oldest dojo in the USA

[Hans Bachmann]

Hello,

I am doing some historical research, and I am trying to find out what are the oldest Dojo in the USA that are still active. Any listings at all, or known dojo would be helpful in my research.

Thank you kindly,

Hans Bachmann

[Neil Yamamoto]

The Seattle Dojo - judo - started in 1902 is a candidate.

I know there were groups doing kendo and judo earlier and informally but none stayed active, even Seattle Dojo was inactive during WWII and Japanese American internment.

Oldest Kendo in the Pacific Northwest showed activity in 1905 with a demo and a tournament in 1910, but no official dojo establishment dates that I am aware of anywhere.

[Prince Loeffler]

Hello,

I am doing some historical research, and I am trying to find out what are the oldest Dojo in the USA that are still active. Any listings at all, or known dojo would be helpful in my research.

Thank you kindly,

Hans Bachmann

Hello Mr. Bachmann

Are you looking for Japanese / Okinawan "dojo" or pretty much all styles ? I am curious as well as to which is the longest dojo here in the US.

[Brian Owens]

...Oldest Kendo in the Pacific Northwest showed activity in 1905 with a demo and a tournament in 1910, but no official dojo establishment dates that I am aware of anywhere.

I don't know what group was active in 1905, but I know Seattle Kendo Kai claims to be the oldest Kendo dojo in the PNW, with establishment in 1924.

I can't find the info at the moment, but I seem to recall there being a Kendo dojo in New York or Philadelphia earlier than that.

[Mark Murray]

Um, does that include those places that weren't states? Hawaii wasn't a state until 1959 but I'd bet it has a long tradition of martial arts.

[Joseph Svinth]

The question is whether you include breaks due to the problems that Japanese Americans had during WWII.

If yes, then Seattle Dojo, which dates to sometime between 1902 and 1905, is a good candidate for the oldest judo club on the Mainland. If no, then New York Dojo is a candidate. Kawaishi (yes, that Kawaishi) created New York Dojo in 1927, and in 1935, New York Dojo merged with an older club, the Nippon Athletic Club, to become the modern organization. Nippon Athletic Club dates to before 1916.

In Honolulu, Jigoro Kano formally recognized Shunyo Kan in 1913. That club dates to about 1909. However, Southern California's Nanka Yudanshakai is older than Hawaii's Yudanshakai. Nanka dates to 1928-1929, whereas Hawaii Yudanshakai dates to 1932.

There were some kendo clubs in Hawaii during the 1880s, and on the Mainland by the early 1900s. In California, kendo went into a serious decline after Junzo Sasamori returned to Japan in 1923. Thus, modern kendo in Southern California owes less to Sasamori than it does to Torao Mori, who was in LA from 1936-1940, and again after WWII.

For Seattle, that 1924 date would seem to be the date of establishment for the Nippon Athletic Club, an umbrella group. The actual Seattle Kendo Kai is older than that, but I don't know the exact date.

[Brian Owens]

...For Seattle, that 1924 date would seem to be the date of establishment for the Nippon Athletic Club, an umbrella group. The actual Seattle Kendo Kai is older than that, but I don't know the exact date.

According to what Doug Imanishi told me, a group of Seattle-area Kendoka got together in the early 1920s, but a dojo wasn't formally established until 1924. By that, he may have been refering to the date that SKK found a physical location with the NAC, but I don't know that for certain.

[Joseph Svinth]

The early history of the Washington State clubs is not well documented. However, the Seattle Kendo Kai seems to have been in existence by 1909. Evidence includes Seattle Times, October 1, 1909, which had a photograph of twenty Issei men dressed in both business suits and bogu (armor) above a caption reading "Japanese students who will take part in fencing tournament at [Alaska-Pacific-Yukon] exposition tonight."

At any rate, by 1929, junior members of the Seattle Kendo Kai were associated with Boy Scout Troops 55 and 56. The Seattle Kendo Kai was directly affiliated with the Dai Nippon Butokukai in Kyoto – its official name was Dai Nippon Butokukai Seattle Chapter -- and its nominal head was the Japanese consul.

Classes met Tuesday and Friday nights, either above Seattle's Kin Ka Low restaurant or at the Japanese Baptist Church on First Hill. Fees were $1.50 per month for individuals; family rates were $1.50 for two children and $2.25 for three or more.

Organizationally, leadership included two vice-presidents (the consul was president, but rarely participated in any functions), three secretaries, and two treasurers. Instructors of the late 1920s included Shinjaro Morita and another Issei named Morishima. Around 1933, Umajiro Imanishi and Chusaburo Ito supplanted these men. Other Issei associated with the Seattle Kendo Kai included Nakagawa, Ogami, Ohya, Sawada, Tsuneishi, Uenishai, and Yoshitomi.

The Seattle Kendo Kai had one affiliate, a junior club associated with the Maryknoll Catholic School. Tamotsu Takizaki, a former high school kendo champion who ultimately achieved the rank of 5-dan, taught there. He was born in Japan in September 1882, and came to the United States in 1980. He returned to Japan in 1916 for eighteen months, and again in 1936 for four months.

Total membership in the Seattle Kendo Kai of the 1930s was probably around fifty adults and juniors.

The Hokubei Butokukai in Seattle dates to September/October 1936. The current Nisei Vets Hall was built as a kendo hall for Hokubei Butokukai functions. During WWII, kendo was associated with anti-Americanism (see the riots at Poston in 1942), and so after the war, there was not much interest in kendo in Seattle. Thus, the building was sold to the Nisei Vets.

Fife Seinan Kai offered kendo classes as early as 1917, but these were never as popular with the Fife Nisei as the judo classes Mr. Iwakiri taught.

Gresham-Troutdale had a kendo club by 1932, but the modern Portland clubs are all from the 1970s or later. The oldest club in BC is almost certainly the Steveston club. I'm not sure when Yuichi Akune began teaching kendo in Steveston, but it was definitely before 1937, because the Steveston kendoka cleaned up on the Seattle kendoka during a tournament held in Seattle in 1937.

For all these clubs, rent was an issue until at least the 1930s. The judo club was in the basement of a different hotel every couple years during the 1910s and 1920s, and you need much higher ceilings for kendo than you do for judo. Thus, it is likely that the Seattle Kendo Kai didn't have a semi-permanent home until the mid-1920s.

[Brian Owens]

...the Seattle Kendo Kai seems to have been in existence by 1909. Evidence includes Seattle Times, October 1, 1909, which had a photograph of twenty Issei men dressed in both business suits and bogu (armor) above a caption reading "Japanese students who will take part in fencing tournament at [Alaska-Pacific-Yukon] exposition tonight."

Joe, I'm not trying to be argumentative, just clear.

Does the photo caption say anything about SKK, or just an unnamed group of "Japanese students"?

The reason I ask is that I suspect there was a different group of Kendoka practicing before the 1920s, since SKK own history says they were formed then.

In addition to my personal recall of what Doug Imanishi told me when we met, there is also the SKK Web site: http://www.seattlekendokai.org/about/index.html

[Hissho]

Portland Oregon's Obukan (央武館) dates itself to 1926:

http://www.obukan.org/index.htm

or much earlier if you consider the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exhibition demo of Kito-ryu by Bunzaemon Nii:

http://www.obukan.com/history.php

If Nii went on to be the first instructor of Obukan Judo club (one can imagine he must have had students in between 1905 and 1926), Nii's group must certainly qualify as among the oldest in the US.

And Onchi sensei remains the Chief Instructor.

[Brian Owens]

Mr. Bachmann,

I gave a link to the Seattle Kendo Kai above. Here's the link to Seattle Dojo, mentioned by Neil and Joe: http://www.seattledojo.org/about.htm

HTH.

[Hans Bachmann]

Yes I am primarily seeking information on Japanese and Okinawan dojo that are still active in the US.

Hans Bachmann

Hello Mr. Bachmann

Are you looking for Japanese / Okinawan "dojo" or pretty much all styles ? I am curious as well as to which is the longest dojo here in the US.

[Hans Bachmann]

Thank you all for the great information.

I have one other question in regards to time frames, and I have no idea as to what this number might be.

I am curious as to how many dojo in the United States have been consistently active since the ending of world war 2, and are still active today. I mean dojo that have been consistently active since say the early 1950's and the early 1960's?

Thank you all very much

Hans Bachmann