概要

(English translation follows) 
向井流水法は、江戸時代の向井将監家に伝えられてきた日本泳法です。向井家が江戸幕府御船手頭を務めたことから「御船手游ぎ」とも呼ばれました。全国に現存する日本泳法13流派のひとつとして、北海道では小樽市無形文化財であり、日本水泳連盟日本泳法委員会の一員でもあります。

1812年、江戸湾の防衛を命じられた会津藩士が向井家の指導を受けたことから、向井流は会津藩に伝わりました。会津藩士が佐倉藩(現千葉)水術師範となることで、佐倉藩にも伝わりました(後述)。また、1895年には元会津藩士の大竹作右衛門が小樽で、小樽教育会の求めにより教え始めます。大竹は、戊辰戦争を経て斗南藩の会計方を務めた後、1873年に来道し小樽で海運業を営んでいました。

明治の廃藩後、佐倉藩水術師範の子の笹沼勝用は、東京の隅田川で向井流教場を開き、鈴木正家(現・向井流東京上野門下連絡会の祖)や山敷徳次郎(現・山岸会・向井流水法会の祖)らの門弟を育てました。後者の山敷会で三羽烏と言われたのが仲野秀治・岩本忠次郎・伊東与五郎でした。

仲野・岩本は1900年、大日本共修会を開設して独立し、1902年には同会水泳場に水府流太田派水泳場も合併し、商業的水浴とは一線を画す心身修練としての日本泳法を目指しました。仲野・岩本は、太田捨蔵(水府流太田派開祖)門弟の本田存と並び水府流太田派師範・第四代家元の1人となり、横体に強い太田捨蔵『日本游泳術』(1900年)に平体に強い向井流の視点を加え、新たな水府流太田派教書の高橋雄治『大日本游泳術』(1919年)の編纂にも協力しました。

岩本先生は、1916-1920年や1941-1945年に小樽教育会の水泳講習会講師を務め、吹田・浜田・竹原等の門弟を育てました。小樽高商(現小樽商大)柔道講師の苫米地英俊が講道館相談役として、同じく嘉納治五郎門弟(後に講道館八段)かつ東京高等師範学校(東京高師・現筑波大学)水泳師範の本田存に招聘を打診したところ、代わりに岩本先生を推薦されたのが小樽との縁の始まりです。

小樽での水泳講習会は発展し、1924年には大日本共修会小樽市北海道支部、1941年には小樽岩本会の設立に至りました。1929年には吹田・浜田・竹原が東京の山敷会水泳場で岩本先生、東京高師北条寮(現筑波大学館山研修所)の水泳場で本田存先生の特訓を受けました。その後東京進学の吹田は岩本先生の助教も務めました。岩本先生も小樽に7回来訪した他、1944年に水泳指導、1945年に疎開のため樺太の浜田宅に滞在しました。

岩本先生は、教育水泳は一流一派に偏すべきでないと、まず水府流太田派教書『大日本游泳術』を基本として指導し、その習熟者にのみ向井流水法を教えました。現在の向井流水法会が水府流太田派と向井流を合わせて学ぶ背景です。ちなみに、向井流水法会の懇親会は最後には房州音頭を歌って踊って締めますが、東京高師の安房北条(現館山市)での伝統が百年後の小樽に残るものかもしれません。

参考文献：竹原榮『向井流水法書』向井流水法会、1991年。
三浦裕行「内田正練とその時代 : 日本にクロールがもたらされた頃」北海道大学総合博物館、2005年。

<向井流水法会>　会長　大原一

<小樽市指定無形文化財向井流水法>(1991年9月3日指定)

小樽市教育委員会教育部生涯学習課

Tel:0134-32-4111(内線7531・7532)

Email：syogai-gakusyuka[at]city.otaru.lg.jp

<向井流水法免許>

天の巻(師範)

地位別巻二(師範代)

地位別巻一(準師範代)

地之巻(準師範代)

人位別巻(教師)

人之巻(教師)

The Mukairyu Swimming is a method of the Japanese classical swimming arts that has been passed down through the Mukai Shogen family since the Edo period. Since the Mukai family served as the head of the ship guard (navy) for the Edo Shogunate, this swimming was also known as "Ofunateryu swimming." As one of the 13 existing Japanese swimming arts nationwide, it is designated as an intangible cultural property by the city of Otaru in Hokkaido and is also a member of the Japanese Swimming Federation’s Japanese Swimming Division.

In 1812, Aizu samurai, who were ordered to defend Edo Bay (currently Kanagawa and Chiba), received instruction from the Mukai family, which led to the Mukai swimming being passed on to Aizu. An Aizu samurai then became swimming master in the Sakura (currently Chiba), thereby spreading the Mukai Swimming there as well (as detailed later). Additionally, in 1895, a former Aizu samurai, Sakuemon Ohtake, began teaching the Mukairyu in Otaru upon the request of the Otaru Education Association. After the Boshin War, Ohtake had served as an accountant for the Tonami (currently Aomori) and came to Hokkaido in 1873, where he engaged in the maritime transport business in Otaru.

After the samurai lose the status during the Meiji era, Katsuyou Sasanuma, the son of the swimming master from the Sakura, opened a Mukairyu swimming pool on the Sumida River in Tokyo. There, he trained disciples like Masaie Suzuki (the founder of the actual Mukairyu Tokyo Ueno Dojo Liaison Association) and Tokujiro Yamashiki (the founder of the actual Yamagishikai and Mukairyu Swimming Association). The latter's Yamashikikai had three standout disciples: Shuji Nakano, Chujirou Iwamoto, and Yogorou Ito.

In 1900, Nakano and Iwamoto established the Great Japan Kyoushukai, and in 1902, they incorporated the Suifuryu-Ohtaha swimming pool into their pool, aiming to develop Japanese swimming as a form of mind and body discipline distinct from recreational swimming. Alongside Ariya Honda (a disciple of the founder of Suifuryu-Ohtaha, Sutezou Ota), Nakano and Iwamoto became masters and one of the fourth-generation successors of the Suifuryu-Ohtaha. They also contributed to the compilation of the new Suifuryu Ohtaha textbook, "Great Japan Swimming" (1919), by adding the Mukairyu's horizontal swimming to Sutezou Ohta's "Japanese Swimming" (1900), which emphasized lateral swimming. This book also became the textbook for the "School Swimming" taught by Ariya Honda at the Tokyo Higher Normal School (currently University of Tsukuba), and it spread nationwide with the support of Jigoro Kano (founder of the Kodokan and principal of the Tokyo Higher Normal School), who had integrated various jujutsu schools into judo.

Iwamoto served as a swimming instructor for the Otaru Education Association from 1916 to 1920 and from 1941 to 1945, training disciples like Suita, Hamada, and Takehara in Otaru. When Hidetoshi Tomabechi, a judo instructor at the Otaru Higher Commercial School (now Otaru University of Commerce), sought to invite Ariya Honda (a Kodokan eighth dan and swimming instructor at the Tokyo Higher Normal School) as a Kodokan advisor, Iwamoto was recommended as a substitute.

In 1924, the Hokkaido branch of the Great Japan Kyoushu-kai was established in Otaru, and in 1941, the Otaru Iwamoto-kai was founded. In 1929, Suita, Hamada, and Takehara underwent intensive training with Iwamoto at the Yamashiki swimming pool in Tokyo and with Ariya Honda at the Hojo Seaside Dormitory of Tokyo Higher Normal School (now the Tateyama Training Center of the University of Tsukuba). Later, Suita, who went to Tokyo for further studies, also served as Iwamoto’s assistant. Iwamoto visited Otaru seven times and stayed at Hamada’s home in Karafuto in 1944 for swimming instruction and in 1945 for evacuation purposes.

Iwamoto believed that educational swimming should not be biased toward any one school, so he first taught the Suifuryu-Ohtaha from "Great Japan Swimming" as the foundation, and only taught the Mukairyu to those who had mastered these techniques. This is the reason why the actual Mukairyu Swimming Association teaches both Suifuryu-Ohtaha and Mukairyu together. Incidentally, the Mukairyu Swimming Association's parties end with everyone singing and dancing to the "Boushu Ondo," a tradition from the Hojo Dormitory of Tokyo Higher Normal School, which may have remained in Otaru a hundred years later.

Reference: Takahara, Sakae, "Mukairyu Swimming", Mukairyu Swimming Association, 1991.