Masaru Shintani

A pioneer of Wado-Ryu Karate in Canada, Masaru Shintani developed one of the largest Karate organisations in North America. He has been described as a modern Karate maestro and a rare treasure. He was a true martial artist and held ranks in Judo, Aikido, and Kendo.

Masaru Shintani was born on 3 February 1927, in Vancouver, Canada. He was the eldest of six children, having four sisters and a brother.

Shintani’s father, Kanaye, had arrived in Canada at the start of the 20th century with his brothers. They eventually opened a successful sawmill and also a cargo ferry business.

Shintani’s mother, Tsuruye, was descended from the Matsumoto samurai clan.

In 1935 Shintani’s father died in an accident during a party on a boat. Shintani was aged seven.

1939 saw the outbreak of World War II. On 7 December 1941, Japan declared war on the United States, with a surprise attack on the Naval Base of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Five hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan attacked the British colony of Hong Kong. This led to Canada declaring war on Japan.

On 26 February 1942, the Canadian government made a formal declaration for the mass incarceration of people of Japanese descent in internment camps. More than 22,000 people were transferred to the camps.

Shintani and his family were forcibly removed from their home to an internment camp located in New Denver, British Columbia. New Denver was an abandoned mining town. It was one of eight internment camps created by the Canadian government.

During this period Shintani’s mother suffered a mental and physical breakdown. This was brought about by her trying to keep her family together. In time she eventually regained her health.

During this time at the camp, Shintani was taught Japanese culture, including learning Aikido, Kendo, and Judo.

Shintani began learning Karate under Akira Kitagawa. Kitagawa taught Okinawan Shorin-Ryu. Shintani first came across Kitagawa when he saw him practising barefoot in the snow.

Training with Kitagawa was hard. Shintani has described kumite practice as a matter of life or death. He trained with him for nine years.

While at the camp, Shintani also developed a love of baseball. He played with some of the other kids in the camp.

On 15 August 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announced Japan’s surrender. On 2 September Japan officially signed the documents of surrender.

At the end of the war, Kitagawa returned to Japan.

In 1947 Shintani and his family moved to Beamsville, Ontario. They found work as fruit pickers for a local farmer. They eventually purchased a farm and established a successful horticulture business. Shintani also played semi-professional baseball.

Even though World War II was over, people still had the mistaken notion that Americans of Japanese descent were dangerous. Shintani frequently defended himself from attacks. He credits his training with Kitagawa for saving his life.

In the early 1950s, Shintani began teaching Karate and Judo in a farm shed. One of his students was a police officer.

Shintani established his first Karate club at the Hamilton, Ontario YMCA in 1952.

Akira Kitagawa died from tuberculosis in 1956. Shintani had continued training with him in Japan. He expanded his Karate knowledge by training with Takeshi Ishiguro, who taught him the Wado syllabus.

By the mid-1950s Shintani was frequently taking his mother to Japan. During one of these visits, he competed in a Karate tournament, where he met Hironori Ohtusuka, the founder of Wado-Ryu Karate.

Ohtsuka developed a close relationship with Shintani and his mother, because of her samurai lineage that he deeply respected. Shintani viewed him as a father figure.

Shintani began making regular visits to Japan to train with Ohtsuka.

In 1958 Ohtsuka asked Shintani to join his Wado Kai organisation. Shintani accepted.

Shintani founded the SWKKF (Shintani Wado Kai Karate Federation) in 1966. The federation was based in Canada.

In the early 1970s, Shintani developed the art of Shindō. The Shindō is a 36-inch stick used as an extension of the practitioner’s hands. It is different from other stick styles in that it uses the principles of Wado-Ryu. Shintani started teaching his students the style in the late 1980s.

On 14 July 1974, Ohtsuka wrote Shintani a letter asking him to take charge of the Canadian Wado Kai as his representative.

Shintani was promoted to 5th Dan on 15 November 1979 by Ohtsuka.

In 1979 Shintani demonstrated Shindō to Ohtsuka, who gave the art his full approval.

Ohtsuka visited Canada in 1980. Shintani’s students had the opportunity to train with them. This was Ohtsuka’s last visit to Canada before his death.

On 29 January 1982, Hironori Ohtsuka died. Following his death, the Wado world split into several different organisations.

Still following Ohtsuka’s teachings, Shintani operated independently of the Japanese organisations, thus avoiding much of the politics. He had established a chain of schools in Ontario.

On 6 May 1988, Shintani’s mother, Tsuruye, died. He had been very close to her, and her death was a big loss to him.

In 1979 Ohtsuka had given Shintani his 9th Dan certificate. He had told him to reveal the grade when the time was right. Shintani revealed the promotion in 1995.

On 1 November 1997, the inaugural meeting of the SWKKF Senate was held in Toronto. The Senate was the governing body of the SWKKF.

Shintani co-authored the book, “Wado-Kai Karate Kata“, with Greg Reid in 1998.

In 1999 Shintani suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair. He continued to teach by sheer force of will.

On 7 May 2000, Masaru Shintani died in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He died from a heart attack aged 72.

In 2007 Shintani was inducted into the Canadian Black Belt Hall of Fame.

In December 2017, the SWKKF Senate announced that Shintani had been posthumously promoted to 10th Dan.

Masaru Shintani built his organisation into one of the biggest in North America, with over 14,000 students.

Shintani was one of the highest-ranked Wado-Ryu instructors outside of Japan at the time of his death. A testament to his legacy is that the SWKKF did not split up after his death and continued to flourish as an organisation.