caption native_name_lang death_date nationality article_title name native_name birth_date image school birth_name death_cause
sakakibara kenkichi , 1880 ja 09 november 1894 japanese sakakibara kenkichi
 sakakibara kenkichi , 榊原鍵吉 19 december 1830 file : sakakibara kenkichi.jpg kashima shinden jikishinkage-ryū sakakibara tomoyoshi heart failure due to beriberi
sakakibara kenkichi

, was a japanese samurai and martial artist .
he was the fourteenth headmaster of the jikishinkage school of sword fighting .
through his jikishinkage contacts he rose to a position of some political influence ; he taught swordsmanship at a government military academy and also served in the personal guard of japan 's last two shoguns .
after the fall of the tokugawa shogunate sakakibara was instrumental in preserving traditional japanese sword techniques in the early meiji era .
despite his eventual opposition to the practice of sword fighting for sport , his work during this period laid the foundations for the modern sport of kendo .
in his later years he taught a number of noted martial artists , and was honoured by the all japan kendo federation after his death .
