Peter Goldsbury

'Are they O Sensei's own words?' It is hard to be absoutely sure. Even the Takemusu Aiki lectures were edited by Hideo Takahashi and the Aiki Shinzui discourses were certainly edited (under Kisshomaru Ueshiba's overall direction by the late Sadateru Arikawa). The only direct statements in the Japanese original of Kisshomaru Ueshiba's "Aikido" are selected douka and the interview with two newspaper reporters.

I am an academic and have firsthand experience of the sloppy editorial practices common in Japan, where it seems not to be the rule to acknowledge sources with any precision. This is something I am constantly telling my graduate students and the fact that I am constantly doing it suggests that it is not accepted practice.

Of course, the fact that O Sensei's alleged statements were edited does not mean that he did not make them, and make them exactly as they are recorded. But, as I said, it is hard to be sure.