Interview with Aikido Shihan Masatake Fujita, Part 2

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[Chris Li]

Interview with Aikido Shihan Masatake Fujita, Part 2 (http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/interview-aikido-shihan-masatake-fujita-part-2/) - "Even among those of high rank, those who don’t understand don’t understand."

Enjoy!

Chris

[Dazaifoo]

I liked this little nugget about lost information, "...winding the left and right hands in opposite directions, that have not been transmitted."

Now where have I heard that before?...

[Chris Li]

I liked this little nugget about lost information, "...winding the left and right hands in opposite directions, that have not been transmitted."

Now where have I heard that before?...

I liked that one too...;)

Best,

Chris

[Ellis Amdur]

One of the more interesting aspects of this article is the photograph. Generally speaking, in both China and Japan, prestige in photos is signified by how close you are to the front row and how close you are to the center. I do not know if this is true in this case, but notice that right beside the two military men are Ueshiba Morihei and Nakayama Hakudo.

Shimizu Takaji, the famous jodo instructor, is off to one side. The headmistress of Tendo-ryu, one "rank" to the side of Ueshiba, and at the other side were two of the great judo men, Isogai and Nagaoka.

This illustrates what prestige Ueshiba had at the time. Perhaps this is due to the number of generals whom he taught. But at any rate, in this photo, he's one of the two most important budo practitioners there.

Ellis Amdur

[Peter Goldsbury]

One of the more interesting aspects of this article is the photograph. Generally speaking, in both China and Japan, prestige in photos is signified by how close you are to the front row and how close you are to the center. I do not know if this is true in this case, but notice that right beside the two military men are Ueshiba Morihei and Nakayama Hakudo.

Shimizu Takaji, the famous jodo instructor, is off to one side. The headmistress of Tendo-ryu, one "rank" to the side of Ueshiba, and at the other side were two of the great judo men, Isogai and Nagaoka.

This illustrates what prestige Ueshiba had at the time. Perhaps this is due to the number of generals whom he taught. But at any rate, in this photo, he's one of the two most important budo practitioners there.

Ellis Amdur

Yes, I thought this too. I would be very interested to know who the rest of the people are. Any ideas, Chris?

[Chris Li]

Yes, I thought this too. I would be very interested to know who the rest of the people are. Any ideas, Chris?

No idea - the key and the names that go with it are from the interview, but it would certainly be interesting to know who the rest of the people were.

Best,

Chris

[Peter Goldsbury]

I checked the photograph in the text and the caption states that the photograph was taken on the occasion of a budo demonstration in front of the Emperor of Manchukuo, Pu-yi. Fujita Masayoshi was the shuji 主事 of the budo association. The year 1940 was also the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of the Japanese empire by the Emperor Jimmu (we celebrated this event in Japan recently) and there was a large budo demonstration at this time, in which Morihei Ueshiba participated.

[Chris Li]

Now available in Romanian (http://www.aikido-jurnal.ro/index.php?pagina=art_136), courtesy of Aikido Jurnal. The original English version is available here (http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/interview-aikido-shihan-masatake-fujita-part-2/).

Best,

Chris