Kendo tournament in front of the japan emperor

Una joya del pasado recogida por el bibliotecario surfeando en la red. Un video de un torneo de kendo en 1940.


In 1940 the third Ten-ran jiai (competition before the emperor) was held inside the imperial palace. This competition was held to commemorate the 2600th year in Koki (imperial calendar). Kendo, kyudo, and judo competitions were held for three days from 18th June, but on the 20th when the emperor was present, all competitors are said to have prepared themselves by bathing and visiting the shrine in the morning.

(around 1.00 minute of the video clip)
The first match in semi finals was between:
Kayaba Teruo from Miyagi prefecture (in Nito);
Yoshioka Shingo from Ehime prefecture (in Itto).

After a close match, Kayaba in Nito scored two Men to progress to the final.

(around 2.12)
The second match in semi finals was between:
Mochizuki Masafusa from Tokyo;
Takeshita Yoshiaki from Kagoshima.

Mochizuki won with quick movement to score two Men cuts. Thus as many people expected, Kayaba in Nito-ryu and Mochizuki from Tokyo progressed to the final.

(around 4.00)
Selected Competitors category
From all over the country, 32 competitors were selected on the ground of their excellent ability and character. The following four progressed to the semi finals:
Omori Kojiro from Kyoto prefecture;
Masuda Shinsuke, Shihan of Noma dojo;
Tsuzaki Kanenori, teacher of Kyoto Busen;
Ono Jyussei, Shihan of Keishi-cho.

(around 4:52)
Kyoshi Omori Kojiro in a black kendo-gi
Kyoshi Masuda Shinsuke in a white kendo-gi

The match was an exciting one living up to the expectation of the Selected Competitor category. Omori took the first point with Men, but Masuda from Noma dojo then scored two Men cuts to win the match.

(7.35)
The second semi final match was between Tsuzaki Kanenori and Ono Jyussei.

As in the first semi final, it was an east Japan vs. west Japan competition. This time, Tsuzaki Kanenori of Kyoto Busen won with Kote and Men.
As a result, Masuda of the east and Tsuzaki from the west progressed to the final.

(9.03)
Final of the Prefectural Competitors category
After long and difficult fights, Kayaba Teruo and Mochizuki Masafusa stepped forward for the final. The referees were:
Omote: Mochida Seiji Hanshi;
Ura: Saimura Goro Hanshi.
Under a tense atmosphre the final match started.

Kayaba who was undefeated up to this point takes a strong Gyaku-nito posture. However in face of strong pressure from Mochizuki, Kayaba is stepping back. Mochizuki is said to have studied how to defeat Nito by taking Gyaku-nito himself and practicing without sleeping the previous night. His effort seems to be paying off already...