The Samurai Sword Saint, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna

Sword Combat Innovator, Weapons Expert, Tactician, Teacher, & History’s Man of Mystery

There’s a scene in the opening of the acclaimed movie Seven samurai, which portrays the lead hero, the wise but war-weary ronin, Shimada Kanbei, rescuing a child from a sword wielding madman. He shaves his head and borrows a monks’ cassock, before taking two rice balls into the cabin where the child is being held. Appearing as an unarmed monk, he uses the rice balls to lull the madman into a sense of security. He then overpowers the man and rescues the child unharmed.

The story is based on that of Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, an early 16th century samurai famed for having created and developed the Shinkage-ryu schools of combat and swordsmanship. While staying near the Myoko-ji Temple in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, Kamiizumi is said to have saved a child in the manner seen in the movie. The story was featured in a mid-Edo period history collection titled the Honcho Bugei Shoden. Famed movie director Kurosawa Akira heard the story, and decided to use it in his movie, Seven Samurai, immortalizing the episode.