Frank Y. Matsumoto
7th Dan, Hanshi
1922 – 2020
As most of you already know, Matsumoto sensei had a lifelong devotion to kendo.
His kendo path began as a young man, practicing in secrecy even as he and
120,000 other Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated during World War
II.
Following volunteer service in the famed all-Nisei 442nd RCT, Matsumoto sensei
settled in Chicago and began his kendo path anew. Following his father’s
guidance, he became one of the founders of what was then called the Chicago
Kendo Club and became its head instructor in 1972. Besides teaching generations
of kenshi in Chicago, he also was a founder of the Midwest Kendo Federation,
which grew from a handful of college students to over three dozen clubs and
dojos throughout the Midwest. It can be said with little doubt that the hundreds,
if not thousands of kendo practitioners in the Midwest owe a debt of gratitude to
Matsumoto sensei.
Even on the days when he actively did not practice, he still came to teach, observe
and lend support to all those at the dojo. His sense of giri, or obligation to kendo
and especially to the Chicago Kendo Dojo, often took him away from his family on
evenings, weekends and even some Holidays nearly every week of the year.
Matsumoto sensei’s rank was nanadan, or seventh degree, just one step away
from what is considered the highest rank attainable in kendo, but he also had
what is called a shogo, a title which indicates one’s level of achievement in kendo
beyond physical skill, to recognize leadership and judgement as a kendoist.
Matsumoto sensei was given the honorary degree of hanshi, which is conferred
on persons at the absolute highest level of authority as kendoists.
In Japan, in martial arts and many other areas, the tracing of direct lineage is
considered very important. Now, hundreds, if not thousands of kendo
practitioners in the Midwest, both current and past, can be proud that they can
trace their own kendo lineage back to Matsumoto sensei.
Sachio Maeda Sensei
7th Dan, Kyoshi
1921 – 2010
Sachio Maeda was born and raised in Kochi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan. Beginning his martial arts life in both kendo and judo (reached nidan in judo) he chose kendo as the art he would practice for the next 70 years. As a teenager, due to his prowess at kendo, he once traveled from Kochi to Kyoto Prefecture, a distance of over 375 miles, an exceptional distance in those days.
At the outbreak of World War II, Maeda sensei was recruited into the Japanese
Imperial Army and was partly responsible for teaching kendo to Army Officers on
the Asian mainland. Surviving many near misses during the war, on return to
Japan he burned his kendo equipment, as the post-war government prohibited
martial arts as being too militaristic. Kendo practitioners went underground,
including Maeda sensei, practicing in secret, until caught by the authorities. It was
following this that in the 1950s, he moved to the U.S.
In the late 1960s, after decades away from kendo, Maeda sensei once again
picked up a sword and joined the Chicago Kendo Dojo. In 1973, a young instructor
from Japan named Yutaka Miyazaki joined the group, and although they were
almost 30 years apart in age, Maeda sensei and Miyazaki sensei became close
friends. Before returning to Japan in 1992, Miyazaki sensei established Choyokan
Kendo Dojo and requested that Maeda sensei look after his students.
Even at the age of 69, Maeda sensei was the talk of the U.S. National Tournament
Seniors Division, nearly winning the final match, if not for a debatable call. Of
course, he did not grumble about the refereeing nor question his own
performance.
Maeda sensei served on the Midwest Kendo Federation Sensei Board of Advisors,
was Chief Judge at numerous MWKF tournaments, and an instructor at many
Federation seminars. Maeda sensei remained the Choyokan Dojo shihan until his
passing in his late 80s, and continued to teach and practice four times a week,
rarely missing a session.
Kiyoshi George Izui
7th Dan, Kyoshi
1923 – 2002
George Izui was born and raised in the “Japanese ghetto” of Seattle, Washington
and attended elementary and high school in a predominantly Japanese American
neighborhood of what is now Capitol Hill. The son of a pharmacist and a musician,
he began his kendo training at the Seattle Kendo Kai, at age 10, reaching shodan
in 1940 at the age of 17.
As with other Japanese Americans, his life was interrupted during World War II by
his family being incarcerated in the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho.
Following his release in 1944, he moved to Chicago to work at the Curtiss Candy
Company where he met his future wife, Ruby. Izui sensei returned to kendo in
1963, helping to teach the children’s classes at the Buddhist Temple of Chicago.
One of the Founders of both the Chicago Kendo Dojo and the Midwest Kendo
Federation, he spent the next four decades dedicated to kendo and iaido.
Izui sensei served on the Midwest Kendo Federation Sensei Board of Advisors,
was Chief Judge at numerous MWKF tournaments, and an instructor at many
Federation seminars as well as the MWKF Summer Camp. His wife Ruby funded
the scholarship for deserving students for Summer Camp for several years. He
was instrumental in creating Sempo, the newsletter and bi-annual magazine of
the MWKF.
A true Renaissance man, Izui sensei was a prolific artist, designing the logos for
the Chicago Kendo Dojo and the Midwest Kendo Federation, as well as many t-
shirts and his famous “Freddy the Bungler” comic strip. He was an integral part of
the Japanese Mutual Aid Society, sang in the BTC choir and served on its Board,
and regularly danced at Bon Odori.
