Sakakibara Kenkichi, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Sakakibara Kenkichi

Japanese martial artist

Date of Birth: 19-Dec-1830

Place of Birth: Hiroo, Tokyo, Japan

Date of Death: 11-Sep-1894

Profession: martial artist

Nationality: Japan

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Sakakibara Kenkichi (Japanese: ????, 19 December 1830 – 11 September 1894), was a Japanese samurai and martial artist.
He was the fourteenth headmaster of the Jikishinkage school of sword fighting.
Through his Jikishinkage contacts he rose to a position of some political influence; he taught swordsmanship at a government military academy and also served in the personal guard of Japan's last two shoguns. After the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate Sakakibara was instrumental in preserving traditional Japanese sword techniques in the early Meiji Era.
Despite his eventual opposition to the practice of sword fighting for sport, his work during this period laid the foundations for the modern sport of kendo.
In his later years he taught a number of noted martial artists, and was honoured by the All Japan Kendo Federation after his death.