OPEN TO THE WORLD

"OPEN TO THE WORLD"

Yoshinobu Noma
President and CEO of Kodansha Ltd.

　Many decades have passed since the Noma Dojo was built on the then forested, Otowa hill-side site in 1925. Over those decades, the Noma Dojo has served as both a "home" and training hall for Kodansha employees who practiced morning and night; and ate, bathed and even slept under its wooden eaves. Though it no longer serves as a dormitory, the Dojo, now registered as a heritage building is still in daily use. Visitors come from far and wide to experience its special atmosphere and to practice with some of the strongest fencers in Tokyo. Stories from the Dojo's history, of its personalities, incidents and traditions are legion.

The Noma Dojo was founded by my grandfather, Seiji Noma, who was himself a very dedicated fencer. The philosophy of budo [the martial way] was very important to him, as this excerpt from his autobiography, "Watashi no hansho" [The Nine Magazines of Kodansha] reveals.

"At the heart of the study of budo there is the desire for peace. A prerequisite for peace is the idea of cooperation with others and cooperation, or movement in harmony with the heavens. This great harmony composes the virtuousness within 'bu'...It becomes 'splendid (or true) sword' only after each part is completed in turn, each working in unison to forge 'one mind, one sword', which creates the harmony of the whole... Teaching the Way of the Sword (kendo) does not begin and end with the sword alone but ...'Mastery of the Way of the Sword leads to Truth and Truth forges the man'."

Seiji Noma made the practice of kendo a quest; a quest for greater harmony through the study of the way of the sword and to explain and promote the virtuousness of "bu" and its continuing relevance to society. He was a man of principal. I quote again from his book.

"The virtuousness within 'bu' assumes the glaive will remain sheathed as required in the seven tenets of the Agsa-den (shunju-sashiden). These tenets are: To avoid violence, to stop soldiering, to study, to work hard, to be content, to preach the shunju-sashiden and to defend the shunju-sashiden."

In following these tenets, I believe Seiji Noma was striving to create harmony through the practice of kendo. The Noma Dojo, where all were welcome, was a means to this end. (Even in the 1930s, fencers from overseas were visiting the Dojo. One of whom, Gordon Warner co-wrote a long-selling book on kendo.) Seiji Noma died in 1938 as the clouds of war were forming. Then my father, Shoichi Noma, decided to close the Dojo as the war took its toll on Japan and, alas, the members of the Dojo themselves.

Although some kendo was practiced fairly soon after the end of the Pacific War, it was not until 1962 that Shoichi Noma decided to reopen the Dojo to fencers from outside Kodansha. It was not long before it was a hive of activity under the guidance of Moriji Mochida sensei (10th dan), Ukichi Sato sensei (9th dan) and Sinsuke Masuda sensei (9th dan). Recently the Dojo membership has surpassed 400, thanks to the strength of the Noma Dojo Dokokai and the Kodansha Kendo Club. Foreign visitors to the Dojo have included fencers from Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Malaysia, Switzerland and the United States. Indeed, the reputation of the Noma Dojo is known today among martial artists around the world. I am delighted about this. By practicing together, sporting links as well as friendships are formed between people from different nations at the individual level. Once made, these links and friendships can only grow.
　My father established links for cross-cultural exchange between Japan and other countries in tandem with his business activities. He sought to bring the outside world to the people of Japan, and also to present Japan to the people of the world through Kodansha's publications. His motto was "Kodansha open to the world." I am convinced that this philosophy is close to what Seiji Noma meant by "The great harmony of the world." Today the Noma Dojo is "open to the world." I invite fencers with true minds to visit the Dojo and to practice there in the spirit in which it was founded.