World Kendo Championship

The World Kendo Championship is an international kendo competition contested by the member nations of the International Kendo Federation (FIK). The championships have been conducted every three years since the inception in 1970. The host of the tournament usually rotates in order through the three FIK administrative regions of Asia, the Americas and Europe (the canceled 2021 tournament and the 2024 tournament were both in Europe).

World Kendo Championships
VenueForum di Milano
LocationMilan, Italy
DatesJuly 4th - 7th 2024
Champions
Current Individual Champions
MenKeita Hoshiko  Japan (JPN)
WomenMihiro Kondo  Japan (JPN)

The competition is divided into four divisions: Men's Individual, Women's Individual, Men's Team, Women's Team. Team matches are individual matches between five members from each team where each member competes in 1 round.

Until 2006, Japan had never lost a championship in any of the four divisions, when the Japanese men's team lost to the USA in the semi-final, with South Korea winning in the final.[1] Previously other teams had come close, such as South Korea (1997, 2003) and Canada (2000). In the individual divisions, South Koreans are appearing more often in the semi-finals and final.

There is an opinion in Japan that this tournament is not of the same caliber as the All Japan Kendo Championship or the All Japan Police Kendo Championship. The argument being that there is a distinct qualitative difference in the playing level and style of nationalities where Japanese people lived or immigrated to before WW2, and countries that began practicing Kendo post-war. Another opinion is that the level of non-Japanese referees is not of high enough caliber for matches to be judged fairly. In order to offset this, mandatory international referee seminars are organized by the International Kendo Federation with high-ranking Japanese Kendo officials as lecturers.[citation needed]

On 4 September 2020, FIK postponed the 18th championships (18WKC), originally scheduled for May 2021, to a later date, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then cancelled on 20 February 2021[2]

The 19th World Kendo Championships (19WKC) was held in Milan, Italy from 4-7 July 2024.[3][4] A Kendo practitioner from Taiwan competed for the Chinese team causing controversies regarding his qualifications and citizenship.[5]

Men's

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Team

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The following is a summary of medals acquired by country for the Men's Team Division.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Japan170118
2  South Korea111315
3  United States02911
4  Brazil0257
  Canada0257
6  Chinese Taipei0167
7  Hawaii0022
  Hungary0022
9  France0011
  Italy0011
  Okinawa0011
Totals (11 entries)18183672

Individual

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Year Final Third Place Top Eight
Winner Runner-up
1970 M. Kobayashi,   Japan T. Toda,   Japan T. Yaniguchi,   Japan T. Ota,   Japan
1973 T. Sakuragi,   Japan H. Yano,   Japan T. Fujita,   Japan J.R. Rhee,   Korea
1976 E. Yokoo,   Japan K. Ono,   Japan K. Hosoda,   Japan C. Wu,   Taiwan Kawase,   Japan Arima,   Japan Sato,   Japan Ito,   Japan
1979 H. Yamada,   Japan K. Furukawa,   Japan H. Aikawa,   Japan K. Terada,   Japan S. Kim,   Korea S. Nakauchi,   USA S. Suzuki,   Japan K. Koh,   Korea
1982 M. Makita,   Japan T. Kosaka,   Japan W. Okajima,   Japan H. Yasugahira,   Japan J.W. Lee,   Korea R. Kaneshiro,   USA H.G. Jang,   Korea M. Grivas,   USA
1985 K. Koda,   Japan H. Ogawa,   Japan J.C. Park,   Korea K.N. Kim,   Korea Johnson,   Canada Komatsu,   Japan Umeyama,   Japan Ujiie,   Japan
1988 I. Okido,   Japan A. Hayashi,   Japan H. Sakata,   Japan K.N. Kim,   Korea J.H. Lee,   Korea M. Ishizuka,   Japan J.K. Kim,   Korea R. Kishikawa,   Brazil
1991 S. Muto,   Japan H. Sakata,   Japan M. Yamamoto,   Japan S. Shimizu,   Japan E. Ohara,   Canada C.S. Oh,   Korea W. Huh,   Korea M. Miyazaki,   Japan
1994 H. Takahashi,   Japan K. Takei,   Japan S. Hirano,   Japan N. Eiga,   Japan Y.C. Park,   Korea T. Davidson,   Canada Y. Okamoto,   Japan T. Nabeyama,   Japan
1997 M. Miyazaki,   Japan F. Miyazaki,   Japan T. Ishida,   Japan S.S. Park,   Korea J.S. Yang,   Korea Y.Y. Liu,   Taiwan T. Terachi,   Japan J.P. Labru,   France
2000 N. Eiga,   Japan K. Takenaka,   Japan T. Someya,   Japan S.S. Hong,   Korea S. Asaoka,   Canada C. Yang,   USA H. Hirata,   Japan C.Y. Kim,   Korea
2003 H. Sato,   Japan H. Iwasa,   Japan M. Sato,   Japan K. Lim,   Korea M. Salonen,   Finland K. Ando,   Japan C. Yang,   USA S.S. Park,   Korea
2006 M. Hojo,   Japan T. Tanaka,   Japan S. Kang,   Korea G. Oh,   Korea S. Kamata,   Canada C. Cheng,   Taiwan S. Harada,   Japan G. Sicart,   France
2009 S. Teramoto,   Japan B. Park,   Korea K. Lee,   Korea C. Choi,   Korea K. Smith,   Australia D. Wako,   Japan T. Furusawa,   Japan J. Brown,   USA
2012 S. Takanabe,   Japan W. Kim,   Korea T. Kim,   Korea K. Furukawa,   Japan J. Bertout,   France T.A. Hoang,   Canada K. Hatakenaka,   Japan C. Tange,   Belgium
2015 T. Amishiro,   Japan Y. Takenouchi,   Japan M. Jang,   Korea H. Nishimura,   Japan J. Bertout,   France K. Bosak,   Poland R. Murase,   Japan J. Jo,   Korea
2018 S. Ando,   Japan J. Jo,   Korea B. Park,   Korea Y. Takenouchi,   Japan Y. Katsumi,   Japan C. Takayama,   Brazil J. Hatakeyama,   USA M. Jang,   Korea
2024 K. Hoshiko,   Japan K. Matsuzaki,   Japan S. Ohira,   Japan K. Kimura,   Japan A. Kishikawa,   Australia K. Rukas,   Great Britain J. Wright,   Great Britain J. Williams,   USA

Women's

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Team

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The following is a summary of medals acquired by country for the Women's Team Division. (5-person team)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Japan7007
2  South Korea0606
3  Brazil0134
4  Canada0044
5  United States0033
6  Australia0022
  Germany0022
8  Chinese Taipei0011
Totals (8 entries)771529

Individual

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Year Final Third Place Top Eight
Winner Runner-up
1997 M. Kimura,   Japan S. Mogi,   Japan W. Nakano,   Canada H.J. Cho,   Korea S. Konishi,   Brazil I. Benkman,   Germany P. Sato,   Brazil S. Kondo,   Japan
2000 T. Kawano,   Japan K. Baba,   Japan H. Yano,   Japan S. Asahina,   Japan S. Konishi,   Brazil E.H. Kwon,   Korea M. Korogi,   Japan H.H. Cho,   Korea
2003 K. Baba,   Japan Y. Tsubota,   Japan S. Asahina,   Japan K. Okada,   Japan N. Soulas,   France M. Onaka,   Brazil Y.J. Park,   Korea C. Shinzato,   Japan
2006 S. Sugimoto,   Japan K. Komuro,   Japan E. Inagaki,   Japan M. Shimokawa,   Japan M. Hayashi,   Canada A. Byeon,   Korea A. Sipos,   Hungary Y. Park,   Korea
2009 Y. Takami,   Japan S. Shojima,   Japan C. Shinzato,   Japan E. Takashina,   Brazil M. Livolsi,   Italy Y. Lee,   Korea M. Hamanaka,   Canada M. Raitanen,   Finland
2012 S. Sakuma,   Japan K. Kurokawa,   Japan S. Shodai,   Japan K. Kawagoe,   Japan S. Park,   Korea S. Tamura,   USA K. Jeon,   Korea H. Yu,   Korea
2015 M. Matsumoto,   Japan Y.Y. Hu,   Korea B.K. Won,   Korea Y. Takami,   Japan S. Woude,   Netherlands M. Kawagoe,   Japan F. Smout,   Netherlands H. Yamada,   Canada
2018 M. Matsumoto,   Japan M. Yamamoto,   Japan M. Senoo,   Japan M. Fujimoto,   Japan A. Akyla,   Greece H. Lee,   Korea N. Chun,   Hawaii S. Woude,   Netherlands
2024 M. Kondo,   Japan M. Suenaga,   Japan M. Sato,   Japan M. Senoo,   Japan K. Kishikawa,   Australia B. Park,   Canada M. Fisher   Great Britain K. Tada,   USA

Hosts

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The following is a list of the host countries of the World Kendo Championships.

Number Year Location
1st 1970   Japan, Tokyo
2nd 1973   United States, Los Angeles
3rd 1976   United Kingdom,   England, Milton Keynes
4th 1979   Japan, Sapporo
5th 1982   Brazil, São Paulo
6th 1985   France, Paris
7th 1988   South Korea, Seoul
8th 1991   Canada, Toronto
9th 1994   France, Paris
10th 1997   Japan, Kyoto
11th 2000   United States, Santa Clara
12th 2003   United Kingdom,   Scotland, Glasgow
13th 2006   Taiwan, Taipei
14th 2009   Brazil, São Paulo
15th 2012   Italy, Novara
16th 2015   Japan, Tokyo
17th 2018   South Korea, Incheon
18th 2021   France, Paris. Cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
19th 2024   Italy, Milan
20th 2027   Japan, Tokyo

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "World Kendo Championship".
  2. ^ "Cancellation of the 18th World Kendo Championships (18WKC)".
  3. ^ "Italy to host the 19th World Kendo Championships (19WKC) | FIK". International Kendo Federation (FIK). Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  4. ^ cik (2022-06-30). "All'Italia l'organizzazione dei Campionati del Mondo di Kendo del 2024". CIK - Confederazione Italiana Kendo (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  5. ^ "Taiwan Kendo player could lose citizenship after representing China | Taiwan News | Jul. 12, 2024 11:15". taiwannews.com.tw. 2024-07-12. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
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