was a warrior and the creator of the school of basic archery skills for footsoldiers. Heki Danjō's teaching started one of the prominent schools of ''

kyūdō ''Kyūdō'' ( ja, 弓道) is the Japanese martial art of archery. Kyūdō is based on '' kyūjutsu'' ("art of archery"), which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. In 1919, the name of kyūjutsu was officially changed to kyūdō, a ...

'', which is named '' Heki-ryū'' after him. Several ''Heki-ryū'' branches are taught actively even today. Heki Danjō lived in warlike times when it was considered honorable to be linked to famous warriors. For this reason there is no certainty to the connection between every Heki-ryū branch and the historical figure Heki Danjō. It is known however that Heki Danjō taught

Yoshida Shigekata Yoshida (written: 吉田 lit. "lucky ricefield") is the 11th most common Japanese surname. A less common variant is 芳田 (lit. "fragrant ricefield"). Notable people with the surname include: * Ai Yoshida, Japanese sailor *, Japanese idol, singe ...

, who compiled the lessons in a scroll (''mokuroku''), which is still an important part of Heki-ryū's teaching. The founder of ''Heki-ryū'' ''Insai''-branch, Yoshida Genpachirō Shigeuji, wrote about Heki Danjō as a manifestation of the god of war

Hachiman In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements ...

. History tells us little of his life. Heki Danjō was born in Yamato, became a famed archer in a battle, taught kyūjutsu and shortly before his death, he became a monk at

Mount Kōya is a large temple settlement in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan to the south of Osaka. In the strictest sense, ''Mount Kōya'' is the mountain name ( sangō) of Kongōbu-ji Temple, the ecclesiastical headquarters of the Kōyasan sect of Shingon B ...

.Feliks F. Hoff (2002, engl.): Kyudo – the Way of the Bow, Shambala 2002,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heki, Danjo Masatsugu 1443 births 1502 deaths Japanese warriors

See also

References