Organizational Structure
The Japan Karate Association is the only independent karate entity legally and officially recognized by the Japanese government as an association of members (Shadan Hojin) for the promotion of karate. There is only one other authorized entity which falls under the umbrella of the JKA: the JKA World Federation (JKA/WF). No other organization shares this status. Likewise, the JKA is not dependent upon or subordinate to any other group, organization or entity. However, there are instances in which the JKA cooperates of its own volition with other organizations in an equal stance.
For the most part, the JKA is centrally organized and coordinated through Tokyo JKA HQ, although there are both National and Regional headquarters in most areas around the world.
The basic structure of the JKA’s executive committee is shown below.
JKA Organization
| Chairman | Kusahara Katsuhide | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Managing Director | Izumiya Seizo | ||
| Executive Director | Ogura Yasunori | Shina Katsutoshi | – |
| Board of Directors | Adachi Kazuko | Imura Yutaka | Kitai Kumiko |
| Terawaki Kazumine | Yamanaka Shinichi | Araki Kiyoshi | |
| Iwata Yoshiaki | Oishi Takeshi | Kanai Seikon | |
| Hanzaki Yasuo | Furuhata Kimiyuki | Matsukura Toru | |
| Yano Kenji | Yamaguchi Takashi | Yamamoto Hidekazu | |
| Yoshida Kanji | – | – | |
| Auditors | Ouchi Takami | Okazaki Masanori | – |
| Advisor | Hasumi Keiichi | ||
| Counselors | Hoshino Muneyasu | Otsu Naonosuke | – |
Shihankai
| Chief Instructor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Acting Chief Instructor | Oishi Takeshi | ||
| Vice Chief Instructor | Ogura Yasunori | Imamura Tomio | – |
| Technical Advisor | Mikami Takayuki | ||
| Honorary members of Shihankai Committee | Otsu Naonosuke | Kawasaki Isao | Kashimoto Kazuyoshi |
| Takahashi Anki | – | – | |
| Members of Shihankai Committee | Oishi Takeshi | Osaka Yoshiharu | Yano Kenji |
| Mori Toshihiro | Imura Takenori | Ogura Yasunori | |
| Imamura Tomio | Shiina Katsutoshi | Izumiya Seizo | |
| Kanai Seikon | Mera Junichi | Sasamoto Juro | |
| Nakayama Hiroshige | Yazawa Toshihiko | Seto Kensuke | |
| Okajima Toshio | Kamino Masaru | Mitsuhori Haruki | |
| Kishine Tsunemori | Ichihashi Takuzo | Watanabe Yasuyuki | |
| Kano Tadahiko | Matsubara Hideo | Sawada Tadao | |
| Shirai Kyoji | Kato Buko | Matsui Hideto | |
| Tanaka Shizuo | Nakatsuka Kiyoshi | Iwata Yoshiaki | |
| Katano Yutaka | Goukon Ikuo | Takahashi Kuniya | |
| Hanzaki Yasuo | Naka Tatsuya | Taniyama Takuya | |
| Hashiguchi Yuji | – | – | |
| Kanjikai | Oishi Takeshi | Imura Takenori | Ogura Yasunori |
| Imamura Tomio | Shiina Katsutoshi | Izumiya Seizo | |
| Hanzaki Yasuo | Naka Tatsuya | – | |
| Shihankai Member | Ochi Hideo | Nemoto Isao | Orime Tetsuya |
| Koide Masao | Aoki Osamu | Furukawa Teruo | |
| Kochi Norisato | Watanabe Kuniyoshi | Sakurai Yasuo | |
| Shinomiya Yuji | Komiya Koji | Shoji Kaiei | |
| Tanigawa Yukio | Kouda Iwao | Jose Pacheco | |
| Sawada Kazuhiro | Koga Keizo | Hata Yoshihide | |
| Yamamoto Eiichi | Yamamoto Katsuhiro | Fujita Masaharu | |
| Nozaki Tsutomu | Mashimo Haruhiko | Nagamori Shigeru | |
| Kawakami Hiroki | Sasaki Masaki | Miura Kazuharu | |
| Naito Takeshi | Ted Hedlund | Saeki Minoru | |
| Takahashi Shu | Matsukura Toru | Yokouchi Takehisa | |
| Sergio Gneo | Kasahara Tetsuo | Taniguchi Takao | |
| Aihara Tomoyuki | Otani Shosuke | Makanai Masanobu | |
| Nozaki Susumu | Nishimura Kazuhiro | Nakajima Masashi | |
| Kondo Masahiko | Keith Geyer | Yui Shuji | |
| Yamada Mitsuo | Yotsui Mikio | Morita Masaaki | |
| Sasaki Kietsu | Okada Hiroshi | Sasanuma Mitsuo | |
| Azu Kazuo | Hiraishi Kiichi | Furuta Masanori | |
| Nagao Moriyasu | Ota Yoshinobu | Takahashi Satoshi | |
| Kobayashi Kunio | Suzuki Tomohiro | Morita Koji | |
| Sasaki Kiyoshi | Araki Kiyoshi | Hashiguchi Tadashi | |
| Machida Yoshizo | Inoue Mitsuo | Jim Wood | |
| Krepsz Janos | Geir Arild Larsen | Matsuwaka Masakatsu | |
| Hirayama Yuko | Okuma Koichiro | Arnand Ratna | |
| Kaneda Osamu | Kafuku Akihiro | Matsubara Hajime | |
| Machida Shigeru | Ito Umeo | Serizawa Akio | |
| Takeuchi Hisa | Saito Takao | – | |
International Board of Directors
| Honorary Chairman | Kusahara Katsuhide | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Instructor | |||
| Senior Executive Director | Izumiya Seizo | ||
| Directors | Takahashi Shu (North America Region) | Inoue Mitsuo(South America Region) | Ochi Hideo(Europe Region) |
| Daniel Gombe(Africa Region) | Oishi Takeshi (Instructors Committee) | Yano Kenji (Instructors Committee) | |
| Ogura Yasunori (Instructors Committee) | Imamura Tomio(Instructors Committee) | Shina Katsutoshi (Instructors Committee) | |
| Hanzaki Yasuo(Instructors Committee) | Naka Tatsuya (Instructors Committee) | Taniyama Takuya(Instructors Committee) | |
| Imura Takenori(Instructors Committee) | Mori Toshihiro (Instructors Committee) | Kano Tadahiko (Instructors Committee) | |
| Mera Junichi(Instructors Committee) | – | – | |
Instructor Training Graduates
The following is a list of people who have completed the JKA’s special instructor training program. Please note that some of these individuals are no longer members of the JKA.
| Name | Grad | |
|---|---|---|
| Mikami Takayuki | 1957 | |
| Takaura Eiji | 1957 | |
| * | Tsushima Toshio | 1958 |
| * | Yaguchi Yutaka | 1958 |
| Ouchi Kyo | 1959 | |
| Sato Masaki | 1959 | |
| * | Saito Shigeru | 1959 |
| * | Inaba Mitsue | 1960 |
| Kano Tadahiko | 1960 | |
| Watanabe Gunji | 1960 | |
| * | Ogata Kyoji | 1960 |
| * | Kisaka Katsuya | 1961 |
| * | Nakaya Ken | 1961 |
| Ogawa Eiko | 1961 | |
| * | Ueki Masaaki | 1961 |
| * | Enoeda Keinosuke | 1961 |
| * | Miyazaki Satoshi | 1961 |
| * | Mori Osamu | 1961 |
| * | Takahashi Yoshimasa | 1961 |
| * | Majima Kenshiro | 1962 |
| * | Sakai Ryusuke | 1962 |
| Jitsuhara Shoji | 1963 | |
| Ochi Hideo | 1963 | |
| Takahashi Yasuoki | 1963 | |
| * | Itaya Michihisa | 1963 |
| Oishi Takeshi | 1965 | |
| * | Tabata Yukichi | 1965 |
| * | Takashina Shigeru | 1966 |
| Higashi Kunio | 1967 | |
| * | Iida Norihiko | 1967 |
| * | Okamoto Hideki | 1967 |
| Takahashi Shunsuke | 1967 | |
| Yano Kenji | 1967 | |
| * | Baba Isamu | 1970 |
| Horie Teruo | 1971 | |
| Nishino Shuhei | 1971 | |
| * | Hayakawa Norimasa | 1971 |
| * | Kanegae Kenji | 1972 |
| Osaka Yoshiharu | 1972 | |
| Sasaki Yoshitaka | 1972 | |
| Sato Teruo | 1974 | |
| Mori Toshihiro | 1975 | |
| Imura Takenori | 1977 | |
| * | Kurasako Kenro | 1977 |
| Kawawada Minoru | 1978 | |
| Komaki Masaki | 1978 | |
| * | Omura Fujikiyo | 1978 |
| * | Fukami Akira | 1979 |
| Kaneko Taneaki | 1979 | |
| * | Sakata Masashi | 1979 |
| * | Abe Miwako | 1980 |
| Tsuchii Takayuki | 1980 | |
| Yamamoto Hideo | 1980 | |
| Ogura Yasunori | 1982 | |
| Imamura Tomio | 1983 | |
| Kashiwagi Nobuyuki | 1984 | |
| Koike Tsuyoshi | 1984 | |
| Yokomichi Masaaki | 1984 | |
| Izumiya Seizo | 1986 | |
| Shiina Katsutoshi | 1986 | |
| Hanzaki Yasuo | 1987 | |
| Nakamura Yoko | 1987 | |
| Naka Tatsuya | 1989 | |
| Noda Kenichi | 1990 | |
| Taniyama Takuya | 1990 | |
| * | Imai Hiromitsu | 1991 |
| Takahashi Satoshi | 1992 | |
| Kobayashi Kunio | 1993 | |
| Ogata Koji | 1994 | |
| Walter Crockford | 1996 | |
| Ikenaga Atsushi | 1996 | |
| Hirayama Yuko | 1998 | |
| Okuma Koichiro | 1998 | |
| Iwasawa Mayumi | 1998 | |
| Ubukata Koji | 2003 | |
| Yamada Satomi | 2004 | |
| Nemoto Keisuke | 2004 | |
| Okuie Satomi | 2004 | |
| Kurihara Kazuaki | 2004 | |
| Shimizu Ryosuke | 2004 | |
| Kumeta Riki | 2007 | |
| Takahashi Yuko | 2008 | |
| Inokoshi Yusuke | 2008 | |
| Chubachi Koji | 2009 | |
| Ueda Daisuke | 2010 | |
| Shiina Mai | 2010 | |
| Iimura Rikiya | 2012 | |
| Ogane Yutaro | 2013 | |
| Igarashi Tatsuro | 2020 | |
| Osato Ryota | 2020 | |
| Kurihara Hidemoto | 2022 | |
| Hakizume Kaishi | 2022 | |
| Hirose Hikaru | 2022 | |
| Hakizume Yushi | 2022 | |
| Akiyama Keisei | 2022 | |
| Akiyama Kyoko | 2022 | |
An asterisk (*) denotes individuals who have passed away
| Independent | Nishiyama Hidetaka | ||
|---|---|---|---|
The following individuals no longer have any affiliation with the JKA:
Expelled
| Name | Former Instructor | Former Member |
|---|---|---|
| Abe Keigo |  |
|
| Aramoto Nobuyuki | |
|
| Asai Tetsuhiko | |
|
| Inaba Tsuneyuki | |
|
| Isaka Akito | |
|
| Ishimine Minoru | |
|
| Kagawa Masao | |
|
| Kagawa Masayoshi | |
|
| Kanayama Kyosho | |
|
| Mizuno Yoshihisa | |
|
| Naito Takashi | |
|
| Shin Naomitsu | |
|
| Tamon Penpa | |
|
| Tanaka Chougo | |
|
| Yahara Mikio | |
|
| Yamaguchi Toru | |
|
| Kanazawa Hirokazu | |
Quit
| Name | Former Instructor | Former Member |
|---|---|---|
| Kase Yasuharu | |
|
| Kasuya Hitoshi | |
|
| Katsumata (Suzuki) Yutaka | |
|
| Shirai Hiroshi | |
|
| Tatetsu Meicho | |
|
| Asano Shiro | |
|
| Kato Sadashige | |
NOTE: For Japanese names throughout this website, we follow the Japanese custom of indicating surname first, followed by the given name.
