was a Japanese 9th-dan aikido instructor and important teacher 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 ...

. According to

Mitsugi Saotome (born March 7, 1937) is a Japanese people, Japanese aikido teacher currently living in the United States. He was a direct disciple of the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. Biography At the age of 16, Mitsugi Saotome began his martial arts tr ...

, before he was sent to Burma in 1958, he was the most prolific teacher at

Hombu Dojo. His personal students included

Seishiro Endo , born 1942, is an 8th dan ranked Aikikai aikido master teacher. Endō is among the few living people who studied directly under aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba.Stanley PraninInterview with Seishiro Endo Aikido Journal #106 (1996) He trained at A ...

, Yoshinobu Takeda, Masatoshi Yasuno and

Christian Tissier Christian Tissier (born 1951 in Paris, France) is one of the best known European aikido teachers, who pioneered the art in France. He started his Aikido training in 1962 as a child in Jean-Claude Tavernier's Dojo in Paris, following the style of Hi ...

. Yamaguchi was born April 13, 1924, in

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 ...

, Japan. After his early education, he entered the navy, where he was eventually to carry out a ''

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

'' suicide mission, but was saved by the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was introduced to Morihei Ueshiba in 1950, and entered the

in 1951. In 1958 he was sent to Burma to teach aikido to the army. Beginning in 1961 he again taught at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo; he also taught at his own dojo and at

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

. He taught extensively overseas, especially in France, where he had a strong following and taught every year until 1995.

References

{{Reflist 1924 births 1996 deaths Yamaguchi, Seigo People from Fukuoka Sportspeople from Fukuoka (city)