Description

The jujutsu dojo opened by Handa Yataro at Dojima-ura-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka in 1878, where he established Daito-ryu jujutsu together with the associated Daito Bunbukan. The Fusen-ryu master Mataemon Tanabe cross-trained here (degeiko) from 1898, and Uyenishi Sadakazu, Taro Miyake, Yukio Tani and Seizo Yamamoto trained here before taking jujutsu to the West. Tanabe's student Fushimi Tatsusaburo succeeded Handa as head of the dojo. A different establishment from the 精武館 (Seibukan) in Kyobashi, Tokyo; an earlier Handa practice hall (演武場) at Dojima is attested for Meiji 6-7 (1873-74).

Also known as

Instructors (2)

• 
  Handa Yatarō
• 
  Tanabe Mataemon

Trained here (5)

• Fu
  Fushimi Tatsusaburō

  linkFusen-ryū 2

  Probable

  JA Wikipedia records Fushimi as a Fusen-ryu man who succeeded Handa at the Seibukan; the teacher-student relationship with Tanabe is implied by his Fusen-ryu affiliation and by the style's known line from Tanabe, but is not stated verbatim in any consulted source.

  under Tanabe Mataemon badge

  expand_morefact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  1 source

  fact_check

  JA Wikipedia records Fushimi as a Fusen-ryu man who succeeded Handa at the Seibukan; the teacher-student relationship with Tanabe is implied by his Fusen-ryu affiliation and by the style's known line from Tanabe, but is not stated verbatim in any consulted source.

  assessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  "講道館に移籍した肝付宗次・半田を継いだ不遷流の伏見辰三郎がいる。"

  — 大東流柔術 - Wikipedia (Japanese). Wikipedia (Japanese) linkinfo
• 
  Miyake Tarō

  linkDaitō-ryū Jūjutsu 3

  Confirmed

  Yataro Handa's Seibukan in Osaka named in the 1905 interview, EN Wikipedia and the BJS paper. The BJS paper confirms Tani, Miyake and Uyenishi were all Handa students. Handa's school is Daito-ryu jujutsu, distinct from the Takeda Sokaku lineage; JA Wikipedia records Miyake as a 5th dan of that school.

  under Handa Yatarō badge

  expand_morefact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  4 sources

  fact_check

  Yataro Handa's Seibukan in Osaka named in the 1905 interview, EN Wikipedia and the BJS paper. The BJS paper confirms Tani, Miyake and Uyenishi were all Handa students. Handa's school is Daito-ryu jujutsu, distinct from the Takeda Sokaku lineage; JA Wikipedia records Miyake as a 5th dan of that school.

  assessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  "At Osaka I worked under another great teacher, Handa, and in this way I mastered the secrets of three distinct schools of ju-jitsu."

  — Miyake, Taro; Bartitsu Society. (1905). How I Became a Ju-Jitsu Champion by Taro Miyake (1905). The Bartitsu Society linkinfo

  "as well as Osaka master Yataro Handa, head of the 2000+ member Seibukan which had a very close connection to Tanabe's ground fighting newaza."

  — Wikipedia contributors. (2026). Taro Miyake - Wikipedia (English). Wikipedia (English)linkinfo

  "the early pioneers of British jujutsu credited with bringing jujutsu to the U.K. such as Tani, Uyenishi, and Miyake, were students from the dojo of Yataro Handa in Osaka, and were not from the Kodokan [Wolf 2016]."

  — Brough, David; Bradić, Slaviša; Callan, Mike; Gatling, Lance; Jones, Llyr. (2023). The British Ju-jitsu Society and the influence of Kodokan Judo on early jujutsu in the U.K.linkinfo

  "海外に柔術を伝えた上西貞一（大東流二段）、三宅タロー（大東流五段）、谷幸雄（大東流二段）は半田弥太郎の門人であった。"

  — 大東流柔術 - Wikipedia (Japanese). Wikipedia (Japanese) linkinfo
• 
  Tani Yukio

  linkDaitō-ryū Jūjutsu 1

  Uncertain

  Tani's training with Handa rests on the 1904 Jewell interview (Health and Strength, via Wolf 2016) and the JA Wikipedia listing of Tani among Handa's Daito-ryu students, and is repeated by the peer-reviewed BJS paper (Brough et al. 2023, citing Wolf 2016). However, judo historian Oimatsu, as reported by Wolf 2016, places Tani with Tanabe Mataemon at the Senbukan in Kobe - so the Handa training is close to disputed, though no source denies it outright; confidence kept at level 1 accordingly.

  under Handa Yatarō badge

  expand_morefact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  5 sources

  fact_check

  Tani's training with Handa rests on the 1904 Jewell interview (Health and Strength, via Wolf 2016) and the JA Wikipedia listing of Tani among Handa's Daito-ryu students, and is repeated by the peer-reviewed BJS paper (Brough et al. 2023, citing Wolf 2016). However, judo historian Oimatsu, as reported by Wolf 2016, places Tani with Tanabe Mataemon at the Senbukan in Kobe - so the Handa training is close to disputed, though no source denies it outright; confidence kept at level 1 accordingly.

  assessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  "There is also some evidence he trained in Yataro Handa's jujutsu school called the Seibukan in Osaka."

  — (2026). Yukio Tani - Wikipedia. Wikipedia (English) linkinfo

  "海外に柔術を伝えた上西貞一（大東流二段）、三宅タロー（大東流五段）、谷幸雄（大東流二段）は半田弥太郎の門人であった。"

  — 大東流柔術 - Wikipedia (Japanese). Wikipedia (Japanese) linkinfo

  "Tani, another famous jiujitsu man, at present appearing on the music hall stage with Apollo, the Scottish Hercules, was also a pupil of Yataro Handa's, and I believe I am correct in stating that he received the finishing touches of his jujitsu education at Mr. Handa's hands [Jewell, Health and Strength, March 1904]... Although Tani's training with Handa has not been positively confirmed, judo historian Shinichi Oimatsu noted that "Tani was a student of Tanabe Mataemon in Kobe"."

  — Wolf, Tony; Bartitsu Society. (2016). New Discoveries and Speculations re. the Submission Grappling of British Jiu-Jitsu. The Bartitsu Societylinkinfo

  "Tani, another famous jiujitsu man... was also a pupil of Yataro Handa's, and I believe I am correct in stating that he received the finishing touches of his jujitsu education at Mr. Handa's hands (as quoted in Wolf 2016, who cautions the training has not been positively confirmed)."

  — Jewell, J. St. A.. (1904). Interview with Sadakazu Uyenishi ("Uyenishi Learned the Art from Mr. Yataro Handa of Osaka, Japan")info

  "However, the early pioneers of British jujutsu credited with bringing jujutsu to the U.K. such as Tani, Uyenishi, and Miyake, were students from the dojo of Yataro Handa in Osaka, and were not from the Kodokan [Wolf 2016]."

  — Brough, David; Bradić, Slaviša; Callan, Mike; Gatling, Lance; Jones, Llyr. (2023). The British Ju-jitsu Society and the influence of Kodokan Judo on early jujutsu in the U.K.linkinfo
• 
  Uyenishi Sadakazu

  linkDaitō-ryū Jūjutsu 2

  Probable

  Attested in the peer-reviewed Brough (2020) article and en/ja/es Wikipedia; the Bartitsu Society confirms the Handa school. The style is Handa Yataro's Daito-ryu jujutsu, distinct from the Takeda Sokaku lineage. Dojo location and period not precisely dated; the JA Wikipedia account dates the Seibukan to 1878.

  under Handa Yatarō badge

  expand_morefact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  7 sources

  fact_check

  Attested in the peer-reviewed Brough (2020) article and en/ja/es Wikipedia; the Bartitsu Society confirms the Handa school. The style is Handa Yataro's Daito-ryu jujutsu, distinct from the Takeda Sokaku lineage. Dojo location and period not precisely dated; the JA Wikipedia account dates the Seibukan to 1878.

  assessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  "In a March 1904 interview with Uyenishi for Health and Strength Magazine, journalist J. St. A. Jewell wrote: "Uyenishi learned the art from Mr. Yataro Handa of Osaka, Japan" ... The Osaka dojo that Handa opened in 1897, however, seems not to have been affiliated with Tenshin Shin'yo-ryu, but rather a style called Daito-ryu... an obscure development of Sekiguchi-ryu jiujitsu."

  — Wolf, Tony; Bartitsu Society. (2016). New Discoveries and Speculations re. the Submission Grappling of British Jiu-Jitsu. The Bartitsu Societylinkinfo

  "Uyenishi learned the art from Mr. Yataro Handa of Osaka, Japan, whose portrait I have been fortunate enough to secure (as quoted in Wolf 2016)."

  — Jewell, J. St. A.. (1904). Interview with Sadakazu Uyenishi ("Uyenishi Learned the Art from Mr. Yataro Handa of Osaka, Japan")info

  "Uyenishi trained at the dojo of Yataro Handa in Osaka. In 1898 renowned jujutsu teacher, Mataemon Tanabe, taught at Handa's dojo [Keegan 2019]."

  — Brough, David. (2020). The Golden Square Dojo and its place in British Jujutsu historylinkinfo

  "As he was contemplating a military career, his father encouraged him to begin training in jujitsu and he enrolled in a local dojo; in an interview, Uyenishi noted that it had been the school of Yataro Handa in Osaka, where Mataemon Tanabe taught."

  — Sadakazu Uyenishi - Wikipedia (English). Wikipedia (English)linkinfo

  "本人のインタビューによると、天神真楊流から開かれた大東流柔術を教える半田弥太郎の道場で柔術を学んだということである。"

  — 上西貞一 - Wikipedia (Japanese). Wikipedia (Japanese) linkinfo

  "海外に柔術を伝えた上西貞一（大東流二段）、三宅タロー（大東流五段）、谷幸雄（大東流二段）は半田弥太郎の門人であった。"

  — 大東流柔術 - Wikipedia (Japanese). Wikipedia (Japanese) linkinfo

  "His unarmed combat training had been with sensei Yataro Handa in Osaka."

  — Bartitsu Society. Raku, the Japanese Wrestler (1907). The Bartitsu Societylinkinfo
• Ya
  Yamamoto Seizō

  linkDaitō-ryū Jūjutsu 2

  Probable

  JA Wikipedia lists Yamamoto Seizo among Handa's Daito-ryu jujutsu students (4th dan); Wolf (2016) independently places S. Yamamoto in Handa's Osaka dojo alongside Uyenishi and Taro Miyake.

  under Handa Yatarō badge

  expand_morefact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  2 sources

  fact_check

  JA Wikipedia lists Yamamoto Seizo among Handa's Daito-ryu jujutsu students (4th dan); Wolf (2016) independently places S. Yamamoto in Handa's Osaka dojo alongside Uyenishi and Taro Miyake.

  assessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  "海外に柔術を伝えた上西貞一（大東流二段）、三宅タロー（大東流五段）、谷幸雄（大東流二段）は半田弥太郎の門人であった。"

  — 大東流柔術 - Wikipedia (Japanese). Wikipedia (Japanese) linkinfo

  "as the training ground of Uyenishi, Yamamoto and Taro Miyake"

  — Wolf, Tony; Bartitsu Society. (2016). New Discoveries and Speculations re. the Submission Grappling of British Jiu-Jitsu. The Bartitsu Societylinkinfo

Styles founded here (1)

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