This interview appeared in Biran in 2002. The interview was conducted in Japanese and translated by John Brinsley.
Q: Sensei, when and where were you born?
A: February 26, 1945. In Yamaguchi prefecture, in a village called Obatake..
Q: How big was your family?
A: I have two older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister. Five of us.
Q: What was your childhood like?
A: Well, of course I was a diligent student! (laughs) No, that’s not true. I was raised in a small fishing village near the Japan sea. We weren’t fishermen, although we fished some. My father was a priest. It was a pretty poor village. Ate a lot of sweet potatoes as a kid. But there was a lot of fish, too. I never thought of us as poor. There was always enough to eat. And there was fruit from the mountains nearby.
Q: Why did you begin Aikido? Continue reading “From the Archives: Murashige Sensei Interview”