Toshikazu Ichimura (born December 12, 1941) is a Japanese aikido teacher who lived in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

from 1966 to 1986, and was the teacher responsible for aikido in Sweden during this time. He also was the responsible teacher in Denmark and in Finland, had importance for the development of iaido in these three countries, and was the first to give aikido demonstrations in Finland. Ichimura holds 6th

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in the aikido organisation

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 ...

, a rank he received in 1977, and 6th dan ''

renshi is a form of collaborative poetry pioneered by Makoto Ōoka in the 1980s.The Japan Foundation's profile of Makoto Ōoka It is a development of traditional Japanese renga and renku, but unlike these it does not adhere to traditional strictures on ...

'' in iaido since 1969. Besides, and in connection to, his teaching in

Japanese martial arts Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usage ...

he also taught macrobiotics and the Japanese system of sound mysticism,

kototama refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. English translations include "soul of language", "spirit of language", "power of language", "power word", " magic word", and "sacred sound". The notion of ''kotodama'' ...

Personal history

Ichimura started in aikido in 1957, at Aikikai Hombu dojo in Tokyo with Shoji Nishio as his main teacher. In 1961 he went to the Toyo University, where he started a university ''

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 ...

''. In 1966 he moved to

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, since Jan Beime and a few other people had asked Hombu to send an aikido teacher there. To start with Ichimura was based in Beime's dojo, Stockholm Aikikai, and later at Minnano. He also travelled, teaching in many different dojos in the Stockholm area. In 1968 he moved to Uppsala, roughly 70 kilometres north of Stockholm, where he started a new dojo in cooperation with the local YMCA. The dojo has since changed name, and is nowadays often referred to as ''Uppsala Aikikai''. In the years to come Ichimura taught in Uppsala as well as in Stockholm and other places in Sweden, and also taught seminars in Finland, Denmark and Poland.

Legacy

Among the traces he left in Swedish aikido are a connection between aikido and iaido; most of the older aikido practitioners in the country have done also iaido. The part of Scandinavian aikido who do Nishio's type of aikido originally had this connection from Ichimura. Ichimura also wrote two of the first aikido books in Swedish, ''Aikido'' and ''Aikido och fred'' (literally "Aikido and peace"). In 1986, Ichimura returned to Japan, leaving Sweden without a Japanese teacher in charge while

Yasuo Kobayashi is a Japanese aikido teacher holding the rank of 8th dan Aikikai. Kobayashi was born in Kudan, Chiyoda-ku, in Tokyo. Though he started practicing judo as a child at the Kodokan, he eventually switched to aikido soon after starting university and ...

took responsibility for Finland, and Nishio for Denmark. Ichimura no longer does aikido, but has a shiatsu clinic in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. However, in connection with the 50 years jubilee in 2011 for aikido in Sweden, Ichimura made a temporary comeback. At the jubilee training camp in Stockholm in September he instructed on a training session and terminated the performance session during the camp.

References

External links

* Stenudd, Stefan: Aikido - den fredliga kampkonsten (literally "Aikido - the peaceful martial art"). Arriba 1998, (Swedish) * Pranin, Stanley: The entr
Ichimura, Toshikazu
in ''Encyclopedia of Aikido'' accessed April 30, 2006

Stenudd on Ichimura's aikido books accessed April 30, 2006 (Swedish)

accessed April 30, 2006 (Danish)
Finland Aikikai
accessed April 30, 2006

accessed April 30, 2006 * (Swedish
Aikidon i Sverige - fyra decennier
(pdf) by Stefan Stenudd {{DEFAULTSORT:Ichimura, Toshikazu Japanese aikidoka 1941 births Living people