Background
Yamaoka Tesshu was born on June 10, 1836 Tokyo, Japan. His father was a retainer of the Tokugawa shogunate and his mother was the daughter of a Shinto priest from Kashima Shrine.
山岡 鉄舟
Yamaoka Tesshu was born on June 10, 1836 Tokyo, Japan. His father was a retainer of the Tokugawa shogunate and his mother was the daughter of a Shinto priest from Kashima Shrine.
Yamaoka practiced swordsmanship from the age of nine, starting in the Jikishinkage-ryu tradition. After that he learned Hokushin Itto-ryu from Inoue Hachiro, who was asked by Yamaoka Tesshu's father to teach his son. Later his family moved to Takayama where he began the Nakanishi-ha Itto-ryu style of fencing. When he was seventeen, he returned to Edo (now Tokyo) and joined the government's Kobukan Military Institute and the Yamaoka School of Spear Fighting under Yamaoka Seizan. From an early age, Yamaoka showed dedication and talent in the practice of martial arts.
In 1856, Yamaoka Tesshu became supervising instructor of swordsmanship at the Kobukan. In 1863, he became supervisor of the Roshigumi (a force of ronin or "masterless samurai" serving as a mercenary auxiliary force to the Shogunal army). In 1868, Yamaoka Tesshu was appointed chief of the Seieitai, an elite bodyguard for the 15th Shugun Tokugawa Yoshinobu. He went to Sunpu to negotiate with Saigo Takamori, and brought about Saigo's meeting with Katsu Kaishu, thereby contributing to the surrender of Edo Castle to imperial forces.
After the Meiji Restoration, he became an official of the Shizuoka Domain, followed by a posting as governor of the short-lived Imari Prefecture. Later, he served in the court of Emperor Meiji as a chamberlain and close aide.
Yamaoka died at the age of fifty-two on July 19, 1888 of stomach cancer. Before his death, he is said to have composed his death poem first, then sat formally and closed his eyes, slipping into death.
Yamaoka Tesshu became well known for several things: his swordsmanship, calligraphy, drinking and sleeping.
