Isao Obata

Obata was born in 1904 in the Tokyo area of Japan, the son of Kyuichi Obata and Toyoko Obata (née Ishiguro).[1] His father owned several silk mills in the region, and moved the family to different towns as demanded by his work.[1] Obata lost two brothers in infancy, and grew up with one younger brother and one younger sister.[1] As a child, he had a great interest in the martial arts, and left it to his brother, Satoru, to prepare to lead the family business eventually.[1]

At school, Obata trained in judo, kendo (swordsmanship), and kyudo (archery).[1] Unlike most Japanese boys of the time, he went through several schools, and entered Keio Preparatory School in Tokyo around 1922.[1] A friend gave him a copy of Gichin Funakoshi's first book on karate, and this sparked Obata's interest in the art.[1] Upon completion of his secondary education, Obata gained entry to Keio University.[1] In 1923, Funakoshi accepted a position teaching karate at the university, and Obata was one of the first students in line.[1] He would go on to become one of Funakoshi's senior students.[2] The Great Kantō earthquake struck later that year, destroying most of Tokyo, including Keio University's karate dojo (training hall).[1] The students rebuilt the dojo within a year, however, and training resumed.[1]

Kyuichi Obata was too busy with his business to have studied the martial arts himself, but was pleased at his son's commitment to karate; one of the family's ancestors had been Obata Nobusada, a famous samurai, general and governor under the daimyō (feudal lord) Takeda Shingen in the 16th century.[1] Toyoko Obata was a deeply religious Christian and saw the martial arts as contradictory to her beliefs, but never inhibited her son's training.[1]

Over the next few years, Obata assisted Funakoshi with teaching karate at Takushoku University, Waseda University, and Hitotsubashi University (then known as Shoka University).[1] He became the inaugural captain of Keio University's karate club.[1] In 1926, Funakoshi awarded black belt status to his most senior students, including Obata.[1] Obata's father died of a heart attack in 1927.[1]

In 1932, Obata travelled to Manchuria, and was to work there for more than 10 years as an economic adviser to the Manchurian Aviation Corporation.[1] He was responsible for flight scheduling and operations.[1] During this time, he taught karate privately to a few friends and students, but turned his focus to kyudo.[1] His mother introduced him to a young woman, Miyako, and the two were married in Tokyo by 1935.[1] In 1940, he returned to Tokyo to represent Manchuria at a kyudo tournament, and won the competition.[1] For a time, he was much better known for his expertise in kyudo than in karate.[1]

During the first few months of World War II, Obata was promoted to the rank of 5th dan in Shotokan karate.[1] When Japan entered the war, Obata's brother Satoru joined the Imperial Japanese Army as an officer.[1] S. Obata had practised judo and was ranked 2nd dan in karate.[1] He died in the bitter fighting for Iwo Jima, and this meant that Obata had to return to Japan to look after his mother and sister.[1] His brother's death affected him deeply, for the two had been very close.[1] With the end of the war, the occupying forces suspended all martial arts training in Japan for three years; it was only then that Obata could resume training under Funakoshi.[1] In the meantime, he worked at international trading company Hirano Seiko.[1]

On May 27, 1949, Obata, Masatoshi Nakayama, Shigeru Egami, and other colleagues established the Japan Karate Association (JKA) under Funakoshi.[3][4][5][6] Obata was the inaugural Chairman of the JKA, with Funakoshi as Honorary Chief Instructor and Nakayama as Chief Instructor.[9] In 1954, he left the JKA when the organization became increasingly commercial and militaristic in nature.[1][2][4][9] Along with Nakayama, Hidetaka Nishiyama, and others, he began teaching personnel from the US Strategic Air Command (SAC) who were based in Japan.[7][8] Through Emilio Bruno of the SAC, whom Obata had earlier met through his work at Hirano Seiko, SAC headquarters invited Obata to visit the US to demonstrate his art.[1] For two months in 1953, he flew from base to base, demonstrating Shotokan karate to US military personnel; he then returned to teaching in Japan.[1]

Obata's master, Funakoshi, died in 1957.[2] While Funakoshi had been honorary head of the JKA, Obata felt that the university karate clubs (Keio, Waseda, Takushoku, Hitotsubashi, and Hosei) most faithfully represented the spirit of Funakoshi's karate.[2] Through the 1950s and 1960s, Obata continued teaching karate to SAC personnel at the Kodokan.[1] In 1968, he visited the US again and was honored by his student Tsutomu Ohshima, who had established the Southern California Karate Association.[1] Obata's mother died that year.[1] Another pioneer of karate in California, Dan Ivan, also studied under Obata.[10]

In his final years, Obata lived with his wife in the outskirts of Tokyo, spending his days teaching karate or tending to his garden.[1] While officially retired, he continued teaching four nights and four evenings each week at Keio University and Meiji University.[1] His students presented him with a plaque reading: "Like your nickname, Elephant, you are strong, big and gentle. We thank you for the lessons you have taught us."[1] In a 1972 interview, Obata expressed disillusionment with the development of karate, saying, "Karate is dying now. It cannot last longer than a few more decades."[1] He died in 1976.[11]

• List of Shotokan organizations

• United States Taiho Jutsu Federation contains photographs of Obata (1953).