Shobukai Connection
Sokaku sensei, the Noguchi brothers, and Sato Kanmi
I posted copies of a few pages of this jujutsu manual over a year ago on Instagram, after stumbling upon them through research.
At the time I didn’t think much of it; as we’ve discussed before, Aiki isn’t a term unique to Daito ryu and its descending arts; so is Matsukaze (a term found not in Daito ryu but in Itto ryu anyway). The publication date, 1909, is 10 years after the opening of the tradition. There are a number of members of the Shobukai in Sokaku sensei’s eimeiroku, too.
But that’s all there was to it. If anything, I took it as a sign of timely common interest, some loose cross-pollination, or pure coincidence.
Until today.
I was recently hunting for a quote from Tokimune sensei for one of the many articles I’ve been sweating over for months and ran into the following quote.
There was also a man named Shohachiro Noguchi who was the chairman of a group called the [Teikoku] Shobukai and the friendship among these three [Sokaku sensei, Kano sensei, and Noguchi] was famous. Noguchi also studied with Sokaku. Also, the reason Kano sent Kenji Tomiki and Minoru Mochizuki to Ueshiba was because Ueshiba was Sokaku’s student.
Source: Conversations with Daito-ryu Masters, p. 69
Interesting.
I’ve always been somewhat skeptical of the purported relationship between Kano sensei and Sokaku sensei. After all, Sokaku sensei isn’t mentioned in any of the documents parts of Kano sensei’s legacy, and in general, these claims are always made by people with a vested interest in its truthiness (e.g. Daito ryu practitioners or Aikidoka). In short, the links appear to be thin to non-existent.
But here we have something a bit more interesting to go on.
After graduating from the Tokyo Law School (predecessor to the current Chuo University), he [Noguchi Kiyoshi] worked in the Government-General of Taiwan before moving with his brother Shohachiro to open a martial arts dojo in Yūki, Ibaraki in 1898. The same year, Noguchi officially founded the styles Shintō Rikugō-ryū (神道六合流) and Shintō Fusō-ryū (神道扶桑流), which hybridized all of his knowledge in jujutsu and kendo. By 1903, the Noguchi Dojo had over 1600 students and multiple branches in several cities of Japan, which led to the creation of the Teikoku Shobukai (帝國尚武會).
Source: Wikipedia
Shohachiro was Kiyoshi’s elder brother. He was the founder of the Shobukai; both men were, at different times, chairmen of the organization.
明治36年7月に剣術家である野口正八郎が設立した武術普及を目的とした団体である。武術の通信教授法を確立し日本初の武術通信教授を行った。道場部と通信教授部からなる。
It was founded in July 1903 by Shohachiro Noguchi, a kenjutsuka, for the purpose of spreading martial arts. He established a method of teaching martial arts by correspondence and was the first to teach martial arts by correspondence in Japan.
Source: Weblio
As an aside, interesting to see how far back remote teaching goes… but back on to the main topic. We’ll review the evidence to show that Daito ryu too was, possibly, set up as an education infrastructure from early on emulating organizations like the Butokukai and the Shobukai.
But are there any closer associations we could draw?
It happens to be that Sato Kanmi — an early Daito ryu practitioner and one of the tradition’s first Kyoju dairi — was the shibucho (or branch chief) of the Miyagi prefecture branch.
1904年4月（明治37年）に帝国尚武会の正会員となり試験を受けて神道六合流目録免許を取得し帝国尚武会宮城県支部長に任命された。
1905年4月（明治38年）に抜擢され大蔵省仙台塩務局に専任された。この間に大東流合気柔術の武田惣角に就いて七年修行して秘伝奥義の目録を得た。
April 1904: joins the Teikoku Shobukai, and received a scroll in Shito- Rikugo ryu after passing a test. He was then appointed as the head of the Miyagi branch.
April 1905: Appointed to a government office in Sendai. Learned Daito ryu from Takeda Sokaku during this time, and received the Hiden Ogi.
Source: Wikipedia
We’ve already mentioned that members of the Shobukai appeared in Sokaku’s eimeiroku. But he was more than that, eventually garnering praise from Noguchi Kiyoshi’s.
野口清からは出藍の奇才といわれた。また帝国尚武会支部長中技術に於いては第一位で宮城県屈指の武術家と評された。
Noguchi Kiyoshi said of him that he was a rare talent who had surpassed him in abilities. He was also known as the best budoka in Miyagi prefecture.
Source: Wikipedia
Conclusion
So is it all true? Was Sokaku sensei a close friend to both Kano sensei and Noguchi Shohachiro?
We cannot say for sure.
However, the circumstantial evidence makes a stronger case for Sokaku sensei having personally known Noguchi Shohachiro than it does for Kano sensei. First, Sato received densho from both Sokaku sensei and Noguchi Kiyoshi; he also received public praise from the latter. Second, unlike Kano sensei Noguchi Shohachiro was known as a kenjutsuka predominantly. Given kenjutusu was Sokaku’s core personal practice during his musha shugyo, it’s entirely possible they could have run into each other, or have heard of each other early on. And third, while the eimeiroku contains entries for multiple members of the Shobukai that are contemporaneous to the time Shohachiro would have been alive, fewer exist for Judo under the Kodokan (at least as inscribed), and said entries start to appear from later on (despite the Kodokan predating the Shobukai by 20 years).
And of course, there’s Tokimune sensei’s testimony.
A man called Shiro Saigo was also one of Kano’s students.
Sokaku met Kano through his acquaintance with Saigo. Shiro
Saigo was the adopted son of Tanomo Saigo.Source: Conversations with Daito-ryu Masters, p. 69
Is this possible? Yes. But one needs to wonder when Saigo Shiro and Sokaku sensei would have become first acquainted. Saigo Shiro was adopted in the 1880s, soon after leaving Aizu/Fukushima for good; Sokaku sensei met with Saigo Tanomo mostly after in other locations. It’s thus unclear when all three men could have been in the same place at the same time. Certainly, both could have run into each other without Saigo Tanomo being present at some point, but here too supporting evidence seems scarce.
All of this, as speculative as it might be, strengthens the case for a closer connection between the Shobukai and Daito ryu than I initially anticipated. Which begs the question: could there be overlaps? Could it be that they shared a notion of Aiki through exchanges, and if so what are the differences and similarities?
One thing is for sure: this, amongst other factors, only increase my interest in the 1900–1910 time period of the tradition.
To be continued…
