Major Takamatsu-den and Bujinkan-Derived Organizations
The term “X-kan” is an informal expression commonly used for the three major organizations Bujinkan, Genbukan, and Jinenkan, all of which preserve martial traditions associated with Takamatsu Toshitsugu (1889–1972). Over time, a number of additional organizations and systems developed from the same general family of transmission. The term can occasionally be used more loosely for related organizations whose names end in -kan, but historically these three are the organizations most commonly meant by “the X-kans.”
Not all of these groups are direct offshoots of the Bujinkan, and not all use the suffix -kan (館). For that reason, Takamatsu-den and Bujinkan-derived organizations is a more useful collective description.
Bujinkan 武神館
Founded: approximately 1970
Founder: Masaaki Hatsumi
The Bujinkan was established by Masaaki Hatsumi to transmit the martial traditions he received principally from Takamatsu Toshitsugu. It became the largest and most internationally influential organization associated with the Takamatsu-den traditions and provided the common background from which several later organizations developed.
Bujinkan may be translated approximately as “Hall of the Divine Warrior.”
Genbukan 玄武館
Founded: November 28, 1984
Founder: Shōtō Tanemura
The Genbukan Ninpo Bugei Federation was founded by Shōtō Tanemura after his departure from Hatsumi’s organization. Tanemura had trained extensively with Hatsumi as well as with a number of other Japanese martial-arts teachers, and the Genbukan consequently preserves material from a broader range of lineages than simply those transmitted through the Bujinkan.
The Genbukan officially dates its establishment to November 28, 1984.
AKBAN
Founded: 1986
Founder: Yossi Sheriff
Country of origin: Israel
AKBAN was founded in Israel by Yossi Sheriff, a student of Doron Navon, one of the earliest non-Japanese senior students of Masaaki Hatsumi. Sheriff began training with Navon in 1978, and AKBAN developed from the Bujinkan curriculum taught through that relationship.
AKBAN began as several training groups in Israel during 1985 and was formally established as an organization in 1986. It subsequently developed its own training methodology while continuing to preserve and document much of its Japanese martial-arts material.
Jinenkan 自然館
Founded: 1996
Founder: Fumio “Unsui” Manaka
The Jinenkan was founded by Fumio Manaka, one of Hatsumi’s long-term senior students. After leaving the Bujinkan, Manaka created the Jinenkan as an independent organization devoted to the study and preservation of classical Japanese martial traditions.
The Jinenkan itself gives 1996 as its founding year.
Jinenkan is generally translated as “Hall of Nature” or “Hall of the Natural Way.”
To-Shin Do 刀心道
Founded: 1997
Founder: Stephen K. Hayes
American martial artist Stephen K. Hayes was one of the earliest Western students associated with Hatsumi and played a major role in introducing ninjutsu-derived martial arts to the United States.
Hayes had previously operated organizations such as the Shadows of Iga Society and Kasumi-An. In 1997, Stephen and Rumiko Hayes formally created To-Shin Do, combining material derived from Hayes’s Japanese martial-arts training with a modern approach to self-defense and personal development.
Unlike the Bujinkan, Genbukan, and Jinenkan, To-Shin Do is deliberately presented as a modern martial-art system rather than a classical ryūha.
Shisenkan 士仙館
Founded: February 3, 2023
Founder: Ron Kosen
The Shisenkan Kokusai Kobudō Renmei was founded by Ron Kosen, formerly one of the highest-ranking non-Japanese teachers in the Genbukan.
Kosen joined the newly established Genbukan in 1984 and later became an uchi-deshi of Shōtō Tanemura in Japan. After leaving the Genbukan in late 2022, he established Shisenkan as an independent organization. Shisenkan gives February 3, 2023 as its formal establishment date.
Shisenkan therefore represents a second-generation organizational branch:
Bujinkan → Genbukan → Shisenkan
rather than a direct split from the Bujinkan.
Kobukan Kobudō Renmei
Founded: 2023
Founder: James Wright
The Kobukan Kobudō Renmei was founded by James Wright in 2023 as an independent organization devoted to Japanese jūjutsu, ninpō, and kobudō.
Although it shares material and historical connections with the broader Takamatsu-den community, Kobukan should not be described simply as a Bujinkan offshoot. The organization identifies its martial heritage with lineages associated with both Takamatsu Toshitsugu and Satō Kinbei, giving it connections outside the direct Bujinkan organizational line.
Ryūha Associated with the Takamatsu-den Martial Arts
The following is a general list of ryūha (流派), or martial traditions, associated with the modern Takamatsu-den martial arts community, including traditions taught within or associated with organizations such as the Bujinkan, Genbukan, Jinenkan, Kobukan, Shisenkan, and related groups.
The exact curriculum varies considerably between organizations, teachers, and periods of study. Consequently, this list should not be interpreted as the curriculum of any single organization.
- Aizuhan Denkei Ono-ha Ittō Ryū 会津藩伝継小野派一刀流
- Araki Shin Ryū 荒木新流
- Asayama Ichiden Ryū 浅山一傳流
- Bokuden Ryū 卜傳流
- Daitō Ryū Aiki Jūjutsu 大東流合気柔術
- Gikan Ryū 義鑑流
- Gyokko Ryū 玉虎流
- Gyokushin Ryū 玉心流
- Iga Ryū 伊賀流
- Itten Ryūshin Chūkai Ryū 一天柳心冑介流
- Jinen Ryū 自然流
- Kotō Ryū 虎倒流
- Kukishin Ryū 九鬼神流
- Kukishinden Ryū 九鬼神伝流
- Kumogakure Ryū 雲隠流
- Mugen Shintō Ryū 無限神刀流
- Shinden Fudō Ryū 神傳不動流
- Shinden Tatara Ryū 神傳鞴韜流
- Takagi Yōshin Ryū 高木揚心流
- Tenshin Hyōhō Kukishin Ryū 天真兵法九鬼神流
- Tenshin Ko Ryū 天心古流
- Togakure Ryū 戸隠流
- Yagyū Shingan Ryū 柳生心眼流
- Yōshin Musō Ryū 楊心無双流
