master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
karate
(; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...
who introduced this martial art to Brazil and was after based in the United Kingdom.Karate-do Shotokai: What is KDS? (''c.'' 2009). Retrieved on 21 March 2010. He founded the Karate-do Shotokai (KDS) organisation in 1965 and was its president. (''c.'' 2005). Retrieved on 21 March 2010. Harada held the rank of 5th ''
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 ...
'', personally awarded by
Gichin Funakoshi
was a japanese martial artist who is regarded as the founder of Karate, Shotakan karate, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato,Funakoshi, ...
in 1956.
Early life
Harada was born on 16 November 1928 in
Dairen
Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...
,
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...
, which was then part of the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...
; his father was a
Japanese army
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...
officer.Shuriway Karate & Kobudo Resource Website: Mitsusuke Harada Hanshi – Shotokai (''c.'' 2000). Retrieved on 27 April 2010. He lived there until the age of 9 years, when his family returned to Tokyo. Harada began training in karate in 1943 at the Shotokan karate ''
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 ...
Gigō Funakoshi
(1906 - 24 November 1945) was the third son of Gichin Funakoshi (船越 義珍) (the founder of Shōtōkan 松濤館流 karate) and is widely credited with developing the foundation of the modern karate Shotokan style.
Early years
Gigo Funako ...
there, only two years before the latter's death due to illness. On 29 April 1945, an Allied bombing raid on Tokyo destroyed the Shotokan ''dojo''; Harada wrote a letter to Gichin Funakoshi requesting to continue training if possible, and Funakoshi invited him to train at his eldest son's home, in
Koishikawa
is a district of Bunkyo, Tokyo. It consists of five sub-areas, . In Koishikawa are located two well regarded gardens: the Koishikawa Botanical Garden (operated by the University of Tokyo) in Hakusan, and the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden in Kō ...
. Harada studied directly under
Gichin Funakoshi
was a japanese martial artist who is regarded as the founder of Karate, Shotakan karate, perhaps the most widely known style of karate, and is known as a "father of modern karate". Following the teachings of Anko Itosu and Anko Asato,Funakoshi, ...
.Heinze, T. (2009): ''Die Meister des Karate und Kobudo: Teil 1 – Vor 1900'' (p. 52). Norderstedt: Books on Demand. ()
In 1948, Harada began studying economics and commerce at
Waseda University
, mottoeng = Independence of scholarship
, established = 21 October 1882
, type = Private
, endowment =
, president = Aiji Tanaka
, city = Shinjuku
, state = Tokyo
, country = Japan
, students = 47,959
, undergrad = 39,382
, postgrad ...
. At the university, he trained under both Funakoshi (on Saturdays) and Toshio Kamata (Watanabe), and befriended
Tsutomu Ohshima
is a prominent Japanese master of Shotokan karate who founded the organization Shotokan Karate of America (SKA).de'Claire, J. (''c.'' 2009) Karate-do Shotokai: Harada Sensei, MBE – Page 2 Retrieved on 21 March 2010. In 1949, the Japan Karate Association (JKA) was formed; Harada was often escorting Funakoshi by taxi around this time. He also came into contact with
Shigeru Egami
was a pioneering Japanese master of Shotokan karate who founded the Shōtōkai style. He was a student of Gichin Funakoshi, who is widely recognized as the founder of modern karate.
Early life
Egami was born on December 7, 1912, in Ōmuta, Fu ...
(also studying commerce at the time) and Tadao Okuyama, then ranked 3rd ''dan'', at Waseda.de'Claire, J. (''c.'' 2009) Karate-do Shotokai: Harada Sensei, MBE – Page 3 Retrieved on 21 March 2010. Harada trained under both men, and they had a significant influence on his karate style. Harada completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1953 and went on to complete a master's degree in 1955. During postgraduate studies, he assisted
Masatoshi Nakayama
was an internationally famous
Japanese master of Shotokan karate.DF_56_of_80">("S_...,_who_were_known_as_kenjutsu_instructors,_from_the_Nagano_Prefecture.html" ;"title="kenjutsu.html" ;"title="DF 56 of 80/nowiki>">DF 56 of 80">("S ..., who were k ...
in teaching karate to US military personnel.
Brazil
Following completion of his tertiary studies, Harada took a position with the Bank of South America in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...
, Brazil. His manager there, on learning of his new employee's martial art training, asked him to conduct a demonstration; following this, fellow employees and other associates began training under his direction. Initially, the karate training took place in a
judo
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...
''dojo''. Harada wrote to Funakoshi to request affiliation with the JKA, but the latter apparently wrote back advising him to start his own karate organisation. This marked the birth of Karate-do Shotokan Brazileo.
In 1956, Funakoshi awarded Harada the rank of 5th ''dan'', which was then the highest rank in Shotokan karate.de'Claire, J. (''c.'' 2009) Karate-do Shotokai: Harada Sensei, MBE – Page 4 Retrieved on 21 March 2010. He has kept the same rank to this day, and 5th ''dan'' is still the highest rank attainable in his organisation (the KDS). In April 1957, Egami sent Harada a telegram to inform him that Funakoshi had died. In the period that followed, political troubles saw many of Funakoshi's senior students (including Harada) form the Shōtōkai group separate from the JKA.
United Kingdom
By 1963, Harada had around 16 ''
yudansha
In East Asian martial arts, the black belt is associated with expertise, but may indicate only competence, depending on the martial art. The use of colored belts is a relatively recent invention dating from the 1880s.
Origin
The systematic use ...
'' (students holding black belt status) at his ''dojo''. At the time, karate students in Paris had heard of him and saved enough money to buy him an airline ticket to their city; Harada resigned from the bank, intending to take a year to travel before returning to Brazil. After teaching in France, he travelled to the United Kingdom at the invitation of Kenshiro Abbe.de'Claire, J. (''c.'' 2009) Karate-do Shotokai: Harada Sensei, MBE – Page 5 Retrieved on 21 March 2010. In early November 1963, he taught a karate course at Abbe's ''dojo''. On 23 November 1963, Harada demonstrated karate as part of the National Judo Championships being held in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
Through the mid-1960s, Harada taught karate in the UK and Brussels. He founded the KDS in 1965. Harada returned to Japan for six months in 1967 and, while he apparently did not consider the journey fruitful overall, he did confirm a replacement to lead his ''dojo'' in Brazil: Arinobu Ishibata. Harada has been based in the UK ever since. The KDS experienced significant divisions in 1971 and 1988.de'Claire, J. (''c.'' 2009) Karate-do Shotokai: Harada Sensei, MBE – Page 6 Retrieved on 21 March 2010.
Harada has also taught at other overseas clubs that were developed including: Canada, Estonia, Finland, Gibraltar, Israel, Morocco, Poland, Spain, USA.
Later life
In October 1998, the Nihon Karate-do Shotokai invited Harada back to Tokyo to demonstrate his art as part of Shotokan karate's 60th anniversary celebration, and he and a selection of his top students did so. In 2007,
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...
appointed Harada as a Member of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
for his services to karate. Martial arts author Clive Layton has written two biographical works on Harada: ''Karate Master: The life and times of Mitsusuke Harada'' (1997) and ''Reminiscences by Master Mitsusuke Harada'' (1999, co-authored with Harada).Layton, C. (1997): ''Karate Master: The life and times of Mitsusuke Harada''. Liverpool: Bushido. ()Harada, M. , & Layton, C. (1999): ''Reminiscences by Master Mitsusuke Harada''. Gwent, UK: KDS. ()
Mitsuske Harada died on 26 February 2021 at his home in
Cwmbran
Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales.
Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...