Mitsunari Kanai

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Mitsunari Kanai (叶井みつなり Kanai Mitsunari)
Born	1938 Japan
Died	March 28, 2004 USA
Martial art practiced	Aikido, Aikikai
Teacher(s)	Morihei Ueshiba
Rank	8th Dan

Mitsunari Kanai (1938-2004), was an aikido teacher born in Japan, who spent most of his teaching career in the United States. He was an 8th dan teacher with the title shihan in the organisation Aikikai.

[edit] Life

Kanai was one of the last group of students of the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, entering the Hombu Dojo in 1958 as an uchi-deshi. He moved to the United States in 1966 as a 4th dan and subsequently founded the New England Aikikai, currently located off Porter Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Kanai was instrumental in the early development of aikido in the United States and Canada, and taught seminars widely throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. He was one of the founders and a Technical Director of both the USAF and the CAF.

Kanai was also skilled in iaido and subsequently taught this art to his senior students, many of whom hold dan rank in both iaido and aikido. He was also highly respected for his metalworking skills and deep historical knowledge of the Japanese sword, the katana, serving at times as a specialist advisor to the East Asian Collection at the nearby Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Some of his senior students continue to operate New England Aikikai, while others have dispersed, starting new dojos throughout New England and as far away as Portland, Oregon. His students also run the aikido clubs at nearby Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tufts University.