Morishige Ryu Hojutsu Tamizou Den - Shimazu Ha - Australia Branch

09/02/2026

L-R: Phil Hinshelwood, Uchi Kanefusa, Andrew Melito.
Morishige-ryu Hojutsu tamizou den Shimazu ha Okatai.

23/10/2024

01/06/2023

The Morishige-ryu Houjutsu was originally a Naval Bujutsu. Hence our studies of this martial art in the Oukatai and Japanese Naval history.
This is at Yokosuka, Japan. We visited this Naval Base in 2019.
This is Tougou Heihachirou and the panel says “The Empire's fate depends on the result of this battle". The Tantou was made from the steel of the cannon from the Mikasa.
This is battleship Mikasa. 皇國荒廃在此一戦 [Koukoku no kouhai kono issen ni ari].
Morishige-ryu Houjutsu
Tamizou den Shimazu ha
Oukatai 🇯🇵

15/05/2023

PROPOSED 2024 MORISHIGE-RYU TAMIZOU DEN SHIMAZU HA OUKATAI GASSHUKU IN AUSTRALIA.

Primary weapons are Hinawaju, Tanzutsu, Kodachi.
Yawara.

15/12/2022

OUKATAI.

19/08/2022

Updating our Facebook mess 😆

27/07/2021

Morishige Ryu Houjutsu Tamizou den Shimazu ha Oukatai

30/11/2020

Thank you from Japanese Sword Schools in Australia site.....

Virtual Meiji Jingu Embu Taikai Day 28 - Morishige Ryu Hojutsu

Okay, a bit of a stretch...

Morishige Ryu Hojutsu is a school of gunnery (sometimes also called hinawajutsu, literally meaning "fire rope techniques", after the lit rope used to ignite the gunpowder in the weapons) that was founded in the mid-18th Century by Numa Kuniyoshi. Kuniyoshi had studied military strategies from the Murakami Suigun (navy... literally "water army"), and then went on a musha shugyo to further his understandings.

He became increasingly confident in the value of marksmanship, to the point where he actually wrote a book on the subject, called the Gobusanto Funa-ikusa Yoho. He later changed his name to Morishige, due to his connection to the Mori clan, and a play on words on the story of Mori no Shigeru.

Kuniyoshi later passed his teachings to his son, Kunimitsu, who also undertook a musha shugyo, and received permission from a Shogunate official to use the name "Morishige", eventually formulating an array of kata and methods for his fathers and his approach to gunnery, including methods of firing, maintaining the weapons, and even recipes for gunpowder.

Interestingly, the Morishige Ryu, like all hojutsu schools, have a logistical consideration for their practice... replica fi****ms are illegal in Japan, and it's also not allowed to make new versions of the weapons... so every practice and demonstration employ actual antique fi****ms! In Australia, Morishige Ryu is practiced based in Gunnedah, NSW, as a private dojo associated with the Yagyu Shingan Ryu Chikuosha, as Shimazu Kenji (Shihan of Yagyu Shingan Ryu) also heads a line of Morishige Ryu (Morishige Ryu Tamizou-den Shimazu-ha).

(Yes, it's not a sword art... but the demonstrations often include full armour, including the proper wearing of swords... and the school includes methods of wearing and handling the positioning of a tachi when using a matchlock rifle.... so it passes?)

Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaFF4Q8RlfNq45cPDUwE8QA?sub_confirmation=1 School: Morishige Ryū Hōjutsu Event: Meiji Jingu Kobudo...

27/11/2020

Black powder flask (Kouyakuiri) circa mid Edo period with the samurai family Tatemitsubiki Ryou montsuki [crest] (Hinshelwood collection).

05/10/2020

25/08/2020

Going to prepare some loads for the Tanzutsu.
Australia Branch.