Abstract
In the Edo period the peasants were prohibited by law from possessing weapons. Neverthless, the peasants already practiced Bujutsu in the first half of the Edo period. Documents of the MUSO-JIKIDEN Schools in the possession of the Takizawa family in a village in North Shinano have been found and analyzed by the present author. The purpose of this study is threefold:(1)To clarify what kinds of peasant in a village community practice the martial arts of the MUSO-JIKIDEN Schools. (2)To clarify what kind of Bujutsu they practice, that is to say, what is the MUSO-JIKIDEN Schools. (3)To clarify the purposes for which they practice it. Briefly, the main conclusions were as follows:(1)Many of the peasants that practiced the MUSO-JIKIDEN Schools were also the samurais of the lowest rank in the Matsushiro clan, that is to say, they were the marginal people in the villages. (2)The MUSO-JIKIDEN Schools was comprehensive bujutsu which was medieval. It consisted of jujutsu, bojutsu, iai, nawa, and so on. (3)The purpose of the MUSO-JIKIDEN Schools was primarily vocational educaion, but it was pastime and sport for many peasants in the villages.
