October 18, 2021
Dear all members of the International Kendo Federation,
My name is Yasuhiro Inagawa. I was appointed as FIK President at the FIK Board of Directors Meeting on September 16. I would like to say a few words on taking office as President.
I was born in 1944 and I am now 77 years old. My background is from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and my last post was as Commissioner of Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. I am currently the Chairman and Director of Japan Wind Development Co., Ltd. With regard to international relations, I have experience working at embassies twice on loan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first was in Tanzania, an African country, where I worked as a secretary for three years from 1973-1976. The second time was in West Germany at the time, where I served as Counselor from 1984 to 1987.
I started kendo when I was 15 years old and have been practicing it for 62 years. I currently hold a 7th dan in Kendo. I have served as Vice President of the All Japan Kendo Federation for six years from 2015 to this year, and I was appointed President in June this year.
My first priority as President of the FIK will be to help revive the FIK and its member organizations, which were severely damaged by the Corona disaster. In order to help each country to recover, I would like to dispatch high-dan instructors and provide support for seminars, training sessions, and examinations. Although there are travel restrictions at the moment, I hope that they will be lifted soon.
Secondly, I would like to make an effort to resume the World Kendo Championships. In particular, I would like to restart the FIK zone referee seminars at the earliest opportunity so that kendo matches can be conducted in a correct manner and tournaments with good matches can be realized. Top-class competitors will be sent to the zone referee seminars for simulation matches. I would also like to develop a certified referee system in the future.
For the time being, we will not be able to meet face-to-face, but I would like to set up regular remote meetings using the Internet to facilitate good communications between the various zones. I will work with each member country through such discussions to run the FIK in the best way possible.
Sincerely yours,
Yasuhiro Inagawa
President, International Kendo Federation (FIK)
Biography
Born in Ehime Prefecture, Japan in 1944. Graduated from the University of Tokyo (Law) and served in the METI until 1999.
After working for the Development Bank of Japan and IHI, he joined Japan Wind Development Co., Ltd. He is currently Chairman and Director of the company.
He is the President of the All Japan Kendo Federation since 2021.
He holds a 7th dan in Kendo.
http://www.kendo-fik.org/news/6829
