News

Volume 37, number 1/2/3

January/February/March 2023

BHSK TAIKAI 2023 - January 21st, 2023, Seattle, WA

Youth Division                                     Kyu Division
1st Place - S. Faso, Bellevue                      1st Place - N. Chu, Bellevue
2nd Place - M. Day, Highline                       2nd Place - D. Shilov, Bellevue

Young Dans Division                                Top Gun Division
1st Place - M. DeJong, Highline                    1st Place - H. Samkange, Bellevue
2nd Place - N. Grimes-Perez, Kirkland              2nd Place - J. Frazier-Day, Highline

Jr Teams:
1st Place - Team Rooster (J. Kwon, S. Faso, D. Shilov)
2nd Place - Team Payback (K. Sinex, S. Lee, N. Chu)
3rd Place - Team Phoenix (S. Murray, L. Naylor, M. Day)

Sr Teams:
1st Place - Team Charlie (S. Jeon, Y. Choi, R. Ramirez, J. Jeon, S. Deblieck)
2nd Place - Team Viper (M. Saroop, A. Law, T. Patana, A. Kim, J. Frazier-Day)
Boss team (undefeated) - Team Maverick (J. Marsten, D. Yotsuuye, N. Grimes-Perez, E. Marsten, H. Samkange)

59th ANNUAL STEVESTON TAIKAI - February 11th, 2023, Robert McMath Secondary School

10 and Under                                        11-13 Years
1st Place - N. Kim, Northwest                       1st Place - H. Ara, Renbu
2nd Place - R. Liao, Renbu                          2nd Place - A. Kobayashi, Youshinkan
3rd Place - E. Lee, Steveston                       3rd Place - M. Chong, Steveston
3rd Place - Y. Kobayashi, Youshinkan                3rd Place - M. Shirai, Youshinkan

14-15 Years                                         0-4 Kyu
1st Place - C. Liao, Renbu                          1st Place - M. Remmu, Seattle
2nd Place - I. Hwang, Renbu                         2nd Place - R. Chen, Steveston
3rd Place - R. Himeda, Renbu                        3rd Place - E. Wong, UBC
3rd Place - E. Chui, Steveston                      3rd Place - J. Lin, Seattle

1-3 Kyu                                             Ladies 1 Dan and Under
1st Place - C. Perry, NCKF                          1st Place - Y. Lee, Renbu
2nd Place - A. Yuen, Seattle                        2nd Place - H. Tominaga, Renbu
3rd Place - J. Ho, SCKF                             3rd Place - J. Paik, Tacoma
3rd Place - S. Fujiwara, SFU                        3rd Place - G. Antaya, Hawaii

Ladies 2 Dan and Above                              1-2 Dan
1st Place - A. Fukushima, Vancouver                 1st Place - J. Yu, Northwest
2nd Place - E. Hill, Hawaii                         2nd Place - T. Ariga, Butokuden
3rd Place - H. Yamada, Vancouver                    3rd Place - A. Mabale, Seattle
3rd Place - B. Park, UW                             3rd Place - J. Lee, JCCC

3 Dan                                               4 Dan and Up
1st Place - I. So, Hawaii                           1st Place - H. Yano, Whistler
2nd Place - S. Miyashita, Sturgeon                  2nd Place - B. Fukutomi, Hawaii
3rd Place - W. Wong, Steveston                      3rd Place - K. Takizawa, Butokuden
3rd Place - B. Pae, Northwest                       3rd Place - S. Kamata, Etobicoke

Junior Teams
1st Place - Renbu (K. Yoshimura, I. Hwang, N. Son, R. Himeda, H. Ara)
2nd Place - Steveston A (T. Kwong, E. Nakano, M. Lin, E. Chui, R. Kao)
3rd Place - Mixed Team 2 (C. Zhang (BUT), R. Sun (STU), S. Johnson (SEA), M. Goodin (HW), J. Lee (CEN))
3rd Place - Chinook (P. Yoon, R. Bae, Y, Kim, D. Jo, P. Jo)

Senior Teams
1st Place - Butokuden (K. Takizawa, J. Harasawa, Tai. Ariga, G. Takahashi, T. Ariga)
2nd Place - Renfrew (K. Muramatsu, S. Nichols, T. Tsuchiya, W. Blades, M. Rose)
3rd Place - Northwest (J. Yu, K. Underhill, B. Pae, T. Ho, K. Hiwatari)
3rd Place - Steveston A (B. Miki, I. Miki, C. Robillard, B. Lee, N. Nakano)

PNKF KENDO SHINSA, March 4 2023, Shoreline, Washington.

6TH KYU: Kyunghyun Lee (Northwest), Anubhav Swami (Northwest), John Lee (Northwest), Takumi Tanimura (Edmonds)

5TH KYU: Alex Derrick (Northwest), Hiro Johnson (Seattle), Isaac Santos (Kent), Nathan Kim (Northwest), Shaun Murray (Kirkland), Audrey Dobner (Kirkland), Clara Kim (Northwest), Iris Mai Honda (Cascade), Koya Sinex (Kirkland), Musashi Blair (Cascade)

4TH KYU: Seiji Lee (Bellevue), Leyna Kitahama (Cascade), Fletcher Hume (Sno-King), Muskaan Kaur (Sno-King), Tyler Lee (Spokane), Cindy Chang (Seattle), Jingyi Zhang (Northwest), Sean Wales (Northwest), Wanhui Han (Bellevue), Chunyan Tinder (Bellevue)

3RD KYU: Connor Burke (Kent), Sebastian Fruchter (Spokane), Orion Lucero (Kent), Emerson Lau (Bellevue), Sora Tanaka (Edmonds), James Dueck (Federal Way), Anna Fruchter (Spokane), Jeremy Lin (Seattle), Annabelle Huang (UW), Hanna Inoue (UW), Andrew Fan (UW), Nhat Le (UW), Majestik Remmu (Seattle), Jonathan Pfefferle (Federal Way), Garrett Baski (Bellevue), Nathan Florance (Spokane), Shiqi Wang (Bellevue), Jeanna Hardesty (Spokane), Mandakini Saroop (Bellevue), Matthew Dircks (Spokane), Joel Morgan (Sno-King), Kyla Root (Alaska), Michelle Yip (Bellevue)

2ND KYU: Mifune Tanimura (Edmonds), Ezra Corcoro Marx (Federal Way), Salvatore Faso (Bellevue), Jorin Kiyohara (Federal Way), Alexander Field (Federal Way), Norman Thompson (Spokane), Seohee Jeon (Bellevue), Emi Wong (UW), Balter Wang (Cascade), Kyle Huynh (UW), Kodee Soetamin (UW), Shay Cunningham (UW), Yisa Wu (UW), Lucy Yang (Seattle), Molivan Tuy (Bellevue), Nathan Westlund (Spokane), Chang Feng (Bellevue), Kumi Abe (Edmonds), Christopher Johnson (Seattle), Alex Yang (Bellevue), Anastasia Kopcha (Tacoma), James Fox (Spokane), Patrick Lau (Bellevue)

1ST KYU: Irene Chen (Bellevue), Dan Terao (Cascade), Juah Paik (Tacoma), Denise Quach (Seattle), Brian Shin (Tacoma), Alex Kim (Bellevue), Tory Kim (Northwest)

1ST DAN: Alec Yuen (Seattle), Daniel Shilov (Bellevue), Sean Kim (Seattle), Nicholas Chu (Bellevue), Daniel Kao (Tacoma), Yuri Choi (Bellevue), Matheus Honda (Cascade), Juno Lee (Federal Way), Abigail Tan (Cascade), Anthony Yorita (Highline), Timothy Jaybush (Bellevue)

2ND DAN: Suepapone Vanasouk (Cascade), Connor Mulcahy (Cascade), Matt Miyamoto (Northwest)

3RD DAN: Drake Imanishi (Seattle), Ian Yoshikawa (Tacoma), Daniel Blair (Cascade), Young-ki Paik (Tacoma), Alick Law (Sno-King)

4TH DAN: Jane Higa (Cascade), Jacob Colter Yamauchi (Cascade), Jason Yu (Northwest)

PNKF KENDO SHINSA, March 11 2023, Portland, Oregon.

6TH KYU: Rowan Atagi (Redmond), Allen Kaufman (Portland)

4TH KYU: Joe Takeuchi (Camas)

3RD KYU:  Ren Gionet (Kenchikai), Robert Allen (OSU), Sohma Cox (OSU), Jacob Scavarelli (OSU), Jordan Indrawan (OSU), Evan Ho (Obukan), Alexander Sakon (Obukan), Quinn Takara (Obukan), Annaphon Burger (Obukan), Joey Matsuno (Obukan), Logan Lewis (Obukan), Liantao Shan (Kenchikai), Nathan Williams (Obukan), Ziwen Chen (OSU), Alex Leach (OSU), Andrew Hinman (Camas), Tetsuro Takeuchi (Camas), Eric Wiley (Portland), Gunnar Hess (Portland), Ivan Wiley (Portland), Iori Ohashi (Obukan), Aiden Malone (Obukan), Mathew Prom (Obukan), Kyle Chiu (Obukan)

2ND KYU: Owen Kaufman (Portland), Brandon Wied (OSU), Wenqian Liu (Portland), William Simpson (Obukan), Caleb Foster (Redmond), William Andrews (OSU), Lee Salkin (Spokane)

PNKF IAIDO SHINSA, March 26 2023, Bellevue, Washington.

3RD KYU: Renjie Zhu (Seattle), Marlena Cote (Seattle), Nathan Westlund (Spokane), Tristin Valing (RenMa), Alexander Wilmes (RenMa)

2ND KYU: Ryan Merrill (RenMa)

1ST KYU: Lucy Yang (Seattle), Salvador Eng Deng (Musokai), Michael Mabale (Seattle), Yuichiro Baba (Idaho), Wrennik Andrus (AiShinKai), James Thieu (Musokai)

1ST DAN: Vaclav Kacir (NCKF), Wakako Maeda (Idaho), Marek Nelson (Spokane)

2ND DAN: Blake Kashiwagi (Obukan)

3RD DAN: Sean Horita (Musokai)

PNKF IAIDO TAIKAI – March 25 2023, Bellevue, Washington

0-2 Kyu                               1 Kyu - 1 Dan
1st Place - M. Mabale, Seattle        1st Place - R. Podrebarac, AiShinKai
2nd Place - M. Cote, Seattle          2nd Place - M. Tekin, Norwalk
3rd Place - L. Yang, Seattle          3rd Place - W. Maeda, Idaho
3rd Place - W. Andrus, AiShinKai      3rd Place - V. Kacir, Palo Alto

2-3 Dan 
1st Place - A. Vanderspek, AiShinKai
2nd Place - H. Maeda, Idaho
3rd Place - K. Tekin, Norwalk
3rd Place - D. Lau, Musokai

Competitor's Pledge - L. Yang, Seattle

Volume 36, number 9/10/11

September/October/November 2022

PNKF DATEBOOK

November 2022

• 11/30: Western Kendo Federation Year End Kendo Championship, Sun, 8:00am, doors open 7:00am, Buena Park High School, 8833 Academy Drive, Buena Park, California 90621. http://wkfapp102.azurewebsites.net

December 2022

• 12/3: Camas Workshop, Camas, WA.
• 12/3-4: AUSKF Shinpan Seminar, Sat, Long Beach, CA.
• 12/10-11: AUSKF Zone 7 PNKF Shinpan Seminar, Sat, 9am-5pm, Sun, 9am-12noon, Tyee High School Gym, 4424 South 188th Street, SeaTac, WA, seminar fee $25, lunch for Sat $15, welcome dinner party Sat, Miyabi Sushi.
• 12/9-11, Fri, Sat, Sun AUSKF National Jodo Seminar and Shinsa, Grand Rapids, MI.

January 2023

• 1/14: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Sat, via Zoom.
• 1/21: BHSK Inter-Dojo Taikai, Sat, Sno-King Dojo (big gymnasium), 13052 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98133.

February 2023

• 2/11: Steveston Taikai, Sat, McMath High School, Steveston.
• 2/24-26: FIK America Zone Shinpan Seminar, Fri-Sun, Torrance, CA.
• 2/25: Iaido Godo Keiko, 1-4pm Sat, Fulton Community Center, 68 SW Miles St, Portland, OR 97219

March 2023

• 3/4: PNKF Kendo Shinsa, Sat, 12noon, Spartan Recreation Center Gym, 202 N.E. 185th S.E., Shoreline, WA 98155.
• 3/18: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Sat, via Zoom.
• 3/24-26: PNKF Iaido Shinpan Seminar, Taikai, and Shinsa (up to 3 Dan), Fri-Sun, Rain City Fencing Center, Bellevue, WA.

April 2023

• 4/15: UW Taikai, Sat, Intramural Activities (IMA), UW campus, Montlake Boulevard NE.
• 4/15: AUSKF Junior Open, Edison High School, Huntington Beach, California.
• 4/29: Kendo Kata Seminar, Kent Commons, 11:30am-5pm

May 2023

• 5/13: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Sat, via Zoom.
• 5/20: Bellevue Kendo Junior Taikai, Sat, 9:30am start time, Highland Park Community Center, 14224 Bel-Red Road, Bellevue.

June 2023

• 6/3 – Iaido Godo Keiko, Portland, OR 1-4pm.
• 6/24: Rose City Kendo Taikai, Sat, 9am, Conestoga Recreation and Aquatic Center, 9985 SW 125th Ave, Beaverton, OR.
• 6/30-7/2: AUSKF National Kendo Championships, Fri-Sun, Detroit, MI.

July 2023

• 7/14-16: Idaho Kendo Seminar, Boys and Girls Club of Ada County and Meridian Homecourt, Meridian, ID.
• 7/15: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Sat, via Zoom.

August 2023

• 8/10-13: AUSKF National Iaido Seminar and Shinsa, Thu-Tue, Cyrpress, TX.
• 8/19: PNKF Summer Kendo Shinsa, Sun, Kent Commons, 1pm.
• 8/25-27: AUSKF Kendo Summer Camp and Shinsa, Fri-Sun, Las Vegas, NV.

September 2023

• 9/16: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Sat, via Zoom.

October 2023

• 10/6-8: PNKF Fall Iaido Seminar and Shinsa with Shozo Kato Sensei, Fri-Sun, Rain City Fencing Center, Bellevue, WA.
• 10/21: Tacoma Kendo Taikai, Sat, time and place TBD.
• 10/28: PNKF Taikai, Sat, Kent Commons, 9am.

November 2023

• 11/11-12: AUSKF Board Meeting and Kendo Shinsa, Sat-Sun, Los Angeles, CA.
• * 11/18: PNKF Board meeting and General Election, 9-11am, Sat, via Zoom.

PNKF BOARD NEWS

At their November 19, 2022 meeting, the 2022/2023 Board was seated, and Officers were elected.

President – Doug Imanishi (Seattle), Vice President – An Giang (Northwest), Treasurer – Stephen Ting (Northwest), Membership Administrator – Naoaki Tanimura (Edmonds), IT Support – Mark Verrey (Sno-King), Secretary – Sue Vanasouk (Cascade).

Other Board members are: Jonathan Bannister (AiShinKai), Sean Blechschmidt (Bellevue), Julie Chen (Kirkland), Steve Choi (Portland), An Giang (Northwest), Richard Lei (Seattle), Tiarnan Marsten (Federal Way), Vicki Marsten (Federal Way), Motoya Nakamura (Obukan), Matthew Price (Seattle), Chris Ruiz (Spokane), Russ Sinclair (Spokane), George Nakayama (Camas), Frank Wessbecher (Highline), Andy Yuen (UW), David Yotsuuye (Bellevue).

8th PNKF NORTH AMERICAN WOMEN’S KENDO CHAMPIONSHIPS – October 2, 2022, University of Washington IMA, Seattle

1 Dan and Below                          2 Dan and Above
1st place – Hiyori Tominaga, Renbu       1st place – Elizabeth Marsten, PNKF
2nd place – Yura Kawabe, Renbu           2nd place – Wendy Robillard, BCKF
3rd place – Sue Vanasouk, Cascade        3rd place – Melanie DeJong, PNKF
3rd place – Yuka Lee, Renbu              3rd place – Noelle Grimes, PNKF
Team
1st place – PNKF A (Van Le, Melanie DeJong, Noelle Grimes, Elizabeth Marsten, Ai Nakayama)
2nd place – Renbu (Miyu Hashimoto, Hiyori Tominaga, Yura Kawabe, Anita Espiritu, Yuka Lee)
3rd place – Orange (Emi Ichimura, Chunyan Tinder, Karla De la Loza, Erika Hill, Pau De la Loza)
3rd place – PNKF B (Betty Park, Julie Chen, Janell Frazier-Day, Erica Tam, Masami Suzuki)
Fighting Spirit - E. Ichimura, NCKF
Shinpan-Cho – David Yotsuuye

6th HIROSHI KAMIO CUP KENDO TAIKAI – October 8, 2022, Sedena Sports Heroes of the Revolution, Mexico City

Women’s Yudansha                         Men’s 2nd Dan and Up 
1st place – Noelle Grimes                1st place – Carlos Flores
2nd place – Olivia Enriquez              2nd place – Guillermo Flores
3rd place – Claudia Buitron              3rd place – Marco Polo Sanchez
 Kantosho – Paulina de la Loza            Kantosho – Roberto Ramirez M.

Women’s Mudansha                         Men’s 1st Dan and Below
1st place – Alexa Ruiz                   1st place – Axl Gamez
2nd place – Reyna Farina                 2nd place – Ignacio Canalizo
3rd place – Almaldianeli Ortiz           3rd place – Javier Ayala
 Kantosho – Nayelli Sumano                 Kantosho – Ivan Rivera

Women’s Teams
1st place – Team Kitsune (Noelle Grimes, Karla de la Loza, Melisa Martinez)
2nd place – Team Karakasa (Olivia Enriquez, Mayra Orosco, Alexa Ruiz, Almaldianeli Ortiz)
3rd place – Team Nekomata (Claudia Bultron, Erica Tam, Elizabeth Hernardez)

Men’s Teams
1st place – Team Byakko (Pedro Garcia, Emilio Porras, Leonid Tsybert, J. Roberto Ramirez, Jesus Garcia)
2nd place – Team Tanuki (Joan Gonzalez, Luis del Rio, Yaotl Gonzalez, Arno Burkholder, Marco P. Sanchez)
3rd place – Team Kappa (Darrick Lew, Darrian Yang, Mario Torruco, Ian Blas, Axl Gamez)

2022 PNKF IAIDO TAIKAI – October 8, 2022, Rain City Fencing Center, Bellevue

0 – 3 Kyu                                2 Kyu – 1 Dan 
1st place – Ian Agrela De Freites, Miami 1st place – Rae Podrebarac, AiShinKai
2nd place – Michael Mabale, Seattle      2nd place – Mario Nakane, Palo Alto
3rd place – Riku Todaka, Salt Lake City  3rd place – Derek Reynolds, Alaska
3rd place – Matthew Acevedo, Miami       3rd place – Wakako Maeda, Idaho
2 - 3 Dan                                4 - 5 Dan
1st place – Hiroyuki Maeda, Idaho        1st place – Takanori Furuta, Ittokai
2nd place – Brian Burton, AiShinKai      2nd place – Orsolya Kiss, Cleveland
3rd place – Alden Vanderspek, AiShinKai  3rd place – Masayasu Ando, Alaska
3rd place – Jennifer Mayo, Castle Rock   3rd place – Monica Iwakabe, Rocky Mountain
Competitor’s Pledge   Brian Burton, AiShinKai

PNKF IAIDO SHINSA, October 9, 2022, Rain City Fencing Center, Bellevue

3RD KYU:
Matthew Krueger (Alaska), Hyuga Todaka (SWKIF).
2ND KYU:
Matthew Acevedo (SEUSKF, Ian Agrela De Freites (SEUSKF), Wrennik Andrus (AiShinKai), Yuichiro Baba (Idaho), 
Christopher Campos (SEUSKF), Salvador Eng Deng (Musokai), Michael Mabale (Seattle), James Thieu (Musokai), Riku Todaka (SWKIF), 
Adalei Webster (RMKIF), Kathryn Webster (RMKIF).
1ST KYU:
Yuriko Lee (RenMa), Wakako Maeda (Idaho), Carter Webster (RMKIF), Michael Webster (RMKIF).
1ST DAN:
Teodoro Jose Boado (Musokai), Breanne Leach (RMKIF), Rae Podrebarac (AiShinKai).
2ND DAN:
Mario Nakane (NCKF), Derek Reynolds (Alaska), Sarah Scherr (MWKF), Andy Webster (RMKIF).
3RD DAN:
Michael Jacobson (MWKF), Jennifer Mayo (RMKIF), Ryuichi Shimizu (Seattle).
4TH DAN:
Sardinas Benjamin (Miami Budokan).
5TH DAN:
Anderson Bradley (Agassiz Dojo), Luis Cervantes Genaro (FIK Iaido Mexico Asia), 
Gunnar Goerlitz (Musokai), Heins Katherine (Mitsubachi Dojo), Jean Kodama (Norwalk), Susan Kozawa (Seattle).

46th PNKF TAIKAI – November 6, 2022, Curtis Junior High School, 3725 Grandview Drive West, University Place, WA

10 and Under                           Master’s
1st place – S. Ara, Renbu              1st place – C. Marsten, Kent
2nd place – R. Liao, Renbu             2nd place – F. Yoshimura, Renbu
3rd place – Y. Kobayashi, Youshinkan   3rd place – J. Kliem, Tacoma
3rd place – H. Johnson, Seattle        3rd place – B. Lee, Bellevue

11-12                                  1-2 Dan
1st place – M. Tanimura, Edmonds       1st place – K. Underhill, Northwest
2nd place – S. Johnson, Seattle        2nd place – K. Fukuda, UW
3rd place – H. Ara, Renbu              3rd place – A. Mabale, Seattle
3rd place – M. Chong, Steveston        3rd place – T. Espinal Highline

13-15                                  3 Dan
1st place – Ke. Yoshimura, Renbu       1st place – I. So, Hawaii
2nd place – N. Chu, Bellevue           2nd place – B. Pae, Northwest
3rd place – Ka. Yoshimura, Renbu       3rd place – S. Nichols, Renfrew
3rd place – C. Liao, Renbu             3rd place – A. Yuen, UW

0-4 Kyu                                4 Dan and Above
1st place – M. Remmu, Seattle          1st place – H. Kim, Vancouver 
2nd place – N. Le, UW                  2nd place – KE Kobayashi, Youshinkan
3rd place – A. Fan, UW                 3rd place – T. Marsten, Kent 
3rd place – A. Hinman, Camas           3rd place – L. Hancock, Hawaii

3-1 Kyu                                Women’s Kyu
1st place – D. Chung, Cascade          1st place – J. Lee, Federal Way
2nd place – Al. Yuen, Seattle          2nd place – N. Underhill, Northwest 
3rd place – T. Miyamoto, Northwest     3rd place – A. Tan, Cascade
3rd place – S. Kim, Seattle            3rd place – Y. Wu, UW

Women’s Dan
1st place – A. Nakayama, Camas 
2nd place – J. Paik, Tacoma 
3rd place – V. Le, Kenchikai 
3rd place – Y. Lee, Renbu

Junior Team
1st place – Renbu A (Ka. Yoshimura, N. Son, C. Liao, Ke. Yoshimura)
2nd place – Steveston (M. Chong, E. Nakano, E. Chui, M. Lin, R. Kao)
3rd place – Bellevue (S. Faso, J. Paik (Tacoma), N. Chu, C. Burke (Kent), R. Kawamoto)
3rd place – Mixed Team 2 (Y. Kobayashi (You), J. Takeuchi (Cms), I. Ohashi (Obu), K. Pierce (Knt) S. Johnson (Sea))

Senior Team 
1st place – Renfrew (K. Muramatsu, S. Nichols, T. Tsuchiya, W. Blades, M. Rose)
2nd place – Hawaii (I. So, S. Ishida, E. Hill, L. Hancock, I. Sato)
3rd place – UW (B. Liao, H. Hu, B. Park, A. Yuen, K. Fukuda)
3rd place – Steveston (E. Chui, R. Nakano, D. Yao, L. Takahae, D. Chui)

Shinpan-cho – Shinichi Koike
Sportsmanship Pledge – Juah Paik, Tacoma
Shoji Inspirational Spirit Award for 2022 – Jonathan Yu, Northwest
Shoji Inspirational Spirit Award for 2021 – Juah Paik, Tacoma
Shoji Inspirational Spirit Award for 2020 – Josh Paik, Tacoma (accepted by Juah in Josh’s absence)
Taikai Co-chairs – Sue Vanasouk and Taryn Imanishi
Head Scorekeepers – John Kliem and Ikaika Yoshikawa

THE LAST WORD

My translating job with the CIC expanded and became more exciting as well. I became a spy to a small degree. I found several informers, listened to the information they provided about the JCP and then reported to the CIC. I was to find the facts: who participated, when and where meetings were held and what was discussed. Captain Parker was especially interested in the gun trade. All the information I reported, checked out to be correct. I accompanied the Matsue police and CIC when they went to parties, to interpret, of course, but to also keep my eyes and ears alert. This duty included trips to Tamatsukuri Onsen, a hot spring town near Matsue. I did get to know the hot spring hotels and geishas quite well, an activity that was usually restricted to the wealthy, but I had to be on the alert. Visit to the Tamatsukuri Onsen My next assignment was more dangerous. I took the girls to buy ice cream cones at a little shop in town. One of the informant agreed to let me hide and listen to a meeting of the JCP planned to take place at his house. I went to listen, hidden in a small closet and heard first hand all the plans for a coming demonstration. I had to remain still, cramped and hardly breathing for a long time. I had learned to do this at Busen. If I had been caught, I could have been killed. My two daughters, Kazumi (Charlotte) on the bicycle and Miyuki (Norma) in the background at the public housing. That short stint was the end of my career as a spy. Captain Parker was transferred. Major Cassidy then hired me to continue to work for the CIC at Miho Air Force Base in the small town of Oshinozu near Matsue in the adjoining Tottori Prefecture. I was promoted to Head Translator/Interpreter, and `managed to instruct all the translators, who were mostly Japanese, and couldn’t interpret, or interpreters, who did not know enough Japanese to converse freely with Japanese. This gave me more time to associate with Major Cassidy. I could still play kendo when I went back to Matsue. Housing was scarce so Dr. Kanno, who owned and operated a hospital in Matsue got me public housing for my family in Matsue. Every day, I used my collapsible bicycle from Matsue Station to Yonago Station, then changed trains from Yonago to Oshinozu Station. Then I unfolded my bicycle and peddled my way to Miho Air Base. Dr. Kanno ran for Matsue city council, and I campaign for him. After winning a seat on the city council, Dr. Kanno asked me to teach his sons English. I accepted it, and after work, I stopped by at Dr. Kanno’s house and taught English to his two sons and another boy who was a son of Dr. Kanno’s friend, and also a doctor. After teaching them, I got to bathe in his nice big bath tub and enjoyed a great meal. The public housing that we had did not have baths so bathing was in a public bath, though in the summer time, we bathed our daughters in an outside cement square tub. Of course, food was still scarce so me eating at Kanno’s gave more food to my wife and daughters.

–Rod Nobuto Omoto, Autobiography, edited by Charlotte Omoto, 2014, p. 51-52. Available as free download at lulu.com.

Kenyu – Monthly Newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation PLEASE NOTE: Kenyu Online IS THE EDITION OF RECORD FOR THIS NEWSLETTER – https://www.pnkf.org/ Tom Bolling, Editor – 7318 23rd Avenue N.E., Seattle, WA 98115

Volume 36, number 7/8

July/August 2022

35th LEEWARD OAHU KENDO TOURNAMENT – August 21, 2022, Mililani District Park Gym

Yonenbu 8-11 Years                       Shonenbu 12-14 Years
1st place – Colton Hara, Kenshikan       1st place – Shu Etsumi, Kenshikan
2nd place – Aura Arios, Seibukan         2nd place – Kaden Kojima, Kenshikan

Seinenbu 15 Years and Above              Women’s Mudansha Open
1st place – Devin Chung, Cascade PNKF    1st place – Genevieve Antaya, Lihue
2nd place – Reb Arios, Seibukan  

Women's Yudansha Open                    Yudansha 1-2 Dan
1st place – Jane Higa, Cascade PNKF      1st place – Kyle Fukuda, Cascade PNKF
2nd place – Tina Kaku, Kenshikan         2nd place – Brandon Matsumoto, Kenshikan

Yudansha 3-4 Dan                         Yudansha 5 Dan and Above
1st place – Kevin Chun, Kenshikan        1st place – Lonny Hancock, Mililani
2nd place – Issei So, Kenshikan          2nd place – Jack Yamada, Kenshikan

Yudansha Masters 50 Years and Over
1st place – Keith Hui, Meikyokan
2nd place – Takahiro Masuda, Kenshikan

Team Match
1st place - Mililani (Lonny Hancock, Chase Takenaka, Keith Hui, Mark Matsumoto, Carl Nakamura)
2nd place – Cascade PNKF (Sue Vanasouk, Matt Xu, Kyle Fukuda, Jane Higa, Taryn Imanishi)

Parents/Kids Team Match
Parents – 3 Won by Points Taken
Kids - 3

James Oka "Kantosho" Fighting Spirit Award – Gabriel Hart Simmons, Lihue

PNKF IAIDO SHINSA, Sunday, July 17, 2022, Meridian, ID.

3RD KYU: Jay Farrell (Idaho), Kade Gledhill (SWKIF), Christopher Tilt (Obukan).

2ND KYU: Anandhavel Nagendrakumar (Idaho), Amelia Wilson (RMKIF).

1ST DAN: Rhett Atagi (Idaho).

PNKF KENDO SHINSA, August 13, 2022, Kent.

6TH KYU: Alex Derrick (Northwest), Clara Kim (Northwest), Nathan Kim (Northwest), Isaac Santos (Kent).

5TH KYU: Jiyong Kwon (Kirkland), James Lee (Cascade), Sean Wales (Northwest).

4TH KYU: Connor Burke (Kent), James Dueck (Federal Way), Ray Kawamoto (Bellevue), Jett Kiyohara (Federal Way), Emerson Lau (Bellevue), Louis Liang (Northwest), Vivian Quach (Bellevue), Mandakini Saroop (Bellevue), Michelle Yip (Bellevue).

3RD KYU: Kumi Abe (Edmonds), Shelly Aber (Bellevue), Marcus Borillo (Bellevue), Shay Cunningham (UW), Daniel DiMatteo (Obukan), Salvatore Faso (Bellevue), Chang Feng (Bellevue), Xander Field (Federal Way), James Fox (Spokane), Peter Greko (Spokane), Kyle Hyun (Cascade), Seohee Jeon (Bellevue), Christopher Johnson (Seattle), Saiichi Johnson (Seattle), Xavius Johnson (Bellevue), Makoto Kanamori (Alaska), Owen Kaufman (Portland), Jomo Kiyohara (Federal Way), Staci Kopcha (Tacoma), Patrick Lau (Bellevue), Truman Lau (Bellevue), Wenqian Liu (Portland), Ezra Corcoro Marx (Federal Way), Man I Pang (Bellevue), Kira Pierce (Kent), Lee Salkin (Spokane), Sean Sele (Portland), Kodee Soetamin (UW), Mifune Tanimura (Edmonds), Norman Thompson (Spokane), Molivan Tuy (Bellevue), Balter Wang (Cascade), Brandon Wied (Portland), Emi Wong (UW), Yisa Wu (UW), Alex Yang (Bellevue).

2ND KYU: Joseph Bernal (Bellevue), AJ Chao (UW), Cian Chu (UW), Madeleine Day (Highline), Jeramy Gee (Tacoma), Tory Kim (Northwest), Emily McCracken (Spokane), Russ McLaren (Kent), Dillon Peterson (Spokane), Brian Shin (Tacoma), Dan Terao (Cascade), Denise Quach (Seattle), Nikhil Varma (Seattle).

1ST KYU: Nicholas Chu (Bellevue), Daniel Kao (Tacoma), Sean Kim (Seattle), Marina Montes (Bellevue), Rebecca Roland (Portland), Hui Shen (Tacoma), Daniel Shilov (Highline), Alec Yuen (Seattle).

1ST DAN: Michael Ciesielski (Spokane), Edouard Lassalle (Northwest), Aneurin Mabale (Seattle), TJ Okamura (UW), Conrad Slater (Tacoma), Neo Smith (Bellevue), Brian Wong (UW), Zhaoyuan Xu (Cascade), Jonathan Yu (Northwest).

2ND DAN: Kamia Acoba (Everett), Tommy Espinal (Highline), James Faulkner (Edmonds), Kyle Fukuda (UW), Kailun Hu (UW), Spencer Kua (Kenchikai), John Lin (Portland), Dan McLean (Kenchikai), Emilio Peralta (Obukan), Michael Rea (Spokane).

3RD DAN: Jin Ho Jeon (Bellevue), Roberto Ramirez Monroy (Sno-King), Mikiyo Ohashi (Edmonds), Bryant Pae (Northwest), Blake Sprenger (Obukan), Mark Verrey (Sno-King), Xiaoxi Wang (Seattle), Shun Wetlesen (Obukan), Yujia Zhao (Seattle).

4TH DAN: Richard Carroll (Cascade), Nicholas Cook (Portland), Trinh Ho (Northwest), Su Hwan Kim (Northwest), Joshua Koplin (Bellevue), Van Le (Kenchikai), Conor Marsten (Kent), James Okada (Cascade).

AUSKF KENDO SHINSA, August 28, 2022, Las Vegas.

1ST KYU: Ahmad Abdulla (SWKIF), Jorge Bernadas (NCKF), Eugene Chang (NCKF), Diana Cheatham (RMKIF), Kelly Corwin (RMKIF), Alexander Delgado (NCKF), Michael Ishitani (MWKF), Songyang Wang (AEUSKF).

1ST DAN: Daniel Gruspier (AEUSKF), Rei Otose (NCKF), Aaron Rowell (RMKIF), Guillermo Toro (SWKIF), Yossie Trisbiantara (NCKF).

2ND DAN: Eric Chen (SCKF), Donovan Heimer (RMKIF), Martin Maxey (NCKF), Sunil Mehta (MWKF), David Patino (SWKIF), Jianing Xie (SWKIF).

3RD DAN: Derek Le (SCKF), Michelle Lim (RMKIF), Leo Olten (SWKIF), Kyle Pagdayunan (SCKO).

4TH DAN: Jake Dupre (SWKIF), Jill Harasawa (SCKO), Naruyoshi Hirata (SWKIF), Michael Huang (SCKF), Yujin Takayanagi (SCKO), Nathan Williams (SWKIF).

5TH DAN: Shigeto Akiyama (AEUSKF), David Chin (MWKF), Masami Hamasaki (AEUSKF), Andrew Kim (WKF), Satoru Konopka (NCKF), Victoria Kuo (SCKO), Kay Liu (SCKF), Jeason Ma (AEUSKF), Osamu Osawa (GNEUSKF), Yusuke Sakuma (SCKO), Patrick Stewart (SEUSKF), Keiichiro Tsuji MWKF), Dorian Williams (CCKF).

6TH DAN: Yong Cho (SWKIF), Robert Cochran (MWKF), Dale Hatakeyama (NCKF), Jarrod Hatakeyama (SCKF), Takashi Ito (EUSKF), Christopher John (WKF), Stephen Kang (GNEUSKF), Garrett Matsumoto (Hawaii), Katsumi Matsumoto (MWKF), Shigemi Matsuyama (GNEUSKF), Yuichi Miura (Hawaii), Hajime Mori (SCKO), Masato Nakamura (GNEUSKF), Masahiko Negita (AEUSKF), Sang Oh (Hawaii), William Register (SEUSKF), Noriyuki Sakuma (MWKF), Minoru Segawa (SCKF), Gordon Small (MWKF), Masao Suzuki (SCKF), Susan Zau (SCKF).

7TH DAN: Hiroshi Ichimura (NCKF), Atsushi Kajoka (SCKO), Sung Kim (SEUSKF), Agustin Martinez (NCKF), Yukiko Miura (SCKO), Kenji Takahashi (SCKF), Munik Zo (WKF).

RENSHI: Shinji Onitsuka (NCKF).

THE LAST WORD

After that first practice, I sat on the sensei side instead of the student side and was recognized as a kendo man. I was welcome to practice with the police at any time. I was glad but if that had not happened, it would have been okay. Kendo practice was part of me, a treasured part of my life that had been absent for too long. I hadn’t realized it, but I was starved for practice; it was as important as eating. I found myself and was alive again. And now I felt life in me again. It had been more than three years since I had held a shinai. I hadn’t thought much about it, but when I felt the sword in my hands, I knew that I really missed kendo! There were many times at Busen that I would have been happy to skip practice. Hard to believe that there were times when I was bored with practice. A whole year of kirikaeshi? I desperately wanted something new to work on. I thought of goals, of improving my skills, of winning tournaments, of being best. But now, just holding a shinai in my hands and practicing felt great!

–Rod Nobuto Omoto, Autobiography, edited by Charlotte Omoto, 2014, p. 51. Available as free download at lulu.com.