My name is Keiko Asai, the wife of the late Tetsuhiko Asai. Please allow me to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have touched our lives and made Tetsuhiko Asai’s karate life as wonderful as it was. Thank you to all of you.
I am writing today to let you know that in 2006, Keiko Asai officially succeeded the right to the trademark of I.J.K.A., International Japan Martial Arts Karate Asai-ryu for which Shihan Asai registered ten years ago at Japan Patent Office. Thus, I am the sole heir and the founder of IJKA globally. In addition, the application to become an NPO was approved last year. Please see to the attached certification.
Another important message to you is that there are a few illegitimate organizations under the same name of IJKA in Europe including UK. They use IJKA name without my permission or authorization. As of today, the only European instructor who was admitted in IJKA is Sensei Bruno Koller of Switzerland. Any other organizations and dojos have no authorization to grant any rank certifications or diplomas of Asai-ryu karate. Only my organization can grant such certification. If you wish to be an authorized member of NPO IJKA, we welcome you. Please send your request or questions to
info@ijka.jp and we will provide you a membership application form and the fee information. .
Also, we are going to start a new program hosted by I.J.K.A.. The show is called “My Life: Karate Journey,” and it will introduce not only Tetsuhiko Asai’s karate life, but also those people who shared a karate life with him. Currently we are looking for more materials to make the show more realistic and robust. If you have:
- Your personal experiences about Tetsuhiko Asai
- Anything related to Asai Sensei’s karate (advice, thoughts, actual lessons etc.)
- Videos and photos
We will air the stories on our radio show, with a mention of your karate-dojo and/or your name. This is to commemorate and celebrate Asai Shihan and his love for karate, so the karate styles or organizations do not matter. Tetsuhiko Asai’s biography movie about his karate filled life is in the production plan. The making of this radio show will be an important part of this movie.
If you have any questions please contact us at
info@ijka.jp. Thank you again for your support and understanding. I look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Best wishes to all,
<2009.9.29>