# Biography This page is a short overview. Research for a full biography of Tamura Shihan is under way, drawing on archives, published sources and first-hand testimonies from people who trained with him. [Learn more about the book](https://tamura-shihan.org/en/book.html), or [share your own memories](https://tamura-shihan.org/en/book.html#share). Tamura Nobuyoshi was born in Osaka on 2 March 1933, the eldest son of Ukiji and Okié Tamura. He was the eldest of six children. His father taught Japanese literature and kendo, and his mother was a schoolteacher. His father died of tuberculosis when Tamura was 16, by his own account. After that, Tamura spent time in Tokyo, including about a year in the macrobiotic dormitory of Sakurazawa Yukikazu (George Ohsawa), before he went back to finish school. Direct student of the Founder Ueshiba Morihei O-Sensei · founder of aikido Tamura Nobuyoshi uchideshi · live-in disciple Tamura was an *uchideshi*, a live-in disciple, of O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba. He joined the Hombu Dojo in 1952 (admitted on 5 August, according to the 1961 Honolulu programme) and, like others, commuted at first; he moved into the dojo around 1953 or 1954 uncertain. The introduction to his collected texts gives 1952 for his admission as uchideshi. He taught at the Hombu, at other Tokyo dojos and at a US Navy centre in Yokohama. He often went with O-Sensei on his travels within Japan, and in 1961 he accompanied him and Tohei Koichi to Hawaii for the inauguration of the new Waialae dojo in Honolulu. It was his first trip abroad. He was known as one of O-Sensei’s favourite *uke* (the partner who receives the technique and takes the fall) for demonstrations: the 1961 Honolulu programme names him among the Founder’s “favorites”, and Yamada Yoshimitsu wrote that the quality of Tamura’s aikido came mostly from being O-Sensei’s uke. > “We happened to enter the dojo simply because we could stay for free. You could not say that our initial motivation for being there was to become uchideshi.” — Tamura Nobuyoshi, interviews of 1983/1984, Aikido Journal. [Source](https://aikidojournal.com/2015/05/02/interview-with-nobuyoshi-tamura-1/) In 1964 he married Rumiko, a violinist who practised at the Hombu. In the autumn of that year they sailed from Yokohama on a Messageries Maritimes liner. The voyage was also their honeymoon, and they landed at Marseille on 13 November 1964. From then on he was the Aikikai’s delegate for Europe. He helped give French aikido its structure: first the UNA (1971) and the state teaching diploma, then the FFLAB in 1982, which became the FFAB. From 1978 to 2009 he led the international summer course at Lesneven every year, and he taught regularly across Europe and beyond. When he arrived, aikido in France had only about 400 to 500 practitioners. Masamichi Noro, a friend from his uchideshi years, had come in 1962. In Tamura’s own account, the French Aikikai group (ACFA) led to a European body, the ACEA (later the European Aikido Federation), and from there to the International Aikido Federation (IAF). The UNA standardised ranks and created a teaching licence for aikido only; it had about 20,000 members by 1980. After a break with the judo federation, the FFLAB was founded on 8 May 1982. In 1984 the Aikikai provisionally recognised both French federations, the FFLAB and the FFAAA, and asked them to unite. In 1992 he founded the Shumeikan dojo and the École Nationale d’Aïkido at Bras (Var). “Le Dojo de Bras est né”, he wrote of its opening on 1 February 1992. He declined the 9th dan during his lifetime: O-Sensei had said that aikido went up to 8th dan, and Tamura asked that it be given only after his death. He died at home in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume on 9 July 2010, aged 77.  The Shumeikan, the dojo at Bras (Var) that houses the École Nationale d’Aïkido. Photo: [FFAB](https://www.ffabaikido.com/fr/l-ecole-dojo-shumeikan-de-la-ffab-110.html). ## Key timeline Dates marked uncertain appear differently in different sources. Every version is shown. 1. **2 March 1933** Born in Osaka. 2. **1948 or 1949 uncertain** His father dies, on 10 July. Tamura said he was 16 at the time, which gives 1949; his sister’s account gives 1948. 3. **5 August 1952** Admitted to Ueshiba’s dojo, according to the 1961 Honolulu programme. 4. **c. 1952–1954 uncertain** Becomes a resident *uchideshi*. The introduction to his collected texts gives 1952; other sources give 1952–53, 1953, or “1953 or 1954”. Tamura said he commuted at first and moved in “around 1953 or 1954”, and later “I think 1954”. 5. **13 May 1955** Shodan. 6. **October 1959 or January 1960 uncertain** 5th dan: 25 Oct 1959 in the 1961 programme; 15 Jan 1960 on one club page. 7. **1961** Goes with O-Sensei and Tohei Koichi to Hawaii for the inauguration of the new Waialae dojo, Honolulu (27 Feb – 11 Apr 1961, according to the contemporary programme). It was his first trip abroad. 8. **15 January 1962** 6th dan. 9. **23 May 1964** Marries Rumiko in Tokyo. 10. **13 November 1964** Arrives in Marseille and becomes the Aikikai delegate for Europe. 11. **1968** Demonstration in Madrid; becomes technical adviser to aikido in the Spanish judo federation. 12. **1971** Technical director of the Union Nationale d’Aïkido within the French judo federation. 13. **1 October 1975** 8th dan Aikikai. 14. **July 1978** First international summer course at Lesneven, Brittany. 15. **1982** Founding of the FFLAB (later the FFAB); founding of AETAIKI in Spain. 16. **7 October 1985** Ministerial recognition of the FFAB. 17. **1991** Publishes *Aïkido : Étiquette et transmission*. 18. **1 February 1992** The dojo at Bras opens (“Le Dojo de Bras est né”, Tamura wrote): the Shumeikan, at Les Allées, home of the École Nationale d’Aïkido. Officially inaugurated 2–4 Sept 1995. One club history gives 1991. 19. **1999** Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite (France). 20. **9 July 2010** Dies at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume. 21. **January 2011** Posthumous Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, presented to Rumiko Tamura. The full story is being researched for [a forthcoming biography](https://tamura-shihan.org/en/book.html). If you knew Tamura Shihan, [please share your memories](https://tamura-shihan.org/en/book.html#share).