Isao Obata was a pioneering Japanese master of Shotokan karate.
14 Facts About Isao Obata
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Isao Obata was a senior student of Gichin Funakoshi, who is widely recognized as the founder of modern karate, and was a key figure in the establishment of the Japan Karate Association under Funakoshi in 1949.
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Isao Obata's father owned several silk mills in the region, and moved the family to different towns as demanded by his work.
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Isao Obata lost two brothers in infancy, and grew up with one younger brother and one younger sister.
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At school, Isao Obata trained in judo, kendo, and kyudo.
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In 1923, Funakoshi accepted a position teaching karate at the university, and Isao Obata was one of the first students in line.
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Isao Obata would go on to become one of Funakoshi's senior students.
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Kyuichi Isao Obata was too busy with his business to have studied the martial arts himself, but was pleased at his son's commitment to karate; one of the family's ancestors had been Isao Obata Nobusada, a famous samurai, general and governor under the daimyo Takeda Shingen in the 16th century.
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Toyoko Isao Obata was a deeply religious Christian and saw the martial arts as contradictory to her beliefs, but never inhibited her son's training.
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Isao Obata became the inaugural captain of Keio University's karate club.
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In 1932, Isao Obata travelled to Manchuria, and was to work there for more than 10 years as an economic adviser to the Manchurian Aviation Corporation.
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Isao Obata's mother introduced him to a young woman, Miyako, and the two were married in Tokyo by 1935.
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Isao Obata died in the bitter fighting for Iwo Jima, and this meant that Obata had to return to Japan to look after his mother and sister.
14.
Isao Obata was the inaugural Chairman of the JKA, with Funakoshi as Honorary Chief Instructor and Nakayama as Chief Instructor.