Swordsman were engaging in single combat in Japan up until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. After
the restoration, swordsmanship went into a general decline, but a number of schools perpetuated the art
of swordsmanship: Iaaijutsu, Kenjutsu, or Batto-jutsu among them. The emphasis in these
schools was preservation of techniques that swordsmen had practiced before 1868.
The full name of the style of Ia�-Do that is the most widely practiced in central Japan today is Muso
Jikiden Eishin-Ryu, meaning �peerless, direct transmission, true-faith style of Eishin.�
Eishin Ryu claims a lineage about 450 years long, making it the second oldest extant martial art form
in Japan. The only budo form with a longer history is Tenshin Shoden katori Shinto Ryu, an eclectic
system of fighting arts that includes some Iaijutsu.
The founder of EishinRyu was Hayashizaki Jinsuke Minamoto Shigenoubu, who lived between 1546 and
1621 in present-day Kanagawa prefecture. Many of the historical details of Hayashizaki�s life are
suspect, since, like most famous martial artists in Japan, his story has been widely fictionalized, but it
seams clear that he grew up during a time of constant warfare in Japan, and was exposed to
various sword fighting methods from an early age. It is said that he went to Yamagata Prefecture to
pray for guidance and receive divine inspiration for a new way of drawing the sword.Whatever the
circumstances, at some point he established his own style of swordsmanship and called it Shimmei
Muso-Ryu, �divinely inspired, unparalleled style�.
Hayashizaki�s Ia�-Do has had many names since then. It is considered the foundation for the two
major styles of Ia�-Do practised today: Eishin-Ryu and Muso Shinden-Ryu. In each generation a
headmaster, or soke, has been appointed to guide the practice of the art, and each soke has had his
own influence on the development of iaido.
EishinRyu claims an unbroken line of transmission from Hayashzaki Jinsuke through twenty one
generations to the present-day soke, Fukui Torao, who was appointed in 1975 after the death of his
predecessor, Kono Hyakuren. The names of all the headmasters from the founders time are as follows:
1. Hayashizaki Jinsuke Minamoto Shgenobu Founder
2 - Tamiya Heibei Narimasa
3 - Nagano Muraku Nyudo Kinrosai
4 - Momo Gumbei Mitsushige
5 - Arikawa Shozaemon Munetsugu
6 - Banno Dan-Uemon-no-J� Nobusada
7 - Hasegawa Chikaranosuke E�shin
8 - Arai Seitetsu Seishin
9 - Hayashi Rokudayu Morimasa
10 - Hayashi Yasudayu Seisho
11 - Oguro Motoemon Kiyokatsu
12 - Hayashi Masu-no-J� Masanari
13 - Yoda Manzo Takakatsu
14 - Hayashi Yadayu Masataka
15 - Tanimura Kame-no-J� Takakatsu
16 - Goto Masasuke Magobei
17 - Oe Masamichi Roshu
18 - Hokiyama Namio
19 - Fukui Harumasa Tekkotsu
20 - Kono Minoru Hyakuren
21 - Fukui Torao born 1915
22 - Soke Ikeda Takashi Seiko
Most Ia�-Do historians agree that the inspiration for
the name Eishin-Ryu came from the name of the seventh generation headmaster, Hasegawa
Chikaranosuke Eishin. Certainly the characters used in his name are the same as those used in the name
of the style.
After the eleventh generation, the lineage split into
two separate lines: one leading to Saito Iamau, the eighteenth generation soke of the Muso
Shinden-Ryu, and the other to Fukui Torao, as shown above. There are a number of other, less widely-practiced
forms of Ia� Do that grew out of Hayashzaki Jinsuke�s art.
Today, Eishin ryu is practiced by two or three
thousand people in Japan, and has exponents around the world. The administration of the system is
primarily handled by the Eishin-Ryu Traditions Association, led by the Soke, and by the all Japan
Ia�-Do federation, which oversees competitions and promotions in many different Ia�-Do styles.
By Nishi Kaigan Dojo