{"id":399,"date":"2013-10-14T15:43:42","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T19:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biran.birankai.org\/?p=399"},"modified":"2013-10-14T15:52:20","modified_gmt":"2013-10-14T19:52:20","slug":"from-the-archives-murashige-sensei-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biran.birankai.org\/?p=399","title":{"rendered":"From the Archives: Murashige Sensei Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by Gary Payne.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This interview appeared in Biran in 2002. The interview was conducted in Japanese and translated by John Brinsley.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Sensei, when and where were you born?
\nA:\u00a0 February 26, 1945. In Yamaguchi prefecture, in a village called Obatake..
\nQ: How big was your family?
\nA:\u00a0 I have two older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister. Five of us.
\nQ: What was your childhood like?
\nA:\u00a0 Well, of course I was a diligent student! (laughs) No, that\u2019s not true. I was raised in a small fishing village near the Japan sea. We weren\u2019t 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.
\nQ: Why did you begin Aikido?
\nA:\u00a0 Why? Because of my father.
\nQ: That would be Aritoshi Murashige sensei. How did he come to practice Aikido. He was a close to O-sensei, wasn\u2019t he?
\nA:\u00a0 Yes. (My father) was born in 1895.\u00a0 Do you know (Minoru) Mochizuki? He was sent (to practice with O-sensei) from the Kodokan (Judo\u2019s main dojo) and my father went with him. My dad did judo, kendo, Muso Ryu jo and spear. So he was probably 30 or so when he started Aikido.
\nQ: When did you start Aikido?
\nA:\u00a0 I think when I was a high school junior. That would have been 1962, when I was 16 or 17. My father had gone to Burma, now Myanmar, to teach Aikido. O-sensei had sent him to teach at Burma\u2019s police college. He went for seven years. When he returned to our village, I began practicing.
\nQ: What were your father\u2019s classes like?
\nA:\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember. I had only just started practicing, although I had done judo before. All I remember is being in pain and falling down.
\nQ: Did he talk to you about Aikido?
\nA:\u00a0 No, he didn\u2019t, at least I don\u2019t remember. He concentrated on training.
\nQ: What was the relationship between your father and O-sensei?
\nA:\u00a0 Well, he became an Omoto-kyo believer because of O-sensei. O-sensei told my father to go to Hiroshima to teach Aikido. And the place where my father went to teach was my mother\u2019s hometown. And my mother\u2019s father took a liking to my father, and suggested to him that he marry his daughter. And my mother\u2019s family were Omoto-kyo. My father actually had been a Buddhist priest, an Ajari of the Tendai sect in Hiezan*. Then, because of becoming a student of O-sensei, he changed to Omoto-kyo. Actually, this is funny: my father told me that when he went to visit the Omoto-kyo compound (in Ayabe, near Kyoto), where Onisaburo Deguchi was, O-sensei wasn\u2019t there. He was thirsty and he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. So he went in, and on the kamiza was a flask of sake. He drank it down, all of it! And Onisaburo Deguchi came in and said, \u201cwhat are you doing?\u201d And my father said, \u201chaving some sake!\u201d (laughs) Deguchi asked, \u201cwhat religion are you?\u201d \u201cSomeone who follows Fudo (a Buddhist diety), and since Fudo and the Omoto-kyo gods are the same, I thought it would be all right to have a drink,\u201d my father replied. And Deguchi said, \u201cwell, you must have been thirsty!\u201d (laughs)
\nQ: So you were raised Omoto-kyo?
\nA:\u00a0 Yes, still am.
\nQ: Did you ever meet Onisaburo Deguchi?
\nA:\u00a0 No.
\nQ: When did you first meet O-sensei?
\nA:\u00a0 O-sensei came to teach in Yamaguchi. And with him he brought Kazuo Chiba sensei as his otomo. That was the first time I met him. We had all just started practicing (in Yamaguchi). And O-sensei called me up, for shomen uchi ikkyo. And he pinned me with one finger on my elbow. Then he said, \u201cget up.\u201d And I couldn\u2019t get up. I tried and tried, but I couldn\u2019t get up. Not at all. A total defeat. That was my first impression of O-sensei. Then we did suwariwaza, again shomen uchi ikkyo. And again he pinned me with one finger on my neck. And again I couldn\u2019t move. And over on the side of the mat was Kazuo Chiba, laughing, probably (laughs).
\nQ: How long did you practice Aikido in Yamaguchi?
\nA:\u00a0 One year. About three times a week, with my father usually teaching. We practiced at a school gymnasium, maybe 12 or 13 people. Most of them had done judo.
\nQ: And then you went to Tokyo?
\nA:\u00a0 Yes, after I had finished high school. I had found work there with a company that makes flash bulbs for cameras. Even before that, after I had been practicing Aikido for maybe six months, I visited Tokyo during spring vacation by myself. And I stayed at Hombu for two weeks, in the old dojo. It was really cold, I remember it snowing.
\nQ: Who do you remember meeting there?
\nA:\u00a0 Terry Dobson, for one. He was a shodan. And Kanai sensei, Kurita, Yamada, Tamura, Ichihashi. Who else? Saotome sensei. Chiba sensei was off teaching in Nagoya. I practiced five times a day. Boy, was it cold. And the night before I was to go home, Chiba sensei came back. And he said to me, \u201chey, long time no see!\u201d This was after the last evening keiko had finished. And then he said, \u201clet\u2019s practice!\u201d It was only ten minutes, but I remember it well. All we did was shihonage. I took ukemi the whole time, and he pounded me! (laughs) Terry Dobson was very nice to me, both practing with me and answering my questions about America. Kanai sensei and Kurita sensei were bullies! We slept in a small room, I slept near the door, where it was coldest. Kanai slept away from the door, where the wind didn\u2019t come in. And O-sensei would wake up really early, and we\u2019d have to get up.
\nQ: Who taught the classes?
\nA:\u00a0 Morning class was O-sensei. Then Kisshomaru-sensei. After that I don\u2019t really remember. Probably people like Arikawa sensei and Tada sensei.
\nQ: Did you eat with the Ueshiba family along with the other deshi?
\nA:\u00a0 Yes, but there wasn\u2019t a lot of food. And everybody was pretty banged up. After keiko you had to clean the dojo, then eat, and there wasn\u2019t much of anything. I remember being hungry every day. Then one day, Yamada sensei said, \u201cI\u2019ll take you to a nearby place to eat.\u201d So we went, sat down, and had rice and egg with miso soup, both of us the same thing. We bolted it down, Yamada got up, and with a \u201cthank you,\u201d left! I had to pay, me, just a snot-nosed 17-year-old! And the next day he wanted to go again, and I said, \u201cno thank you.\u201d I had no money! (laughs)
\nQ: So then, you returned to your hometown, finished high school, and moved to Tokyo? How long did you live there?
\nA:\u00a0 From the time I was 18 until 24. I practiced every day. I lived far away, in Mizunokuchi, so I\u2019d get up every morning at 4:30 to get to Shinjuku.
\nQ: What were O-sensei\u2019s classes like?
\nA:\u00a0 Mostly suwariwaza ikkyo. That\u2019s all I remember.
\nQ: What about O-sensei himself?
\nA:\u00a0 My impression of the founder is that of like a grandfather. He was my father\u2019s teacher so if I needed to talk about something that happened, I talked with him, even though I was only a white belt. I\u2019d go early to Hombu and always say \u201cgood morning\u201d to him. He was very nice to me. He called me up to take ukemi for him, even though I was only a white belt, for shomen uchi ikkyo, and throw me gently. Of course the uchideshi then pounded me.
\nQ: How many people would attend the morning class?
\nA:\u00a0 150.
\nQ: Really?
\nA:\u00a0 The dojo was totally full. It was something, there was no space. This was the old dojo, one floor only, but the mat was pretty large.
\nQ: Besides the morning keiko, which other classes did you attend?
\nA:\u00a0 In the evening I went to Yamaguchi sensei\u2019s class. My father had told me to practice with Yamaguchi sensei.
\nQ: Was that different from O-sensei or Kisshomaru-sensei\u2019s morning classes?
\nA:\u00a0 Totally different. With the Founder\u2019s Aikido, you just attacked and were down. It didn\u2019t hurt, not all. You just were down. It was very mysterious. The instant you touched him, you were down. He moved very little. But I think that he was especially gentle if your ukemi wasn\u2019t very good.
\nQ: What was it like watching the ukemi of the uchidesi?
\nA:\u00a0 Very good, much better than mine. Kanai, Chiba\u2026 they were really good.
\nQ: So what was Yamaguchi sensei like?
\nA:\u00a0 Very delicate. Once I saw Yamaguchi sensei accept a match with a judo practitioner. Yamaguchi sensei\u2019s dojo was in a judo dojo, in Azabu (central Tokyo). It was after a morning class, with a guy from the Kodokan. He was something like a sandan or yondan. And this guy said, \u201cOnegaishimasu,\u201d and Yamaguchi sensei said, \u201cAll right.\u201d And the guy came to grab (Yamaguchi sensei), who turned and threw him. And the guy fell, hard. And then he got up and rushed him again, and again was thrown. He couldn\u2019t even grab Yamaguchi sensei. It was pretty amazing. So I decided to try the same thing (on Yamaguchi sensei), since I had done judo and knew the techniques. I went to grab him and went flying, bang! O-sensei would let me grab him, and just move a little and I was down.
\nQ: Was the feeling attacking O-sensei different from attacking Yamaguchi sensei?
\nA: It was easier with Yamaguchi sensei. With O-sensei it was hard even to try and attack. It was over before it started. With Yamaguchi sensei I\u2019d attack, and then my hand would get swiped away and I\u2019d go down.
\nQ: Was it easier to understand Yamaguchi sensei\u2019s technique?
\nA: Yes, it was easier. You could see what he was doing. With O-sensei, it was, \u201cwhat was that?\u201d
\nQ: What about the other teachers, like Arikawa sensei?
\nA: I only took ukemi for him once. And all I remember is that it hurt. A lot. Tada sensei hurt too.
\nQ: What about Osawa sensei?
\nA: Osawa sensei was gentle. He\u2019d say, \u201csofter, softer, don\u2019t use your strength.\u201d You\u2019d attack, and he\u2019d go very slow, and then you were down.
\nQ: Was the something particularly important you learned from O-sensei?
\nA:\u00a0 I don\u2019t really remember.
\nQ: Anything else you remember of him?
\nA:\u00a0 Well, I got my dan rankings for free! (laughs). I got my shodan in Yamaguchi-sensei\u2019s class. I took a regular test. For my nidan, I was about to go to America in 1965, to New York. So I went to O-sensei to pay my respects, and to tell him I was going to the U.S. for a year or two. And he said, \u201cwhat dan are you?\u201d And I said, \u201cShodan.\u201d So he said, \u201cokay, now you\u2019re nidan.\u201d
\nQ: Just like that?
\nA:\u00a0 Yep, \u201cHey, Kisshomaru, give him a nidan. No charge.\u201d
\nQ: So then you went to New York?
\nA:\u00a0 Yes, for my job. The first time I was there one year and the second time, soon after, for about six months. My company sent me to set up their U.S. operation. In didn\u2019t matter that I didn\u2019t speak much English. We were selling flashes for cameras and I set up a service center to repair them, since it was too expensive to send them to Japan.
\nAnd I practiced with Yamada at his dojo. How I met him was funny. I was living on Broadway, and I was walking home, and saw a Japanese man coming the other way. There weren\u2019t many Japanese in New York then. I looked at him and thought, \u201cdon\u2019t I know him?\u201d And he had the same look on his face. I didn\u2019t know Yamada had moved to New York. Remember, I\u2019d go to morning class and rush to work, so I didn\u2019t know much about what was going on (at Hombu). So we passed, each looking at the other sort of strangely. And then, I turned and said, \u201cMr. Yamada?\u201d And he said, \u201cMurashige? What are you doing here?\u201d (laughs) And I asked where he was going, and he said, \u201cTo the dojo.\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s a dojo here? I didn\u2019t know!\u201d So I asked him to wait and I went and got my dogi and we went together. That\u2019s how I started practicing in New York.
\nQ: Was it different from practicing at Hombu?
\nA: Not so much, because of Yamada sensei. The people were bigger, though.
\nQ: Did you teach?
\nA: Yes. I didn\u2019t have much money, and Yamada sensei would have me teach, and I\u2019d get $20 per class, which was great. I taught Thursday evenings, from 6 to 7, when Yamada was teaching in New Jersey.
\nQ: Who do you remember from that period?
\nA: Not many people. T.K. Lee, a Chinese who is now in Texas, I think. He was a shodan. He had a laundry business. I don\u2019t remember anyone else.
\nQ: When did you come back to Japan?
\nA: It would have been the end of 1966. Then I went to Vietnam.
\nQ: During the war?
\nA: Yes. We sold flash bulbs, like strobe lights, to the U.S. military and I went to negotiate contracts with them. I was there about two months, and then went to Cambodia for about a month. I also went to places like Singapore and Hong Kong during that time. I was with that company until 1969.
\nQ: And then?
\nA: Then I moved back to my hometown with my wife.
\nQ: What was your rank at the time?
\nA: Sandan. When I came back from New York, I went to pay my respects to O-sensei, and he awarded me sandan.
\nQ: Were you in Tokyo when he passed away?
\nA: No. I remember the new dojo going up, but that was 1968. O-sensei died a year later, right?
\nQ: What was your reaction when you heard the news of his death.
\nA: Sort of, \u201cI blew it. I should have spent more time training with him.\u201d I felt the same way when Yamaguchi sensei died. I went out and got drunk.
\nQ: When you moved back home, what did you do?
\nA: I was a farmer. Actually, I was raising koi. This was from the time I was 24 to 30, I guess.
\nQ: What about Aikido?
\nA: I didn\u2019t do it all. But every day I would practice suburi by myself, 2000 cuts, rain or shine, after work. Then, around 1975, we moved to Kyushu for a bit. Drank a lot of shochu in those days. Then we moved back to Tokyo, where my mother had moved. That\u2019s when I worked as a cook, learning to make things like sushi and tempura. I worked from early in the morning until late at night, so I didn\u2019t practice Aikido at all. There was no time.
\nQ: And then you moved to San Diego?
\nA: Actually, first we went to Guam, where I worked in a Japanese restaurant. We were there for about six months. Then we came to the U.S., in 1978, I guess, working in my brother\u2019s restaurant. I hadn\u2019t practiced Aikido in 10 years, although I did suburi.
\nQ: How did you start practicing again?
\nA: One day, out of the blue, Mr. Yamada, Mr. Kanai, and Mr. Chiba came into the restaurant. That was around 1980. Nobody had told me anything, and these three walk into the place! They knew I was working there, although I don\u2019t know how. They sat down at the sushi bar, saying, \u201chey.\u201d It was like seeing three yakuza walk in, like it was their place! The customers all were quiet. (laughs) And Chiba sensei said he was looking to open a dojo, either in San Diego or Florida or maybe Texas. And so I said, \u201cFlorida is better, go to Florida!\u201d (laughs) But about a year later, he returned and opened a dojo here. So, knowing he was coming, I started practicing. Jim Cummings was there and Archie (Champion). Jim came to the restaurant and told me Chiba sensei was moving here. And they asked me to teach as well, so a couple of times a week I would teach.
\nQ: Was it difficult returning to practice after so long?
\nA: No, it was fine. I was still only 33 or 34. My body was still strong, and could still move, and do severe training. So when I had time, I practiced, probably only a couple of times a week because I was busy at the restaurant.
\nQ: How would you compare the practice of Aikido today with your experience 40 years ago?
\nA: I don\u2019t really know how to answer that question. I\u2019m just interested in practice, interested in technique. It is said that Aikido is more like dance or a sport, than it used to be, and less like real fighting. I\u2019ve heard people say that about Hombu, although I haven\u2019t practiced there in many years, so I don\u2019t really know. In the past, people would strike a makiwara to practice their atemi.
\nQ: When you see the students here at the San Diego Aikikai practice, do you think that that spirit of old is being preserved?
\nA: Yes, I think it is. But I think to think about stuff like this too much isn\u2019t good. Then it\u2019s all in your head. The purpose of Aikido, as Chiba sensei and others have said, is to take away your opponent\u2019s strength. Someone comes and attack, and you have to figure a way to use that and take them down. That is Aikido technique. And that\u2019s being preserved. But to think\u00a0 that Aikido is this or that is wrong. The way I do things change, the way Chiba sensei does things change. To think about something as \u201cold\u201d is all in your head. Chiba sensei takes this very seriously. He has a very strong sense of responsibility. He\u2019s the kind of person who if he makes a mistakes thinks about cutting his belly to take responsibility for it.
\nQ: In other words, he feels a strong sense of passing on what he learned from O-sensei?
\nA: Yes. To save people. People come here (to train) and Chiba sensei takes the trouble to truly take care of them. There\u2019s no way I could do that. It\u2019s too tiring. That\u2019s why I follow him. He\u2019s got a very pure spirit. People think of him as scary, but I\u2019ve never thought so.
\nQ: Your father practiced Aikido, you practice Aikido and your son Teru does as well. Three generations of Aikido. You must be happy about that tradition.
\nA: Yes, I am. I hope Teru practices more. Training is important. I was trained by my father, although only for one year, although he taught me some Muso Ryu Jo as well. He made me train hard. And during the year he taught Aikido, I also did zazen, and fasting. I fasted for a week once.
\nQ: Is there anything else you like to say?
\nA: Just for everyone to train. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

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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:\u00a0 February 26, 1945. In Yamaguchi prefecture, in a village called Obatake.. Q: How big was your family? A:\u00a0 I have two older brothers, an older sister, and a … <\/p>\n

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