Morito Suganuma

is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 1 ...

teacher holding the rank of 8th

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

in the

Aikikai The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai#Aikikai Foundation, Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Aikikai#Doshu, Doshu (the family heir of the founder of Aikido). It is represented globally thr ...

Born in

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, his first contact with aikido was in 1963 at the Asia University in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

where he followed a class taught by

Nobuyoshi Tamura was a prominent aikidoka and a direct student of Morihei Ueshiba. The son of a kendo teacher, Tamura entered the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in 1953 as an uchi-deshi (live-in student) of aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba. He was one of Ueshiba's favorite ...

. The next year, Tamura introduced him to the

Aikikai Hombu Dojo The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Doshu (the family heir of the founder of Aikido). It is represented globally through the International Aikido Federation. ...

where he started training assiduously under

Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher/Old Teacher (old as opposed to ''waka (young) sensei'')". The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba st ...

Kisshomaru Ueshiba was a prominent Japanese master of aikido.Pranin, S. A. (''c.'' 2009)Encyclopedia of Aikido: Ueshiba, Kisshomaru Retrieved on March 1, 2010. He was the son of Morihei Ueshiba, founder of aikido, and became the international leader of aikido after ...

and other prominent Hombu instructors. He officially became an

uchideshi is a Japanese term for a live-in student/apprentice who trains under and assists a sensei on a full-time basis. The system exists in ''kabuki'', ''rakugo'', ''shogi'', '' igo'', ''aikido'', ''sumo'', ''karate'' and other modern Japanese martial ...

in 1967 after graduating from

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. On 19 April 1970, shortly after the death of Morihei Ueshiba, Suganuma was sent to

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

by Kisshomaru Ueshiba as the Aikikai's representative for the

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

district. He is the founder and

dojocho {{Short pages monitor