Samurai Weapons. Don Cunningham

Kito-ryū style, especially in the emphasis on throwing skills. It is stated that Inouye Nagayasu trained for some time under Takino, a former student of Kito-ryū.

      Tenjin-shinyo-ryū

      Tenjin-shinyo-ryū was founded by Iso Matayemon, a retainer of the Kii clan. A native of the Matsuzaka in Ise province, he studied under Hitosuyanagi Oribe, a master of Yoshin-ryū. Following the death of his teacher, he later studied under Homma Joyemon, an adept in Shin-no-Shintō-ryū. Convinced from his actual fighting experiences that victory required the skillful application of atemi, the art of striking the vital and vulnerable points of an opponent’s body, Iso Matayemon emphasized atemi in the founding of his own style. He called his new style Tenjin-shinyo-ryū, deriving the name partially from both Yoshin-ryū and Shin-no-Shinto-ryū.

      Shintō Musō-ryū

      Although primarily concerned with the arts of the sword and staff, Shintō Musō-ryū has also incorporated many other auxiliary arts since its inception. Shintō Musō-ryū was founded by Muso Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi during the early part of the Edo period. The third successor of the Shintō Musō-ryū, Matsuzaki Kinueumon Tsunekatsu added Ittatsu-ryū hojo-jutsu (rope binding) from Ittatsuryu and jutte-jutsu (truncheon art) from Ikkaku-ryū, to the Shintō Musō-ryū curriculum

      In more recent years, the Japanese police modified many of the same Ikkaku-ryū jutte-jutsu techniques from the Shintō Musō-ryū curriculum for their keisatsu keibo-jutsu (police baton art) training. Although the basic techniques are similar, the targets and applications of keisatsu keibo-jutsu techniques have been modified slightly to enable police officers to more effectively control a suspect with minimum injury, rather than to put the individual down at any cost.

      Disarming the Populace

      Prior to the end of the Sengoku period, most able-bodied subjects were armed with various weapons to some degree. As Japan became unified, though, a heavily armed populace was considered a significant threat to the new government. To discourage uprisings and revolt, Hideyoshi Toyotomi initiated a series of legislative social reforms. These edicts strictly defined social classes and drastically restricted social mobility.

      In 1588 Hideyoshi issued the Taiko no katanagari (sword hunt), a decree prohibiting the possession of swords and guns by all but the noble classes. Claiming that the possession of weapons by peasants “makes difficult the collection of taxes and tends to foment uprisings,” the mandate prohibited farmers from possessing long or short swords, bows, spears, muskets, or any other form of weapon. Local daimyō, official agents, and deputies were ordered to collect all such weapons within their jurisdictions and deliver them to be melted down to supply materials for construction of a temple containing a massive Buddha.

      The proposal for creating a Buddhist image from destroyed weapons was meant to placate pious warrior monks as well as religiously devout commoners. This edict also met with widespread daimyō approval. Local rulers realized that disarming peasants also effectively restricted their neighbors from quickly raising a militia should any potential territorial disputes arise. Once the weapons were collected, though, Hideyoshi ordered them melted down and used to build a statue in his own likeness.

      As a result of the sword hunt edict, only members of the warrior class were permitted to wear the daishō, thus differentiating samurai from the rest of the population. Three years later, Hideyoshi issued another edict clearly segregating the population into four major social castes—warrior, farmer, craftsman, and merchant. It further isolated and restricted interaction between different classes and denied any changes in social status.

      Below the samurai or bushi class were the nōmin (farmers). The nōmin were considered second in class only to the samurai because they provided the crops and livestock necessary to feed the population. The creation of mutually exclusive farming and military social castes was calculated to prevent formation of alliances. Although they represented by far the largest segment of the population, the unarmed nōmin were weak and relatively helpless against military forces. And while the samurai were armed and trained in battlefield tactics, their overall numbers were comparatively small, representing less than one-tenth of the total populace at any one time. Yet Hideyoshi recognized the potential threat facing the new administration should nōmin and samurai join forces for revolution. To prevent this, the samurai were forced to move away from their villages and farms and to live within garrison towns.

      The next lower classes lived in towns and were called chōnin (townsmen). These craftsmen and artisans formed the third tier of the feudal Japanese caste system. They were held in nominal favor since they produced the tools and utensils needed by the farmers and the weapons and associated decorations required by the bushi.

      The fourth tier consisted of merchants, who were looked down upon because they essentially created nothing while basically living off the produce of others. Although they were considered fairly low in the social structure, the merchant class owned most of the actual property by the nineteenth century. Many became bankers, not only financing other merchant ventures, but also lending money to the members of the samurai class. As the richest members of the society, they frequently bought titles or married into samurai families to improve their status.

      Members of the samurai class had for many years considered financial issues as beneath their dignity and even disdained the handling of money. This extended to having their servants actually pay for all necessities to avoid contact with coins. Physically touching money was considered unclean, and most samurai would wrap their coins in paper before presenting them for payment to another.

      As a result, many samurai were not very adept at dealing with fiscal issues and so now often found themselves in serious financial straits. Ironically, many of their rights and power, including the carrying of weapons, were often circumscribed by the bankers and money lenders from the merchant class.

      The lowest class consisted of the hinan (outcasts) or eta who were basically considered to be non-humans. The term eta literally means “filth,” and the eta were ostracized by the rest of Edo period society. The eta often performed the tasks believed to be spiritually unclean, such as dealing with the dead. For example, they often worked in trades associated with tanning leather or disposing of animal and human carcasses. As a result, eta were the target of tremendous social prejudices. Even within this group existed a varied ranking system, from those who were temporarily classed as outcasts due to their circumstances, such as convicted petty criminals, to those who were hereditary and permanent pariahs in the rigid feudal Japanese social order.

      In the last of his social reform efforts, Hideyoshi commissioned a land census, establishing a uniform tax system and further restricting physical movement between the various provinces, or han, under his rule. Each individual was required to register his name, along with his status and his number of houses. All registered individuals were then prohibited from moving to any other province, or han, without prior government approval.

      Following the death of Hideyoshi and the establishment of the Tokugawa shōgunate in 1603, these social policies were further enforced with even more government proclamations. Barrier stations, or seki, were established on all major highways, and travelers were searched for any contraband or defiance of rules regarding physical movement. The Tokugawa shōgunate was known for the policy to prevent Irideppo ni deonna (incoming firearms and fleeing women), which prohibited transport of arms and restricted women, especially daimyō family members held as potential hostages, from leaving the city.

      Although samurai openly carried razor-sharp swords, chōnin and nōmin during the Edo period usually were not allowed such overt displays of weaponry. Restricted by government decrees, they often resorted to hibuki (hidden or concealed weapons) for personal protection.

      While katana were prohibited, chōnin and nōmin were still allowed to carry tantō (daggers) as well as short swords known as wakizashi. Commoners did not always abide by the laws prohibiting swords. One reason was that the actual measurements used to define katana, wakizashi, and tantō were confusing and often inconsistently applied in many of these laws. Thus during the early part of the Edo period (early 1600s), some chōnin, and especially yakuza, or criminal gang members, openly carried long wakizashi that were virtually equivalent to prohibited katana.

      The Japanese