Naoki Eiga (栄花直輝 Eiga Naoki, born 1967) is a Japanese

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

ka who in 2000 won the individual event at

World Kendo Championship The World Kendo Championship is an international kendo competition contested by the member nations of the International Kendo Federation (FIK). The championships have been conducted every three years since their inception in 1970. The host of the ...

(WKC) as well as the highest title in Kendo: All Japan Kendo Champion. His progress toward the championship was documented by the Japanese broadcaster

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

in a 2003 program named ''A Single Blow''. He currently holds the rank of Kyoshi Hachidan (教士八段). Naoki Eiga started kendo under the influence of his brother, Hideyuki. Both competed at the highest level of the sport. Eiga's wife Naomi was also a

practitioner. She was his younger classmate at

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Un ...

and a member of the same kendo

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...

. Eiga joined the

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

police force and became a member of the Hokkaido Police Kendo Team. From 1997 he was also a member of the Japanese national kendo team but as a substitute, and as such he was allowed to participate only in the preliminary bouts of the WKC team event in 1997. Feeling that he had to earn the respect of his fellow team members and coaches of the team, he decided to concentrate on the All Japan Kendo Champion tournament. At that time, the event had been dominated for years by

Masahiro Miyazaki Masahiro Miyazaki (宮崎正裕 - Miyazaki Masahiro, born 1963) is a Japanese Kendo practitioner who works for Kanagawa Prefectural Police in Japan. He participated in the All Japan Kendo Championship 12 times from 1990 to 2001 and won 6 times, ...

, one of the greatest kendoists of modern times. Eiga faced Miyazaki in the quarter-finals of the 1999 tournament, but lost. After his defeat in 1999, Eiga entered the All Japan tournament once more in 2000, and faced Miyazaki again in the finals. This time, he was able to win with the ''kote'' strike just before the match went into overtime. By winning the title of All Japan Kendo Champion of the year 2000, Eiga ended the Miyazaki era. He attributed his success to his teacher, Kazuo Furukawa. Based on his success in the AJKC in November 2000, Eiga was chosen as team captain of the Japanese national team for the World Kendo Championship 2003 in

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, Scotland. On 21 April 2019, Eiga won the 17th All Japan 8 Dan Holder's Championship, defeating Matsumoto Masashi with a ''men'' strike in ''encho''. (2019). rticle

All Japan Kendo Federation The All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF) or Zen Nihon Kendō Renmei (全日本剣道連盟 abbreviated 全剣連 ''Zen Ken Ren'') is a national non-governmental organization in Japan, founded in 1952 and officially formed on March 14, 1954. Purpose ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eiga, Naoki Japanese kendoka Living people 1967 births Tokai University alumni