THE TRACY SYSTEM OF KENPO
HISTORY SERIES
A SHORTBIOGRAPHY OF
James M. Mitose
JamesMasayoshi Mitose
(b. Dec 30, 1916 - d.March 26, 1981)
BY
AL TRACY
LAST UPDATED-- 01/31/03 00:24
INTRODUCTION:
For the first time you willbe getting fully researched and document history of Kenpo/Kempo/Kosho! The following isjust a quick overview. It would really take a full book just to cover James Mitose himselflet alone all the ways he influenced the system we call Kenpo. As I fully develop this Website I will try not to just give you bare facts but also give you historical background tofully appreciate our Kenpo heritage and traditions!
EXAMPLE: The Yoshidas (Urabe) controlled the Japanese“Shinto" religion. Zenko Yoshida would be the first important Yoshida to embracethe Rinzai sect of Zen. Eventually the Yoshida would build a family (Zen) temple on Mt.Kinkai!
Lot of facts but not muchmeat. See how much more meaningful it would be if:
luxury hotels in Bremen You knew who Yoshida and Urabe were, andwhy the Urabe’s changed their name to Yoshida after the famous castle in Japan theywould be given!
Historical fact: For those of you who saw the excellent series“Shogun": the big castle on the hill is the Yoshida Castle.
o In one TV scene the hero ask about Lord Yoshida: the answerwas “He’s a murdering Bastard!
What is the Shinto religion: how long didthe Yoshida’s control the religion?
o This is a famous (Click)“Tore gate” : entrance gate to a famous“Shinto Shrine:
What is Zen (C’han Chinese)! Is ittrue that (Zen/C’han) originated in the famous Shaolin temple in China? Why does thetemple have three names? Shaolin; Sil-lum and Shorin-ji. What does Shaolin mean? Answer(Young Forest) Why did C’han disappear form China?
Who was Rinzai – why was the Rinzaisect important – why did this sect survive while others died out?
What about the Yoshida family temple onMt. Kinkai?
The whole "Kosho" clan claimsthat Mt. Kinkai does not exist. If that were true, it would mean James Mitose was a liarand make up the whole thing!
o In court testimony James Mitose talks about the temple on Mt.Kinkai as he told the court – they owned the “Entire Mountain”!
If you had all of thisknowledge it would make history a lot more interesting!
"SIFU": What is it you ask, Grasshopper?”
“Grasshopper”:Is it true sifu, that gung-fu started at the Shaolin temple?
SIFU:Grasshopper “spell it any way you want: Gung-Fu; Kung-Fu or Gong-fu – theC’han monks taught unarmed martial arts but it did not originate in the ShaolinTemple!
Grasshopper:But Sifu, all the TV Shows, Movies, Books and Magazines show the Shaolin monks using allkinds of weapons!"
SIFU: "Zen monks were forbidden to use any weapon– even a staff. They were not even allowed to hold or sharpen a sword. Nor did theyever eat meat or do anything to harm any living creature – even a fly!"
SIFU:"While you are still sitting, Grasshopper – the Zen monks neverimitated any of the animals nor did they have animal sets."
GRASSHOPPER:"But where did all the weapons and animal sets come from, Sifu?"
SIFU: "They came for the Taoist!"
Grasshopper:"Who are/were the Taoist?"
SIFU: "So manyquestions, Grasshopper -- but first a new koan.”
(what the hell is a koan)?
NOW FOR THE REST OFTHE STORY
WARNING: James Mitose was a very complex person. Thebest insight we will ever have into James Mitose is the transcript of his trial in 1973.Unfortunately the transcript is over 3,500 pages. Unless you read this transcript foryourself - you cannot really judge this man. Unfortunately transcripts are not cheap. Thecourthouse wants $1 a page if they have to photocopy the records for you.
The other recourse is to buy a portable photocopier - go to the Court House in LosAngeles, and copy the records yourself. If you choose to do it yourself it will takeseveral days. The physical cost - when you have your own portable -- is about .15-.20cents a page not including the cost of the photocopier, your time and fee's for parking.Doing it your self (slave labor) will cost about ($800 - $1,000). The paper for thetranscript alone weighs about 35lbs.
By special order we can sell you the entiretranscript for $400 and that will include shipping. We have a limited number of thesetranscripts. But every historian of Kenpo and especially the "Kosho" groupshould have a copy.
A ShortBiography of James ( Masayoshi) Mitose YOSHIDA
I come to you withonly open hands,
other weapons, I have not.
But should Right or Honor require it
My hands will bear me out
YOSHIDA CODE
Short family tree for reference:
This family tree will be expanded out inthe future
TheJapanese lineage of Kenpo starts with Zenko Yoshida. He would become the first importantYoshida to embrace the Rinzai sect of Zen.
1st Kosho/Kenpo/Kempo grand master: Zenko Yoshida (1232-1297)approx.
followed by 18 more generations of Yoshida (Rinzai) grand masters!
Female blood members of the Yoshida Clanwere also taught the family art of Kosho/Kenpo. The Yoshida children stared studying atthe age of five. This would be true of James Mitose and his sisters.
Our modern history of Kenpo starts at this point:
19thGreat Grand Master of Kenpo/Kosho-JirokuYoshida (1818-1890)
20th Great Grand Master of Kenpo/Kosho - SukuheiYoshida (1853-1936).
Sukuhei Yoshida was the father of Kiyoko Yoshida (1890-1943/44), and the Grand Father (andteacher) of Masayoshi Mitose: (James).
Kiyoko (Yoshida) Mitose was the onlydaughter of Sukuhei Yoshida. There was also one older son.
Kiyoko was the mother of James (Masayoshi)Mitose.
21st Great Grand Masterof Kenpo/Kosho
- Masayoshi Mitose (James)
KENPO FOR THE FIRST TIME WASINTRODUCED TO The U.S. (Territory of Hawaii)
February 7, 1937 Masayoshi Mitose brings 800years of Kosho/Kenpo heritage to Hawaii.
The Kenpo/Kosho heritage of James M. Mitoseis the heritage of the Family of all Kenpo based styles.
Background
It is not the intent of this biography tocover what James Mitose taught; that will be covered in separate sections. Be aware thatin this short Biography, for every answer we have, a dozen new roads will be opened. Manyof the important questions will never be answered. They died with James Mitose.
By Japanese standards James Mitose hadbrought great shame and dishonor upon himself and his family. For this reason he refusedat every level to reveal his Family name. And when he did give information it was usuallymisleading to protect his family. To protect his own family he stated he had only one son"Burro". There were actually three children from his second marriage. During theWar, he and his wife would give the children away for others to raise. There were two morechildren from his third marriage: Alvin and Alan.
When questioned by the authorities about hisfamily all he would say was "all the children come to no good" …"crazy family … crazy family, my big boy try to kill me …" The onlything he would ever tell any authority was that his mother's name was Kiyoko. It seems"his big boy" was his oldest son who was a Viet Nam veteran!
Ittook us over 35 years to get most of these answers. Come with us as we start to unravelthe truth behind Kosho/Kenpo/Kempo and the family of James Mitose.
NOTE: James Mitose never took the name"James" legally. When he returned to Hawaii from Japan in 1937 family friendstold him that almost all the Japanese (including his sister) had taken"American" names. Why the name of James was chosen we do not know but heofficially died as James M. Mitose and his remains were cremated.
WHY IS JAMESMITOSE SO IMPORTANT?
Very simple! No James Mitose, no Kenpo!
No matter what you have been told, James(Masayoshi) Mitose, in 1937 (not 1936), would return to Hawaii after studying his ancientancestral art of Kosho/Kenpo (Kosho Ryu Kenpo: Old Pine Tree style), in Japan. And for thefirst time this art (especially KENPO: fist law, the war arts) would be taught to peoplewho were not "blood" related!
James Mitose was not the founder of hisart, nor did he ever make that claim. He was the 21st Great Grand Master whohad been trained by, among others, his grandfather Sukuhei (20th Great GrandMaster - born 1869) - and his uncle, to become the head of the system. This position washis by blood at his birth. As the 1st born son of Kiyoko (Yoshida) Mitose, hewas sent to Japan in 1920 along with his older sister, Kimie (b.1915), to live with hisgrandparents.
At the age of three years, 10 months andeight days, Masakichi (Masayoshi) Mitose along with his older sister would set sail forJapan on October 22, 1920. A family friend named Muriki would take them to Japan!
The second daughter, Shizue (b.1918), as ininfant, had already been sent to live withher grandparents. There, starting at age five, James Mitose was trained and educated toassume the responsibility and obligations of becoming the 21st Great GrandMaster. Along with his training came all the inherited rights and responsibilities thatwent to the first-born male.
ENTER KENPO
(as written by James Mitose)
I come to you with only openhands,
Other weapons, I have not.
But should Right or Honor require it
My hands will bear me out
This was the Code of Honor used by thefounders of Kenpo long before Ed Parker was born! Now you know where Ed Parker got hisKarate (Kenpo) Creed!
ED PARKER - KARATE CREED!
I come to you with only Karate, empty hands. I have no weaponsbut should I be forced to defend myself, my principles or my honor, should it be a matterof life or death, of right or wrong; then here are my weapons, Karate, my emptyhands."
From the very beginning James Mitose madeit very clear KENPO was not Okinawan or Japanese Karate (KARATE: EMPTY HAND)!
James ( Masayoshi) Mitose
Otokichi Mitose -- born 1863 (Born inJapan; Kumamoto, Shimonashiki District, Higashi-Tomochi Village). Came to Hawaii June 1,1891 as a contract laborer - was uneducated and could not write - signed his name with anX. (We have the X's.) Otokichi was 48 years old when he married Kiyoka.
HISTORICALBACKGROUND
Our first real awakening came when we got acopy of James Mitosis’s application for a social security number. On the section for"fathers name" the document stated: "Took wife's name"!! Our first red flag went up! Why would anyman take his wife's name? Even more important, what was that name? The social securityapplication did not state the name Otokichi took.
Otokichi would divorce Kiyoka in (1926).Neither would legally remarry. Otokichi Mitose returned to Japan in 1935, to the villagewhere he had been born. He would die the following year, January 6, 1937, at the age of73.. Neither Otokichi nor Kiyoka ever applied for US citizenship.
Kiyoka Mitose - Born in Japan 1890 -Arrived in Hawaii on December 21, 1912 at the age of 22, aboard the S.S. Shinyo Maru! Shehad married Otokichi Mitose by correspondence eleven months earlier in January 1912.Kiyoka was well educated, 4' 6" tall; she could both read and write English and camefrom two very powerful Japanese families: Yoshida and Komatsu! The Komatsu's owned a hotelin Hawaii. She came from the same village as Mitose's family in Japan and knewOtokichi's younger brother, Juhie, whom she listed as a contact in Japan.
(WWWTP?: what's wrong with this picture?)
Why would a highly educated woman from two powerful Japanese families marry an illiteratefarmer old enough to be her father?
Since there was a great deal of fraud(correspondence - marriage by mail) to simply get into the U. S., they would not letKiyoka set foot on Hawaiian soil until a legal/civil marriage ceremony was performed! AShinto priest performed the marriage ceremony.
This part of History is covered in great detail inthe section on the father
As you will see in the future, the Historyof Kenpo will center on who this woman really was! I warned many of the top people inKosho years ago that they were all on the wrong track!
CHILDREN:
There were six:
Masayoshi, Kimie, Isao, Matsuko, Fusae,Shizue, sic. (plus one born dead).
Kiyoka would have one son and threedaughters by her legal husband Otokichi. After she divorced Otokichi in 1926, she wouldhave another son and daughter by Kinichi Nakata (whom she never married).
HIDE IT IN PLAIN SIGHT!
In James Mitose's first book What is Self Defense - (Kenpo JIUJITSU) On pages 90-109 are 69 pictures of a Black Belt female. All thehistorians have informed us that Mitose gave out only (5/6?) Black belts and no female isever mentioned. Just who is this woman? Where did she get her Black Belt? Where did shelearn Kenpo?
THE ANSWER: The female isJames Mitose's sister.
 | ERROR MSG | Click on the thumbnail to the far left to get the full picture of Clara's birth certificate - quality is what you get from a photocopy |
Click on the picture directly to the left to pull up page 102 of Mitose's book What is self defense?
His sister appears in 69 photos - notice she is a "Black Belt" - None of the other historians ever counted her! Or knew she even existed - let alone knew she studied kenpo/kosho! Notice the technique she is doing is the classic attack: Bearhug from behind -- arms pinned! |
She would marry and have three children) The sister diedon January 19, 1987 at the age of 67. This is the same year Professor Chow died!Her married American name was Clara Oshita. She had three children: Edith, Helen andDonald. After her husband died she reverted back to using her Japanese maiden name ofFusae Mitose. Her legal married name was Mrs. Fusae Mitose Oshita.
Three sisters would also study KENPO/KOSHO!Two would study in Japan and the other from James Mitose in Hawaii.
A complete separate section of Kenpo/Koshowas taught only to females and the Grand Masters of the system.
One of the sisters in Hawaii died in 1987.We have a great deal of written information from this woman. It's amazing how muchinformation you can get from a brother and sister if you know who and where they are. Thesame was true of William Chow who had 14 brothers and sisters.
During herlifetime Kiyoka would make many trips to Japan. In the 1920's and 1930's, one did not justclimb onto a plane like we do today and be there in less than 24 hours. The trips were bysteamships and took several weeks.
In 1935Kiyoka would leave Hawaii for Japan with the two youngest children, Isao and Matsuko, ages10 and 11, and never return to the United States. Kiyoka would die in Japan during W.W.II.
WARNING:
If you aredoing your own research, note that Japanese names may be spelled different ways. This istrue of both English and Japanese kanji. Also many of the men will also have a given sirname and a Buddhist name. In the case of the daughters we are only giving you their singleJapanese names, not their married American names! We have a great deal of writtentestimonies from James Mitose and his sisters which covers the period before 1944!
2nd WARNING: In doing any research a Japanese person may have more than one name: his given name; a Buddhist name or he may even have been adopted and have more than one set of names.
Masayoshi*(James)-(Masakichi) ** Mitose
BornDecember 30, 1916 - Kaelakekua, North Kona, Hawaii (on a coffee plantation)! We have thebirth certificate that no one else was able to find. Everyone -- including Bruce Juchnik-- claimed it did not exist! As Mitose would let us know, everything was right there infront of us if we just knew what to look for and looked hard enough.
*Listed atthe Japanese Consulate as MASAKICHI / (The official Japanese interpreter, Owen K. Konishi- in 1946 - explained that the Japanese characters for the name Masayoshi may also betranslated as Masakichi).
ERROR MSGTo doublecheck, we went to the Japanese dictionary on the web. Just as Konishi had stated, theJapanese Kanji can be translate as both Masayoshi and Masakichi.
If you want to do your ownresearch go to the dictionary, print out the names and kanji and paste it next to thissection.
**"James"- never officially or legally took the name of James. He started using it in 1937 afterhis return from Japan!
Whycouldn't James Mitose just come out and tell us everything in plain English?
1. He wasan American only by birth, not tradition. He was educated in Japan; his values were asJapanese as his ancestry!
2. Thisplot started forty years before W.W.II! Which side was James Mitose really on? How did hisfamily fit into all of this? What did James Mitose do during the Second World War? We havehis complete military records! To put it very simply, James Mitose and his mother, alongwith another 5000 Japanese who had been educated in Japan, became secret agents/spies forthe United States government. Even after 50 years many of the records and names of theseagents and their exact assignments with the U. S. intelligence and government are not tobe found. I will be expanding out this section in the future.
For allthese years the names of these Japanese agents have been kept secret so there would be noretaliation in Japan against their families of these Japanese.
One of thebiggest mistakes the Japanese Government would make during W.W.II: their militaryintelligence was convinced no Japanese would ever turn their loyalty to the U. S. againstJapan. General Douglas MacArthur stated after the war that this group of Japaneseshortened the war in the Pacific by at least one year.
In theupcoming Video series "The Heritage of James Mitose" we will show you how duringthe last years of our research both the Japanese and U.S. Governments would simply denythat any records existed.
An exampleof this is the "Will" of James Mitose. We obtained the information on the willincluding its probate number, and contacted the clerk’s office to verify it existed.Since we wanted to have it photocopied we had the clerk tell us exactly how many pages itcontained. When we called back to verify we wanted the will copied and wanted to give acredit card number to pay for it. As soon as we gave the name of James Mitose and thenumber of the will the phone call was intercepted by a supervisor who informed us in nouncertain terms there was no will and there had never been a will. We told the official wehad written verification from them along with the probate number of the will and adescription of the number of pages. All we got was the same answer: there was no will -there had never been a will. End of case! Not quite --we decided to physically try toobtain the record in person. We went to the government office and gave the number a clerktook the number and went to find the file. After about 30 minutes the clerk's supervisor came out and informed us there was nowill.
HISTORICALNOTE:
For morethan two thousand years Confucianism has been the standard by which China, Korea and Japanestablished their moral concepts and laws. James Mitose was educated in Japan. Histhoughts were Japanese. He taught as he had been taught. When he wrote, he wrote form aJapanese point of view. James Mitose did not even trust his 3rd wife Dorothy. She had notbeen born in Japan; she did not know and understand the "Japanese Way"! Do nottry to evaluate James Mitose entirely by American standards and values!
JamesMitose would accept Christianity because he was able to see it as an extension ofBuddhism! To this end, in his Dojo he would have pictures of both Jesus Christ and theBuddha.
If I giveyou the one corner of a problem and you cannot find the other three corners by yourself,the lesson will not be repeated!
This was one of James Mitose's ways of teaching.
It was allthere, right in front of us. James Mitose, in prison, would respond with disbelief to anobvious question (obvious to him) by saying: "IT'S IN THE BOOK!' Endof lesson! He would leave the room!
HINT:I am not going to giveyou all the secrets at once! I am going to give you the same clues that we started with! Iwill hit you on the head with the clue. I will ask: WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?(WWWTP)
JamesMitose would be married three (3) times! Yes, three! Who was the mysterious first wife?The second wife was Mildred F?????. They would have three children: Masaaki, Masatoshi,and (???)!
Quote fromJames Mitose's prison file: "Crazy family, crazy family … my big boy try to killme."
His thirdwife was Dorothy, who would also be part of the murder and extortion trial and would spendtime in prison. They would have two sons, Alan and Alvin. Alvin would be convicted ofGrand Theft, and spend time in prison. Both brothers now live in LA.
THE KOSHO/KENPOTRAINING OF JAMES MITOSE
REPEATEDINFORMATION: At the age of three years, 10 months and eight days, Masakichi (Masayoshi)Mitose along with his older sister would set sail for Japan on October 22, 1920. A familyfriend named Muriki would take them to Japan!
His oldersister would never return to the United States and would marry into the Maruoka family inJapan before the Second World War! The second oldest sister would be taken to Japan whenshe was only 6 months old. She would be educated in Japan, and return to Hawaii!
HistoricalNote: American born Japanese who had been educated in Japan butreturned to the United States called Kibie. Most ofthem were Nisei - the first generation of Japaneseborn in the United States! Click here to take you to this veryimportant section! This section will start to give you an idea of why it was so hardto trace the origins of Kenpo!
Thus wouldbegin the training of Masayoshi Mitose in the family art of Kosho-Shorei Kenpo, at thefamily temple on Mt. Kinkai*! Very little of his training would be at the temple. Duringhis time in Japan James Mitose would live in several different parts of Japan, but alwayswith his grandparents. Seventeen years later, Masayoshi would return to the United States,on February 23, 1937. At the age of 14 he became the 21st Great Grand Master in the familysystem of Kosho-Kenpo!
*BruceJuchnik has stated: "there is no Mt. Kinkai." He claims they searched all themilitary maps. How strange? Mt. Kinkai overlooks the Mitsubishi shipyards, the largest inthe world, and of great importance during World War II. When the US dropped the Atomicbomb on Japan, this was the target they were after, not the city of Nagasaki.
MT KINKAI:
("goldtopped mountain by the bay"). Mt. Kinkai is 561 meters high (approx. 1700 ft).Located -- approx. 129' 50 min E; 32' 53 min N - on the island of KYUSHU - 19 km (about 12miles) north of Nagasaki). On the western shore of Omuka Wan bay, off highway rt. 206 thatalso leads to Sasebo where there is aU.S. Navy base. The scenery also includes the rafts of pearl farms, which are the secondlargest pearl producing area in Japan.
JamesMitose kept telling (#3 Master) Ray Arquilla: "IT'S IN THE BOOK" -- but there ismore than one book! Five to be exact! Five?
IMPORTANT: James Mitose wasnot the founder of Kenpo -- he was the 21st generation blood descendant of the founder.The complete Kosho Shorei Kenpo system had been developed and refined over a period of 800years, starting in the 1200's. James Mitose added nothing to Kenpo. Nor did he takeanything away from the system.
Kenpo (Kosho) was not to bechanged or made a sport. During the war years James Mitose taught the "War Arts"Kenpo -- because it was appropriate for a nation at war. For this reason many of theoriginal students from this period of time had never heard it referred to as KOSHO!
By 1946 the war was over;the nation was tired of fighting, and Mitose wanted to bring in more of the spiritual andphilosophical parts of the art. Kenpo (the war arts) had served its purpose. Mitose wantedto turn the students away from the inherent violence in war and fighting!
Many of the students, having"tasted blood," weren't about to become vegetarians! The poster in many a modernKenpo studio:
"There are two kinds of animals: meateaters and grass eaters. Which are you?"
JamesMitose would try to reverse direction and turn away from teaching only the War Arts. A fewstudents would stay with him and Thomas Young.* The others would follow William Chow.
*ThomasYoung died last this year. As a Kenpo pioneer and member of the ***KENPO HALL OF FAME -Thomas Young will be getting his own home page in the future!
Mitose retires from Teaching
In thefuture I will give you the complete story of why James Mitose quit teaching. It wouldinvolve a fight in the Dojo (YMCA), one so serious that after a three-month policeinvestigation, it would end up in court!
I have thestory straight from a student who was an eyewitness to the fight! This female student (now70 years of age) is also doing the opening salutation for the lead-in to the soon to bereleased video: History of Modern Kenpo!
JamesMitose would slowly withdraw from active teaching and come to the mainland in1953.
HISTORICAL FACT: During this period of time no one tried to make a full time living teaching any of the martial arts. The Sensei/Sifu all had full time jobs and most taught 2-3 times a week out of a YMCA, boys club or recreation halls usually associated with one of the churches; usually Mormon. The average amount charged was $2-$5 per month! And for the kids in Judo from "poor" families it might even be free!
For allpractical purposes James Mitose would disappear from the Kenpo world until he was broughtto trial and convicted of murder and extortion in 1974 and sentenced to Folsom prison.There the Great Grand Master of Kenpo would be discovered by Sylvester Ramacher, a Folsom prison guard and a black beltstudent of Steve Fox, my former partner in San Francisco and Sacramento!
In the few pages I have written I havetried to condense over 30 years of research into this short Biography of James Mitose.Having read this article you now know more about James Mitose, who he was and who hisancestors were, than even his (3) sons or the pretenders who claims to speak for KOSHO!
TO BE CONTINUED
Don’t waste your time trying to doresearch on Mitose and the History of Kenpo. Our research team has spent over 30 years.People who were there when James Mitose first came to Hawaii aided much of our research.Most of these people are now dead. One great source was Sig Kufferath who died May 7, 1999at the age of 89.
In many case not only did they give uswritten information but told us where to get it.
In the future I will be putting on the weba lot of our documentation – so you know where we got our information.
I will also be putting up many pages formthe trial transcript. Each page I put up will show you how complex this man was. It willalso give us a deeper understand of the history and origin of kenpo!
1999 Al Tracy – atkenpo@aol.com
LAST REVISION 01/31/03
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