Kyoichi Inoue Sensei
Born in Hokkaido in 1935, Kyoichi Inoue (井上 強一) became one of the first uchi-deshi to Gozo Shioda (himself a pre-war uchi-deshi to Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei) in the newly established Aikido Yoshinkan in 1955. Along with fellow student Takashi Kushida, and under the direction of Yoshinkan Founder Gozo Shioda, he played a significant role in the development of the Yoshinkan Aikido teaching methodology.
In 2002, some years after Gozo Shioda’s passing in 1994, he was selected as the second Kancho (Director) of the Yoshinkan. After a number of internal struggles at the Yoshinkan he retired from that position in 2006 to establish a new organization, the Aikido Shinwakan (合氣道親和館).
The following essay is a translated section from the book “An Introduction to the Kojiki for People Learning Aikido” (合気道を学ぶ人のための古事記入門), by Kyoichi Inoue and Akio Jiromaru, which was published in Japanese in 2012 by Onogoro Juku and Quest Co., Ltd..