Iizasa Ienao

Iizasa Chōisai Ienao
飯篠 長威斉 家直
Iizasa Chōisai Ienao (飯篠 長威斉 家直, c.1387–1488) founder of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū.

Iizasa Chōisai Ienao (飯篠 長威斉 家直, c.1387 – May 26, 1488)[1] was the founder of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū which is a traditional (koryū) Japanese martial art. His Buddhist posthumous name is Taiganin-den-Taira-no-Ason-Iga-no-Kami-Raiodo-Hon-Daikoji.[2]

He was reputed to be a respected spearman and swordsman who served the Chiba family in what is today Chiba Prefecture. When his hometown was destroyed, he began wandering the land until he settled down near the Katori Shrine and founded the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū in c.1447.

  1. ^ The TSKSR itself gives 1387 as the birth year of its founder. See Deity and the Sword, Vol 1 p. 16-17. Watatani (1967) speculates 1417-1420 is more historically correct.
  2. ^ Deity and the Sword, Vol 1 p. 16-17.