HISTORY
Sannanki
Located in Kyoto, the Former Maekawa Residence once served as a Shinsengumi headquarters, together with the Yagi Residence. It is also the site where the Shinsengumi vice-commander, Yamanami Keisuke, committed seppuku. In February 1865, Yamanami Keisuke was brought back to the headquarters after leaving the group without permission. For violating the regulations, he was ordered seppuku. The reason for his departure remains uncertain even today—some say it was due to health issues, while others suggest it stemmed from tensions with Hijikata Toshizō over the relocation of the headquarters to Nishi Honganji.
There are other claims that at the moment of his seppuku, his lover Akari bid him farewell through the lattice window of the room. Today that window has been replaced by a cedar plank wall. The room has also been converted into a space for Buddhist.
Every March, the Former Maekawa Residence holds the Yamanami Keisuke Memorial, allowing the public to visit his grave at Kouenji Temple and offer their respects at the room where he performed seppuku. The day’s activities are rich in variety, including traditional music and dance, as well as Iaido demonstrations from the Tennen Rishin-ryū and Hokushin Ittō-ryū.
Ordinary suburi (swinging practice) with a wooden sword can be no easy task in most schools of kenjutsu. In the past, however, Tennen Rishin-ryū went further still, using specially made wooden swords with a diameter of six centimetres and a weight of roughly two kilograms for a unique form of training. Today, one such heavy, solid-feeling bokutō is displayed at the Ryozen Museum of History in Kyoto standing as tangible evidence of the severe traditional training methods and allowing visitors to experience its weight in comparison with ordinary bokutō.
At the embu of Yamanami Keisuke Memorial, the Tennen Rishin-ryū Hatuunkai showcased kata performed with a Bokuto of this weight. Each movement and technique was no longer merely technical skill, but a form of intense full body training. By accustoming themselves to such weight, practitioners cultivate extraordinary arm strength and a stable core and lower body. Only through this can they fully grasp the “sharpness” of a real combat cut, perhaps its one of the sources of the resolute and indomitable character that defines Tennen Rishin-ryū.
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