Abstract
Fuji-Sin-Ryu (Kenjutsu School) was founded by Nakamura-Isshinsai, a clansman of Simabara, influenced by the religion of Fuji-Ko, a kind of falk belief, in 1818. This study aimed at explaining the original social roll of Fuj i-Sin-Ryu, by considering the distribution of the religion practiced by the believers at the foot of Mt. Fuji.
Summaries are as follows:
1. At the end of the Edo Period, rural districts, especially Boo (Kazusa, Simofusa, Awa Province), were almost ruined by frequent famines and poor crops and public morality was forgotten and the economy of farms went into bankruptcy. So, Nakamura Isshinsai tried to establish morality in the rural district of Boso, with many pupils involved there, where the religion of “Fuji-Do” and “Fuji-KO” were practiced among the local people.
2. The main philosophy of Fuji-Sin-Ryu are revitalized in the scroll of “Chikoku-Anmin”, and then we can realized the role of Fuji-Sin-Ryu in it. The scroll of “Chikoku-Anmin” was based on the idea of the religion of Fuji-Ko, designed to bring about the technics in farming and about the encounter with “Youki-Rentan” (the Meditation of Taoism).
3. Nakamura Isshinsai regarded the tactics not as a “technique” for killing others, but as the “truth”for improving the personal and mental aspects. This interpretation became the originality of Fuji-Sin-Ryu.
In addition, the realization of philosophy of Fuji-Sin-Ryu could go in agreement with the request of the upper-layer farmers, and he worked hard for the relief of the farmer to founding the farming system at that time.
