Kosugi Hoan
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Investigations, Volume 2 available now
Volume 2 of “Investigations into the history of karate” is available now. Based on this blog, the book traces a range of historical contexts in which karate surfaces, from everyday settings such as plantations in Hawaiʻi around 1900 and personal diary entries from the early twentieth century. Other contributions draw on visual and textual sources,… Continue reading
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Kosugi Hōan diary (1922)
The artist Kosugi Hōan 小杉放庵 (born Kosugi Kunitarō, 1881–1964) was one of the first students of Funakoshi Gichin (1868–1957) on the mainland after the latter’s arrival in Tōkyō in 1922. We owe to him the cover design of Funakoshi’s first book, published in November 1922. Kosugi also left us an important account in the June 1930 issue… Continue reading
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Bulls and rams in karate folklore
Stories about animals have always played an important role in folklore. In the world of karate, the bull is the subject of many anecdotes. The bull is a very powerful animal. A form of bullfighting, in which peasants pitted bulls against each other for fun, is said to date back at least to the 12th… Continue reading
Investigations into the history of karate 