Josh Gold(b. 1918). Headmaster of the KASHIMA SHINTO-RYU tradition, a school with a 500-year history whose sword has a clearly demonstrable influence on the development of the AIKI KEN. Yoshikawa authorized the dispatch of three senior instructors (Masashige AOKI, Kin’ichi IIDA and Hitoshi KODAMA) to the KOBUKAN DOJO in 1937 to instruct. According to his recollection the once-weekly training sessions probably focused on the first 12 paired sword practices called omote-tachi which constitute the basic forms of this tradition. The influence of the Kashima Shinto-ryu sword in aikido is clearly seen by a comparison of the ichi no tachi sword of this school and the first kumitachi as taught by Morihiro SAITO; the two are virtually identical. Other similar movements can be seen in fragmented form in the sword practices taught by Saito. Appeared in FRIENDSHIP DEMONSTRATION III in 1987. Mr. Koichiro Yoshikawa, Miyanaka 2518, Kashima-machi, Kashima-gun, Ibaragi-ken 314 Japan.
If the name is Yoshikawa, it should be written with the characters 吉川 or 吉河. If the name is correctly written with the characters 吉沢, it should be read Yoshizawa or Yoshisawa.