08/19/2026
空手という生き方で闘った男 渡口政吉物語 ②
−琉球古典音楽家 山内盛彬との出会い−
やがて渡口は、もう1人の人物と深く関わるようになる。
琉球古典音楽家であり音楽研究者でもあった山内盛彬である。
山内は、単に古典音楽を演奏するだけの音楽家ではなかった。
王府おもろ、クェーナ、御座楽、民俗歌謡など沖縄中を訪ね歩き、採譜し、記録した。失われようとする古い琉球の音を保存する一方で、戦後の流行歌を代表する「ひやみかち節」をはじめとする新しい作品も生み出した。
山内の仕事を貫いていたのは、伝統とは、昔の姿をそのまま飾っておくものではなく、現代に生きる形へと移し替え、次の世代へ手渡していくものだという信念だった。
世代の異なる2人は、交流を重ねていった。
そのなかで渡口は、山内が抱いていた琉球文化への深い思いと、その文化思想に触れていったと考えられる。
山内が「音」によって琉球の記憶を残そうとしたように、渡口は「身体」によって琉球の精神を残そうとした。
世代も歩んだ道も異なっていた。
しかし、琉球処分（廃藩置県）や戦争によって失われかけた文化を未来へつなぐという一点において、2人の思いは重なっていた。
山内の音楽と渡口の空手は、やがて「リズム空手」や「白鶴の舞」（いずれも作曲・山内盛彬、振付・渡口政吉）という新たな表現へと結びついていく。
そこにあったのは、単なる余興ではない。
琉球の音楽と空手を1つに結び、子どもから大人までが身体を通して文化を受け継ぐ。
途絶えかけていた文化の命脈を、次の時代へつなぎ止めるための試みだった。
1953年、師宮城長順が亡くなったその年に渡口はコザ市(現沖縄市)に「尚禮舘空手研究所」を創立する。
「尚禮」とは、礼を尊ぶ心である。
戦後の混乱によって社会の価値観が大きく揺れ動いても、礼節、和、忍耐、精進という、人としての根本を失ってはならない。
渡口は、その思いを道場の名と稽古体系に刻み込んだ。
しかし、沖縄の中で伝えているだけでは足りなかった。
当時、沖縄は日本本土とは異なる米国統治下に置かれていた。そのため、本土に暮らす人々にとって、琉球の歴史や文化は次第に遠い存在となりつつあった。
それと同時に空手も日本本土で急速に広がっていた。
しかし、それが沖縄で育まれた文化であること、そして、その根底に流れる礼節や精神までが、正しく理解されていたとは限らなかった。
「このままでは、本来の空手が忘れられてしまう」
渡口の胸に、そのような危機感が芽生えていたとしても、不思議ではない。
1960年10月。
それまで渡口は、沖縄空手界で一目置かれる存在として要職に就き、多くの道場と門弟を抱えていた。
それまで築き上げてきたものを離れ、新たな土地で一から道を切り開くには、大きな覚悟を必要とする年齢だった。
43歳の渡口政吉は、日本の中心地・東京へと向かった。
決して若くはない。しかし、挑戦するには、まだ遅くはない。
戦争と戦後の混乱を生き抜き、師宮城長順から受け継いだ空手を守り育ててきた。その揺るぎない自信が、渡口にはあった
文章:伊覇尚宏
The Man Who Fought Through Life by Way of Karate — The Story of Seikichi Toguchi, Part II
— His Encounter with Ryukyuan Classical Musician Seihin Yamauchi —
In time, Toguchi would form a deep connection with another remarkable figure.
His name was Seihin Yamauchi, a Ryukyuan classical musician and music scholar.
Yamauchi was far more than a performer of classical music.
He traveled throughout Okinawa, transcribing and documenting the music of the Omoro traditions of the Ryukyu royal court, Kuena, Uzagaku court music, folk songs, and many other forms of traditional music. While working to preserve the ancient sounds of Ryukyu that were in danger of disappearing, he also created new works, including “Hiyamikachi Bushi,” which became one of the best-known songs of postwar Okinawa.
At the heart of Yamauchi’s work was a conviction:
Tradition is not something to be preserved merely as a relic of the past. It must be given a form that can live in the present and then be passed on to the next generation.
Despite belonging to different generations, the two men developed a close relationship.
Through their exchanges, Toguchi would have encountered Yamauchi’s profound devotion to Ryukyuan culture and his philosophy of cultural preservation.
Just as Yamauchi sought to preserve the memory of Ryukyu through sound, Toguchi sought to preserve the spirit of Ryukyu through the body.
They belonged to different generations and had followed different paths in life.
Yet their aspirations converged on one essential point: to carry into the future a culture that had nearly been lost through the Ryukyu Disposition—the abolition of the Ryukyu Kingdom and its incorporation into modern Japan—and the devastation of war.
Yamauchi’s music and Toguchi’s karate would eventually come together in new forms of cultural expression, including Rhythm Karate and Hakutsuru no Mai (Dance of the White Crane)—both composed by Seihin Yamauchi and choreographed by Seikichi Toguchi.
These were not merely forms of entertainment.
They were attempts to bring Ryukyuan music and karate together so that children and adults alike could inherit their culture through movement and experience.
It was an effort to keep alive a cultural lineage that was in danger of being broken and to carry it forward into a new era.
⸻
In 1953, the same year that his teacher Chojun Miyagi passed away, Toguchi established the Shorei-Kan Karate Research Institute in Koza City, present-day Okinawa City.
The name “Shorei” (尚禮) expresses the spirit of honoring and valuing courtesy and respect.
Even as the turmoil of the postwar years profoundly shook society and its values, Toguchi believed that the fundamentals of human character—courtesy, harmony, perseverance, and diligent self-cultivation—must never be lost.
He engraved those principles into both the name of his dojo and the system of training he developed.
But preserving and teaching karate only within Okinawa was not enough.
At the time, Okinawa was under U.S. administration and politically separated from mainland Japan. For people living on the mainland, the history and culture of Ryukyu were gradually becoming something distant.
At the same time, karate was spreading rapidly throughout mainland Japan.
Yet it was not necessarily understood that karate was a culture nurtured in Okinawa, nor were the courtesy, values, and spirit at its foundation always fully appreciated.
“If this continues, the true essence of karate may eventually be forgotten.”
It would not be difficult to imagine such a sense of urgency growing within Toguchi.
⸻
October 1960.
By this time, Toguchi had become a respected figure in the Okinawan karate community, holding important positions and leading numerous dojo and students.
To leave behind everything he had built and begin again from the ground up in an unfamiliar place required tremendous determination—especially at his stage of life.
At the age of 43, Seikichi Toguchi set out for Tokyo, the heart of Japan.
He was no longer a young man.
But it was not yet too late to take on a new challenge.
He had survived the war and the turmoil that followed.
He had protected, cultivated, and carried forward the karate entrusted to him by his teacher, Chojun Miyagi.
And within Toguchi was an unwavering confidence born from everything he had endured and learned.
To be continued…
Text by Naohiro Iha
続く
