Chief Leader of the Information Committee of AJKF,
Abe Akihito

Greetings everyone. My name is Abe Akihito, and I’m in charge of the Information Committee of AJKF. The Information committee of AJKF, is a committee where me and my committee members deliver live videos of various AJKF events starting with All Japan Kendo Championships or share the AJKF information through SNS. I’ve been supporting the backstage of WKC committee since 1997 (10WKC) and have been participating as a member in most of the events. Today, in this column, I would like to share my experience in the past and would like to share the concept and the image of 20WKC.

 I’ve been thinking about the ‘appropriate wording’ of 20WKC for the past few years. Which, I reached to the conclusion that “A Legacy for Tomorrow” would be the perfect concept for this event. All the histories, ideas that were built throughout generations, I truly wished that the concept and the slogan of 20WKC should be something that can be related to “the future” Kendo practitioners. All those friendships and beliefs that are built through Kendo by Keiko, can gather people all in one heart (*Kendo) throughout generations, nationalities, etc. I tried my best to express those ideas in a short, direct slogan: “Carry the Tradition, Forge Ahead”.

 When we first gathered the Logo designs from our website, more than 740 designs were submitted. Yes, we were so excited about the results. Among the designs, we picked a one significant design that perfectly fits with the concept of the 20WKC; The Logo design that expressed ‘striking Men’ to the future.

 After we finished the selection of the concept and the Logo, an idea came up in my head. As a main image, “THIS” will be the only one that will fit with the 20WKC. The Kendo Manga “Musashi’s Ken (Musashi-No-Ken)” by the author, Murakami Motoka. With this strong hope and image toward 20WKC, I directly met and spoke with Mr. Murakami and asked for his help. As a result, Mr. Murakami officially accepted my request. From now on, AJKF will share Mr. Murakami’s new original sketch art with everyone through AJKF webpage. The sketches of Mr. Murakami’s will be changed every month, so everyone, please check our website and enjoy Mr. Murakami’s art.

Thinking of which, “Musashi’s Ken” is a story about a legacy that passes from a father to son. In that sense, the concept of 20 WKC (“A Legacy for Tomorrow”) perfectly matches with the whole point of the story. I truly hope that this event can be passed down to the next generations by means of the concept, Logo, and the help of Mr. Murakami’s art, for the bright future of Kendo. To the readers of this column, I sincerely want to call for your help to finish this event successfully.

Thank you so much for your great support.