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The Belief System of Commanders During the Warring States Period The Japanese people’s reverence of nature dates back to ancient times and is rooted in the religious worship of nature, especially since the prosperity of Sangaku Shinko. This roughly translates as…

Memorable Kendo Matches 16: 1953 Kyoto Taikai In 1953, after a 10 years of absence and prohibition, eight kenshi stepped into sonkyo for a new beginning of Japanese post-war kendo.

Interview with Matsuzaki Kenshiro Vol. 4 I don’t want second place! “The number one university in Japan for kendo is Tsukuba.” Being told this from a young age by his father, it always stayed with him. On my high school career survey, I w…

Interview with Matsuzaki Kenshiro Vol. 3 So, what is the full story to Matsuzaki becoming so accomplished? While we can only get a glimpse, it is worth it. December of his second year of junior high school Matsuzaki was the Taisho for his…

Interview with Matsuzaki Kenjiro Vol. 2 Even though I had been able to focus on each individual match until now, with the finals in front of me, my emotions began to blur. It would have been fine if I were able to fight having accepted t…

Interview with Matsuzaki Kenjiro Vol. 1 Not making limits, going beyond them It was the 67th All Japan Kendo Tournament. In the shadows of Kunitomo Rentaro bathing in praise from every direction for his first All Japan victory, someone e…

Interview With Rentaro Kunitomo, The 67th All Japan Kendo Championship Winner Vol.1 It was really “third time lucky” for Rentaro Kunitomo who won the All Japan Championship. 5 years ago, he entered the Championship for the first time and came 2nd, and two years later he also achie…

Zanshin In kyudo, there is a concept called the “8 Phases of Shooting”. This concept divides the movement for releasing the arrow into 8 phases; each phase has its own name. The last phase that brings the …

Japanese Indigo Dye: Blue comes from indigo and is bluer than indigo Are you avoiding Sho-aizome(genuine indigo dye) for fear of fading? The Ai (indigo) color is used not only in Kendo equipment but has been used throughout Japanese culture. Its deepness has natural…

Kendo Gear Maintenance Vol. 2: Treating your gear well is an important factor to learn in martial arts Continuing on from the last edition, we asked Mr. Shoji Seki about kendo gear maintenance. What is the first thing someone who uses kendo gear should do for maintenance? Seki gives a clear answer. …

Kendo as a way of life is hard This article by Mihai Dutescu(Tozando 2019 Essay contest Winner) takes a look at the objectives of kendo and why we should embrace the difficulty that lies ahead on our chosen path. Kendo as a way …

Death in Samurai Literature from Practical to Idiolization Death comes to us all at the end of our life’s journey, regardless of the path we walk. Inescapably, it pursues us; hiding in the shadows, it waits patiently for our time when our road runs out. Ac…