Thursday, June 11, 2020

(2124) A sword saint

Nihon_arekore_02145_Tsukahara_Bokuten_100_cl

In Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, near Kashima Jingu (鹿島神宮), the shrine with perhaps the strongest connection to the martial arts, there is the statue of Tsukahara Bokuden (塚原卜伝, 1489-1571) founder of the Kashima Shinto-ryu (鹿島新当流) sword tradition. Bokuden was one of those swordsmen who were so good, they are referred in Japanese as "kensei" (剣聖) -the first character means "sword" and the second something like "saint". 

(For a bigger version of this picture both in color and black and white, check my "Japan Arekore" set on Flickr).

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