A statesman and swordsman of the end of the Edo period and the early Meiji era; commonly called Tetsutaro. Skilled with sword and spear, he founded the Muto-ryu and established the Shumpukan school. In the third month of 1868 he went to Sunpu as Kaishu Katsu’s envoy for the peaceful surrender of Edo, and worked to bring about the meeting between Takamori Saigo and Katsu. After the Restoration he served the new government, holding the posts of chamberlain to the Meiji Emperor and vice-minister of the Imperial Household. His view of life, informed by Zen, together with his fame as a swordsman, made him a model of the resolute warrior. With Kaishu Katsu and Deishu Takahashi he is counted one of the “three shu of the late shogunate”.