Seiko Higa was a prominent teacher of Goju-Ryu on Okinawa. He initially began learning Naha-te from Kanryo Higashionna. After Kanryo passed away in 1915, Higa continued training with his senpai Chojun Miyagi. Higa opened his own dojo and began teaching in 1931. His final dojo which he opened in 1960 was known as the Shodokan. In the same year he also founded the Kokusai Karate Kobudo Renmei. Later, “Goju Ryu” was added to the organization name by Seikichi Higa. Many of the dojo on Okinawa founded by Higa’s students still belong to his organization. I wanted to go over some of the dojo from the Higa lineage and give a quick description.
Senbukan (Kanki Izumikawa)
Kanki Izumikawa was the first student of Seiko Higa to begin
teaching Goju-Ryu. He opened the Senbukan in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture in
1939. He was recognized as Renshi, and eventually Hanshi in 1957 by the Dai
Nippon Butokukai. Izumikawa had many successful students who opened dojo of
their own. Today it is one of the major Goju Ryu lineages in Japan with over a
dozen different organizations, The Senbukan dojo itself is run by Kanki’s son
Katsuya Izumikawa today. The Senbukan has had a close relationship with the
Goju Ryu Kokusai Karate Kobudo Renmei. Kanki Izumikawa’s oldest son Kanbun also
spent over 10 years training with Juei Tamaki.
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| Kanki Izumikawa in the Senbukan dojo with his students |
Seigokan (Juei Tamaki)
Juei Tamaki was the oldest student of Seiko Higa, having
been born in 1905. He was awarded Hanshi Judan, by Seiko Higa himself in 1960.
With permission from Higa he opened the Seigokan in 1965. Besides Goju Ryu,
Tamaki was also a master of Ryuei Ryu Kobudo. Some of his senior students
included Seitoku Matayoshi, Zensei Gushiken and Akira Gushi. The Seigokan has
played a major role in Seiko Higa’s organization. The current president of the Goju
Ryu Kokusai Karate Kobudo Renmei is Akira Gushi. The previous president, Zensei
Gushiken was also from the Seigokan.
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| The Seigokan dojo |
Shoreikan (Seikichi Toguchi)
Seikichi Toguchi was one of Higa's most senior students. In addition, he was a student of Goju Ryu founder Chojun Miyagi as well. Toguchi opened the Shoreikan in 1954 in Koza city. Some of the earliest students were Ryugo Sakai, Masanobu Shinjo, Zenshu Toyama and Katsuyoshi Kanei. The Shoreikan was eventually relocated to the mainland by Toguchi, with the honbu being in Tokyo. Toguchi was well known for the extra kata he created like Gekiha and Kakuha to be able to teach the Goju system more progressively. Like the Senbukan, the Shoreikan was independent from Seiko Higa's organization but enjoyed a close relationship.
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| Seiko Higa visiting the Shoreikan dojo |
Senbukan (Seiko Fukuchi)
Though it has the same reading as Izumikawa’s Senbukan, it’s
important to note the kanji are different. Seiko Fukuchi was a senior student
of Higa going back to the 30s. When Seiko Higa opened the Shodokan, he acted as
an assistant. He opened his own dojo in 1964 in Naha. Fukuchi
unfortunately died at a young age in 1975. Following this Iken Tokashiki became
the second president of Seiko Fukuchi’s organization. Later it was renamed to
the Gohaku Kai. The group still continues to use the Senbukan name for the dojo. The other senior student of Fukuchi was Tetsuhiro Hokama who continues to teach his Goju Ryu without the addition of Tomari te.
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| Seiko Fukuchi and his students. Tetsuhiro Hokama is to the right |
Gojukan (Eikichi Fukumoto)
Eikichi Fukumoto was a senior student of Seiko Higa who
trained with him at the Shodokan dojo. The Gojukan is one of the dojo that is a
member of Seiko Higa’s organization. Besides Okinawa, he also had several students
on the mainland Japan and there is a Gojukan dojo there still operated by one
of his students. On Okinawa one of his senior students was Hideo Ishiki. Fukumoto
sadly also died at a fairly young age. His dojo is carried on by his senior
students.
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| Eikichi Fukumoto (far left) with students |
Kobukan (Choshin Ishimine)
Chosin Ishimine was one of the more senior students of Seiko
Higa and began training with him well before the Shodokan dojo was established.
Most of the information on him comes from Akio Kinjo. Kinjo was a student of
Higa at first and then later learned Goju Ryu from Ishimine. Kinjo stated that
in 1953 he was one of few people to know Suparinpei and had the best kata out
of Higa’s students at the time. The
Kobukan continues to be a member dojo of the Goju Ryu Kokusai Karate Kobudo
Renmei. Otherwise there is not much known about them.
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| The Kobukan dojo of Ishimine |
Eikikan (Eiki Kurashita)
Eiki Kurashita was a student of Seiko Higa at the Shodokan
dojo. He is currently one of the last living students of Seiko Higa. When Seiko
Higa passed away, he continued his training with Seikichi Higa and the other
seniors at the Shodokan dojo. He was president of Seiko Higa’s organization following
the death of Seikichi Higa in 1999. His Eikikan dojo was another dojo in the Goju
Ryu Kokusai Karate Kobudo Renmei.
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| Eiki Kurashita in the Eikikan dojo |
There are several other dojo within Seiko Higa’s organization
such as the Gowakan, Mushikan, Gyobukan, Raijinkan, Kobukan (different kanji
from Ishimine’s). There is not enough information to write about any of them
however.
