On June 17th, 2008 Shimabukuro Hanshi and Long Shihan were officially appointed as Representaive and Coordinator for the International Iaido and Batto-Do divisions of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai by Dr. Hiroyuki Hamada, Vice President of DNBK Hombu and Chairman of the DNBK ID. They will be serving the DNBK ID as the official representatives for all sword styles under the direction of the Japan Hombu and the DNBK International Division outside of Japan. The DNBK is chaired by Japans Prince, Higashi Fushimi Jigo. These appointments are an extention of the authority of the DNBK Hombu and it's governing body. Martial arts throughout the Japanese Empire fell directly under the jurisdiction of the Dai Nippon Butokukai, which in turn was accountable only to the Emperor and his administration. As the sole agency in charge of budo in Japan, originally the Butokukai was supported in large part by Meiji bureaucrats, the Ministry of Education (Mombusho,) and the military. As such, any and all … [Read more...]