View Single Post
Old 10-22-2011, 01:43 AM   #9
Peter Goldsbury
 
Peter Goldsbury's Avatar
Dojo: Hiroshima Kokusai Dojo
Location: Hiroshima, Japan
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,308
Japan
Offline
Re: Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation 21

Quote:
Fred Little wrote: View Post

2. Both Minakata and Ueshiba were sons of local merchant families whose religious association was Shingon, very likely the same temple. Additionally, Minakata's work on Kashima Island from 1904 forward brought him into direct contact with the same fishermen whose interests Ueshiba was advocating in 1901. It is a virtual certainty that Ueshiba would have known who Minakata was and likely that Minakata would have known who Ueshiba was, and it is within the realm of possibility that the two men met before Ueshiba's military service in the Russo-Japanese conflict.
Best regards,

Fred Littloe
Hello Fred,

A couple more comments.

Kisshomaru goes into some detail about the large number of Shingon temples in Tanabe. This has been translated and appears on pp. 55-56 of A Life in Aikido. He distinguishes between various Shingon sub-sects and the Jizo temples that practised Ryobu Shinto. It seems that Ueshiba started his schooling at such a temple.

Secondly, Kisshomaru notes that Ueshiba may well have met Minkata before he went into the army. The statement appears on p. 76 of 『合気道開祖植芝盛平伝』:

「開祖は、かつての「磯事件」(この時も南方翁は反対運動に多少かかわっていたらしく、開祖との面識はすでにその折からあったようである)の場合と同様、合祀される側への 義侠心半分、私腹を肥やさんとする連中へ義憤半分から行動をおこしたらしく思われる。」

Best wishes,

PAG

P A Goldsbury
_______________________
Kokusai Dojo,
Hiroshima,
Japan
  Reply With Quote