On this day….(January 31)

On 31 January 1999 Keigo Abe resigned from the Matsuno faction of the JKA. Masatoshi Nakayama, the Chief Instructor of the JKA, died in 1987. Tokyo businessman, Nobuyuki Nakahara became the Chairman of the JKA. A number of instructors, led by Tetsuhiko Asai, disagreed with the decision. This led to a split in the JKA. What followed was a 10-year legal battle between the Nakahara faction, that included Masaaki Ueki, Yoshiharu Osaka and Masahiko Tanaka and the rival Matsuno faction. Led by Asai, the Matsuno faction included Abe, Akihito Isaka, Mikio Yahara, and Masao Kagawa. Abe was named the Technical Director of the Matsuno faction of the JKA. In 1999 the Japanese High Court ruled in favour of the Nakahara faction of the JKA. The decision lead to a split in the Matsuno faction. Abe resigned from the faction.