Volume 33, number 7/8
July/August 2019
PNKF DATEBOOK
September 2019* 9/7-9/8: Team USA Gasshuku, required to be considered for participation in 18WKC, Sat 8am-4pm; Sun
8am-12noon, Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance, CA. Attendance Fee: $50 (checks payable to
“AUSKF Team USA”). Send all checks to: Spencer Hosokawa, 17 Amelia Aliso Viejo, Ca 92656.
* 9/13 and 9/14: Idaho Kendo Seminar, Fri 9/13 Keiko 6-7pm, Fri venue: Boise State Univ, Kinesiology Gym, Room 215; Sat, 10am-4pm, Sat venue: Meridian Homecourt, 736 Taylor Avenue, Meridian Idaho 83642, Court #1. Kendo Kyoshi 7th Dan Robert Stroud. Open to all levels (all ages) including those not yet in bogu, covering Kendo Kata, kihon, and application of kihon for shiai and shinsa.
Cost $25 payable at the event.
* 9/14: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S. King Street, Seattle.
* 9/27-9/29: PNKF Iaido Seminar, Tournament, and Shinsa, Fri/Sat/Sun, Rain City Fencing, 1776 136th Place NE,
Bellevue.
October 2019
* 10/5: PNKF Shinpan Seminar, Sat, 12noon-5pm, Kent Commons Recreational Center, 525 4th Avenue N., Kent.
* 10/26: Tacoma Taikai, Sat, Curtis High School, 8425 40th St W, University Place, WA 98466, USA.
November 2019
* 11/2: PNKF Taikai, Kent Commons Recreational Center, 525 4th Avenue N., Kent.
* 11/2-11/3: AUSKF Second Team USA Gasshuku, Sat/Sun, venue and times TBD.
* 11/9-10: AUSKF Board meeting.
* 11/10: AUSKF Kodansha Shinsa, after the ASUKF Board meeting, Griffin Elite Sports and Wellness, 700 Dolwick Drive, Erlanger, Kentucky 41018.
* 11/16: PNKF Board meeting, 9-11am, Peter’s Episcopal Church, 1610 S. King Street, Seattle.
December 2019
* 12/7: Kent Taikai CANCELLED.
January 2020
* 1/25-1/26: FIK Kendo Referee Seminar for the American Zone (FY 2019), Sat-Sun, British Columbia Institute of Technology Athletic Gymnasium, 3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5G 3H2 Canada. Accommodation: Delta Hotel by Marriott Burnaby Conference Center, 4331 Dominion Street, Burnaby, BC V5G 1C7. – Participants should be members of FIK affiliated organizations in principle. – Kendo 5 Dan or higher, and practice Kendo regularly. – No age limit to participate.
April 2020
* 4/4: 2020 AUSKF Junior Open National Championships, Sat, Marina High School, 15871 Springdale Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92649
May 2020
* 5/2: Rose City Taikai, Sat, TBA, Portland.
May 2021
* 5/27-30: 18WKC, Thu-Sun, Paris, France.
2019 AUSKF IAIDO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP – June 30, 2019, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon
0-2 Kyu Murakami Cup 1 Kyu–1 Dan
1st place – Cierra Nix, RMKIF Castle Rock 1st place – Eric Marquart, PNKF Idaho
2nd place – Zhuron Long, AEUSKF Ken-Zen 2nd place – Adam Sandor, MWKF Agassiz
3rd place – Reminton Redell, RMKIF Castle Rock 3rd place – Brian Burton, PNKF AiShinKai
3rd place – Frauke Hachtmann, SWKIF Omaha 3rd place – Darryl Woods SWKIF Mushinkan
Kantosho – Aojie Zheng, AEUSKF Ken-Zen Kantosho – Dongying Song, AEUSKF Ken-ZenMurosako Cup 2-3 Dan Yamaguchi Cup 4–5 Dan
1st place – Allen Smith, SWKIF Mushinkan 1st place – Paul Shin, GNEUSKF Shidogakuin
2nd place – Ric Flinn, MWKF Raccoon Valley 2nd place – Gordon Hall, AEUSKF Ken-Zen
3rd place – Mike Schuldt, MWKF Agassiz 3rd place – Joe Sheldon, SUSKIF River City
3rd place – John Mullin, AEUSKF Ken-Zen 3rd place – Aram Kailian, GNEUSKF Shidogakuin
Kantosho – Sangki Lee, SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth Kantosho – George Nishiura, NCKF Palo Alto6 Dan (Inaugural Division)
1st place – Jason Hankins, RMKIF ZenBuKan
2nd place – David Bressler, AEUSKF Ken-Zen
3rd place – Terry Fukui, AEUSKF Ken-Zen
Kantosho – Samuel Okuno, SCKF Norwalk
WORLD NAGINATA CHAMPIONSHIP – July 6, 2019, Wiesbaden, Germany
Engi
Shikake-Oji Zen Nihon Renmei no Kata
1st place – A. Ajiki, M. Inoue, Japan 1st place – I. Itagaki, H. Kato, Japan
2nd place – S. Kanaoka, C. Hyashida, Japan 2nd place – I. Dermine, F. Dermine, Belgium
3rd place – C. Coppeans, B. Harrop, USA 3rd place – J. Hernandez, S. Lew, USATeam Shiai
Shiai Team Women
1st place – Japan (S. Kanaoka, C. Hayashida, A. Shido)
2nd place – Canada (M. Landekic, L. Liu, M. Phan)
3rd place – Belgium (L. Dumonceau, G. Hau, C. Vandersleyen)Shiai Team Men
1st place – Japan (M. Masuda, W. Kobashi, I. Itagaki)
2nd place – Netherlands (J. Zandstra, A. Noorman, P. Gerritsen)
3rd place – Belgium (J. D’hose, T. Dermine, F. Dermine)Individual Shiai
Shiai Individual Women Shiai Individual Men
1st place – A. Ajiki, Japan 1st place – Y. Masuda, Japan
2nd place – S. Haruyama, Japan 2nd place – M. Masuda, Japan
3rd place – C. Hayashida, Japan 3rd place – T. Fujita, JapanOverall Winner - Japan
PNKF 7th NORTH AMERICAN WOMEN’S TEAM TOURNAMENT – July 13, 2019, Renton
Special Guest Instructor – Kendo Renshi 7th Dan Chinatsu Murayama
Team
1st place - SCKF (E. Kim, K. Tada, H. Dong, Liu, A. Shinada)
2nd place – Butokuden A (K. Igarashi, J. Harasawa, H. Ariga, V. Kuo, H. Hsueh)
3rd place – PNKF B (V. Le, M. Blechschmidt, J. Higa, T. Imanishi, J. Frazier-Day)
3rd place – Microsoft (N. Sakamoto, S. Hino, S. Uchino, S. Wakizono, M. Ohara)Individual Mudansha Individual Yudansha
1st place – Krystal McIntosh, PNKF 1st place – Chigusa Takeuchi, Youshinkan
2nd place – Sammi Cheung, Quebec 2nd place – Wendy Robillard, CKF
3rd place – Heidi Lin, Butokuden 3rd place – Betty Park, PNKF
3rd place – Kate Rice, PNKF 3rd place – Kianna Darbyshire, CKF
4th place – Ai Nakayama, PNKF
4th place – Jennifer DeJong, MWKF
4th place – Isabel Lorimer, SCKO
4th place – Rika Iketani, SCKO
Shinpan Cho - Jeff Marsten
Chair – Elizabeth Marsten
Translator – Ai Nakayama
Sportsmanship Pledge – Janell Frazier-Day
SHINKYU SHINSA
AUSKF IAIDO SHINSA, June 30, 2019, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon
3RD KYU: Lam Cao (SEKIF Salt Lake), Kaitlyn Fife (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Jonathan Hoopes (SWKIF Salt Lake), Carter Webster (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Michael Webster (RMKIF ZenBuKan).
2ND KYU: Breanne Leach RMKIF Zen Bu Kan), Sarah Scherr (MWKF Agassiz), Mika Shafer (NCKF Oakland).
1ST KYU: Kirill Buzinov (SWKIF Mushinkan), Shamina Chang (SUSKIF Chiba), Alex Cherry (SWKIF Salt Lake), Michael Curtis (RMKIF Rocky Mountain), Frauke Hachtmann (SWKIF Omaha), Zhuoran Long (AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Cierra Nix (RMKIF Castle Rock), Gilberto Perez (SEUSKF TokoBuKan), Tyler Peterson (PNKF Idaho), Remington Redell (RMKIF Castle Rock), Andy Webster (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Aojie Zheng ((AEUSKF Ken-Zen).
1ST DAN: Michio Kajitani (SWKIF Arkansas), Alberto Mera (CLAK Federacion Dominicana), Adam Sandor (MWKF Agassiz), Ben Senderling (SWKIF Omaha).
2ND DAN: Cheyenne Baker (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Jared Bowler (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Michael Jacobson (MWKF Agassiz), Eric Marquardt (PNKF Idaho), Gary Moulder (NCKF Palo Alto), Philip Sevin (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Dongying Song AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Alden Vanderspek (PNKF AiShinKai), Feng (Blade) Wang (SWKIF Mushinkan), Darryl Woods (SWKIF Mushinkan).
3RD DAN: John Baker (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Jordy Davis (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Celeste Rosell (RMKIF ZenBuKan), Allen Smith (SWKIF Mushinkan).
4TH DAN: David Chung-Pei Cheng (CKF SFU Shinbukan), Richard Flynn (MWKF Raccoon Valley), John Mullin (AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Levon Sukiassyan (SCKF Pasadena).
5TH DAN: Brian Beckford (MWKF Detroit), Takanori Furuta (AEUSKF Ittokai), Hiroaki Fukumoto (PNKF Seattle).
6TH DAN: Paul Shin (GNEUSKF Shidogakuin), Cynthia Tanabe (NCKF Salinas).
AUSKF JODO SHINSA, June 30, 2019, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon
1ST KYU: Cheyenne Baker (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), John Baker (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Jonathan Berry (MWKF Minnehaha), David Cooper (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Nicholas Harrison (AEUSKF US Kobujodokai), Tomoyuki Hirasawa (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth), Cierra Nix (RMKIK Castle Rock), Julian Smith (RMKIF Castle Rock), Donying Song (AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Robert Stroud (PNKF Idaho), Kurt Van Horn (PNKF Hoshu).
1ST DAN: Amber Adams (SCKO Kobujodokai), Abigail Benoit (PNKF Tonbo), Lisanna Dettwyler (PNKF Hoshu), Sarah Scherr (MWKF Agassiz), Bob Schneider (SCKO Butokuden), Michi Takeda (SCKF Kubojodokai), Robert Tranchin (SWKIF Dallas-Ft Worth).
2ND DAN: Bradley Anderson (MWKF Agassiz), David Bressler (AEUSKF Ken-Zen), Michael Jacobson (MWKF Agassiz), Peter Kim (AEUSKF Doshikai), An Nguyen (SCKO Butokuden), Jaden Olah (SWKIF Yamakage), Judit Olah (SWKIF Yamakage), Adam Sandor (MWKF Agassiz), Michael Schuldt (MWKF Agassiz).
3RD DAN: Luis Adolfo Arancibia (CLAK Chile Jodo), Chris Dowling (PNKF Hoshu), Richard Flinn (MWKF Raccoon Valley).
PNKF KENDO SHINSA, August 10, 2019, Kent Commons Recreation Center, Kent
6TH KYU: Louis Liang (Northwest), Yuanchang Liang (Northwest), John Morse (Northwest), Atticus Slosson (Northwest), Koh Tapang (Highline).
5TH KYU: Madeleine Day (Kent), Hideaki Ito (Bellevue), Emerson Lau (Bellevue), Braeden Tapang (Highline).
4TH KYU: Keegan Hirata (Federal Way), Joe Kabeshita (Obukan), Brent Krupp (Cascade), Truman Lau (Bellevue), Yin Ouyang (Seattle), Denise Quach (Seattle), Rina Yuan (Bellevue).
3RD KYU: Nicholas Chu (Bellevue), Mi Jang (Tacoma), Taka Kabeshita (Obukan), Anthony Kelsey (Edmonds), Tory Kim (Northwest), Juah Paik (Tacoma), Rebecca Roland (Portland), Shen Ru (Everett), Hui Shen (Tacoma), Demetria Spinrad (Sno-King), Yi Sun (Bellevue), Michinari Tawara (Bellevue), Nina Underhill (Northwest), Fei Yuan (Bellevue).
2ND KYU: Andrea Calhoun (Portland), Aaron Fung (Seattle), Alex Kim (Bellevue), Sean Kim (Seattle), Seira Kojima (Bellevue), Yoji Konno (Meadowbrook), Juno Lee (UW), Dorrit Lin (UW), Aneurin Mabale (Seattle), Ju Young Oh (Highline), Conrad Slater (UW), Abigail Tan (UW), Brian Wong (UW), Alec Yuen (Seattle).
1ST KYU: Danny Chung (Cascade), Michael Ciesielski (Spokane), Espen Hellevik (UW), Taiki Miyamoto (Northwest), Connor Mulcahy (UW), Michael Rea (Spokane), Alexander Rossi (Spokane), Zhaoyuan Xu (Cascade), Derek Woodward (Everett).
1ST DAN: Tommy Espinal (AEUSKF U Rochester), Leo Gao (UW), Kyle Hale (Seattle), Eugene Kim (Seattle), Shoichi Kimura (Obukand), Elysia Midorikawa (UW), Matt Miyamoto (Northwest), Emilio Peralta (Obukan), Sung Won Ryu (Cascade), Michele Soleimani (Portland), Joshua Paik (Tacoma), Jin Pak (Northwest), Emilio Peralta (Obukan), Koki Takamatsu (Bellevue), Keiji Underhill (Northwest), Suepapone Vanasouk (Cascade).
2ND DAN: Athena Epilepsia (Bellevue), Kyle McDaniel (Seattle), Peter Palmer (Northwest), Blake Sprenger (Obukan), Shota Wetlesen (Obukan).
3RD DAN: Jacob Colter (Yamauchi) (Cascade), Dan DeLongChamp (Obukan), Soo-Hyung Kim (Seattle), Stephen Ting (Northwest), Andrew Yuen (Seattle).
AUSKF KODANSHA SHINSA, August 18, 2019, Eccles Student Life Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
5TH DAN: Guillermo Auvert (SEUSKF), Rex Joshua Hahn (WKF), Kenji Irie (SCKF), Kentaro Ninomiya (AEUSKF), Steven Sasaki (SWKIF), Takuro Yamaoka (SWKIF).
6TH DAN: Donghun Lee (AEUSKF), Nobuo Monji (CCKF), George Ogawa (NCKF), Charles C. Pak (SCKO), Joji Takada (MWKF).
7TH DAN: Jin-Kee Hyun (SEUSKF), Kohjiro Kinno (SCKF).
RENSHI: Akira Banchi (SCKO).
THE LAST WORD
Hiroshima, 1945
We were so isolated in Kochi that we had lost communications with our base in Hiroshima. We didn’t know about the Bomb or the end of the War until few weeks after Japan surrendered. But we weren’t surprised. The old soldiers were tired and already felt defeated, and most of us had known for some months that the war was lost. We just didn’t know the form that loss would take.
We arrived in Hiroshima, completely unprepared for the devastation. We skirted the city. Shicho Tai, our base, had been evaporated. There are no words for what we saw. A bomb, yes, but what kind of a bomb? Annihilation of this magnitude was inconceivable! And the devastation assaulted us wherever we gazed. The central city was flattened. Only the skeleton of a few brick buildings to the west remained. The sky was still thick with smoke from smoldering buildings and funeral pyres where bodies could no longer be cremated separately with respect and proper ritual, but stacked in piles for mass disposal. There was no ability to dignify death. Nonetheless, bodies were everywhere, horribly maimed and decaying, magnets for millions of flies. And there were the injured and dying, waiting and hoping for help. Two hundred thousand people died after the initial explosion. The city was eerily quiet. The sobs and screams of children occasionally pierced the silence, but adults didn’t speak. What could be said? People continued to die. But there were no words. There was no time for mourning. There was little food. Drinking water was scarce with the rivers weaving through the city contaminated with dead bodies and the fallout from the bomb. There was neither help nor medical supplies. There were too few doctors. Shock and suffering, chaos and destruction …
Of course we, like the citizens of Hiroshima and the military leaders, did not know the nature of the bomb, only rumors. Many had heard the Emperor’s surrender speech, the first time he had spoken on the radio in a language that common people had difficulty understanding. A joint army-navy meeting on August 10, under the auspices of the Imperial Headquarters, confirmed that the Americans had dropped the atomic bomb. But the information filtered to the people more slowly and it was more than a week for most to hear the truth but it was almost impossible to understand. There was no comprehension and certainly no knowledge of the long-term effects of radiation. Moreover, the Allied Occupation GHQ issued a press code on September 19, 1945 restricting references to the atomic bomb in speech, reporting, and publications; GHQ had to give permission, and generally refused, prohibiting any publication of A-bomb information.
Kendo training teaches not to be afraid. Fear alters the body, creating tension and compromising response. Kendo training failed me at Hiroshima. This was a world gone mad, pure destruction and I felt a deep, dark, paralyzing fear beyond reason or action. But maybe Kendo training did help, because I did remember to breathe deeply, five meditative breaths to the hara, and regained some calm. At the Hiroshima railroad station, from where no trains were now dispatched, I turned to my soldiers and asked if they had a home. Their replies were immediate. “Hai, hai, hai!” Everyone had a home. “Go,” I said, and they all started walking toward home.
Then I realized I was alone. Did I have a home where I could return? The question was empty, an echo from nowhere. I had no home. I longed for Hawaii, but I could not return. But Wahiawa was where I longed to be, in the gentle islands smelling of plumeria and wild ginger. Even rotting mangoes have a fecund, sweet smell. All I could smell here was burnt flesh, and that smell is something I tried to forget. In fact, I try to forget everything about Hiroshima after the Bomb.
During the times when I had nearly been killed, I lost the capacity for fear. No flinching, no jumpiness. Instinct takes over; no thoughts of terrible possibilities or hopes of the future, or even dying. I just blocked everything. The War was finished but war is never finished just because one side surrenders. Hiroshima is proof of that. I turned toward Kure and my grandfather’s house. There was no other choice. I didn’t know whether the house was even there. But I was lucky. I was alive, not injured, and I had to respect this life I was given and get up, move, act.
I set out from Hiroshima Station to walk the ~50 miles to Kure. All I had was my soldier’s uniform to cover my skin, a military backpack, and my Japanese sword hung from my left side. I didn’t know whether I would get there or not. There was no time commitment for me. I didn’t care. I just walked at a slow pace chewing on the remains of hard crackers that I had left. It was the only food I had, and soon I had none. I had no water. And the Hiroshima in August is hot and humid.
I was thirsty and hungry. When I saw a green plant along the road, although most often it was only a blade of grass, I ate it. Fasting is said to enhance clarity. Perhaps, but starvation is just painful. I understood hunger. The gut feels like it is ripping apart, twisted and stretched. All I could think of was food, and then nothing. I just put one foot in front of the other.
The road was full of other soldiers and entire families leaving Hiroshima. There was no food for any of us. We were all helpless. We were all in rags. Nobody was in any position to give help. There was no shelter. People slept by the side of the road, under rags or lean-to’s made of debris or pieces of metal; abandoned vehicles gave some respite. It was cold at night, boiling during the day; at times it rained, at times the wind blew, but there was no shelter.
I turned east toward the shores. Along the shores between Hiroshima and Kure were seaweed, clams and some small fish. I scooped them up with both hands and stuffed them into my mouth, whole and raw. I ate everything raw. I told myself, “If anything moves, eat ‘um.” Living creatures are either prey or predator. I would live, but I no longer cared. Walk, walk, walk. Continuing to walk but no longer caring whether I got to Kure or not. One foot at a time. Walking, walking…
CHAPTER 4 Wind
To renew, when we are deadlocked with the enemy, means that without changing our circumstances we change our spirit and win through a different technique. (Musashi)
I don’t remember how many days it took me to reach Hayashi Yama (now Miharashi Cho), my grandfather’s village in Kure, but when I finally looked up it was sunrise, and I saw my grandfather working in the fields just as he had done when I had left for the army that morning in 1942. Unlike the 15 million homeless people throughout Japan, I had a home to live in and some food.
–Rod Nobuto Omoto, Autobiography, edited by Charlotte Omoto, 2014, p. 39-43. 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