1.
Okinawan name
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Okinawan names today have only two components, the family names first and the given names last. Okinawan family names represent the historical and cultural background of the islands which now comprise Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Expatriates originally from Okinawa also have these names, as Japanese citizens, Okinawans today comply with the Japanese family register system. Accordingly, an Okinawan name has two components, a family name and a given name. A family name is called myōji, uji or sei, the family name precedes the given name. The given name may be referred to as the name because, in vertically-written Japanese. Japanese family names generally show regional variation, but Okinawan family names are known for its distinctiveness, in contrast it becomes increasingly difficult to find unique Okinawan given names. This top 10 list is based on the name as written in kanji, since the Japanese language allows for multiple possible readings for each character, the reading of Okinawan family names written with the same characters varies. In addition, the Okinawan language has its own means of reading Japanese kanji, as in mainland Japan, historical names in Okinawa are more complicated. People with different social statuses bore different kinds of names, maintained several names to use in different occasions, Okinawan names underwent great changes after the Ryūkyū Kingdom fell under the Satsuma Domains control. For example, the warabi-naa of Tamagusuku Chōkun was Umi-guraa, warabi-naa were most prevalent among Okinawans, from the king to commoners, both male and female. They were the oldest component of Okinawan names as, like people in mainland Japan and they were used as the official names during the early era of the Ryukyu Kingdom. They appeared even in appointment letters by the king, written mostly in hiragana and it was during the 17th century that other name components prevailed among the pechin class. A warabi-naa was given soon after birth, although literally meaning childhood name, it was used by commoners for their entire life. While it was overshadowed by other components, even adult male members of the pechin class used warabi-naa at home. Later in history, stylized use of prefixes and suffixes differentiated social statuses, a commoner used neither a prefix nor suffix, a samurai used either a prefix or suffix, and an aristocrat used both a prefix and a suffix. For example, Tukū was a name for commoners, Umi-tukū for samurai, a set of warabi-naa appeared in the very beginning of recorded history and has not been changed since then. The number of warabi-naa pooled in society was extremely small and it was not uncommon for a warabi-naa to be shared by more than one person in a household
2.
Shuri, Okinawa
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Shuri is a district of the city of Naha, Okinawa. It was formerly a city in and of itself. Originally established as a town surrounding the royal palace, Shuri ceased to be the capital when the kingdom was abolished and incorporated into Japan as Okinawa prefecture. In 1896, Shuri was made a ward of the new capital, Naha. In 1954, it was merged again into Naha, Shuri Castle was first built during the reign of Shunbajunki, who ruled from nearby Urasoe Castle. The island was not yet an organized or unified kingdom, historian George H. Shō Hashi, first king of the unified Ryūkyū Kingdom, made Shuri his capital, and oversaw expansion of the castle and the city. Shuri would remain the capital for roughly 550 years. The castle was burned to the ground during succession disputes in the 1450s, but was rebuilt, throughout the medieval and early modern periods, the residents of Shuri were primarily those associated with the royal court in some way. While Naha was the center of the kingdom, Shuri was the political center. Residence at Shuri was prestigious into the 20th century, samurai forces from the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma seized Shuri Castle on 5 April 1609. The American Commodore Perry, when he came to Okinawa in the 1850s, King Shō Tai and his court were removed from the castle, which was occupied by a Japanese garrison, and the main gates of which were sealed. The castle, along with the mansions of former court nobles, fell into disrepair and decay over the ensuing years. Royal pensions were shrunk or abolished, and income from nobles nominal domains in the countryside likewise dried up, servants were dismissed, and the aristocratic population of the city scattered, seeking employment in Naha, the countryside, or the Japanese Home Islands. Census figures from 1875-79 show that half of the population of Okinawa Island were living in the greater Naha-Shuri area. Shuri had fewer households than Naha, but each household consisted of more people, over the following years, however, Shuri shrank in both population and importance, as Naha grew. Pressure to restore, conserve, and protect the sites of Shuri began in earnest in the 1910s. A four-year plan was out for the restoration of the structure. Other historical monuments came under protection soon afterward, the city first suffered Allied air attack in October 1944
3.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
4.
Shuri-te
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Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and Okinawan kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. In 1429, the three kingdoms on Okinawa unified to form the Kingdom of Ryukyu, when King Shō Shin came into power in 1477, he banned the practice of martial arts. Tō-te and Ryukyu kobudō continued to be taught in secret, the ban was continued in 1609 after Okinawa was invaded by the Satsuma Domain of Japan. The bans contributed to the development of kobudō which uses common household, the Okinawans combined Chinese martial arts with the existing local variants to form Tōde, sometimes called Okinawa-te. By the 18th century, different types of Te had developed in three different villages – Shuri, Naha and Tomari, the styles were named Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, respectively. Well into the 20th century, the arts of Okinawa were generally referred to as te and tii 手 in Japanese. Te often varied from one town to another, so to distinguish among the types of te. Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te belong to a family of martial arts that were defined as Tode-jutsu or To-de. Karate was systematically taught in Japan after the Taisho era, Shuri-te is a pre-World War II term for a type of indigenous martial art to the area around Shuri, the old capital city of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Tomari-te refers to a tradition of martial arts originating from the village of Tomari, Okinawa Karate Japanese martial arts Peichin
5.
Tomari-te
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Okinawan martial arts refers to the martial arts, such as karate, tegumi and Okinawan kobudō, which originated among the indigenous people of Okinawa Island. In 1429, the three kingdoms on Okinawa unified to form the Kingdom of Ryukyu, when King Shō Shin came into power in 1477, he banned the practice of martial arts. Tō-te and Ryukyu kobudō continued to be taught in secret, the ban was continued in 1609 after Okinawa was invaded by the Satsuma Domain of Japan. The bans contributed to the development of kobudō which uses common household, the Okinawans combined Chinese martial arts with the existing local variants to form Tōde, sometimes called Okinawa-te. By the 18th century, different types of Te had developed in three different villages – Shuri, Naha and Tomari, the styles were named Shuri-te, Naha-te, and Tomari-te, respectively. Well into the 20th century, the arts of Okinawa were generally referred to as te and tii 手 in Japanese. Te often varied from one town to another, so to distinguish among the types of te. Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te belong to a family of martial arts that were defined as Tode-jutsu or To-de. Karate was systematically taught in Japan after the Taisho era, Shuri-te is a pre-World War II term for a type of indigenous martial art to the area around Shuri, the old capital city of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Tomari-te refers to a tradition of martial arts originating from the village of Tomari, Okinawa Karate Japanese martial arts Peichin
6.
Pechin
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Pechin, or Pekumi, was a rank among the Yukatchu class of the former Ryukyu Kingdom, above the rank of Satunushi and below the rank of Ueekata. As scholar-officials, they served in administrative positions in the Ryukyuan government. Placed in the class, the Pechin would often travel with a servant at their side. There were three ranks of Pechin, Chikudun Pechin, Satunushi Pechin, and Pekumi or Pechin, Ryukyu Kingdom Okinawa Prefecture Ryukyuan people Gushiken surname Pechin Oyadomari of Tomari Pechin Takahara Arakaki Seishō Pechin Higa Okinawa, The History of an Island People by George H
7.
Sannosuke Ueshima
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Kiyotada Sannosuke Ueshima was a Japanese martial arts master who developed and founded the Kushin-ryu style of karate in Osaka, Japan. At only 3 years old he began his training in Konshin-ryu Juho-jutsu at Matsubaras academy in the city of Akō and his teacher was Kiyotada Kahei Matsubara. When he was 9 years old he learned the katas Channan and Kūshankū from Sugaya Ueshima, a officer of Akō. In 1918, at the age of 25, Ueshima received the title of professor of Konshin-ryu juho-jutsu from professor Matsubara, after receiving his title Ueshima relocated to the city of Osaka where he opened the academy of Konshin-ryu juho-jutsu. Several teachers of Karate arrived from Okinawa to practice and to teach Karate and these included, Chōki Motobu who taught the Shuri-te and Tomari-te style. Kanamori Kinjo/ Kinsei Kinjo who taught the styles Shōrin-ryū and Gōjū-ryū, chōshin Chibana who founder and taught the Shōrin-ryū Kobayashi style. In 1932 Ueshima founded the style of Kushin-ryu Karate-do, developed from the union of Konshin-Ryu with Gōjū-ryū Karate, in 1935 and for the first time in Japan, the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai conferred the title of professor of Karate to Ueshima with two others. In 1946, at the end of World War II, the dissolution of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai took place, in 1965, Ueshima received the title of 8th Dan of Kodokan Judo. His teacher, Kanamori Kinjo/ Kinsei Kinjo, professor of the styles Shōrin-ryū and Gōjū-ryū and professor of Karate to Ueshima, returned to his native Okinawa where he spread the Kushin-ryu style
8.
Karateka
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Karate is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the martial arts of Ryukyu Islands under the influence of Chinese martial arts. Karate is now predominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open-hand techniques such as knife-hands, spear-hands, historically, and in some modern styles, grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints, and vital-point strikes are also taught. A karate practitioner is called a karateka, Karate developed on the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was brought to the Japanese mainland in the early 20th century during a time of cultural exchanges between the Japanese and the Chinese and it was systematically taught in Japan after the Taishō era. In 1922 the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration, in 1924 Keio University established the first university karate club in mainland Japan and by 1932, major Japanese universities had karate clubs. After World War II, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there, Karate schools began appearing across the world, catering to those with casual interest as well as those seeking a deeper study of the art. Shigeru Egami, Chief Instructor of Shotokan Dojo, opined that the majority of followers of karate in overseas countries pursue karate only for its fighting techniques, depict karate as a mysterious way of fighting capable of causing death or injury with a single blow. The mass media present a pseudo art far from the real thing, shōshin Nagamine said, Karate may be considered as the conflict within oneself or as a life-long marathon which can be won only through self-discipline, hard training and ones own creative efforts. On September 28,2015, karate was featured on a shortlist along with baseball, softball, skateboarding, surfing, on June 1,2016, the International Olympic Committees executive board announced they were supporting the inclusion of all five sports for inclusion in the 2020 Games. Web Japan claims there are 50 million karate practitioners worldwide, while the World Karate Federation claims there are 100 million practitioners around the world, Karate began as a common fighting system known as te among the Pechin class of the Ryukyuans. There were few formal styles of te, but rather many practitioners with their own methods, one surviving example is the Motobu-ryū school passed down from the Motobu family by Seikichi Uehara. Early styles of karate are often generalized as Shuri-te, Naha-te, each area and its teachers had particular kata, techniques, and principles that distinguished their local version of te from the others. Members of the Okinawan upper classes were sent to China regularly to various political and practical disciplines. The incorporation of empty-handed Chinese Kung Fu into Okinawan martial arts occurred partly because of these exchanges, Traditional karate kata bear a strong resemblance to the forms found in Fujian martial arts such as Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, and Gangrou-quan. Many Okinawan weapons such as the sai, tonfa, and nunchaku may have originated in, Sakukawa Kanga had studied pugilism and staff fighting in China. In 1806 he started teaching an art in the city of Shuri that he called Tudi Sakukawa. This was the first known recorded reference to the art of Tudi, around the 1820s Sakukawas most significant student Matsumura Sōkon taught a synthesis of te and Shaolin styles
9.
Naihanchi
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Naihanchi is a karate Kata, performed in straddle stance. It translates to internal divided conflict, the form makes use of in-fighting techniques and grappling. In Shorin-Ryu and Matsubayashi-ryū Naihanchi Shodan is the first Ni Kyu although it is taught to Yon Kyu occasionally before Evaluations for the Ni Kyu rank and it is also the first Shorin-ryu and Shindo jinen-ryu kata to start with a technique to the right instead of the left. There are three modern kata derived from this, some researchers believe Nidan and Sandan were created by Anko Itosu, but others believe that it was originally one kata broken into three separate parts. The fact that only Naihanchi/Tekki Shodan has a formal opening suggests the kata was split, whilst the kata is linear, moving side to side, the techniques can be applied against attackers at any angle. The side to side movements in a low stance build up the balance and strength for fast footwork. The kata are intricate strategies of attacking and defensive movement, done in the kiba dachi, if one rotates ones torso a few degrees to one side or the other while performing Naihanchi/Tekki, the result is the Hachi-monji, or figure eight stance. Some researchers believe the form is a non-ballistic two-man grappling exercise, in his 1922 book titled To-te, Ryūkyū Kenpō / 唐手 琉球拳法 Gichin Funakoshi called this series of forms Naihanchi/ナイハンチ and attributes the form to what he calls the Shōrei-Ryu/昭霊流. Similarly, Motobu Chōki spells the name of this form Naihanchi/ナイハンチ in his 1926 Okinawa Kenpō To-te Jutsu/沖縄拳法唐手術, by 1936, in his Karate-do Kyohan/空手道教範 Funakoshi had started referring to this form as “Kibadachi ” or “Cavalry Horse Stance, ” while still referencing the original “Naihanchi / ナイハンチ” name. Other than the Shorei-Ryu reference, none of these books attribute the form to any particular source or practitioner, Itosu is reported to have learned the kata from Sokon Matsumura, who learned it from a Chinese man living in Tomari. Itosu is thought to have changed the original kata, before Itosu created the Pinan kata, Naihanchi would traditionally be taught first in Tomari-te and Shuri-te schools, which indicates its importance. Gichin Funakoshi learned the kata from Anko Asato, Funakoshi renamed the kata Tekki in reference to his old teacher, Itosu, and the forms power. The oldest known reference to Naihanchi are in the books of Motobu Choki and he states the kata was imported from China, but is no longer practiced there. Motobu learned the kata from Sokon Matsumura, Sakuma Pechin, Anko Itosu, Motobu taught his own interpretation of Naihanchi, which included te like grappling and throwing techniques. In the earlier days of training, it was common practice for a student to spend two to three years doing nothing but Naihanchi/Tekki, under the strict observation of their teacher. Motobu Choki, famous for his youthful brawling at tsuji, credited the kata with containing all that one needs to know to become a proficient fighter. The Tekki series of kata were renamed by Funakoshi from the Naihanchi kata, Nifanchin was brought to Okinawa via Fuzhou, China, at some point in the long history of trade between the two kingdoms. It was broken into three segments, possibly by Anko Itosu, Tokumine Pechin, or Motobu Choki
10.
Sanchin
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Tam Hon taught a style that was called simply Saam Jin. The name Sanchin, meaning three battles/conflicts/wars is usually interpreted as the battle to unify the mind, body, and spirit, however, there are other interpretations. Uechi-ryu practices a form of Sanchin with nukite zuki open spear hand strikes, Sanchin uses the sanchin dachi sanchin stance named for the kata. Sanchin is the first kata learned in Uechi-Ryu, while other styles may introduce it later, in Gōjū-Ryu, there are two Sanchin kata. The first, Miyagis Sanchin or sanchin dai ichi, was created by Chojun Miyagi and this kata was adopted by other styles such as the later Okinawan style Isshin-ryū and Kyokushin. Some styles use a method of checking strength, posture, Karate stances Karate kata Tiger Crane Paired Form Isshin Ryu Naihanchi
11.
Toyama Kanken
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Kanken Tōyama was a Japanese schoolteacher and karate master, who developed the foundation for the Shūdōkan karate style. Born into a family in Shuri, Okinawa, Japan. He trained under, Itosu Anko and Itarashiki primarily, and under Ankichi Aragaki, Azato Anko, Chosho Chibana, Oshiro, Tana, Yabu Kentsu, nine years old, he began his karate training under Ankō Itosu, and remained a student there until Itosu died in 1915. He also studied Naha-te under Kanryō Higaonna and Tomari-te under Ankichi Aragaki, in 1924 Toyama moved his family to Taiwan where he taught in an elementary school and studied Chinese Chuan Fa, which included Taku, Makaitan, Rutaobai, and Ubo. Given this diverse martial arts background, the Japanese government soon recognized Toyamas prowess, an official gave Toyama the title of master instructor. In early 1930 he returned to Japan and on March 20,1930 and he named his dojo Shu Do Kan meaning the hall for the study of the karate way. Toyama taught what he had learnt from Itosu and the Chuan Fa, in 1946, Toyama founded the All Japan Karate-Do Federation with the intention of unifying the various forms of karate of Japan and Okinawa under one governing organization. This JKF is the old name of, and current JKF is the other organization, the individuals listed below are Shudokan pupils of Toyama. The translated partial list includes the karate-do shihan and hanshi title license, the * symbol indicates persons and organizations that did not train directly with Toyama, but were confirmed as members with the responsibilities of the shihan title and high degree rank. Symbol indicate partial or missing translations
12.
Gichin Funakoshi
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Gichin Funakoshi is the founder of Shotokan Karate-Do, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is attributed as being the father of modern karate. Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato, he was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced karate to the Japanese mainland in 1922 and he taught karate at various Japanese universities and became honorary head of the Japan Karate Association upon its establishment in 1949. Gichin Funakoshi was born on November 10,1868, the year of the Meiji Restoration, in Shuri, Okinawa, to a low-rank Ryūkyūan Pechin and originally had the family name Tominakoshi. After entering primary school he became friends with the son of Ankō Azato. Being trained in both classical Chinese and Japanese philosophies and teachings, Funakoshi became an assistant teacher in Okinawa, during this time, his relations with the Azato family grew and he began nightly travels to the Azato family residence to receive karate instruction from Ankō Azato. Funakoshi had trained in both of the styles of Okinawan karate of the time, Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū. Shotokan is named after Funakoshis pen name, Shōtō, which means waving pines, kan means training hall, or house, thus Shōtōkan referred to the house of Shōtō. This name was coined by Funakoshis students when they posted a sign above the entrance of the hall at which Funakoshi taught reading Shōtō kan. In addition to being a master, Funakoshi was an avid poet. By the late 1910s, Funakoshi had many students, of which a few were deemed capable of passing on their masters teachings, continuing his effort to garner widespread interest in Okinawan karate, Funakoshi ventured to mainland Japan in 1917, and again in 1922. In 1930, Funakoshi established an association named Dai-Nihon Karate-do Kenkyukai to promote communication and information exchange among people who study karate-dō, in 1936, Dai-Nippon Karate-do Kenkyukai changed its name to Dai-Nippon Karate-do Shoto-kai. The association is known today as Shotokai, and is the keeper of Funakoshis karate heritage. In 1939, Funakoshi built the first Shōtōkan dojo in Tokyo and he changed the name of karate to mean empty hand instead of China hand as it was referred to in Okinawa, the two words sound the same in Japanese. It was his belief that using the term for Chinese would mislead people into thinking karate originated with Chinese boxing, Karate had borrowed many aspects from Chinese boxing which the original creators say as being positive, as they had done with other martial arts. In addition, Funakoshi argued in his autobiography that an evaluation of the use of empty seemed to fit as it implied a way which was not tethered to any other physical object. Funakoshis interpretation of the kara in karate to mean empty rather than Chinese was reported to have caused some recoil in Okinawa. In 1949 Funakoshis students created the Japan Karate Association, with Funakoshi as the head of the organization. However, in practise this organization was led by Masatoshi Nakayama, the JKA began formalizing Funakoshis teachings
13.
Mabuni Kenwa
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Kenwa Mabuni was one of the first karateka to teach karate on mainland Japan and is credited as developing the style known as Shitō-ryū Immovable heart, immovable mind. Funakoshi Gichin learned kata from Kenwa Mabuni, In order to expand his knowledge he sent his son Gigō to study kata in Mabunis dōjō in Osaka. Kenwa Mabuni, Motobu Chōki and other Okinawans were actively teaching karate in Japan prior to this point when Gichin Funakoshi officially brought karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan, Shitō-ryū is a school of karate that was founded by Kenwa Mabuni in 1931. In 1939 the style was registered in the Butoku Kai headquarters. The development of the katas Aoyagi/Seiryuu and Meijou/Myoujo, specifically for women, born in Shuri on Okinawa in 1889, Mabuni was a 17th generation descendant of the famous warrior Uni Ufugusuku Kenyu. Perhaps because of his constitution, he began his instruction in his home town in the art of Shuri-Te at the age of 13. He trained diligently for years, learning many kata from this great master. It was Itosu who first developed the Pinan kata, which were most probably derived from the Kusanku form, one of his close friends, Chōjun Miyagi introduced Mabuni to another great of that period, Higaonna Kanryō, and began to learn Naha-Te under him as well. Shitō-ryū focuses on hard and soft techniques to this day. In fact, Mabuni was legendary for his knowledge of kata. By the 1920s, he was regarded as the foremost authority on Okinawan kata, there is even some evidence that his expertise was sought out in China, as well as Okinawa and mainland Japan. As a police officer, he taught local law enforcement officers and at the behest of his teacher Itosu, began instruction in the grammar schools in Shuri. In an effort to popularize karate in mainland Japan, Mabuni made several trips to Tokyo in 1917 and 1928, during this period, Mabuni also taught many other prominent martial artists, such as Otsuka Hironori and Yasuhiro Konishi. Both men were students of Funakoshi, by 1929, Mabuni had moved to Osaka on the mainland, to become a full-time karate instructor of a style he originally called Hanko-ryū, or half-hard style. Around the same time, perhaps when first introducing his style to the Butokukai, is when its believed the name of the changed to Shitō-ryū. Mabuni derived the name for his new style of Shitō-ryū from the first Kanji character in their names, Shi for Higashionna, with the support of Sakagami, he opened a number of Shitō-ryū dojo in the Osaka area, including Kansai University and the Japan Karate-dō Kai dojo. To this day, the largest contingent of Shitō-ryū practitioners in Japan is centred in the Osaka area, however, Mabunis contemporary Shinpan Shiroma remained in Shuri, Okinawa, and established Okinawan Shito-ryu. Mabuni published a number of books on the subject and continued to systematize the instruction method, to this day, Shitō-ryū recognizes the influences of Itosu and Higashionna, the kata syllabus of Shito-ryū is still often listed in such a way as to show the two lineages
14.
Osaka
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Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Japan. Historically a merchant city, Osaka has also known as the nations kitchen. Some of the earliest signs of habitation in the Osaka area at the Morinomiya ruins comprise shell mounds, sea oysters. It is believed that what is today the Uehonmachi area consisted of a land with an inland sea in the east. During the Yayoi period, permanent habitation on the plains grew as rice farming became popular, by the Kofun period, Osaka developed into a hub port connecting the region to the western part of Japan. The large numbers of increasingly larger tomb mounds found in the plains of Osaka are seen as evidence of political-power concentration, in 645, Emperor Kōtoku built his Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki Palace in what is now Osaka, making it the capital of Japan. The city now known as Osaka was at this time referred to as Naniwa, although the capital was moved to Asuka in 655, Naniwa remained a vital connection, by land and sea, between Yamato, Korea, and China. Naniwa was declared the capital again in 744 by order of Emperor Shōmu, and remained so until 745, in 1496, Jōdo Shinshū Buddhists established their headquarters in the heavily fortified Ishiyama Hongan-ji, located directly on the site of the old Naniwa Imperial Palace. Oda Nobunaga began a siege campaign on the temple in 1570 which ultimately resulted in the surrender of the monks. Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed Osaka Castle in its place in 1583, Osaka was long considered Japans primary economic center, with a large percentage of the population belonging to the merchant class. Over the course of the Edo period, Osaka grew into one of Japans major cities and returned to its ancient role as a lively and its popular culture was closely related to ukiyo-e depictions of life in Edo. By 1780 Osaka had cultivated a vibrant arts culture, as typified by its famous Kabuki, in 1837 Ōshio Heihachirō, a low-ranking samurai, led a peasant insurrection in response to the citys unwillingness to support the many poor and suffering families in the area. Approximately one-quarter of the city was razed before shogunal officials put down the rebellion, Osaka was opened to foreign trade by the government of the Bakufu at the same time as Hyōgo on 1 January 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration. Osaka residents were stereotyped in Edo literature from at least the 18th century, jippenisha Ikku in 1802 depicted Osakans as stingy almost beyond belief. Edo writers aspired to samurai culture, and saw themselves as poor but generous, chaste, Edo writers by contrast saw zeeroku as obsequious apprentices, stingy, greedy, gluttonous, and lewd. The modern municipality was established in 1889 by government ordinance, with an area of 15 square kilometres, overlapping todays Chūō. Later, the city went through three major expansions to reach its current size of 223 square kilometres, Osaka was the industrial center most clearly defined in the development of capitalism in Japan. It became known as the Manchester of the Orient, the rapid industrialization attracted many Korean immigrants, who set up a life apart for themselves
15.
Boxing
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Boxing is a combat sport in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring. Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport and is a fixture in most international games—it also has its own World Championships. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds, in the event that both fighters gain equal scores from the judges, the fight is considered a draw. In Olympic boxing, due to the fact that a winner must be declared, in the case of a draw - the judges use technical criteria to choose the most deserving winner of the bout. While people have fought in combat since before the dawn of history. The earliest evidence for fist fighting with any kind of gloves can be found on Minoan Crete, in Ancient Greece boxing was a well developed sport and enjoyed consistent popularity. In Olympic terms, it was first introduced in the 23rd Olympiad,688 B. C, the boxers would wind leather thongs around their hands in order to protect them. There were no rounds and boxers fought until one of them acknowledged defeat or could not continue, weight categories were not used, which meant heavyweights had a tendency to dominate. It was the head of the opponent which was primarily targeted, Boxing was a popular spectator sport in Ancient Rome. In order for the fighters to protect themselves against their opponents they wrapped leather thongs around their fists, eventually harder leather was used and the thong soon became a weapon. The Romans even introduced metal studs to the thongs to make the cestus which then led to a more sinister weapon called the myrmex, Fighting events were held at Roman Amphitheatres. The Roman form of boxing was often a fight until death to please the spectators who gathered at such events, however, especially in later times, purchased slaves and trained combat performers were valuable commodities, and their lives were not given up without due consideration. Often slaves were used against one another in a circle marked on the floor and this is where the term ring came from. In AD393, during the Roman gladiator period, boxing was abolished due to excessive brutality and it was not until the late 17th century that boxing re-surfaced in London. Records of Classical boxing activity disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire when the wearing of weapons became common once again, however, there are detailed records of various fist-fighting sports that were maintained in different cities and provinces of Italy between the 12th and 17th centuries. There was also a sport in ancient Rus called Kulachniy Boy or Fist Fighting, as the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing with the fists. The sport would later resurface in England during the early 16th century in the form of bare-knuckle boxing sometimes referred to as prizefighting. The first documented account of a fight in England appeared in 1681 in the London Protestant Mercury
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Judo
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Judo was created as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy in Japan, in 1882, by Jigoro Kano. It is generally categorized as a martial art which later evolved into a combat. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as defenses are a part of judo. A judo practitioner is called a judoka, the philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from koryū. The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Kanō Jigorō, Kano was born into a relatively affluent family. His father, Jirosaku, was the son of the head priest of the Shinto Hiyoshi shrine in Shiga Prefecture. He married Sadako Kano, daughter of the owner of Kiku-Masamune sake brewing company and was adopted by the family and he ultimately became an official in the Shogunal government. Jigoro Kano had an academic upbringing and, from the age of seven, he studied English, shodō, when he was fourteen, Kano began boarding at an English-medium school, Ikuei-Gijuku in Shiba, Tokyo. The culture of bullying endemic at this school was the catalyst that caused Kano to seek out a Jūjutsu dōjō at which to train, early attempts to find a jujutsu teacher who was willing to take him on met with little success. With the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, many of those who had once taught the art had been forced out of teaching or become so disillusioned with it that they had simply given up. Nakai Umenari, an acquaintance of Kanōs father and a soldier, agreed to show him kata. The caretaker of Jirosakus second house, Katagiri Ryuji, also knew jujutsu, Another frequent visitor, Imai Genshiro of Kyūshin-ryū school of jujutsu, also refused. Several years passed before he found a willing teacher. In 1877, as a student at the Tokyo-Kaisei school, Kano learned that many jujutsu teachers had been forced to pursue alternative careers, frequently opening Seikotsu-in. After inquiring at a number of these, Kano was referred to Fukuda Hachinosuke, a teacher of the Tenjin Shinyō-ryū of jujutsu, Fukuda is said to have emphasized technique over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kanos emphasis on randori in judo. On Fukudas death in 1880, Kano, who had become his keenest and most able student in both randori and kata, was given the densho of the Fukuda dojo, Kano chose to continue his studies at another Tenjin Shinyō-ryū school, that of Iso Masatomo. Iso placed more emphasis on the practice of kata, and entrusted randori instruction to assistants, Iso died in June 1881 and Kano went on to study at the dojo of Iikubo Tsunetoshi of Kitō-ryū. Like Fukuda, Iikubo placed much emphasis on randori, with Kitō-ryū having a focus on nage-waza
17.
King (magazine)
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King is a website geared toward African-American and urban male audiences. It features articles about hip-hop and R&B as well as sports, the magazine is published by Townsquare Media and was a spinoff from XXL. The magazine was started in 2002 and it ceased publication on March 31,2009, citing failing ad sales as a result of the poor economy and plans to release monthly installments soon. It resumed publication, this time as a magazine, in late 2009. It was later suspended again, and the website was sold by Harris Publications to Townsquare Media in 2014, king magazine is mainly characterized by its lavish photoshoots, which usually feature scantily-clad women, often complete with an interview from the featured model. The subjects of these range from professional models such as Melyssa Ford and Toccara to well-known musicians and actresses, including Trina, Keyshia Cole. It also features interviews with rappers, the magazine almost exclusively uses pictures from its photoshoots as the cover of the magazine. The Lycos 50 Daily Report noted the magazine received more online searches than Newsweek or Readers Digest
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Dojo
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Dojo is a Japanese term which literally means place of the way. Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples, the term can also refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese arts ending in do, meaning way. A proper Japanese martial arts dōjō is considered special and is cared for by its users. Shoes are not worn in a dōjō, in many styles it is traditional to conduct a ritual cleaning of the dōjō at the beginning and/or end of each training session. This attitude has become lost in many modern dōjō that are founded, in fact, it is not uncommon that in traditional schools, dōjō are rarely used for training at all, instead being reserved for more symbolic or formal occasions. The actual training is conducted typically outdoors or in a formal area. Many traditional dōjō follow a pattern with shomen and various entrances that are used based on student. Typically students will enter in the corner of the dōjō with instructors in the upper right corner. Shomen typically contains a Shintō shrine with a sculpture, flower arrangement, the term kamiza means place of honor and a related term, kamidana refers to the shrine itself. Other artifacts may be displayed throughout the dōjō, such as kanban that authorize the school in a style or strategy and it is not uncommon to find the name of the dōjō and the dōjō kun displayed prominently at shomen as well. Visitors may have a place reserved, depending on their rank. Weapons and other training gear will normally be found on the back wall, a hombu dōjō is the central training facility and administrative headquarters of a particular martial arts style. The alternative term zendo is more specific, and more widely used, european Sōtō Zen groups affiliated with the International Zen Association prefer to use dōjō instead of zendo to describe their meditation halls as did their founding master, Taisen Deshimaru
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World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Aikijutsu
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Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, originally called Daitō-ryū Jujutsu, is a Japanese martial art that first became widely known in the early 20th century under the headmastership of Takeda Sōkaku. Takeda had extensive training in martial arts and referred to the style he taught as Daitō-ryū. Although the schools claim to extend back centuries in Japanese history there are no known extant records regarding the ryū before Takeda. Whether Takeda is regarded as either the restorer or the founder of the art, takedas best-known student was Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido. Daitō-ryū takes its name from the mansion that Yoshimitsu lived in as a child, called Daitō, according to legend, Yoshimitsu dissected the corpses of men killed in battle, studying their anatomy for the purpose of learning techniques for joint-locking and vital point striking. Yoshimitsu had previously studied the martial art of tegoi, an ancestor of the Japanese national sport of sumo. He eventually settled down in Kai Province, and passed on what he learned within his family, ultimately, Yoshimitsus great-grandson Nobuyoshi adopted the surname Takeda, which has been the name of the family to the present day. The Takeda family remained in Kai Province until the time of Takeda Shingen, Shingen opposed Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga in their campaign to unify and control all of Japan. With the death of Shingen and his heir, Takeda Katsuyori, though these events caused the Takeda family to lose some of its power and influence, it remained intertwined with the ruling class of Japan. More importantly, the move to Aizu and subsequent events profoundly shaped what would emerge as Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu in the 19th century, one important event was the adoption of Tokugawa Ieyasus grandson, Komatsumaru, by Takeda Kenshoin. Komatsumaru devoted himself to the study of the Takeda familys martial arts, Komatsumaru changed his name to Hoshina Masayuki, and in 1644 was appointed the governor of Aizu. These arts became incorporated into and comingled with the Takeda family martial arts, according to the traditions of Daitō-ryū, it was these arts which Takeda Sokaku began teaching to non-members of the family in the late 19th century. Takeda had also studied swordsmanship and spearmanship with his father, Takeda Sokichi, during his life, Sokaku traveled extensively to attain his goal of preserving his familys traditions by spreading Daitō-ryū throughout Japan. Takeda Sokakus third son, Tokimune Takeda, became the headmaster of the art following Sokakus death in 1943, Tokimune taught what he called Daitō-ryū Aikibudō, an art that included the sword techniques of the Ono-ha Ittō-ryū along with the traditional techniques of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu. It was also under Tokimunes headmastership that modern dan rankings were first created and awarded to the students of Daitō-ryū, Aiki-jūjutsu can be broken into three styles, jujutsu, aiki no jutsu, and the combined aikijujutsu. Modern Japanese jujutsu and aikido both originated in aikijujutsu, which emphasizes an early neutralization of an attack, like other forms of jujutsu, it emphasizes throwing techniques and joint manipulations to effectively subdue or injure an attacker. Of particular importance is the timing of a defensive technique either to blend or to neutralize an attacks effectiveness, Daitō-ryū is characterized by ample use of atemi, or the striking of vital areas, to set up jointlocking or throwing tactics. Currently, there are a number of organizations that teach Daitō-ryū and those four students are, Takeda Tokimune, the progenitor of the Tokimune branch, Takuma Hisa, of the Hisa branch, Kōdō Horikawa, of the Horikawa branch, and Yukiyoshi Sagawa, of the Sagawa branch
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Kumite
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Kumite literally translated means grappling hands and is one of the three main sections of karate training, along with kata and kihon. Kumite is the part of karate in which a person trains against an adversary, using the techniques learned from the kihon, Kumite can be used to develop a particular technique or a skill or it can be done in competition. Since the word refers to forms of sparring, it covers a vast range of activities. In traditional Shotokan karate, the first type of kumite for beginners is gohon kumite, the defender steps back each time, blocking the attacks and performing a counterattack after the last block. Karate training is designed to give its practitioners the ability to deliver devastating power through techniques like punches, often the aim of training is that each single strike should be enough to subdue the opponent. However, this clearly would make it difficult to due to the possibility of injury. Many beginners, while sparring, will be instructed to develop control and accuracy first, then speed, in doing this, it may seem like the student is pulling his punches, when actually, he is developing technique first. For injury purposes, certain targets are discouraged, like strikes to the knee, many schools prohibit strikes to the groin, while others allow it completely. Some schools might limit contact to contact all around, while others may employ power usage based on rank. Some karate schools focus more on sparring whilst wearing protective gear so that strikes can be delivered with their full power, most karate clubs and most styles of karate make use of some sparring with control and some sparring with protective gear. Nevertheless, it is believed by many that practicing either type of sparring allows the martial artist to develop control and experience in delivering powerful strikes against an opponent. Therefore, the karateka will still be using some level of control, as is obviously necessary, and cannot truly capture the spirit of one lethal strike whilst sparring. Except for a life or death situation, the spirit. The traditionalists therefore argue that there is no benefit to sparring with more forceful strikes, however, in Kyokushin Karate no padding is used and fighters dont pull their punches as fights are finished by knock out. In some forms of competition kumite, punching and kicking techniques are allowed at the head, in some tournaments, face contact is allowed, sometimes limited to senior practitioners. One example of a system is that the first competitor to take eight points in three minutes wins the bout. Kumite is an part of karate training, and free sparring is often experienced as exciting. In tournaments kumite often takes place inside of an area similar to that of a boxing ring
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Yasuhiro Konishi
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Yasuhiro Konishi was one of the first karateka to teach karate on mainland Japan. He was instrumental in developing modern karate, as well as a force in the arts acceptance in Japan. He is credited with developing the style known as Shindō jinen-ryū, yasuhiro Konishi was born in 1893 in Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan. In 1899 he began training in Muso Ryu jujutsu, then kendo when he was 13 and later, in 1915, he entered Keio University in Tokyo. Konishis first exposure to te was through Tsuneshige Arakaki, who was from Okinawa, Konishi quit his job in 1923 to open a martial arts center. Naming his dojo the Ryobu-Kan, Konishi provided instruction in kendo, in September 1924, Hironori Ohtsuka and Gichin Funakoshi came to the Keio University kendo training hall. With Konishis help, Funakoshi established a club at Keio University. Konishi, Funakoshi and Ohtsuka were the instructors and with the addition of te to Konishis curriculum of jujitsu, kendo and western boxing, as karate gained popularity, a number of Okinawan masters traveled to Japan. Many of these martial artists visited the Ryobu-Kan, among them were Choki Motobu, Kenwa Mabuni and Chojun Miyagi. Konishi considered Motobu a martial arts genius and trained with him often, a native of Okinawa, Motobu did not speak Japanese well. Konishi trained less frequently with Miyagi but Miyagi presented him with a manuscript, An Outline of Karate-Do, Konishi trained with Kenwa Mabuni, who resided at Konishis house for ten months in 1927 and 1928. Mabuni was known for his knowledge of kata, Mabuni and Konishi later worked together to develop the kata Seiryu. Konishi also studied under Morihei Ueshiba, Konishi demonstrated Heian Nidan to Ueshiba who opined that Konishi should cease pursuing such ineffective techniques. Konishi created a kata he named Tai Sabaki, a notable difference from most karate kata was that it was an unbroken sequence of actions. Morihei Ueshiba remarked, The demonstration you did just now was satisfactory to me, Konishi would later develop two more forms based on the same principles, and he named these three kata Tai Sabaki Shodan, Tai Sabaki Nidan and Tai Sabaki Sandan. At the time, Konishi, Ueshiba, Mabuni and Ohtsuka were training together almost every day, with Japan embroiled in World War II, the continued evolution and refinement of karate plateaued as many practitioners enlisted to fight for their country. As life slowly returned to normal, MacArthurs ban was lifted, like Morihei Ueshiba, Konishi used budō training in his personal quest to build character while creating harmony between body, mind, and art. He was a businessman, teacher, and political activist, who strove to bring respectability to martial arts
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Peichin
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Yukatchu were the aristocracy of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the scholar-bureaucrats of classical Chinese studies living in Kumemura, they held the majority of government positions. The Yukatchu were part of a caste system that existed in Ryukyu for centuries. They were the feudal scholar-officials class that was charged with enforcing the law and providing military defense to the nation, the specific rank of a Yukatchu was noted by the color of his hat. The Ryukyuan Yukatchu kept their fighting techniques secret, usually passing down the most devastating fighting forms to one member of the family per generation. He confiscated weapons from commoners and Yukatchu who werent part of the Ryukyuan military to lower the possibility of rebellion, the second time that the Yukatchu were disarmed was after the invasion of 1609 by Satsuma Domain, which prohibited the carrying of weapons by the Yukatchu. The Yukatchu were not completely without weapons however, undoubtedly the Yukatchu class was the hardest hit by the changing times. They were the class that did not have a clear place in the modern world. In 1872, the Japanese Meiji government unilaterally proclaimed that the Ryukyu Kingdom was then Ryukyu Domain, in 1879, the Meiji government abolished the Ryukyu Domain and created Okinawa Prefecture, annexing the former kingdom. Public Proclamation by Chief Secretary Matsuda of Ryukyu Han Because the Imperial Decree issued in Meiji 8th year has not been complied with, any acts of maladministration, and exorbitant taxes and dues levied during the regime of the former clan government will probably be righted upon careful consideration. Do not be misled by irresponsible rumors, all are advised to pursue their respective occupations with ease of mind. The hereditary lords of the Ryukyu Kingdom were strongly opposed to the annexation by Japan. Ryukyu submitted to Japans annexation plans and 300 lords,2,000 aristocratic families, in Okinawa the Yukatchu class lost a major source of income in 1903, when massive peasant protest sparked land reforms and the abolition of peasant taxes that sustained the Yukatchu. Many Yukatchu found themselves having to reveal their secret unarmed fighting techniques to commoners for income, many Okinawan Karate styles list in their genealogy Karate masters of the Yukatchu class in the early stages of the style. Warfare, law enforcement, and fighting systems were the business of the warrior class before the turn of the seventeenth century. The warrior class, however, which was sustained by peasant taxes, could afford the luxury of sending the first born child of a warrior family to be trained in Ti. Okinawan documents will often state that Ti or Kara-Ti was only practiced by the Yukatchu, however, there are early twentieth-century Japanese documents that mention this secret fighting style as being practiced by the peasants of Okinawa. The disconnect often comes from Japanese ignorance of the Ryukyuan caste system, though, around the time of the creation of the Okinawa Prefecture, some Yukatchu were calling themselves Samure, the word derives from the Japanese term Samurai. Shōshin Nagamine states in his book The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do, the Okinawa Prefectural Government in recent years has tried to clarify misunderstandings by the West as to the history and development of Karate in Okinawa
24.
Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
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Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
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National Diet Library
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The National Diet Library is the only national library in Japan. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the National Diet of Japan in researching matters of public policy, the library is similar in purpose and scope to the United States Library of Congress. The National Diet Library consists of two facilities in Tokyo and Kyoto, and several other branch libraries throughout Japan. The Diets power in prewar Japan was limited, and its need for information was correspondingly small, the original Diet libraries never developed either the collections or the services which might have made them vital adjuncts of genuinely responsible legislative activity. Until Japans defeat, moreover, the executive had controlled all political documents, depriving the people and the Diet of access to vital information. The U. S. occupation forces under General Douglas MacArthur deemed reform of the Diet library system to be an important part of the democratization of Japan after its defeat in World War II. In 1946, each house of the Diet formed its own National Diet Library Standing Committee, hani Gorō, a Marxist historian who had been imprisoned during the war for thought crimes and had been elected to the House of Councillors after the war, spearheaded the reform efforts. Hani envisioned the new body as both a citadel of popular sovereignty, and the means of realizing a peaceful revolution, the National Diet Library opened in June 1948 in the present-day State Guest-House with an initial collection of 100,000 volumes. The first Librarian of the Diet Library was the politician Tokujirō Kanamori, the philosopher Masakazu Nakai served as the first Vice Librarian. In 1949, the NDL merged with the National Library and became the national library in Japan. At this time the collection gained a million volumes previously housed in the former National Library in Ueno. In 1961, the NDL opened at its present location in Nagatachō, in 1986, the NDLs Annex was completed to accommodate a combined total of 12 million books and periodicals. The Kansai-kan, which opened in October 2002 in the Kansai Science City, has a collection of 6 million items, in May 2002, the NDL opened a new branch, the International Library of Childrens Literature, in the former building of the Imperial Library in Ueno. This branch contains some 400,000 items of literature from around the world. Though the NDLs original mandate was to be a library for the National Diet. In the fiscal year ending March 2004, for example, the library reported more than 250,000 reference inquiries, in contrast, as Japans national library, the NDL collects copies of all publications published in Japan. The NDL has an extensive collection of some 30 million pages of documents relating to the Occupation of Japan after World War II. This collection include the documents prepared by General Headquarters and the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, the Far Eastern Commission, the NDL maintains a collection of some 530,000 books and booklets and 2 million microform titles relating to the sciences
