Hojo bokken

The Hojo bokken (or Jikishin Kage-ryu bokken) is the most characteristic tool of our style. According to the tradition the founder Grand Master was praying in front of the Kashima shrine to the kami for guidance on making his training more efficient.
Then a thick branch fell of the nearby cherry tree which he deemed to be a sign from the kami, and started to train with it.
In his dream the kami appeared to him and he was told to practice with the branch and he was given a scroll of all of the techniques of the style, in accordance with the tradition. Due to these in "Shinkage-ryu" originally the SHIN kanji meant kami, to refer to the knowledge received from the kami.

So the traditional Jikishin Kage-ryu bokken is similar to a branch and it has no tsuba. In its modern form the Hojo bokken approximately 101 cm long and has a weight of 1200 g.