Saineikan

Description

Budo hall inside the Tokyo Imperial Palace grounds, run by the Imperial Palace Police (Kyucho). First completed in September 1883 at Kioicho as an Imperial Household Ministry venue for sword and spear, transferred to the Palace Police in 1894, damaged in the 1923 earthquake, and rebuilt within the Otemon gate in December 1933. Home of the 'Sainei Sando' (kendo, judo, kyudo) practised by the Imperial Palace guards and the venue of imperial-review tournaments (tenran shiai); Nakayama Hakudo served there as kendo instructor in the prewar era. Yukio Mishima trained kendo and iaido here from the late 1960s and gave his final public lecture for the Palace Police's 84th anniversary at their headquarters in May 1970.

Locations (1)

• location_onChiyoda, Tokyo

  1-3 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0001, Japan

  warning No sources cited

Instructors (1)

• person
  Matsunaga Masami

  1966 – 1970

Trained here (2)

• 
  Yukio Mishima

  sports_martial_artsKendo Probable

  Probable

  Bolling's resume names Kyoshi 7-dan Matsunaga Masami as Mishima's kendo and iaido teacher at the Saineikan from March 1966. Only this one secondary source names him, and the dates conflict: Mishima's own final lecture says he had been permitted to train there 'since last year' (from about 1969), and Kobayashi's critical study reports that he declined a Saineikan invitation around October 1964.

  The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.

  under Matsunaga Masami (1966 – 1970)

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  2 sources expand_more

  fact_check

  Bolling's resume names Kyoshi 7-dan Matsunaga Masami as Mishima's kendo and iaido teacher at the Saineikan from March 1966. Only this one secondary source names him, and the dates conflict: Mishima's own final lecture says he had been permitted to train there 'since last year' (from about 1969), and Kobayashi's critical study reports that he declined a Saineikan invitation around October 1964.

  “March 1966 Mishima entered the Sainei-kan Training Hall within the Imperial Palace grounds to study Kendo and Iaido under Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan Masami Matsunaga”

  — Salmon, Geoff. (2012-10-22). Yukio Mishima's kendo history (kendoinfo.net)link history info

  alt_routeIndirect

  “昨年から済寧館に出入りを許され”

  — 小林, 十之助. (2026-06-17). 三島由紀夫の晩年における「天皇敬愛」言説の虚構性と政治的自己演出 (note.com, 小林十之助)link info
• person
  Masakatsu Morita

  sports_martial_artsIaido Probable

  Probable

  Both the Tatenokai and Morita articles state that on Mishima's instructions seven-eight senior members began learning iai in May 1969 and that Morita was among the nine-man kesshitai each given a sword; the individual instructor is not named.

  The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  2 sources expand_more

  fact_check

  Both the Tatenokai and Morita articles state that on Mishima's instructions seven-eight senior members began learning iai in May 1969 and that Morita was among the nine-man kesshitai each given a sword; the individual instructor is not named.

  “幹部級の7、8名に居合を習わせ始め、板橋警察署の道場や皇宮警察の済寧館で稽古を行ない始めた。”

  — 楯の会 - 日本語版ウィキペディア. Wikipedia (Japanese) link history info

  “同年5月頃から、三島の指示により楯の会の7、8名が居合を習い始め、9名に日本刀が渡され、持丸博、倉持清、小川正洋、小賀正義らと並んで、必勝もその「決死隊」メンバーの中にいた。”

  — 森田必勝 - 日本語版ウィキペディア. Wikipedia (Japanese) link history info

Tags

kendo · judo · kyudo

Sources

Identifiers