Tō’on-ryū karate-dō no rekishi gaiyō – An Overview of the History of Tō’on-ryū Karate-dō

At long last, the Tō’on-ryū article is about to be published — a long-awaited article that will finally see completion after nearly two years of dedicated work.

The idea to write an article on Tō’on-ryū emerged quite early. Initially, the focus was intended to be on Iraha Chōkō (1901–1986). However, after Ikeda Jūshū sensei, the 4th Sōke of Tō’on-ryū, read our first contribution in Gekkan Hiden (2024/1) — an article about a karate demonstration led by Kyan Chōtoku — he asked us to prepare a comprehensive article on Tō’on-ryū. We were, of course, very happy to accept this request.

By that time, however, we had already established a clear conceptual sequence for a planned series of articles on Okinawan karate. The series was to begin with Hanashiro Chōmo’s obituary for Yabu Kentsū (2024/7), followed by a study of the kata “Jion” (2024/9), two overseas karate demonstrations connected to Yabu Kentsū (2024/11), and then an article on Miyagi Chōjun — a close friend and training partner of Kyoda Jūhatsu — and his visit to the Hawaiian Islands in 1934 (2025/2).

For this reason, the articles first had to be published in this specific order before the Tō’on-ryū article could appear. In the meantime, the Gekkan Hiden editorial team asked us to write an additional piece on the Nihon Kobudō Taikai demonstration (2025/5). At the same time, we developed the idea for another article written in collaboration with Koyama Masashi sensei (2025/7). Both of these articles have since been published.

We completed the first draft of the Tō’on-ryū article in January 2025 and submitted it to Ikeda sensei for review. To our great satisfaction, he was very pleased with the result. Moreover, as chance would have it, two fortunate developments occurred that we were later able to incorporate into the final version of the article. (I will discuss these at a later time.)

Ikeda Jūshū sensei – Beppu, January 2025

Now, the wait has been worthwhile: the editorial revisions are complete, and the first part of the article will today go to print. The beginning of the Tō’on-ryū series can therefore be expected in December 2025.