About this site
When we ask, “What is karate?”, we often end up saying not what it is, but what it is not.
In other words, when someone insists that their own karate is the “orthodox” or “authentic” form, that statement—whether intentional or not—can also suggest that other kinds of karate (or what is called karate) are not truly karate.
Karate has many sides, and even defining the word itself isn’t straightforward. Views of karate can differ sharply across schools and organizations, and I don’t want to ignore those differences. Instead, I want to treat them as part of karate’s history—and use this website to organize and introduce that history, disagreements and all.
Mejiro.info aims to present, as objectively as possible, the history of karate and the ways different schools have thought about it. In particular, the site focuses on ideas and discussions about “karate” from the 19th to the 21st century: how the word has been used in different contexts, and how people from different backgrounds have practiced and interpreted it.
One more note: although the site administrator has experience in full-contact karate, this website is not meant to argue which style is stronger or which interpretation is “correct.”
About the site administrator
I began training in full-contact karate when I was 13 years old.
My instructor told me that I was uncoordinated and would need to practice three times as much as others. As a middle school student, I trained almost every day. Before starting karate, my life revolved around Magic: The Gathering; after I began training, everything changed.
I read Karate Baka Ichidai (空手バカ一代) again and again. (For readers who don’t know it: it’s a well-known Japanese karate manga and related media that dramatizes the life and legend of Masutatsu Oyama. It inspired many people to start training and shaped the image of “karate” for a whole generation.) I also read books by Masutatsu Oyama. Because I had read that raw meat was good for health, I even begged my mother for it and ate it at times. I memorized dojo creeds day after day. It would be fair to say I lived as a “karate fool.”
However, after entering high school and joining a choir club, I gradually drifted away from the dojo. Family circumstances played a role, but more than anything, I lost my own momentum.
When I visited the dojo again in college, the instructors and senior students I had been close to had already left, and it no longer felt like the place I remembered. For most of my twenties, I lived without karate.
In college I studied philosophy, but I did not apply myself seriously. I spent my time on choir activities and part-time jobs. I could not read or write Greek well, let alone Latin or German, and English was never my strength. I was interested in thinkers such as Karl Jaspers, Hannah Arendt, and Judith Butler, but I wasn’t able to engage with them properly during my four years. I graduated somehow, but I did not go to graduate school. I also wasn’t able to find full-time employment after that.
I spent much of my late twenties working as a freelancer. I considered returning to karate several times but could not find the courage. I went as far as standing outside several dojos, but fear kept me from knocking on the door.
In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, work became slow, and I finally rejoined a karate dojo. It has now been nearly five years since I resumed training.
At present, I train three to five times a week. I hold a brown belt, and the road to black belt is still long. But a black belt is only one milestone. All I can do is keep showing up and facing daily practice.
About the use of AI
This website is written using Japanese- and foreign-language sources on karate. The administrator is not an academic and does not specialize in linguistics. For that reason, I use generative AI for many parts of the writing process, including drafting, translation, and explanatory diagrams.
However, when gathering primary information for writing, I rely on resources that are accessible from Japan, such as the National Diet Library Digital Collections, as well as on collecting and consulting older books. At present, even with generative AI, it is not possible to obtain the same kind of insight simply by summarizing Japanese-language information found in print sources. I believe this is one of the values this website can offer.
Editorial policy
This site is operated with the aim of organizing information about karate as carefully as possible and helping readers access relevant literature and background knowledge.
AI is actively used in the creation of articles. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Adobe CC, Notion AI, and other tools are used for article writing, editing, and proofreading. We refer to literature, materials, and publicly available information to the extent possible, but the content may contain errors resulting from either manual work or AI assistance.
When producing articles, we strive to distinguish facts from interpretation. However, articles may include the personal views and interpretations of the operator.
Advertising and affiliate programs
This site may use advertising distribution services such as Google AdSense, as well as various affiliate programs.
If readers purchase or apply for products or services through advertisements or affiliate links, this site may receive a referral fee. However, we strive to publish information about products, books, services, and other items that we believe will be useful to readers.
Contact
For inquiries regarding this site, please use the form on the contact page.