21 Facts About Kamiizumi Nobutsuna

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna is well known as Kamiizumi Isenokami which was his name as a samurai official for a period of time.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna's family were minor landed lords in the service of the Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi clan.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna's family was originally a branch of the Ogo clan that moved to nearby Kaigayago Kamiizumi and took its name for their own.

In Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, it is believed that Kamiizumi Nobutsuna learned Kage-ryu from Ikosai, receiving full transmission around the age of 23.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna surrendered the castle without a fight, and joined Ujiyasu.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna abandoned the Hojo side, and sent messages to the Uesugi.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna became one of Uesugi's generals, and helped the Uesugi drive out the Hojo forces.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna joined Nagano's service, and quickly became one of the "Sixteen Spears of Nagano House".

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna fought his way out of the castle, and escaped to eastern Kozuke, where he joined with Kiryu Oinosuke Naotsuna.

Or, another story is that, impressed by Kamiizumi Nobutsuna's valor, Shingen invited him to join the Takeda side after Minowa Castle fell.

How exactly it came about is not clear, but what is clear is that Kamiizumi Nobutsuna became a minor official to the Takeda clan.

Name changing was common in that era, and it's likely that the change to Kamiizumi Nobutsuna was unrelated to Takeda Shingen.

Later, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna would move to Kyoto, teaching Shinkage-ryu to various courtiers and noblemen of the Ashikaga Shogunate.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna stayed with Yamashina for about two years, teaching Shinkage-ryu, and serving Yamashina.

The last known record of Kamiizumi Nobutsuna is an entry in the records of Seirinji, a Soto Zen Buddhist temple in the town where Kamiizumi Nobutsuna's family castle once stood.

The record notes that Kamiizumi Nobutsuna helped establish the temple in 1577, erecting a gravestone and paying for services.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna is considered a major figure in the development of kenjutsu.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna is popularly credited as the inventor of the fukuro-shinai, a practice sword made from split-bamboo in a leather sleeve, allowing practitioners to practice together and swing with full-force without fear of death or major injury.

The Honcho Bugei Shoden, a mid-Edo period collection of historical stories, related one of Kamiizumi Nobutsuna travelling to Myokoji Temple, in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna shaved his head, borrowed a kesa from a priest, and approached the barn with two rice balls.

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna used the rice balls to lull the man into dropping his guard, and then quickly seized him and saved the child.