Category Archives: Interview

Interview, Translation

Profiles of the Founder: Nobuyoshi Tamura, Part 2

4 Comments

Nobuyoshi Tamura with Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei and Koichi Toheimeeting Hawaii Governor William F. Quinn in 1961
This article is Part 2 of the translation of an interview with Nobuyoshi Tamura which originally appeared in "Profiles of the Founder" (開祖の横顔), published in Japanese in 2009. See "Profiles of the Founder of Aikido: Nobuyoshi Tamura, Part 1" for Part 1 of the interview.
When Tamura arrived in Hawaii as Morihei Ueshiba’s Otomo in 1961 he was immediatly nicknamed "the Stone Wall" because of his ability to remain immovable before the efforts of the local Hawaiian Aikido students.

Interview, Translation

Profiles of the Founder of Aikido: Nobuyoshi Tamura, Part 1

Comment

from the brochure for the 1961 Aikido demonstration at McKinley High School in Honolulu Hawaii 
Born in 1933, Nobuyoshi Tamura entered Aikikai Hombu Dojo as an uchi-deshi in 1953. He is frequently seen taking ukemi in post-war films of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. In 1961 he accompanied the Founder to Hawaii as his Otomo (attendant) for the dedication of the Honolulu Aiki Dojo. In 1964 he arrived in France, where he would be instrumental in the growth of Aikido throughout France and Europe. He passed away in July 2010, shortly after accepting an invitation to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of O-Sensei’s visit to Hawaii, which would be held in February 2011."Profiles of the Founder" (開祖の横顔) was published in Japanese in 2009. Some of the content was previously introduced in the article "Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder". Also, some (but not all) of the quotations in the article "Aikido and the Unknown" came from "Profiles of the Founder".What follows is part 1 of the translated text of the interview with Nobuyoshi Tamura from "Profiles of the Founder".