公益財団法人 全日本剣道連盟 All Japan Kendo Federation

AJKF News

updated

Photos of the 1st International Goodwill Kendo Club World Championship

The All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF) has uploaded some photos on Flickr, which are from the 1st International Goodwill Kendo Club World Championship.
The photos were part of a donation to the AJKF by Mr. Takeo HIGASHI (Suginami-ku, Tokyo), a son of Mr. Yasutomo HIGASHI (Kendo Hanshi 8 Dan).

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen’s birth, the 1st International Goodwill Kendo Club World Championship was held in Taiwan on November 21, 1965, with Japan, America, Ryukyu (present-day Okinawa, Japan) and Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) participating.

In November 1966, Mr. Torao MORI (Hanshi, America) and Mr. Kazuo OYA, vice president and senior executive director of the AJKF, had a talk after the 2nd International Goodwill Kendo Club World Championship in Okinawa. That led to the holding of the 1st World Goodwill Kendo Match on November 4, 1967, hosted by the AJKF.

After that, with growing hope for global organization and competition, the International Kendo Federation (IKF: now FIK) was established on April 4, 1970. The same year the IKF hosted the 1st World Kendo Championships with the team competition at the Nippon Budokan on April 5 and the individual competition at Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium on April 10.

The 1st International Goodwill Kendo Club World Championship took the lead in kendo’s international development, at the same time as being the origin of the World Kendo Championships. Therefore, these photos are particularly important.

The AJKF would like to express its gratitude to Takeo HIGASHI for donating these photos.

 

** AJKF Flickr **

Request to all kendoists:

These photos have been made public for anyone to see on the AJKF’s website and Flickr account. Unauthorized reprinting and copying of the photos is strictly prohibited without permission.