Recommended reading: “Profile of a Shihan: Mitsunari Kanai” by Kazuo Chiba

The article below has been selected from the extensive archives of the Online Aikido Journal. We believe that an informed readership with knowledge of the history, techniques and philosophy of aikido is essential to the growth of the art and its adherence to the principles espoused by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.

They call him “Hambei,” but no one knows why. For many years one of his character traits has been to annoy people by appearing in unexpected places at unexpected moments. If I remember correctly, it was one morning in early autumn of 1959 or 1960 when Mr. Kanai appeared in front of me while I was sprinkling water on the stepping stones at the front entrance to the old Hombu Dojo. He and I had become very close friends during our youthful years while immersed from morning till night in judo training.Together we had read the novel, Sugata Sanshiro, by Tsuneo Tomita so many times that we wore it out.

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Posted by Aikido Journal on Jun 25th, 2009: Recommended Reading (post a comment)