kao and seal. Would love to know the name
The scroll is over 8 meters long and seems to consist of many chapters. There are long long texts mixed in with short instructions.
Must have been quite some work behind writing all this down. At two places, someone's corrected the text with red ink. Probably the sensei himself.
This scroll is a little time capsule. Imagine the samurai leaning over this scroll eager to part take of the secrets of the Tsuda-ryu. At a time, less than 20 years before the arrival of Matthew Perrys fleet, which would turn this samurais life up side down for ever.
An extra bonus is that you can still smell the incense that permeated this scroll. Def adds an extra dimension.
Apologies in advance for any historical hiccups!
Jan
