naming a school headquarters


I study a martial art called Geido Kenpo Ninpo Ryu. Having said this, what
should a Honbu for this martial art be called?

I see for Judo the Honbu is called the Kodokan. Would there be a similar term
for Geido Kenpo Ninpo Ryu?




While you can always use 本部【ほんぶ】 for headquarters, another way to say 本部 (of a
martial art or a religion) is 総本山【そうほんざん】.

This refers to a name of a place (town), a name of a building (temple, shrine,
etc), or a name of a group (institute), depending on the context.

> 天台宗の総本山は延暦寺です。 Sohonzan of [Tendai-shu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendai)
> is Enryaku-ji temple.
>
> 柔道の総本山は講道館です。 （BTW, 講道館 is [the name of a
> institute](http://www.kodokan.org/index_j.html) as well as the name of a
> building）

**Edit:** It was pointed out that 総本山 is too grandiose for rather small and
non-Buddhist groups like Geido-Kenpo-Ninpo-Ryu. Although 総本山 _is_ a grandiose
word and has roots in Buddhism, I think it can safely be used metaphorically
for non-Buddhist groups, especially those related to Asian traditions.
(Perlの総本山は perl.org です, etc.) Removing "総" and just saying "本山" sounds less
grandiose (General HQ vs. HQ, I think). But if your group is a really small
one, don't use (総)本山 (or maybe 本部, either)

