Volume 21, number 1/2
January/February 2007
On February 6, 2007 Susie Shizue Omura Murosako, a wonderfully loyal friend of the PNKF, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly after a tragic fall on the front steps of her home. Born in Seattle January 1, 1921, she moved at the age of two to Turlock and then Bakersfield, California. Her husband is Pat Yoshitsugu Murosako Sensei of Meadowbrook and Musokai, whom she married in Los Angeles in 1951. Their son is James Kazuo Murosako Sensei of Obukan. We offer deepest condolences to both of them. She had immense accomplishments in the arts, including exquisitely fine basketry, and Japanese doll making. Her award-winning cooking once so captivated Nakamura Taizaburo Sensei that he risked being late to an important demonstration in order to eat more of her delicious waffles. The February 13 memorial service for this woman of great beauty and spiritual attainment was conducted by her close friend the Reverend Christoper Breen and attended by many mourners from the PNKF and far beyond.
Early records indicate that there has been a Kendo presence in Steveston for more than 85 years, but it is clearly documented that there has been a formal club continuously for 75 years, broken only by the Relocation period during World War II. Even during the Relocation, Kendo continued to be practiced in exile, and resumed in Steveston after the War. Since 1962, there has been a Steveston Taikai every year. Special celebration honors were awarded to Mr. and Mrs. Ohara, Mr. and Mrs. Murao, Mrs. Kondo, and Mrs. Nishikihama. Ryan Beebe gave the Sportsmanship Pledge.
10 Years and Under 11 to 13 Years 1st place - D. Kim, Bellevue 1st place - R. Eguchi, SCKF 2nd place - A. Sinclair, Spokane 2nd place - A. Chung, SCKF 3rd place - C. Takenaka, Hawai'i 3rd place - R. Murao, Steveston 3rd place - C. Lam, Steveston 3rd place - S. O'Sullivan, Steveston 14 to 15 Years Junior Team 1st place - G. Mizutani, Renbu 1st place - Steveston 2nd place - M. Hamanaka, UBC 2nd place - SCKF 3rd place - K. Yokota, NCKF 3rd place - Hawai'i 3rd place - A. Eitoku, NCKF 3rd place - Renbu Ladies 1 Dan and Under Ladies 2 Dan and Above 1st place - K. Hinami, US 1st place - Y. Watarai, Toronto 2nd place - L. Murao, Steveston 2nd place - W. Robillard, Steveston 3rd place - H. Yamada, Vancouver 3rd place - M. Taguchi, Renfrew 3rd place - H. Chiang, Matsukai 3rd place - H. Taguchi, Renfrew Senior Non-Degree 0-4 Kyu Senior Non-Degree 1-3 Kyu 1st place - A. Chen, Steveston 1st place - G. Kim, Global 2nd place - R. Wiebe, Steveston 2nd place - A. Eitoku, NCKF 3rd place - P. Chan, SFU 3rd place - S. McNally, Spokane 3rd place - J. Lee, Steveston 3rd place - J. Wang, Cascade 1-2 Dan 3 Dan 1st place - T. Hori, SCKF 1st place - K. Ishikawa, SFU 2nd place - K. Umeda, NCKF 2nd place - R. Makino, Toronto 3rd place - I. Miki, Renfrew 3rd place - L. D'Orangeville, McGill 3rd place - Y. Mizutani, Renbu 3rd place - N. Tanaka, UBC 4th Dan and Above Senior Team 1st place - S. Kamata, Etobicoke 1st place - Steveston 2nd place - K. Takayama, UVic 2nd place - Etobicoke 3rd place - S. Maruyama, Butokuden 3rd place - Renfrew 3rd place - T. Ariga, Butokuden 3rd place - NCKF
Up to 9 Years 10 to 12 Years 1st place - Walker Manning, ShidoCT 1st place - Dunkin Adams, ShidoCT 2nd place - Alistair Faghani, ShidoDC 2nd place - Todd Choi, ShidoNJ 3rd place - Gen Kaneko, ShidoNJ 3rd place - Mirei Kato, ShidoCT 3rd place - Kan Tristan, Kyodokan 3rd place - Naoto Takahashi, ShidoCT Kantosho - Yasuo Katagiri, ShidoDC Kantosho - Daihachi Yagi, ShidoNY 13 to 15 Years 16-18 Years 1st place - Taishi Kato, ShidoCT 1st place - Shota Nichimura, Yushinkan 2nd place - Ryota Nishimura, Yushikan 2nd place - Brian McKenna, Yushinkan 3rd place - Eric Yan, ShidoDC 3rd place - Shuhei Uemura, Keio 3rd place - Kazuya Abe, Kyudokan 3rd place - Matthew Leong, ShidoNJ Kantosho - Kentaro Higuchi, ShidoCT Kantosho - Megumi Satake, Keio 19 Years and Up, Up to 2 Kyu 19 Years and Up, 1 Kyu/Shodan 1st place - Nicholas Andrews, VA Tech 1st place - Osamu Osawa, VA Tach 2nd place - Min Heo, Cornell 2nd place - Sean Tseng, Geo Washington U 3rd place - Bryan Zembrowski, Yale 3rd place - Garrett Austin, Geo Washington U 3rd place - Michael Gerty, Cornell 3rd place - Gian Ishino, Wesleyan Kantosho - Christine Eickhoff, VA Tech 19 Years and Up, 2 Dan and Up Women 1st place - Marvin Kawabata, ShidoNY 1st place - Mina Sakai, ShidoNY 2nd place - Takuya Kamata, ShidoDC 2nd place - Megumi Satake, Keio 3rd place - Daigoro Hirahata, Shodokan 3rd place - Martha Adams, ShidoCT 3rd place - Yoshihito Sasaki, ShidoDC 3rd place - Mi Hyun Yoon, Rutgers Kantosho - Andre Hasche, ShidoNY Youth Team (Up to 15 Years) Mitsukoshi Cup (High School/College) 1st place - Shidogakuin CT 1st place - Shidogakuin NY 2nd place - Shidogakuin DC 2nd place - Yushinkan 3rd place - Shidogakuin NY 3rd place - Cornell University A 3rd place - Shidogakuin NJ 3rd place - Shodokan
KENDO SHINSA, November 23, 2006, Chiyoda-ku, Japan
3RD DAN: Azamat Koumykov (Kendo Club of Moscow State University).
KENDO SHINSA, December 11, 2006, Taipei, Taiwan
7TH DAN: Dick Teshima (Wahiawa Kendo Club).
IAIDO SHINSA, February 24, 2007, Bellevue
3RD KYU: James Boyd (Everett), Andy Dalton (Tacoma), Helen Passey (Everett), Jason Wilson (Musokai), Clarito Zapanta (Musokai).
2ND KYU: Wes American Horse (Everett), Thomas Petchel (Musokai), Brian Railing (Musokai), Juan Zapata (Musokai).
1ST KYU: Hiroaki Fukumoto (Seattle), Chun-fang Huang (Obukan), Ben Kim (Musokai), Timothy Roth (Tacoma), David Vogel (Everett).
1ST DAN: RenŽ Fox (Tri-Cities)
2ND DAN: Hisakazu Kawai (Obukan), Glenn Walker (Obukan).
3RD DAN: Mitchell McEwen (Everett), Kenneth Raichle (Everett).
KENDO SHINSA, February 24, 2007, Bellevue
5TH KYU: Melanie DeJong (Highline), Mark Frederick (Northwest), Ariel Goh (Northwest), Brandon Goh (Northwest), Jane Kang (Northwest), William Kang (Northwest), David H. Kim (Bellevue), David J. Kim (Bellevue), Edward Liou (Bellevue), April Lotshaw (Northwest), Jorren Mills (Kent), Chan Na, (Northwest), Marcus Na (Northwest), Nick Petersen (Obukan), Andy Sinclair (Spokane).
4TH KYU: Raine Blechschmidt (Bellevue), Vanessa Byers (Big Sky), Paul Case (Kent), Erica DeJong (Highline), Daniel Jackson (Puyallup), Christian J. Kim (Bellevue), Bernice Lin (Bellevue), Ken Maddy (Bellevue), Thomas Matsumiya (Bellevue), June Noh (Seattle), Daniel Sinclair (Spokane), Jennifer Wilcox (Kent).
3RD KYU: Wes American Horse (Everett), Connor Blomquist (Bellevue), James Brien (Obukan), Wei-Ju Chen (Seattle), John Clark (Tacoma), Sean Cresse (Kent), Seunghee Jang (UW), Kathy Liao (UW), Joseph Matison (Spokane), Ian Morgan (Puyallup), Ross Pendleton (Cascade), Bert Tsutakawa (Highline), Leroy Um (UW), Frank Wessbecher (Cascade), Lowell Young (Seattle).
2ND KYU: Lee Anderson (Big Sky), Stephen Burgess (Bellevue), Paul Cresse (Kent), Nicholas Goobin (Tacoma), Nathaniel Janega (Tacoma), Shiloh Jolly (Kent), Scott Kawamoto (Obukan), Ruth Kim (Bellevue), Philbert Lin (Bellevue), Steve Mack (Tacoma), Dylan Manning (Bellevue), Challen Mills (Kent), Austen Samkange (Bellevue), Erica Tam (UW), Jan VanYsslestyne (Seattle).
1ST KYU: Ian Cresse (Kent), Stephen Day (Kent), Janell Frazier-Day (Kent), Noelle Grimes (Sno-King), Harvey Jewett (Spokane), Donglock Kim (Bellevue), Billy Kuster (Spokane), Jeremy Roskowyk (Spokane), Bor-Duan Shieh (Seattle), Wendy Sinclair (Spokane), David Vogel (Everett).
1ST DAN: Lance Clifford (Big Sky), Ken Eguro (UW), Apurva Jantrania (Obukan), Naoshi Kiguchi (Spokane), Stephen Matsuba (Seattle), Sean McNally (Spokane), Gregory Phancenek (Seattle), Anthony Zee (Bellevue).
2ND DAN: Tony Leischner (Pocatello), Mitchell McEwen (Everett), Jayson Nunokawa (Bellevue), Mick Sinclair (Spokane), Jahan Vafaeezadeh (Bellevue), Roger Yao (Cascade).
3RD DAN: Brian Blomquist (Everett), Michelle Byrd (Pocatello), Bryan Imanishi (Cascade), Andrea Pirzio-Biroli (Cascade), Jonathan Scherer (Cascade).
4TH DAN: Chun-fang Huang (Obukan), Bryan Mosley (Oklahoma City Sen Shin Kan), Garrett Suzaka (Seattle), Naoaki Tanimura (Bellevue).