柔侠伝

Synopsis

After losing a challenge to Jigoro Kano, the founder of the Kodokan Judo School in Japan, the Kito-ryu jujutsu practitioner Shusui Yanagi passed on his regret to his only son Kankuro. From then on, Shusui and Kankuro began to train hard, day after day. The harsh training continued until Kankuro was 19 years old. After that, following Shusui's orders, Kankuro left his hometown of Kokura, Kyushu, and moved to Tokyo. On June 1905, he traveled to Tokyo to visit the Kito-ryu master, Hisazo Matsushiba... it was a day of celebration for the victory of the Russo-Japanese War. Set against the backdrop of the turbulent times from the Meiji to the Showa era, this is a magnificent historical drama depicting the history of the four generations of the Yanagi judo family, Kantaro, Kantaro, Kanichi, and Kanpei, spanning over 100 years. This is the first of the Jukyouden series, which was serialized in "Manga Action" (Futabasha) from 1970.