Kanki Izumikawa, Pioneer of Goju-Ryu in Japan

Kanki Izumikawa was a master of Goju-Ryu who established the Senbukan dojo in Kawasaki Japan in 1939. The Senbukan was the first dojo of Okinawan Goju-Ryu on the mainland of Japan. At the time Goju-Ryu was already introduced to the mainland, but Izumikawa sensei was the first Okinawan teacher of Goju-Ryu to move to Japan and establish a permanent dojo. Today it remains the oldest dojo of Goju-Ryu.

Kanki Izumikawa was born on Okinawa in 1908 to an upper-class family. He was introduced to the basics of te by his grandfather who was a student of Sokon Matsumura. Later in his youth he studied Naha-te under Juhatsu Kyoda, a direct senior student of Kanryo Higashionna. Kyoda would later be the founder of the To’on-Ryu style of karate. In 1928 Izumikawa was introduced to Seiko Higa, who would become his main teacher. Seiko Higa was originally also a student of Kanryo Higashionna and the oldest student of Goju-Ryu founder Chojun Miyagi. Kanki Izumikawa and Seiko Higa both traveled to Saipan and taught karate for two years between 1935-1937. Upon their return Izumikawa was presented with Seiko Higa’s bubishi to copy by hand. The transmission of the bubishi from teacher to student was a certificate of mastery of sorts at the time and the tradition continues within Izumikawa’s line today. The following year in 1938 he made the move to Kawasaki.

In 1942 Kanki Izumikawa was recognized by the Dai Nippon Butokukai and awarded the title of Renshi, the same as other notable masters such as Kenwa Mabuni, Gichin Funakoshi. After war knowledge of the Senbukan spread and more students began to join. Some of the most notable students were Sosui Ichikawa, Busen Arakawa, Tsutomu Takato, Hyotaro Harada who would all got to open branch dojo of the Senbukan. Goju Ryu spread from the Senbukan all across the Kanto region of eastern Japan and as far north as Sendai and west to Nagoya. The popularity was such, that during Izumikawa’s lifetime even students of his students were running dojo of their own in the early 60s.

Kanki Izumikawa sensei with several students in the Senbukan dojo (~1951)

In 1957 Izumikawa was honoured with the highest title of Hanshi by the Dai Nippon Butokai. He was instrumental in the founding of the Nihon Karate do Rengokai and served as an advisor. He was also advisor of the Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai of Shinken Taira sensei and was a shihan of Ryukyu Kobudo which he learned from his older brother. He traveled twice to Hawaii to teach Goju-Ryu karate and took his senior students Busen Arakawa and Ryoichi Yanase with him. The Hawaii Senbukan was established by Kenneth Murakami and George Miyasaki who trained with Kanki Izumikawa at the Senbukan honbu during the 1950s.

In 1967 Izumikawa sensei passed away at the age of 59. The Senbukan dojo was inherited by his oldest son Kanbun Izumikawa who succeeded his father. After Izumikawa’s death virtually all the senior students went independent and founded their own organisations. The two main ones that stayed within the Senbukai were Hyotaro Harada and Satoru Suzuki. In 1982 Kanbun Izumikawa also passed away and the dojo was inherited by Kanki Izumikawa’s second son Katsuya Izumikawa. To this day he continues to teach and preserve his father’s Goju-Ryu which was inherited from Seiko Higa. In addition, Katsuya Izumikawa is a master of Daito-Ryu Aiki Jutsu which he learned from Keisetsu Yoshimaru and a shihan of Ryukyu Kobudo. Yoshimaru was originally a student of Kanki Izumikawa and ranked 4th dan in Goju-Ryu before he trained Daito-Ryu under Sagawa.

Kanki Izumikawa on Hawaii in 1964, with Busen Arakawa (back far left) and Ryoichi Yanase (far right)

Kanki Izumikawa’s influence on Goju-Ryu on the mainland was very strong and today there are many dojo in Japan which can trace their lineage back to the Senbukan. During his lifetime Kanki Izumikawa did not give in to the growing sports karate and stuck with the traditional Goju-Ryu methods he learned on Okinawa. Despite being very well known and respected in his time, today sadly his name is rarely spoken in Goju-Ryu circles outside Japan.