Sakamoto Tenzan

In this Japanese name, the surname is Sakamoto.

Sakamoto Toshiyasu (Japanese: 坂本 俊豈; 1745-1803), better known as Sakamoto Tenzan (坂本 天山), was a Japanese master of gunnery and scholar of kokugaku. He established the Tenzan school (天山流, Tenzan-ryū) of hōjutsu.^[1]

Sakamoto Tenzan
坂本 天山
Born	June 21, 1745 Takatō Domain, Shinano Province, Japan
Died	April 20, 1803(1803-04-20) (aged 57) Japan

Biography

Sakamoto Tenzan was born the eldest son of Sakamoto Unshirō Hideomi (坂本 運四郎 英臣), a retainer of the Naitō clan and master of the Ogino school (荻野流, Ogino-ryū) of gunnery.

In 1767, when he was 22 years old, Sakamoto traveled to Osaka to study under the instruction of Ogino Rokubee Terukiyo (荻野 六兵衛 照清).

In 1778, Sakamoto published an advanced design for a portable swivel gun called a shūhatsudai (周発台; lit. 'panoramic firing platform').^[1]

In his later years, Sakamoto investigated measures for erosion and flood control. Earning the ire of his colleagues, he was ordered into house arrest for several years before being released. He died in 1803.

Family

Sakamoto's grandson, Sakamoto Toshisada (坂本 俊貞), defended Osaka Castle from Ōshio Heihachirō's army of the poor in 1837.^[1] His granddaughter, Shimazaki Kei (島崎 桂), was the stepmother of Shimazaki Masaki, father of noted author Shimazaki Tōson.^[2]

See also

• Takashima Shūhan
• Katagiri Harukazu [ja], kokugaku scholar known for advocating mass production of firearms