Likes Likes:  4
Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Amur River Society

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Bedford, England
    Posts
    1,201
    Likes (received)
    2

    Default Amur River Society

    Amur River Society on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dragon_Society

    aka "Black Dragon Society"
    What happened to them post WW2? I know various members were still very prominent up into the 1980s, but did the organization continue in any form?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    685
    Likes (received)
    111

    Default Old Fashioned

    Not really. The Amur River Society was really not relevant by the 1920's, I believe. Each "society" - (the Genyousha - Dark Ocean society is another) were actually created for specific purposes or even missions. When something new came up, a new society was created. This was very useful, because the same guys could mix and match, without having to reboot the mission statement.
    Ellis Amdur

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Hiroshima, Japan.
    Posts
    2,550
    Likes (received)
    151

    Default

    The Wikipedia article cites p. 61 of Brian Victoria's Zen War Stories as evidence of the re-creation of the Kokuryukai. The citation comes from Victoria's chapter on Omori Sogen, subtitled "The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of Zen."

    Victoria's chapter, indeed the whole book, is very much worth reading, for it gives a general context to Omori Sogen's creation of the Kokuryu Club that one would never suspect from reading the English Wikipedia article about him. Omori Sogen was one of those Japanese budoka--there are others, who found it very hard to accept Japan's defeat in 1945. Some worked very hard to maintain the 'mission statement', as Ellis puts it, even if the mission could no longer be carried out. The mission arose from the myths of Japan's spiritual uniqueness and its 'divine' mission to lead the rest of Asia in a 'Showa Restoration', that led to the military conquests from 1931 onwards.

    The fact that the Yasukuni Shrine exists and flourishes is some evidence that the myths have never been finally laid to rest.
    Peter Goldsbury,
    Forum Administrator,
    Hiroshima, Japan

  4. Likes mkrueger liked this post
  5. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Bedford, England
    Posts
    1,201
    Likes (received)
    2

    Default

    The fact that prominent members like the billionaire Sasakawa were still active until relatively recently suggests that maybe names change but the spirit marches on. I know that members of the European New Right have contacts with something that claims descent from, and continuity with, the Black Dragons Society. The problem is that when you start moving in such circles reality and fiction have a very strange way of becoming difficult to discern.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    685
    Likes (received)
    111

    Default

    Dirk - no doubt whatsoever. But too much was made of the Amur River Society itself. If they hadn't latched on to such a wonderful name (as far as its effect on the West), it might have been less prominent in people's minds. Similarly, ISIS is not Al Qaeda is not the Muslim Brotherhood is not etc. For example, many of the elder statesmen of the period, Toyama Mitsuru and Uchida Ryohei for example, were put on pedestals, so to speak, by the 1930's, but were no longer players. On the other hand, Inoue Nissho, of the Ketsumeidan, was active fomenting new groups and actions in the 1960's and early 1970's. One of the postwar drives of some of the radical right was to make alliances with the radical left, because both favored the destruction of society as it was known. They figured they'd fight out their differences in the ashes.

    And the truth is that most of the prominent Japanese martial arts figures of the era were knee-deep with these guys. Uchida Ryohei was a very prominent Shindo Muso-ryu guy and Toyama sponsored Shimizu Takaji. Ueshiba Morihei was referred to by one modern day far-right man as "uyoku no uyoku" (the epitome of the right). So Doshin of Shorinji Kenpo was a low level member of the spy services in continental Asia. Shotokan karate dispatched three prominent instructors to teach at the Nakano Spy School, and they tested the effect of various strikes on the bodies of living prisoners. Sasakawa, as you mention, was the sponsor of most of the main karate groups, the Aikikai. One of the most prominent koryu organizations was headed by an uncle of Hirohito, who was the liason between the palace and the right wing activist groups you are curious about. Truth is, when I trained in Japan in the 1970's or 1980's, if I mentioned koryu or Zen, many young people would generally draw back in distaste, much the way most people would do if you announced you were a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

  7. Likes Tripitaka of AA, mkrueger liked this post
  8. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Bedford, England
    Posts
    1,201
    Likes (received)
    2

    Default

    Yes - I recall being at the Shorinji Kempo taikai in Tokyo in 1985 where the podium was stuffed with politicians and businessmen. As each was introduced the assembled Kenshi did their gassho-rae (me included). However, when one of them came forward I noticed quite a few kenshi did not salute. It was Sasakawa. Since it was the equivalent of refusing to bow, it was probably somewhat of a considered insult.

  9. Likes mkrueger liked this post

Similar Threads

  1. Ki Society
    By Robert G in forum Aikido
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 21st July 2010, 13:50
  2. Ki Society Website now in English
    By TLR in forum Aikido
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 6th September 2005, 00:28
  3. More human body parts found in Sumida River
    By Joseph Svinth in forum News from Japan
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 18th April 2003, 04:01
  4. Woman's hands and foot found discarded at river
    By Yobina in forum News from Japan
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 12th March 2003, 04:29
  5. Kano Society
    By Will Wetherell in forum Judo
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 11th February 2002, 22:48

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •