Ogasawara History notes

Ogasawara family is a lineage of the Seiwa Genji. 

The 1st headmaster of Ogaswara-ryu was Nagakiyo Ogasawara (I found 2 records, one says born in Koshu (nowadays it is known as Yamanashi prefecture) in 1162, and the other with the dates 1185-1333?). His father was Kagami-jiro-tomitsu, his mother was a daughter of Wada yoshimori. The Ogasawara village really existed, however, the name has changed to Minami Alps city.

It has been said that the surname "Ogasawara" was provided to Nagakiyo by the Emperor Takakura.
Nagakiyo is an ancestor of all the families named "Ogasawara" today. When Nagakiyo was 26 years old, he became Minamoto-Yoritomo's personal teacher of mounted archery and manner. 

Minamoto-yoritomo is a founder of Japan's first warrior government. The Ogasawara family served the Shogun of the Kamakura era (the Minamoto shogunate), the Muromachi era (the Ashikaga shogunate), and the Edo era (the Tokugawa shogunate) as the martial teacher.


It was the 7th Sadamune who reintroduced etiquette to the arts of archery and horsemanship. For this he is called the restorer of the Ogasawara school. It is from the 7th Sadamune's teaching that the Ogasawara school as we know it today descended. Sadamune studied under the Zen Master Seisetsu Shoho and stressed the Zen components of their teaching, and incorporated them even more strongly into the Ogaswara-ryu. This paved the way for continuing evolution of the arts which we now know as the 'do' arts of Japan.

Sadamune served the Emperor Godaigo during the period between the collapse of the Kamakura Shogunate and the establishment of the Muromachi Shogunate. The Emperor took him into service on account of his great contribution to the downfall of the Kamakura, and assured him that the Ogasawara school of etiquette would become the code of the warrior class. Sadamune subsequently joined the forces of the Muromachi Shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, serving as master of etiquette and thus adding to his good reputation.

The Ogasawara continued to serve the Ashikaga from generation to generation. They taught not only archery and horsemanship, but also the rites of manhood, wedding rites, and the other ceremonial etiquette.

Three generation after Sadamune, a man named Nagahide compiled the "Sangi Itto", the cornerstone of Ogasawara etiquette. The volume was written at the behest of the third of the Ashikaga shoguns, Yoshimitsu, who deplored the deterioration of ancient courtier manners.

During the Warring States Period, the Ogasawara were charged with protecting the province of Shinano (now Nagano Prefecture). They fought Takeda Shingen several times, losing their territory but eventually regaining it under the banner of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The family head, Sadayoshi, handed down the "Seven Volumes of Ogasawara Etiquette" to his heir Hidemasa during this period. Unlike later systems of etiquette that only boast of splendor, these volumes provide an authentic explanation of the unadorned grace of warrior-class manners.

When the battle of Osaka broke out in the summer of 1615, Hidemasa and his heir, Tadanaga, went to the field in support of the Tokugawa and died heroic deaths. In return for their loyalty, the Ogasawara were named the ruling family of Akashi, Harima Province (now western Hyogo Prefecture), a fief with an annual yield of 110,000 koku of rice. Subsequently, they were named the rulers of Kokura, Buzen Province (now northeastern Fukuoka and northern Oita Prefectures), a fief with a yield of 150,000 koku of rice.

During the Edo Period, the Ogasawara instructed the succeeded elite of the shogunate in the fine points of etiquette. Even the general population began to bear the Ogasawara mark, as they increasingly adopted the manners of the warrior class. The Ogasawara code of etiquette was exhaustive. It explained rituals for annual events, furniture arrangement, how to change and fold clothes, how to write cards correctly, how to eat in a proper manner, how to wrap gifts, and more.
In the Meiji Era the head of the Ogasawara was given the title of count.

Kiyokane Ogasawara, the 28th headmaster of Ogasawara-ryu. Kiyokane served the Tokugawa shogun and in 1862 he totally organized the royal wedding of Princess Kazunomiya, a sister of the Emperor.

In 1879, he dedicated the Yabusame ritual at the Imperial Palace. His Yabusame ritual was watched by Emperor Meiji at the Ueno Park.

In 1880, Kiyokane opened the Ogasawara school to the public in Kanda Tokyo and he taught etiquette at the girls schools.

Kiyoaki Ogasawara, the 29th headmaster of Ogasawara-ryu. Kiyoaki dedicated Yabusame ritual to celebrate the establishment of Meiji Shrine in 1920.  He revived the Yabusame ceremony at many shrines like Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Kasama Inari Shrine, and so on.

kiyonobu Ogasawara, the 30th headmaster of Ogasawara-ryu. Kiyonobu dedicated the ritual Yabusame ceremony at many shrines. And he also dedicated other ritual archery ceremonies, Ohmato-Shiki, Momote-Shiki, and Kusajishi-Shiki. He explained the physical movement of Ogasawara-ryu from a scientific point of view,

To teach Ogasawara-ryu for a living is strictly prohibited by the family tradition for the purpose of passing on Ogasawara-ryu correctly. So, he worked as a professor of Meiji University.