Editorial photo #4438810 Sports

Future In Traditions

Nippon Budo Miyazaki, Mr. Ryuzo Tada, he carry out equipment repairs for Kendo in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Mr. Ryuzo Tada (42) is a seventh-dan practitioner of kendo (with eighth dan being the highest rank), and is also active as an instructor. Since 20 years ago, when he was in Europe while he was a student, he is asked by overseas kendo practitioners to repair their equipment. Few people in Europe had the knowhow to repair their equipment, and so many people were using equipment that was in poor condition. Since his grandfather made kendo equipment, and Mr. Tada had learned from him, he began to carry out equipment repairs and exports of equipment from Japan for kendo practitioners in various countries such as France. Kendo equipment is said to fit best when it has been worn in, and so is in danger of breaking. This means that top kendo practitioners tend to use the most well-worn equipment, making repairs very important to them, and Mr. Tada is relied on by practitioners from various countries as the “kendo equipment doctor.” With clients including members of national teams, Mr. Tada has customers from around the world, including France, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and the UK. There are over 192,000 people in Japan who have acquired a kendo rank, but kendo is also growing more popular overseas as well. When the International Kendo Federation was established in 1970, it had 17 affiliate countries, but now that number has increased to 59, and there were 631 participants (from 56 countries and regions) in the 2018 World Kendo Championship, the most ever. (Photo by Alessandro Di Ciommo/NurPhoto)