At this time of year, the “Okinawa Prefecture Person of Merit” and the “Okinawa Prefecture Person of Cultural Merit” awards are announced.
This year, Teruya Kōei sensei, chairman of the Okinawa Gōjū-ryū Karatedō Association was selected for the “Person of Merit” award. The former chairman of the Okinawa Prefectural Karatedō Federation, he is a Hanshi 10th dan, and is 80 years old.
A holder of the intangible cultural asset “Okinawa karate & kobujutsu” designated by the prefecture, Takara Shintoku sensei was selected for the “Person of Cultural Merit” award. A Uechi-Ryū Hanshi 10th Dan, he is 91 years old.
Print out application forms for the 1st Okinawa Karate World Junior Tournament and the 2nd Okinawa Karate World Tournament are also available at our office.
The dedication demonstration held on October 25th at the Okinawa Karate Kaikan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeM3tzqbPLM
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| The governor, Tamaki Deny | Kikugawa Masanari sensei | Maeshiro Morinobu sensei |
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| Iha Kotaro sensei | Nakahodo Tsutomu sensei | Nakamoto Masahiro sensei |
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| Takara Shintoku sensei | Higaonna Morio sensei | Uehara Kunio, ODKS chief secretary |
Yesterday was held the first Okinawa Karate Academy session of this fiscal term. Lecturer was Yamamoto Masaaki, chief curator at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum. His research report was about “The state of the conflict in the Gusuku period and the actual weapons and armors.”
During his interesting lecture, he presented the ancient document “Hyōtō Ryūkyū Kokki” dating back to 1244 in which can be seen Ryūkyūans using swords, bows and arrows, and halberds as weapons. This document is believed to be the oldest weapon record in Ryūkyūan history.
Photo source: the National Diet Library. Follow the link to see the original pictures.
This year, 6 events are scheduled for the celebration of "Karate no Hi, the day of karate". Here are the details. (Updated on October 21st)
Sunday, October 24th, 2021
- The 7th Memorial demonstration for the war victims organized by the Uechi-ryū Karatedō Rengōkai will start at AM10:00 at the Okinawa Prefecture Peace Memorial Park in Itoman City. Members of the federation will demonstrate the various kata of Uechi-ryū, kobudō and tameshiwari, among others.
- The 100 Kata for Karate Day Challenge is scheduled to start at AM11:00 in the same park.
- Another event including karate is scheduled at the Naha City Tree-planting Center from PM2:00 to PM3:00. The event is organized by Mr. Chinen Hiroshi of Misaki Kogyo Ltd. Scheduled are demonstrations by Renshinkan and Shōbukan students, karate dances and demonstrations by Hokama Tetsuhiro sensei’s students.
Monday, October 25th, 2021
- The masters’ demonstration, to be held at the Okinawa Karate Kaikan, is an on invitation only event. The event is scheduled to be aired on YouTube on October 27th. More at this page: https://karate-event.jp/en/demonstrations/
Sunday, October 31st, 2021
- The memorial demonstration that used to be held in Naha City’s Kokusai Street in recent years will unveil at the Okinawa Prefecture Peace Memorial Park in Itoman City. It will start at PM3:30 with demonstrations by cultural asset holders and will follow with a ceremony and demonstrations by the members of the federations that compose the Okinawa Dento Karatedo Shinkokai. The event should end around PM5:30. Closed to visitors, live broadcast of the event is scheduled. More at this page: https://karate-event.jp/en/memorial-demonstration/
- An online projection mapping show at the Shuri Castle will feature karate demonstrations. It will start at PM7:00. Watch the show at this link: https://shurijo-event.wixsite.com/2021
Related information of the Day of Karate: https://okic.okinawa/en/archives/newstopics/536
