📜Scope of this chapter. Chapter 02 surveyed the broader notation history of karate (カラテ). This chapter narrows the focus to the three-stage renaming of the 1920s–30s — 唐手 (tōde / karate) → 空手 (karate) → 空手道 (karatedō) — and asks, at each stage, what was redefined and whose interests were at stake.
1. Three Stages of Renaming
From the late 1920s through the 1930s, the name of this martial art — which had crossed from Okinawa to the Japanese mainland — was rapidly reorganized. The change was not, however, a clean one-way march from tōde (唐手) to karatedō (空手道). In reality, multiple notations coexisted across regions, organizations, and individual masters, gradually converging on karate (空手) and karatedō (空手道).
| Stage | Name | Period | Principal users / settings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 唐手 (karate / tōde — “Tang/China hand”) | Dominant on the mainland through the 1920s; used in parallel in Okinawa until the mid-1930s | Funakoshi Gichin (船越義珍), Miyagi Chōjun (宮城長順), Motobu Chōki (本部朝基), and other Okinawan masters |
| Stage 2 | 空手 (karate — “empty hand”) | Spread on the mainland from around 1929; settled in Okinawa after the 1936 Karate (Tōde) Round-Table | University clubs such as Keiō University, mainland popularizers, and the unified Okinawan position |
| Stage 3 | 空手道 (karatedō) / 唐手道 (karatedō) | Used in parallel and spread during the 1930s | Funakoshi Gichin’s books, university karate circles, budō (武道, “martial way”) organizations, the Dai Nippon Butokukai (大日本武徳会) |
Each renaming was less a wholesale swap of technical content than a shift in social positioning. That said, the name change and institutionalization were also tied to the Japanization of kata (型, “form”) names, the introduction of a dan (段) ranking system, changes in training format, and shifting views of kumite (組手, “sparring”). So it would be wrong to say only the name changed.
2. “唐手 → 空手”: De-Sinification and the Philosophizing of Kū (空, “emptiness”)
The first renaming — from 唐手 to 空手 — became decisive through three milestones: the renaming of the Keiō University Tōde Research Society (慶應義塾大学唐手研究会) around 1929; Funakoshi Gichin’s Karatedō Kyōhan (空手道教範, Karate-dō: The Master Text, 1935); and the 1936 Round-Table held in Okinawa. The two characters 空手 had appeared in earlier sources, so what matters historically is not the first invention of the spelling but the moment when it became the standard on both the mainland and in Okinawa.
2.1 Political motives
Following the Manchurian Incident of 1931, Japan’s relations with China deteriorated sharply. The character 唐 (“Tang,” by extension “China”) came to be seen as an obstacle to spreading the art as a Japanese martial discipline on the mainland. Funakoshi himself later explained that, in the course of popularizing the art on the mainland, the character 唐 had to be changed. Still, reducing the renaming to anti-Chinese sentiment alone is too simple. The name reform also reflected the tidying-up of terminology in university karate circles, an orientation toward formal budō, and Buddhist and self-cultivation-oriented reinterpretations.
2.2 Intellectual motives
The character 空 (kū, “emptiness”) is a central concept in Buddhism, most famously in the Heart Sūtra‘s line shiki soku ze kū (色即是空, “form is exactly emptiness”), and is deeply rooted in Japanese intellectual tradition. By writing the art as 空手, several layers of meaning became available at once: the “empty” (weaponless) hand, the “empty” (no-mind) hand, the hand freed from attachment.
Funakoshi layered multiple connotations onto the single character — being weaponless, emptying one’s mind, freeing oneself from ego. This was not merely a clever orthographic substitution; it was a discursive device that allowed karate to be spoken of as a budō of personal cultivation (人格修養, jinkaku shūyō).
2.3 The Okinawan reception
The reaction in Okinawa, however, was not monolithic. Motobu Chōki (本部朝基, 1870–1944) is a prominent example of a master who continued to use the 唐手 notation. For many Okinawan masters, 唐手 also signified the history of exchange with the martial arts of southern China and the broader Ryūkyū/Okinawa past.
On 25 October 1936, the Ryūkyū Shinpō (琉球新報) newspaper hosted the “Tōde Round-Table” (唐手座談会) at the Shōwa Kaikan (昭和会館) in Naha. The participants reached consensus on standardizing the name as 空手. This was not Okinawa merely rubber-stamping the mainland renaming; it should be read as Okinawan masters and stakeholders rationalizing the notation themselves for the sake of further popularization.
📘Glossary: The 1936 Tōde Round-Table. Held on 25 October 1936 at the Shōwa Kaikan in Naha, the round-table was organized by the Ryūkyū Shinpō. Leading Okinawan karate masters and other stakeholders of the time gathered, and decided, among other things, to standardize the name from 唐手 to 空手. The article carried the following day in the Ryūkyū Shinpō (26 October 1936) is one of the most important primary sources in karate history. In 2005, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly designated 25 October as “Karate Day” (空手の日) in commemoration.
3. “空手 → 空手道”: Adding Dō (道) and Becoming a Budō
The second renaming — from 空手 to 空手道 — overlapped chronologically with the first. It is telling that the title of Funakoshi’s major work is Karatedō Kyōhan (空手道教範, 1935). At the time, 唐手, 空手, 唐手道, and 空手道 all coexisted, and the language did not consolidate into a single term overnight.
Adding the suffix 道 (dō, “way”) drew heavily on the model of Kanō Jigorō (嘉納治五郎), who had reconstructed jūjutsu (柔術) into judo (柔道) a generation earlier. As discussed in an earlier chapter, Kanō’s template was the most powerful mold available for any martial art seeking recognition as a modern budō. Funakoshi was hardly alone in reaching for it — university karate circles and leaders seeking ties with the Dai Nippon Butokukai (大日本武徳会, the state-affiliated umbrella body for martial arts) drew on the same template.
The practical effects of adding 道 included:
- From technique to character-formation. Karate’s stated purpose expanded from acquiring combat technique to jinkaku tōya (人格陶冶, “character cultivation”) and shinshin shūyō (心身修養, “cultivation of body and mind”).
- Access to martial-arts umbrella organizations. Becoming a budō eased entry into the existing institutional framework, above all the Dai Nippon Butokukai.
- Legitimizing the dan / kyū system. Framing the practice as a dō (“way”) to be progressively mastered helped justify the introduction of the dan ranking and instructor titles (shihan, renshi, kyōshi, hanshi).
- An approach to school physical education. The stronger budō identity created openings into school and student-club contexts — though, in the prewar period, karate was not yet fully institutionalized as a nationwide school subject the way judo and kendo were.
4. What the Renaming Did and Did Not Change
A key point is that these renamings did not entail a wholesale replacement of technical content.
- The basic vocabulary — strikes (tsuki 突き), kicks (keri 蹴り), kata, and kumite — remained continuous.
- Transmission lineages from Okinawan masters were, formally, unbroken.
- On the other hand, especially in the Funakoshi line, kata names were rewritten into Japanese (often Sino-Japanese) characters, the training curriculum was systematized, dan ranks were introduced, and pedagogical methods specifically aimed at university clubs were developed.
- Debates over free sparring (jiyū kumite 自由組手) and competitive matches intensified from the late 1920s through the 1930s.
In short, the renaming did not transform technique overnight. But by changing institutions, names, ideology, and pedagogy, it gradually changed the substance of karate itself. Karate after the renaming was continuous with tōde before it, yet socially the two were no longer easily seen as “the same thing.”
5. Two Karates Made Visible by the Renaming
As a result, by the late 1930s, two “karates” coexisted in Japan, broadly speaking.
| Aspect | Okinawan 唐手 / 空手 | Mainland 空手 / 空手道 |
|---|---|---|
| Mode of transmission | Individual master–student relationships and local training spaces | University clubs, urban dōjō, budō organizations |
| Institutional form | Mostly private, locally embedded transmission | Dan ranking system, named styles (ryūha), athletics-association structure |
| Notation | 唐手 and 空手 coexist for a time | Rapid consolidation toward 空手 / 空手道 |
| Practitioners | Okinawan masters and the surrounding community | Mainland university students, urban dōjō, budō officials |
| Discourse | Aware of the Ryūkyū/Okinawa past and exchange with southern Chinese martial arts | Framed as modern Japanese budō, self-cultivation, and physical education |
This dual situation has never been entirely dissolved, even in the postwar period. To this day, the Okinawan traditional camp identifies itself as “Okinawan karate” (沖縄空手), maintaining a self-definition distinct from the mainland mainstream. At the same time, the Okinawa/mainland binary cannot be drawn too rigidly: Okinawan-born masters taught on the mainland, mainland students studied under Okinawan masters, and the two streams constantly intersected.
6. The Subtle Difference Between Karate and Karatedō
On closer inspection, even 空手 and 空手道 are used in subtly different ways.
- 空手 tends to denote the technique and the activity itself.
- 空手道 tends to denote the surrounding institutions, ideology, and lifelong cultivation.
For example, “He is strong at karate” (彼は空手が強い) points to technical skill; “fifty years of training in karatedō” (空手道五十年の修行) points to a life of cultivation. The two phrases may describe the same person and practice, but the emphasis differs.
This distinction still lives inside contemporary Japanese, and practitioners switch between the two unconsciously. To say “I do karate” (私は空手をやっている) is not quite the same speech act as “I live by karatedō” (私は空手道に生きている).
7. The Double Character of the Renaming
Renamings often carry a double character: political convenience on one hand, intellectual deepening on the other. The case of karate is no exception.
- The political convenience of de-Sinification was real.
- But by wrapping it in the discourse of “the philosophy of emptiness” and “the addition of the dō,” the renaming acquired meaning that exceeded mere convenience.
This double character is what makes it difficult to dismiss the renaming as opportunism. Had it been only convenience, no intellectual depth would have followed. Had it been only philosophy, no social penetration would have occurred. The combination of the two is what made the renaming a decisive event in karate history.
8. Conclusion: How Names Have Reshaped the Substance
In keeping with the editorial policy of this series, no judgment is made here as to which name is “correct.” We do not say it would have been better to keep 唐手, nor that the move to 空手道 was the right answer.
What we can say with confidence is this:
- The renaming of the late 1920s through the 1930s substantially changed karate’s institutional and social position.
- Karate after the renaming was continuous with tōde before it, yet developed into a different social entity.
- The difference lies not in technique alone, but in names, institutions, ideology, pedagogy, and social positioning together.
This means that when we ask “what is karate?”, we must specify which stage of “karate” we mean. The Okinawan te of the nineteenth century, the tōde of the 1920s, the karate spreading from 1929 onward, or the karatedō of the 1930s. They are technically continuous, but may well be different things socially.
📝Supplementary note for readers new to the topic. The phenomenon of an object changing in social meaning when its name changes is perhaps easiest to grasp through commercial rebranding. The same physical product, marketed as a “health drink,” a “nutritional supplement,” or a “functional food,” carries different social positions. The three-stage renaming of karate has a similar structure. Even when the content is essentially the same, changing the label changes how the thing is treated in the world.
Principal References
- Tominakoshi (Funakoshi) Gichin (1922). Ryūkyū Kenpō Karate (琉球拳法 唐手). Tokyo: Bukyōsha.
- Motobu Chōki (1932). Watashi no Karate-jutsu (私の唐手術, “My Karate Technique”). Tokyo: Tōkyō Karate Fukyūkai.
- Funakoshi Gichin (1935). Karatedō Kyōhan (空手道教範, Karate-dō: The Master Text). Tokyo: Ōkura Kōbundō.
- Funakoshi Gichin (1956). Karatedō Ichiro (空手道一路, “My Way of Karate”). Tokyo: Sangyō Keizai Shinbunsha.
- Kadekaru Tōru (2017). Okinawa Karate no Sōzō to Tenkai: Koshō no Hensen o Tegakari ni shite (沖縄空手の創造と展開：呼称の変遷を手がかりにして, “The Creation and Development of Okinawan Karate: Through the Lens of Changes in Nomenclature”). PhD dissertation, Waseda University.
- Kinjō Hiroshi (2011). Tōde kara Karate e (唐手から空手へ, “From Tōde to Karate”). Tokyo: Nihon Budōkan.
- Ryūkyū Shinpō (1936). “Meishō o ‘Karate’ ni Tōitsu shi Shinkōkai o Kessei!” (“Standardizing the name as ‘Karate’ and forming a promotion society!”), 26 October 1936.
- Okinawa Prefectural Archives, “25 October: Karate Day,” https://www.archives.pref.okinawa.jp/news/that_day/14555.
- Okinawa Prefectural Government, “History of Karatedō: Characteristics and Aims” PDF.
- Keiō University Karate Club, “History,” https://www.keiokarate.com/.