Masanobu Kikukawa（喜久川政信） Hanshi

Japanese titles

The Japanese language uses a broad array of honorific suffixes for addressing or referring to people, for example -san, as in Daniel-san. These honorifics are gender-neutral , though some are more used for men or women and can be attached to first names as well as...

 is an Okinawan

Okinawa Prefecture

is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...

 martial artist

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

 and chairman of the Shorin-ryu

Shorin-Ryu

is one of the major modern Okinawan martial arts. It was founded by Choshin Chibana in 1933. Shōrin-ryū combines elements of the traditional Okinawan fighting styles of Shuri-te.-History:Chosin Chibana was a top student of the great master of shuri-te, Anko Itosu...

 Shinkokai style of Okinawan

Okinawa Prefecture

is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...

 Karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

. Kikukawa was a longtime student of Sokuichi Gibu Hanshi

Japanese titles

The Japanese language uses a broad array of honorific suffixes for addressing or referring to people, for example -san, as in Daniel-san. These honorifics are gender-neutral , though some are more used for men or women and can be attached to first names as well as...

 and Seiki Toma Hanshi

Japanese titles

The Japanese language uses a broad array of honorific suffixes for addressing or referring to people, for example -san, as in Daniel-san. These honorifics are gender-neutral , though some are more used for men or women and can be attached to first names as well as...

 before co-founding Shinkokai along with colleague Tatsunori Azuma in 1985. In the early 1990s, Kikukawa emigrated to Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

where he founded the Canadian division of Shinkokai while Tatunori Azuma（東辰徳） continued representing the organization in Okinawa. Currently Kikukawa is the only native Okinawan Karate master residing and teaching traditional Shorin-ryu Karate in Canada.