was a prominent

aikidoka Aikidoka (合気道家'' aikidōka'') is a Japanese term for a master-level practitioner of the martial art Aikido. The term is rarely heard among native speakers of Japanese, in spite of its common use as a loanword in other countries. Etymol ...

and a direct student of

Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art, martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher". The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Wakayama, Tanabe, Ueshiba studied a number of ...

. The son of a

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords ( shinai) as well as protective armor ( bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship ex ...

teacher, Tamura entered the

Aikikai Hombu Dojo 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 th ...

in 1953 as an

uchi-deshi is a Japanese term for a live-in student/apprentice who trains under and assists a sensei on a full-time basis. The system exists in ''kabuki'', ''rakugo'', ''shogi'', '' igo'', ''aikido'', ''sumo'', ''karate'' and other modern Japanese martia ...

(live-in student) of aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba. He was one of Ueshiba's favorite pupils and since 1964 has greatly contributed to the development of aikido in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in particular. He was the National Technical Director (DTN) of the FFAB (French Federation of

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

and

Budō is a Japanese language, Japanese term describing modern Japanese martial arts. It is commonly translated as "Martial Way", or the "Way of Martial Arts". Etymology is a compound of the root ( or ; ), meaning "war" or "martial"; and ( or ; ), ...

). He held the rank of 8th dan and the title of

Shihan is a Japanese term that is used in many Japanese martial arts as an honorific title for expert or senior instructors. It can be translated as "master instructor". The use of the term is specific to a school or organization, as is the process o ...

. Throughout his teaching career he trained many others instructors in various countries around the world but foremost

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. In 1999, he received the medal of " Chevalier de l'ordre National du Mérite" from the

French government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

. Tamura published several books on aikido in French. His

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d� ...

, Shumeikan Dojo, is located in the village of

Bras, France Bras () is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Var department The following is a list of the 153 Communes of France, communes of the Var (d ...

. His former students include

Jorge Rojo Gutierrez Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios' ...

Toshiro Suga Toshirō Suga (born 22 August 1950) is a Japanese aikido instructor. He holds the rank of 7th dan Aikikai. Born in Tokyo, his aikido teachers included Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of the martial art, and Morihiro Saito. For many years, he tau ...

, Pierre Chassang and Alain Peyrache.

Career

Sent by Morihei Ueshiba, Tamura arrived in France in the port of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in 1964 as the final destination of his

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

cruise (he paid part of his trip by performing aikido exhibitions on the ship). In France, he succeeded

Tadashi Abe (1926 – November 23, 1984) was the first aikido master to live and teach in the west. He began training in Aikido in Osaka in 1942 and went on to train directly under the founder of the art Morihei Ueshiba at Iwama as an uchideshi during World ...

as the

Aikikai The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Doshu (the family heir of the founder of Aikido). It is represented globally through the International Aikido Federation ...

representative there and decided to stay in this country teaching aikido, despite the fact that he could barely speak French at that time. Other aikido teachers in France then included

Minoru Mochizuki was a Japanese martial artist who founded the dojo Yoseikan. He was a 10th dan in Aikido, 9th dan in Jujutsu, 8th dan in Iaido, 8th dan in Judo, 8th dan in Kobudo, 5th dan in Kendo, 5th dan in Karate, and a 5th dan in Jojutsu. Mochizuki wa ...

Masamichi Noro was a Japanese aikido teacher and the founder of Kinomichi. Formative Years Masamichi Noro was born January 21, 1935, in Aomori, Japan.His education destined him to be medical doctor, but one encounter re-directed the course of his life to ...

and Mutsuro Nakazono. The French Aikido Federation was split into two in the 1980s purely because of political reasons. Those who decided to stay loyal to Tamura were for an independent aikido federation created the Fédération Française d'Aïkido et de Budo from scratch, while those who preferred to remain under the Judo federation ( Fédération française de Judo et Disciplines Associées), later became independent as the Fédération française d'aïkido, aïkibudo et affinitaires under the technical leadership of

Christian Tissier Christian Tissier (born 1951 in Paris, France) is one of the best known European aikido teachers, who pioneered the art in France. He started his Aikido training in 1962 as a child in Jean-Claude Tavernier's Dojo in Paris, following the style of H ...

. The two once rival federations are now regrouped under the UFA (Union des Fédérations d'Aïkido). In his early years in Japan, Tamura was acquainted with

macrobiotic A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is an unconventional restrictive diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet tries to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. Major principles of macrobio ...

founder George Osawa. In France, he befriended

zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

master

Taisen Deshimaru was a Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhist teacher, who founded the ''Association Zen Internationale''. Biography Early life Born in the Saga Prefecture of Kyūshū, Deshimaru was raised by his grandfather, a former Samurai before the Meiji Revolution, ...

who arrived in this country in 1965 and whom Osawa considered as his successor. Tamura was an

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of the town of

Lesneven Lesneven (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It lies northeast of Brest, about from the English Channel in the middle of the Leon plateau. History Lesneven has its origins in the immigration f ...

, France, where he gave week long yearly summer seminars with fellow aikido sensei

Yoshimitsu Yamada Yoshimitsu Yamada (山田嘉光; February 17, 1938 – January 15, 2023) was a Japanese-American aikido instructor. He was ranked eighth dan rank, dan in the Aikikai. He was chief instructor at the dojo New York Aikikai, and president of the Un ...

. The other two important aikido trainings he gave every year during the summer were Saint-Mandrier and

La Colle-sur-Loup La Colle-sur-Loup (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Population Notable residents * Jean-François-Maxime Raybaud (1795–1894), a philhellene officer, writer, and a participant in the War of In ...

. He first visited

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in 1988, and held camps there on a yearly or bi-yearly basis until 2009.

Personal life

Tamura married Rumiko, a student in Morihei Ueshiba's dojo. They had three sons, one of them, Yoshimichi, having a successful career in the movie industry as an animator. He was the lead animator for the character Helga in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

motion picture '' Atlantis: The Lost Empire''.

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

br>Yoshimichi Tamura
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Death

Tamura died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on the night of 9 July 2010.

Published works

*''National AIKIDO method'' (print), 1975 ACFA *''AIKIDŌ'', Marseille 1986: AGEP; *''Aikido – Etikette und Weitergabe'', (German Edition: ) Amazon-Germany ASIN: 3939703508 *''Aikido – Etiquette et transmission. Manuel a l'usage des professeurs.'' Aix en Provence 1991: Editions du Soleil Levant,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamura, Nobuyoshi Japanese aikidoka 1933 births 2010 deaths Naturalized citizens of France Deaths from cancer in France People from Osaka Prefecture Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite