Memories from a former classmate at Waseda University

I knew Mr Kawanabe well as a student. I do believe he joined
our club in the 1950’s, he was 2 years junior to me, and since the time he joined we trained together during our University years.



Mr Kawanabe was an excellent practitioner and top of his 1950’s class year, he got his 1st dan one year before I got mine. He succeeded as captain of Waseda University Karate club after Oshima.

After I graduated from Waseda University I met Mr Egami and practiced with him every day, so I heard that after Mr Kawanabe left university he was practising with Mr Tado Okuyama, but I don’t know what kind of practice they were doing. The point to note is that Mr Egami and Mr Okuyama were both descended from Yoshitika Funakoshi Sensei’s practise.

Mr Kawanabe also called his group Shotokai but I can not give you any further detail or tell you why he called his group Shotokai. Mr Kawanabe’s group was not part of our Nihon Karate Do Shotokai group members (Egami & Hironishi) so nobody really knew what Mr Kawanabe was doing.

Mr Kawanabe liked Karate and had his own dojo in Atsugi City, Japan which was an American airbase place where service men and women joined his dojo. Later when these American service people who practised with him returned back home, some probably continued using the same name, but Nihon Karate Do Shotokai and Mr Kawanabe’s group had no relationship at all.

The next point is an important one to remember and not mix up, one thing you must understand even in Europe groups call themselves Shotokai style or Egami Style,
but I do believe we have no Shotokai style. Its meaning is belong to a group who we want to practise with, which originally was Gichin Funakoshi Sensei , but especially Yoshitaka Sensei’s influence in Karate.

From: Mr Mitsusuke Harada (June 2004)