Tetsutaro Hisatomi

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Tetsutaro Hisatomi (1827–1898) was a famous Japanese jujutsu master from the late Edo and early Meiji periods. Born in Kurume, Kyushu, he became one of Kyushu’s four greatest jujutsu artists, along with Danzo Naka, Shogo Uehara, and Hansuke Nakamura. He trained under Bangoro Shibukawa of Shibukawa-ryū and was known for his large size (about 175 cm tall and 98 kg).

In 1854, after many years locally, he left Kyushu to study other styles on the mainland, carrying Shibukawa’s lesson that a fighter should be prepared to die in every randori. He first went to Ōmi Province and trained briefly with Eizaemon Naomura of Kitō-ryū, but he didn’t like it. He then moved to Tokyo to study under Hikosuke Totsuka of Yōshin-ryū at the Kobusho, and later broadened his training with Mataemon Iso of Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and with Gorobei Shimosaka of Ryōi Shintō-ryū.

On April 19, 1859, representing Shimosaka, Hisatomi fought in a Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū challenge: he lost to Otonojo Yamada but defeated Teinosuke Yagi. In 1863, in another challenge, he dominated Chiyokichi Mochida (later Hachinosuke Fukuda) and Jiro Yamamoto, delivering the best performance of his team that day, even though he did not finish them.

He retired from jujutsu in 1869 but returned in 1876 to Tokyo full-time as a teacher. Three years later, he was appointed a hand-to-hand instructor for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Around that time he visited Mataemon Iso’s grandson Masatomo for a challenge and fought against Daihachi Ichikawa. In their first match, Ichikawa threw Him against a corner and choked him; in the rematch, Ichikawa landed a knee to Hisatomi’s groin and another choke. Although Hisatomi slammed Ichikawa in a follow-up move, Ichikawa did not release the hold and Hisatomi fainted. After waking, he asked for one more match, but Iso refused. He later praised Ichikawa’s fighting technique.

In 1881 Hisatomi opened his own dojo. He also worked as a referee in Metropolitan police tournaments during the Kodokan–Totsuka rivalry. He died in 1898, at about 70 or 71 years old.