{"id":225,"date":"2011-01-17T22:18:17","date_gmt":"2011-01-18T03:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/test\/?page_id=225"},"modified":"2019-12-23T11:10:45","modified_gmt":"2019-12-23T16:10:45","slug":"sugino-yoshio-sensei","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/?page_id=225","title":{"rendered":"Sugino Yoshio Sensei"},"content":{"rendered":"

While he was working in Japan, Mr. Tong studied Katori Shinto Ryu<\/a> directly under the late Master Yoshio Sugino<\/a> in Kawasaki-shi. He was one of\u00a0his last direct pupils.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sugino

Sugino Yoshio Sensei with Mr. Tong (Kawasaki 1990)<\/p><\/div>\n

——————————————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n

“He has also provided martial arts instruction for many of Japan\u2019s most popular historical movies, including Akira Kurosawa\u2019s The Seven Samurai, adding dynamism and reality to what had been staid and poorly stylized fight-scene choreography. He has also appeared frequently in the media as a representative of the world of Japanese kobujutsu. In such ways he has contributed much toward introducing the truly wonderful aspects of Japanese martial arts to the public.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Master Yoshio Sugino is best known for the excellence of his swordfight choreography for such monumental films as Akira Kurosawa’s ground-breaking Seven Samurai<\/strong><\/a> and Yojimbo<\/strong><\/a> as well as Hiroshi Inagaki’s epic masterpiece, Miyamoto Musashi<\/strong> (retitled Samurai Trilogy<\/strong> in North America and broken down into 3 segments: Samurai Part 1<\/strong><\/a>, Samurai Part 2<\/strong><\/a>, and Samurai Part 3<\/strong><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Master

Master Yoshio Sugino (in the background) choreographing a fight scene on the set of Yojimbo<\/span> with legendary director Akira Kurosawa (white jacket) and famed actor Toshiro Mifune . As a matter of fact, Mr. Mifune was a student of Katori Shinto Ryu under Master Sugino.<\/p><\/div>\n

Aikido Journal published an excellent biography about Yoshio Sugino Sensei entitled “The Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story by Tsukasa Matsuzaki”. This biography details the life of Yoshio Sugino Sensei from his youth through his training years to his later years. Of particular note is the fascinating look it gives us of his relationship with Director Akira Kurosawa and his work on Kurosawa’s movies. Please click on the photo below to read a part of this great story.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story by Tsukasa Matsuzaki (published in Aikido Journal)<\/p><\/div>\n

Or you can access both parts of this great interview here:
\nThe Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story, Part 1<\/a>
\nThe Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story, Part 2<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/p>\n

Here is an excerpt from this interview:<\/span>
\n“On one occasion he was visited by Seiji Miyaguchi, who had initially refused his part in the film on the grounds that he did not feel up to playing the role of a strong, stalwart samurai. But Kurosawa talked him into it, telling him there was no need to worry since skillful camerawork could be relied upon to strengthen his image.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sugino

Sugino Sensei (in black kimono) on the set of Seven Samurai<\/span> choreographing the pivotal fight scene between the braggart and Ky\u016bz\u014d, the stone-faced samurai, played by actor Seiji Miyaguchi (in kimono to the far right). Director Kurosawa (to the right) is dressed in white hat and white T-shirt.<\/p><\/div>\n

Miyaguchi came to Sugino to ask for instruction for the scene in which his character Kyuzo \u2014 one of the most famous in Seven Samurai\u2014makes his first appearance. Miyaguchi listened carefully to Sugino\u2019s instructions and was soon managing beautifully despite his utter lack of experience. He spent two days practicing what he had learned and with a little extra coaching during the actual filming the scene became one of the most outstanding in Seven Samurai and in the history of the genre.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"The

The finished product: One of the greatest swordfight scenes in Japanese film history. Notice the stances (kamae): On the left, seigan. On the right, jodan. Both are from the famous style of Katori Shinto Ryu.<\/p><\/div>\n

——————————————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n

Here is an excellent interview (reproduced and translated courtesy of Aikido Sangenkai) with Yoshio Sugino Sensei (\u6749\u91ce\u5609\u7537) and his son Shigeo Sugino (\u6749\u91ce\u8302\u7537) that originally appeared in Japanese in \u201cKengo Retsuden-shu\u201d (Biographies of Kendo Masters) number 67 Futabasha Publishers Ltd. (\u5263\u8c6a\u5217\u4f1d\u96c6 67\u53f7 \u53cc\u8449\u793e 1961\u5e74) in 1961. In this interview, Sugino Sensei discusses the history and philosophy of Katori Shinto Ryu:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Interview<\/a>

Interview with Yoshio Sugino of Katori Shinto-ryu, 1961 (courtesy of Aikido Sangenkai)<\/p><\/div>\n

“Morikawa: It came back to me with Yojimbo<\/span>, but I heard that you have taught sword techniques for many movies and plays. Many of the actors were from the Kurosawa group, weren\u2019t they?
\nYoshio Sugino: Yes. (I taught for) Inagaki Sensei\u2019s \u201cGanryujima\u201d (\u5dcc\u6d41\u5cf6), \u201cDuel at Ichijoji Temple\u201d (\u4e00\u4e57\u5bfa\u6c7a\u95d8) and \u201cYagyu Secret Scrolls\u201d (\u67f3\u751f\u6b66\u82b8\u5e33) as well.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sugino

Sugino Sensei instructing actor Mifune Toshiro during the filming of Miyamoto Musashi: Duel at Ichijoji Temple<\/span> (1955), a film directed by Director Hiroshi Inagaki. The technique shown here (jumonji and kiriharau) is from the 6th iaijutsu kata “Happoken” of Katori Shinto Ryu.<\/p><\/div>\n

Highlights of Sugino Sensei’s illustrious career<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He was the Swordfight Choreographer for: Seven Samurai (1954), Miyamoto Musashi (1954), Yagy\u00fb Bugeich\u00f4 (1957), Hidden Fortress (1958), & Yojimbo (1961).
\nHe designed some of the greatest and most iconic swordfighting scenes ever filmed in Japanese movie history.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Studied under Jigoro Kano, the Founder of Judo (1918).
\n\u2022 Studied Katori Shinto Ryu from 1930.
\n\u2022 Studied under Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido (1931).
\n\u2022 Representative of Katori Shinto Ryu at the founding of the Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai in 1935.
\n\u2022 Awarded 10th dan by Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, 30th Prime Minister of Japan, in 1982.<\/span><\/p>\n

——————————————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n

Mr. Tong was very honoured to have studied at Sugino Dojo and to have participated in some of the key events in the history of the dojo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"As

As part of the filming crew on the set for filming the only official video issued on the Sugino-style of Katori Shinto Ryu. (Mr. Tong is the first person from the left in the back row)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"With

With the Sugino family and friends<\/p><\/div>\n

\"At

At an IFNB bonenkai with Master Yoshio Sugino and Sensei Patrick McCarthy (Tokyo 1991)<\/p><\/div>\n

Mr. Tong has fond memories of his time with Sugino Yoshio Sensei and feels blessed to have been his student.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mr.

Mr. Tong with his teacher Sugino Yoshio Sensei at an IFNB demonstration (Kawasaki 1991)<\/p><\/div>\n

Sugino Sensei passed away in 1998. He will be missed.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While he was working in Japan, Mr. Tong studied Katori Shinto Ryu directly under the late Master Yoshio Sugino in Kawasaki-shi. He was one of\u00a0his last direct pupils. ——————————————————————————————————————————————– “He has also provided martial arts instruction for many of Japan\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":51,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-225","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":62,"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2719,"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225\/revisions\/2719"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tokumeikan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}