Toshikazu Ichimura
Toshikazu Ichimura (born December 12, 1941) is a Japanese aikido teacher who lived in Sweden from 1966 to 1986, and was the teacher responsible for aikido in Sweden during this time. He also was the responsible teacher in Denmark and in Finland, had importance for the development of iaido in these three countries, and was the first to give aikido demonstrations in Finland. Ichimura holds 6th dan in the aikido organisation Aikikai, a rank he received in 1977, and 6th dan renshi in iaido since 1969. Besides, and in connection to, his teaching in Japanese martial arts he also taught macrobiotics and the Japanese system of sound mysticism, kototama. Personal history Ichimura started in aikido in 1957, at Aikikai Hombu dojo in Tokyo with Shoji Nishio as his main teacher. In 1961 he went to the Toyo University, where he started a university dojo. In 1966 he moved to Stockholm, since Jan Beime and a few other people had asked Hombu to send an aikido teacher there. To start with Ichimura was based in Beime's dojo, Stockholm Aikikai, and later at Minnano. He also travelled, teaching in many different dojos in the Stockholm area. In 1968 he moved to Uppsala,