Aiki Shrine Iwama — Attraction in Kasama

Iwama Dōjō is a dōjō built by the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, who lived there from 1942 until his death in 1969. It is located in the former town of Iwama and became an important historical location for the development of aikido and "a Mecca to the aikido community."This dojo is also where Morihiro Saito sensei, one of the founder's closest students, who was absolute power house, with technique and strength learned and taught aikido from 1946 until 2002 developing what is often referred to as the Iwama Style. Absolutely loved it an amazing place to be and train the history also...

The Aiki Jinja or Aiki Shrine commemorates the birthplace of Aikido by O'Sensei. O'Sensei regularly practiced there and there are many photos of him practicing bokken strikes on the same tanren that are still there today. Some of these photos of O'Sensei practicing with Morihiro Saito Sensei were taken here.

The shrine is still cared for daily by students of the Iwama dojo and ceremonies are still held at the shrine. Worth a visit for any...

If you are a practitioner of Aikido, this is a must place to visit in Japan. O Sensei spent his years from around the WWII time, where he build his second Aiki Shrine and focused on his training. There are several high ranking Shihans as care takers of the Ibaragi Shibu Dojo as well as Doshu and Hombu Dojocho also come to teach...