AIKIDO MASTERS
Master Ueshiba's students before war II

Front page

Back page

Sommaire

Preface de Stanley A. Pranin

Introduction

Masters
1- Noriaki Inoue
2- Kenji Tomiki
3- Hisao Kamada
4- Ikkusai Iwata
5- Minoru Mochizuki
6- Shigemi Yonekawa
7- Rinjiro Shirata
8- Gozo Shioda
9- Yoshio Sugino
10- Kiyoshi Nakakura
11- Takako Kunigoshi
12- Zenzaburo Akazawa
13- Tenryu
14- Kisshomaru Ueshiba

Bibliographie

Index

Introduction

Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) drew on his extensive martial arts experience, then tempered these traditional Japanese fighting techniques with a spiritual dimension to create the modern defensive martial art of aikido, the way of harmony. His efforts were supported by some of prewar Japan’s most colorful characters, including luminaries such as Admiral Isamu Takeshita, the famous religious leader Onisaburo Deguchi, and various members of the Imperial family. Here is the story of the early years of aikido as told by the students who lived it.

Painstakingly translated from the Japanese and meticulously edited from hundreds of hours of interviews conducted by Aiki News editor-in-chief, Stanley Pranin, author of The Aiki News Encyclopedia of Aikido, this is the one aikido book you can’t afford to miss!

This volume contains 14 in-depth interviews with direct participants in the early days of Aikido featuring:

Noriaki Inoue is a nephew of Morihei Ueshiba and was raised for several years within the Ueshiba household and most of Inoue’s martial arts training experience was gained under the tutelage of Morihei Ueshiba. Inoue was active in Tokyo as an assistant instructor under Ueshiba beginning in the mid-1920s. Later, from 1932 to 1935, he was a senior instructor for the Budo Senyokai. He taught independently after the war in Tokyo, at first calling his art aiki budo. He later changed the name to Shinwa Taido, and then, finally, to Shinei Taido.

Kenji Tomiki began studying judo at the age of 10. Tomiki was first taught Daito-ryu aikijujutsu by Morihei Ueshiba in 1926. He continued training at the Kobukan Dojo in the 1930s. In 1936 he moved to Manchuria where he taught at the Daido Gakuin, at Kenkoku University, and for the Japanese military police. He was awarded the first aikido 8th dan by Morihei Ueshiba in 1940. Trapped in Manchuria at the end of World War II, Tomiki was imprisoned in the Soviet Union for three years. In 1949 Tomiki joined the faculty of Waseda University where he taught judo and later aikido. Tomiki devised a system of competitive aikido sometimes known as “aikido kyogi,” and formed an organization in 1974 called the Japan Aikido Association to further his theories on aikido as a sport.

Hisao Kamada, the child of a family of Omoto believers, entered Morihei Ueshiba’s private dojo in Sengakuji, Takanawa in 1929. He was one of the senior uchideshi at the Kobukan Dojo where he also performed various clerical functions. In 1932, Kamada was dispatched as an instructor to the Budo Senyokai in Kameoka and Takeda. Kamada entered the Wakayama 6th Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army in 1938. After his discharge from the army in 1936, he relocated to Shanghai where he assisted Ikkusai Iwata who operated a dojo there. After the war. he was no longer active in aikido.

Hajime Iwata entered Morihei Ueshiba’s private dojo in Mejiro in 1930 through an introduction from Dr. Kenzo Futaki. He was an uchideshi at the Kobukan Dojo while pursuing his studies in law at Waseda University. In 1940 he opened a branch dojo of the Kobukai, where he was assisted by Hisao Kamada. After the war, Iwata returned to Japan and later began teaching aikido in Aichi Prefecture. He attained 9th dan and was the oldest active instructor in the Aikikai system. Iwata was also a recipient of a medal from the Nihon Budo Kyogikai for his contribution to martial arts.

Minoru Mochizuki began his martial arts training as a boy, practicing judo and kendo. Under the tutelage of Jigoro Kano, Mochizuki became a member of the Kobudo Kenkyukai, an organization established within the Kodokan for the study of classical martial arts. Later, in 1930, he was sent by Kano to study aikijujutsu under Morihei Ueshiba. Mochizuki became an uchideshi at the Kobukan Dojo for a short time and opened his own dojo in Shizuoka City in November 1931. In 1951, he traveled to France to teach judo and also aikido, and was the first to spread the latter art in Europe. Mochizuki is the originator of a composite martial system called Yoseikan Budo which includes elements of judo, aikido, karate, and kobudo.

Shigemi Yonekawa entered the Kobukan Dojo as an uchideshi in 1932. He taught at various locations as an assistant to Ueshiba both in the Tokyo and Osaka areas. In 1936 Yonekawa was Morihei Ueshiba’s partner for the series of technical photographs taken at Noma Dojo, which constitute the most complete record of Morihei Ueshiba’s techniques. He moved to Manchuria in December of 1936 where he assisted Kenji Tomiki in the instruction of aiki budo. Yonekawa was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army in 1944 and saw action in Okinawa before being repatriated in 1946. No longer active in aikido after the war, he settled in Tsuchiura, Ibaragi Prefecture where he engaged in agriculture.

Rinjiro Shirata entered Morihei Ueshiba’s Kobukan Dojo in 1932. He became one of the leading uchideshi, serving as a teaching assistant to the founder and instructing at outside dojos in the Tokyo and Osaka areas until conscripted into the Japanese Imperial Army in 1937. He was stationed in Manchuria and Burma during the Pacific War and, upon being repatriated, settled in his native Yamagata Prefecture. Shirata resumed teaching in the 1950s. He has held several technical and administrative posts within the International Aikido Federation and has traveled abroad to instruct on several occasions and was awarded the 9th dan by the Aikikai.

Gozo Shioda enrolled in the Kobukan Dojo in May 1932. He became an uchideshi and served as a teaching assistant to Morihei Ueshiba. Shioda trained under the founder until he left Japan in 1941. After the war, Shioda spent a brief period training under Ueshiba in Iwama. Later, in 1952, Shioda began teaching aikido to employees of the Nihon Kokan Steel Company and various police departments. In 1955 he established the Yoshinkan Aikido Dojo. Shioda launched the International Yoshinkai Aikido Federation to further the worldwide spread of the Yoshinkan style of aikido in 1990. Shioda held the rank of 9th dan and is the founder of Yoshinkan aikido.

Yoshio Sugino began practicing judo and kendo as a boy, and became an outstanding judo competitor at the Kodokan. Around 1927, began to study Yoshin koryu jujutsu. He also practiced Katori Shinto-ryu under the auspices of the Kodokan’s Kobudo Kenkyukai program. In 1932, Sugino observed a demonstration by Morihei Ueshiba and enrolled in the Kobukan Dojo where he studied for a short period. Sugino resumed operation of his Kawasaki Dojo after the end of the postwar ban on martial arts. His dojo also functions as a branch dojo of the Aikikai Hombu. Sugino held a 10th dan awarded by the International Martial Arts Federation.

Kiyoshi Nakakura started kendo as a boy and entered the Daidokan Dojo at the age of 17 with the goal of becoming a kendo professional. In 1930, he moved to Tokyo to enroll in the Yushinkan Kendo Dojo of Hakudo Nakayama. Through his marriage to Morihei Ueshiba’s daughter Matsuko, he became the founder’s adopted son and designated successor. He later abandoned his position, and marriage, and left the Ueshiba Dojo to pursue his kendo career. Nakakura had a long and highly successful career in competitive kendo and iaido, lasting into his 70s. Nakakura was a 9th dan hanshi in kendo and iaido and was one of Japan’s leading swordsmen.

Takako Kunigoshi entered the Kobukan Dojo in 1933 just prior to her graduation from Japan Women’s Fine Arts University. One of the few female students at the Kobukan Dojo, she trained seriously and gained the full respect of both Ueshiba Sensei and the uchideshi. A skilled artist, Kunigoshi did the technical illustrations for the 1934 book “Budo Renshu,” which was given to students in lieu of a teaching license. Kunigoshi later trained at the private dojo of Admiral Isamu Takeshita for several years and taught self-defense courses to various women’s groups. After the war Kunigoshi was no longer active in aikido.

Zenzaburo Akazawa, a member of a family of Omoto believers, entered Morihei Ueshiba’s Kobukan Dojo in April 1933. Shortly thereafter, he spent two-and-a-half years at the Budo Senyokai Dojo under the tutelage of Noriaki Inoue. Akazawa then returned to Tokyo where he continued as an uchideshi until leaving for Manchuria at the age of 18. After that he entered the Japanese Imperial Navy and was at sea for three years. At the latter part of his naval service, he taught aikido at the Naval Academy in Tokyo. Although no longer active in aikido following the war, Akazawa and his father were instrumental in the construction of the Iwama Dojo and the Aiki Shrine.

Tenryu entered the Dewanoumi sumo stable in 1920 and earned promotion to “sekiwake” in 1930. In 1932, he seceded from the Japan Sumo Association in a movement to reform the feudalistic sumo system. Tenryu ultimately abandoned the movement and moved to Manchuria to take up a teaching position. In 1939, while still in Manchuria, he saw a demonstration by Morihei Ueshiba and later asked to be accepted as a student at the Kobukan Dojo. He trained intensively at the Ueshiba Dojo for seventy days. After the war, Tenryu opened a Chinese restaurant in Ginza and became a popular sumo commentator on radio and television. He maintained contact with Morihei Ueshiba and was a supporter of Yoshinkan aikido.

Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba, the third and only surviving son of Morihei Ueshiba, began practicing kendo as a child and later, as a teenager, learned aiki budo in the Kobukan Dojo. He became director of the Kobukan Dojo in 1942. After the war Kisshomaru operated the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Shinjuku. He played a major role in the postwar revival of aikido and oversaw the creation of hundreds of aikido clubs in universities and companies throughout Japan. He also authorized the dispatch of numerous instructors abroad in a successful effort to spread aikido internationally.