Henmi Sōsuke

In this Japanese name, the surname is Henmi.

Henmi Sōsuke
Henmi Sōsuke (1843–1894)
Born	1843 (1843) Sakura Domain, Shimōsa Province
Died	1894 (aged 50–51)
Nationality (legal)	Japanese
Occupation(s)	Samurai, Traditional Japanese martial arts instructor, Police officer
Employer(s)	Sakura Domain, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department

Henmi Sōsuke (逸いっ見み 宗そう助すけ, 1843 – 1894) was a Japanese swordsman who also served as a martial arts instructor of Tatsumi-ryū and Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

Biography

Henmi was known to be born in 1843 as a son of Henmi Nobutaka (逸見いつみ信しん敬けい), a clansman of the Sakura Domain and the 17th head family of Tatsumi-ryū.

Tatsumi-ryū is a Traditional Japanese martial arts. During Edo period when the use of protective gears became popular, the Sakura Domain allowed its clansmen to contest with different schools such as Hokushin Ittō-ryū (北辰ほくしん一刀いっとう流りゅう) and Kyōshin Meichi-ryū (鏡かがみ新しん明智めいち流りゅう) from 1850. Henmi was given lessons from Ueda Umanosuke (上田うえだ馬ば之の助すけ) of Kyōshin Meichi-ryū (鏡かがみ新しん明智めいち流りゅう).

In 1860, Henmi was given Iai Mokuroku (居合いあい目録もくろく) which served as a license of the Tatsumi-ryū from his father. In the next year, Henmi obtained a permission from Sakura Domain to study in Edo. He studied in Shigakukan Dojo for 1 year, and was awarded a title of Shihan as soon as he returned to his hometown.

After the Meiji Restoration, Henmi worked as a tillager in Yachimata. In 1879, he was hired by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department as a martial arts instructor. He established Keishiryū (警視けいし流りゅう) there, and became the leading figure of martial arts at Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. He is briefly described in F.J. Norman’s Fighting Man of Japan (1905), as possibly the best swordsman he had met in Japan.

See also

• Tatsumi-ryū
• Kendo

References

• Shin-Jinbutsuoraisha (2002) "剣けんの達人たつじん111人にんデータファイル" (in Japanese) ISBN 978-4-404-02993-5
• Shimizu, Noboru. Gakken Publishing. (2010) "幕末ばくまつ維新いしん剣客けんかく列伝れつでん" (in Japanese) ISBN 978-4-05-404390-9
• Domoto, Akihiko. (2007) "高野たかの佐たすく三郎さぶろう剣道けんどう遺稿いこう集しゅう" (in Japanese) ISBN 978-4-7899-0062-1

External links

• Tatsumi-ryu Japanese Homepage (in Japanese)