Josh Gold(7 January 1895-24 March 1964). Also Aritomo. A judoka and practitioner of Katori Shinto-ryu at the Kodokan together with Minoru MOCHIZUKI in the late 1920s. Began martial arts training in 1908. Entered the KOBUKAN DOJO where his monthly tuition fees were covered by the Kodokan. After training under Morihei UESHIBA, he joined the OMOTO RELIGION and participated in BUDO SEN’YOKAI activities, in particular, at the Takeda Dojo in Hyogo Prefecture. Murashige taught aiki budo in Manchuria together with Yoichiro INOUE in 1933. After the war, he taught aikido in Mandalay, Burma for several years beginning in 1953. Murashige later relocated to Belgium at the behest of Nyoichi Sakurazawa (Georges Ohsawa), founder of macrobiotics, in 1962 where he established a dojo in September. He spent his last years instructing until his death in an automobile accident near Louvain.
Hello,
I am Aritoshi Murashige’s granddaughter. My father was Morihiko Murashige, also an Aikido instructor. I see this post is from 2011, but I hope someone will see this and can help. My daughter is currently studying piano in Gent, Belgium and is getting married this June. As we will be visiting the country, I thought it would be nice to visit the dojo my grandfather started if it is still around today. Would you be able to tell me the name and location of this dojo? I found a dojo called Murashige Aritoshi Shu-Ha-Ri Aiki-Bujutsu Kai Internationale Asbl in Brussels but I’m not sure if they are just using his name or if this is the dojo he started. There’s isn’t much information so I’m not even sure it is a dojo or a private group of some sort. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hi,
Were you able to find your grandfather dojo? I can not tell for sure because I’ve never been there, but if you search on Facebook for “Flandres Aikido Murashige Ryu” you’ll find an aikido dojo that seems to be related to your grandfather. Maybe the sensei was his student. If you search on Google Maps you’ll find the directions.
Hello,
I’m Sumio Yoshimi. My parents helped your grandfather to start in Belgium. My mother was pregnant of me. My father practised Aïkido with your grandfather. He needed a permit to stay in Belgium. My mother, who is a Belgian, was engaged with my father, who is Japanese. She guaranteed your grandfather was a honest man. The police asked for his occupation. He answered that he teached Aikido. They asked him what he meant by Aikido, since Aikido didn’t exist before he arrived. So they tried to explain it was a martial art, no real combats, only escape like dancing, very peacefully. So his profession was artist. So he could stay in Belgium. I have pictures of him from the wedding of my parents. Also Ohsawa was present, since he presided the wedding ceremony.
Feel free to contact me.
Best regards,
Sumio Yoshimi