After the Second World War, the United States took the leading role among the Allied Nations in the Occupation…
The Dai-Nippon Butokukai is established
In 1895, an organisation for the unification of martial arts named the Dai-Nippon Butokukai was established. T…
The Creation of Kōdōkan Jūdō by Kanō Jigorō
Japanese martial arts in the Middle Ages were centred on the bow, those of early modern times on the sword, bu…
Gekken Kōgyō—The Public Fencing Shows
In order to save the martial arts from the crisis, Sakakibara Kenkichi, a former kenjutsu instructor at the Kō…
The Budō Crisis
In 1871, a few years after the Meiji Restoration, feudal domains were abolished and new prefectures were estab…
Creation of the Kōbusho
During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate severed all relationships with foreign countries except on rare …
New ryūha created, “Three Great Dojo of Edo”
Shinai-uchikomi kenjutsu soon prospered. It became very popular due to the possibility of sparring freely, whi…
Kenjutsu with Shinai
Until the middle of the Edo period, kenjutsu training was centred on pre-arranged forms named kata. However, t…
Archery contests at the Sanjūsangendō
Of all the martial arts in Japan, the earliest one to have gone towards “sportification” was kyūju…
Three Great Lineages of Kenjutsu
In early modern times (1600‒1868), the predominant martial art was kenjutsu. There were three main lineages, e…