The style rapidly gained popularity throughout Japan due to the efforts of Togasaki Kumataro, Okada Junmatsu, Saito Yakuro, and his sons Shintaro and Kannosuke.
[citation needed] Fukui Hyōemon (1700–1782) was born in Shimano no Kuni (now Tochigi Prefecture) and learned Shin Shinkage Ichiden Ryu under Nonaka Gonnai received Menkyo Kaiden at a relatively young age.
[citation needed] Hyōemon, unsatisfied, traveled Japan taking part in shinken shobu (death matches) and honing his skills.
The resulting enlightenment was organized into a rather large syllabus of techniques later codified as "Shindō Munen-ryū".
[citation needed] Hyōemon thereafter traveled to Edo (present day Tokyo) where he opened a dojo in Yotsuya.
[citation needed] The fourth successor of Shindō Munen-ryū, Saitō Yakuro Yoshimichi (斎藤弥九郎), established the dojo called Renpeikan (練兵館) in Edo.
Shingoro, however felt the loss of idealism and passion that surrounded him during the closing days of the Tokugawa Bakufu.
He acknowledged this fact by closing the Renpeikan's doors (officially ending the Edo Line) and opening the Yushinkan (有信館道場) Dojo and founding the Kanto Ha.
[citation needed] Prior to the fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu there were many Shindō Munen-ryū branches all over Japan.
[citation needed] The style itself survived the Meiji period (1868–1912) completely intact however, largely due to the efforts of Negishi Shingorō (Edo Den 6th Generation/Creator of Kanto ha) who taught swordsmanship to the Tokyo Police Force.
Shingorō's successor Nakayama Hakudō continued to preserve Shindō Munen-ryū throughout the Taisho (1912–1926) and Showa Periods (1926–1989) by producing some of the notable swordsmen in modern history.
Examples are Nakayama Zendo, Hashimoto Toyo, Kiyoshi Nakakura, Haga Junichi, and Nakashima Gorozo.
[citation needed] The Sanshinkai organization teaches a style of Iaijustu also called Shindō Munen-ryū.
The styles of Shindō Munen-ryū practice in the Sanshinkai and that of Japan's extent groups are not directly related, though the noto (placing the blade back into the scabbard) is similar.