Naoki Eiga (栄花直輝 Eiga Naoki, born 1967) is a Japanese kendoka who in 2000 won the individual event at World Kendo…
Naoki Eiga (栄花直輝 Eiga Naoki, born 1967) is a Japanese kendoka who in 2000 won the individual event at World Kendo Championship (WKC) as well as the highest title in Kendo: All Japan Kendo Champion. His progress toward the championship was documented by the Japanese broadcaster NHK in a 2003 program named A Single Blow. He currently holds the rank of Kyoshi Hachidan (教士八段) and is the head of technical Instruction in the Hokkaido Police Educational Department and head instructor of the Hokkaido University Kendo Club. Naoki Eiga started kendo under the influence of his brother, Hideyuki. Both competed at the highest level of the sport. Eiga's wife Naomi was also a kendo practitioner. She was his younger classmate at Tokai University and a member of the same kendo dojo. Eiga joined the Hokkaido police force and became a member of the Hokkaido Police Kendo Team. From 1997 he was also a member of the Japanese national kendo team but as a substitute, and as such he was allowed to participate only in the preliminary bouts of the WKC team event in 1997. Feeling that he had to earn the respect of his fellow team members and coaches of the team, he decided to concentrate on the All Japan Kendo Champion tournament. At that time, the event had been dominated for years by Masahiro Miyazaki, one of the greatest kendoists of modern times. Eiga faced Miyazaki in the quarter-finals of the 1999 tournament, but lost. After his defeat in 1999, Eiga entered the All Japan tournament once more in 2000, and faced Miyazaki again in the finals. This time, he was able to win with the kote strike just before the match went into overtime. By winning the title of All Japan Kendo Champion of the year 2000, Eiga ended the Miyazaki era. He attributed his success to his teacher, Kazuo Furukawa. Based on his success in the AJKC in November 2000, Eiga was chosen as team captain of the Japanese national team for the World Kendo Championship 2003 in Glasgow, Scotland. On 21 April 2019, Eiga won the 17th All Japan 8 Dan Holder's Championship, defeating Matsumoto Masashi with a men strike in encho. On 16 April 2023, Eiga won his second title at the 23rd All Japan 8 Dan Holder's Championship, defeating Kazuhiko Aiko with a men strike in regulation time following a two year tournament hiatus due to COVID-19.
Famous Japanese People: Kendo
Kendo: 12 people
Masahiro Miyazaki (宮崎 正裕 - Miyazaki Masahiro, born 1963) is a Japanese Kendo practitioner who works for Kanagawa…
Masahiro Miyazaki (宮崎 正裕 - Miyazaki Masahiro, born 1963) is a Japanese Kendo practitioner who works for Kanagawa Prefectural Police in Japan. He participated in the All Japan Kendo Championship 12 times from 1990 to 2001 and won 6 times, more than any other competitor in the championship's history, including 2 successive victories (1998 and 1999). Because of his outstanding achievements in Kendo, he is called “the Master Swordsman of the Heisei era" and “an Iron Man of Kendo.” Miyazaki was born in 1963 in Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo. He has a younger brother named Fumihiro who, like him, was a member of the Japanese National Team and is also an All-Japan Kendo Champion (1997). In 1969, Miyazaki entered Shinotani Elementary School in Yokohama City. When he was 7, he began to practice Kendo at Genbukan Sakagami Dojo. In 1981, after he graduated from Toukai Dai Huzoku Sagami High School, which had a strong Kendo Club, he started working for the Kanagawa Prefectural Police. Due to his accomplishments, Kanagawa Prefectural Police Kendo Club nominated Miyazaki as Sword Master of the Kendo Club in 2012. Miyazaki distinguished himself from other Kendo practitioners with his aggression and speed. The average time that Miyazaki spent defeating the opponent was shorter than that of other Kendo practitioners who participated in the All Japan Kendo Championship. According to a study of Tsukuba University, Miyazaki's calf muscles are about twice as strong as regular Japanese adult men, and that makes Miyazaki's movement faster. Moreover, his interval between getting ready and striking is short: Miyazaki spends about 5.5 seconds and the other competitors spend about 7.5 seconds. Therefore, Miyazaki's matches rarely go into overtime. The short matches help him maintain his stamina. Miyazaki passed the Kendo 8th Dan Exam in 2009. After a year, he won the All-Japan 8th Dan Tournament on his first appearance. Since Miyazaki became a sword master in 2012, he trains many Kendo practitioners to become successful. He won the All-Japan 8th Dan Tournament a second time in 2016.
Kozō Andō (安藤 宏三, Andō Kozō; 1940–2003) was a teacher of kendo. Andō was born in Ōgaki, Gifu on June 20, 1940, and…
Kozō Andō (安藤 宏三, Andō Kozō; 1940–2003) was a teacher of kendo. Andō was born in Ōgaki, Gifu on June 20, 1940, and began practising kendo at the age of 13 as a student when living in Yokkaichi. He eventually became captain of his university's team and advanced to 7th dan at age 27. Throughout his life, he remained shihan (senior teacher) at his university. He was also involved in kendo as a member of several bodies of the All-Japanese Kendo Federation (ZNKR) and the All-Japanese Student Kendo Federation (ZNGKR). Andō authored several publications on kendo, one of which is still recognized as a standard textbook for German-language practitioners of the sport. He acted as a national trainer in Germany for years and committed himself to the development of kendo there and in several other European countries such as the Baltic states. He was recognized as a shihan of a Hamburg-based dojo which is holding annual seminars to his remembrance. In 2003, Andō suffered a stroke during a flight back to Japan and died on October 8.
Kenshiro Abbe (阿部 謙四郎, Abe Kenshirō; 15 December 1915 – 1 December 1985) was a Japanese master of judo, aikido, and…
Kenshiro Abbe (阿部 謙四郎, Abe Kenshirō; 15 December 1915 – 1 December 1985) was a Japanese master of judo, aikido, and kendo. He introduced aikido to the United Kingdom in 1955, and founded the Kyushindo system. Abbe was a graduate of the Budo Senmon Gakko, having studied judo and kendo there. Following an early career in the martial arts, he served in the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. He then trained in aikido under its founder, Morihei Ueshiba, for a decade. Abbe held dan ranks in several martial arts, most notably 8th dan in judo, 6th dan in aikido, and 6th dan in kendo. After introducing aikido to the UK, he established several Japanese martial arts councils there during the late 1950s. He returned to Japan in 1964 and remained there for most of the remainder of his life. There are contradictory accounts of Abbe's final years, but it appears that he was in poor spirits and poor health towards the end.
Kiyoshi Nakakura (中倉 清, Nakakura Kiyoshi; 1910–2000) was a Japanese practitioner of kendo, iaido and aikido. Nakakura…
Kiyoshi Nakakura (中倉 清, Nakakura Kiyoshi; 1910–2000) was a Japanese practitioner of kendo, iaido and aikido. Nakakura was originally the top kendo student of Nakayama Hakudō. When Nakayama was asked to send a representative of kendo to Morihei Ueshiba's aikido dojo, he appointed Nakakura to the role. Nakakura married Ueshiba's daughter Matsuko and was legally adopted into the Ueshiba family, taking the name Morihiro Ueshiba. Nakakura was impressed with Ueshiba's martial skills (particularly after his adopted father was able to fend off a simultaneous attack from both Nakakura and the fencing expert Junichi Haga), but disagreed with Ueshiba's Oomoto-kyo beliefs and left the family after a few years. His role as heir to Ueshiba's art was taken by Ueshiba's birth son, Kisshomaru. Nakakura continued to train in kendo and iaido throughout his life, achieving 9th dan in both.
Kazuto Ishida (Japanese: 石田和外; May 20, 1903 – May 9, 1979) was a Japanese jurist who served as Chief Justice of the…
Kazuto Ishida (Japanese: 石田和外; May 20, 1903 – May 9, 1979) was a Japanese jurist who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan from 1969 to 1973. He was a practitioner of kendo. He was a graduate of the University of Tokyo. As an associate justice in the mid-1960s, Ishida penned a dissenting opinion in a Grand Bench decision limiting criminal prosecution of labor leaders. This was a contributing factor to his appointment as Chief Justice by Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in 1968, in an attempt to give the court more conservative leadership at a time when Japan saw massive radical student demonstrations. One of Ishida's final decisions, in 1973, expanded police powers to punish demonstrators. Ishida's court was the first in a line of conservative Supreme Court benches that continued into the early 21st century. After his tenure as Chief Justice, Ishida became chairman of the All Japan Kendo Federation. He also became the first chairman of the Eirei ni Kotaeru Kai (英霊にこたえる会, Society to Honour the War Dead), which supports Yasukuni Shrine, in June 1976. Ishida formed the National Congress to Achieve Legislation of the Gengo System in order to establish a law formalizing the system of imperial era names. Ishida was a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun.
Prince Kan'in Haruhito (閑院宮春仁王, Kan'in-no-miya Haruhito-ō; 3 August 1902 – 18 June 1988) was a career officer in the…
Prince Kan'in Haruhito (閑院宮春仁王, Kan'in-no-miya Haruhito-ō; 3 August 1902 – 18 June 1988) was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and the 7th (and final) head of the Kan'in-no-miya line of shinnōke cadet branches of the Imperial Family of Japan.
Ryūnosuke Kusaka (草鹿 龍之介, Kusaka Ryūnosuke; 25 September 1893 – 23 November 1971) was an admiral in the Imperial…
Ryūnosuke Kusaka (草鹿 龍之介, Kusaka Ryūnosuke; 25 September 1893 – 23 November 1971) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II who served as Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet. Fellow Admiral Jinichi Kusaka was his cousin. Kusaka was also the 4th Headmaster of Ittō Shōden Mutō-ryū Kenjutsu, a famous school of swordsmanship founded by Yamaoka Tesshū.
Saburō Aizawa (相沢 三郎, Aizawa Saburō; September 6, 1889 – July 3, 1936) was a Japanese military officer of the Imperial…
Saburō Aizawa (相沢 三郎, Aizawa Saburō; September 6, 1889 – July 3, 1936) was a Japanese military officer of the Imperial Japanese Army who assassinated Tetsuzan Nagata in the Aizawa Incident in August 1935. Aizawa was later court-martialed and executed for this murder.
Kendo (Japanese: 剣道, Hepburn: Kendō; lit. 'sword way' or 'sword path' or 'way of the sword') is a modern Japanese…
Kendo (Japanese: 剣道, Hepburn: Kendō; lit. 'sword way' or 'sword path' or 'way of the sword') is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship exercises, and today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread to many other nations across the world.
Seiji Noma (野間 清治; 1878–1938) was a Japanese writer and publisher who was the founder of Kodansha, a leading publishing…
Seiji Noma (野間 清治; 1878–1938) was a Japanese writer and publisher who was the founder of Kodansha, a leading publishing company, which his family still wholly own today. He was the founder and publisher of many well-known newspapers and magazines.
Nishikubo Hiromichi (西久保弘道, Hiromichi Nishikubo; 30 June 1863 – 8 July 1930) was a Japanese bureaucrat, politician, and…
Nishikubo Hiromichi (西久保弘道, Hiromichi Nishikubo; 30 June 1863 – 8 July 1930) was a Japanese bureaucrat, politician, and kendo master, who served as Governor of Fukushima Prefecture (1910–1913), Director-General of the Hokkaido Agency (1914–1915), Superintendent-General of the Metropolitan Police (1915–1916), Mayor of Tokyo (1926–1927), and a member of the House of Peers (1916–1930).