Yonekawa-ryu
Yonekawa-ryu is likewise a branch of the Shino-ryu, transmitted through the line of Yonekawa Taizan, and stands as a distinctive school among the various schools of Kōdō.
Origin: Yonekawa-ryu reveres Yonekawa Taizan as its founder and is one of the branches within the Shino-ryu system, standing alongside the Hachiya-ryu as an important offshoot under the Shino school.
Characteristics
- Shino method lineage: It continues the Shino-ryu tradition of listening to incense that "values technique and values discernment."
- The game of kumikō: Inkumikō, it preserves the distinctive features of this school in its notation and play.
- Transmitted with order: Continued to this day through the iemoto-disciple system.
Cultural positioning
The Yonekawa-ryū and Hachiya-ryū together form the vast branch network of the "Shino system," enabling incense culture(香学) to penetrate deep into the samurai and townsman classes from the Edo period onward. Its approach of "using incense as play, and using play to cultivate discernment" can be compared with the elegant gathering aesthetic of ChineseIncense and seasonal folk customs、Incense anecdotes.
Note: Branch lineages and contemporary transmission are subject to the official authority of each school.