Heihōkan The Hall of the Soldier’s Methods

Heihōkan trains the soldiers, guards and escorts upon whom Iga-Ueno depends.

Its pupils serve at gates, accompany goods along the roads and fill the ranks of local fighting forces. The school admits common-born students and has earned its standing through generations of dependable service.

It began thirty years ago as a practice yard maintained by Sakai Muneshige, a veteran captain hired to train guards employed by several merchant households. Other employers began sending men, and tuition paid for a covered hall and permanent instructors. During a period of unrest, Muneshige’s pupils kept the storehouse quarter secure and escorted provisions into town. The merchants rewarded the school with the land it now occupies.

Its present owner is Muneshige’s son, Sakai Munetada, who trained under his father and served as a guard captain before taking charge. He knows the town’s employers, their expectations and their habits of payment. He protects the school’s reputation by refusing recommendations for men he considers unreliable.

“Munetada’s men turn up, hold their ground and bring back what they were sent to fetch.”

— A storehouse keeper in Iga-Ueno

The School

Heihōkan stands near the storehouse quarter. Its grounds contain a broad dirt yard, a covered practice hall, an equipment shed, a small office and a common sleeping room. Most weapons belong to the school and are issued for lessons.

Instruction centres on sōjutsu, kenjutsu, bōjutsu and jūjutsu, supported by archery and military drill. Students learn to work together, obey commands and maintain their equipment. Guards and escorts also receive instruction in restraint and the handling of disturbances.

Admission requires payment or an employer’s sponsorship. Commoners, ashigaru and rōnin may enrol. Applicants must disclose their employer and any current obligations. Munetada refuses men whose presence would draw an unresolved feud into the yard.

Classes are held early and late in the day to accommodate working students. Employers may arrange instruction for an entire group.

Chief Instructor Sakai Munetada

Level 4 Bushi. Owner and head of the school.

Munetada teaches spear fighting and military organisation. He admits students, negotiates group tuition and handles requests for trained guards. He is an experienced commander with little patience for carelessness.

Teaching location and availability: The main yard. He teaches regular morning classes and supervises group drill. Private instruction is available by appointment.

Senior Weapons Instructor Ishida Jirōbei

Level 3 Bushi.

Jirōbei served under the school’s founder and has spent most of his adult life training guards. He teaches sword and staff, oversees the equipment shed and conducts lessons when Munetada is absent. His corrections are brief and practical.

Teaching location and availability: The covered hall and main yard. He teaches daily classes open to all enrolled students. Individual lessons can be arranged around his regular duties.

Restraint Instructor Matsui O-Tane

Level 4 Budōka.

O-Tane worked for years protecting an inn and its adjoining warehouses. She joined Heihōkan after Munetada employed her to train guards in unarmed restraint. She teaches grappling, striking and short-staff fighting.

She is well known among the town’s porters, innkeepers and watchmen. She expects students to control their tempers and answers complaints about their conduct personally.

Teaching location and availability: The covered practice hall. Regular classes are open to enrolled students. Outside pupils may attend approved evening sessions.

Archery Instructor Hayashi Saburō

Level 2 Bushi.

Saburō is a former storehouse guard appointed to teach elementary and intermediate archery. He maintains the targets and practice bows and assists with spear drill. He is a competent instructor whose senior colleagues continue to oversee his development.

Teaching location and availability: The archery yard. He teaches scheduled morning and evening classes. Group instruction for household guards is available by arrangement.

School Secretary Nakanishi Hisanori

Level 2 Bushi.

Hisanori keeps the tuition accounts, attendance records and employment register. He teaches basic literacy and the reading of written orders. He also receives employers seeking guards and passes their requests to Munetada.

His records include wages promised, service completed and complaints made against former pupils. Employers who repeatedly fail to pay receive little assistance from the school.

Teaching location and availability: The office and adjoining teaching room. Literacy classes are held on three evenings each week and require separate enrolment.

Employment and Membership

Heihōkan maintains an employment register for pupils seeking guard, escort or military service. Recommendations specify the work an instructor considers the pupil fit to undertake. The school keeps track of their subsequent conduct.

Students may pay for instruction without seeking employment. Sponsored groups remain under their employer’s authority outside lessons, but everyone observes the school’s discipline within its grounds.

The common sleeping room provides inexpensive lodging for a limited number of students. Residents contribute to cleaning, repairs and equipment maintenance.

Ordinary and Secret Instruction

These are campaign statistics for FGU Bushido. Skill scores reach 99, indicating mastery; character Level is listed separately.

The tables describe ordinary instruction. The senior teachers possess or are developing deeper teachings according to their interests. These remain within the school. Their effects may be glimpsed during practice or service, but access to the coherent teaching requires a lasting relationship with the instructor and Heihōkan. The school’s secrets develop through gameplay.