Dojo Portrait, Goshikan: Nordfyns Kendoklub Part II

Yukio Kato

Yukio Kato is the head trainer for Nordfyns Goshikan dojo and began to train kendo when he was just a little boy in Japan. Between hard training and disciplin, he became a very skilled kendoka during his school years, but also learned to be skeptical over certain aspects of kendo culture. After he moved to Denmark, he began to train kendo again and rediscovered his passion for it.

He established Gakushinkan dojo in Odense in 1995 - Gakushinkan means “really fun dojo”. This is a very unusual name for a kendojo, groups and training tend to be very serious, but Yukio chose the name, because kendo was something he did for fun and wanted to share that joy with others. In fact, Yukio has been involved with the naming of 7 of the 10 dojos in Denmark. Asking them what their hopes and desires for their club were and chose names that reflected those ambitions. Not only has Yukio been involved in the founding of several clubs, he also has worked really hard to build up relationships with Japanese sensei and share a broad spectrum of their knowledge with Danish kendoka. For example, there were several Japanese sensei who taught at the Odense kendo club, especially when the dojo was young.

 Yukio is the national team coach in the Danish Kendo Federation. He has taken on the huge job of training, supporting and helping young talent thrive in Denmark. Yukio has always been very active in Danish kendo. His second dojo that he established in 2015, Goshikan holds a kendo summer camp every year, they have bimonthly joint trainings and work with the other clubs to help them hold shinsa.  

Yukio sees himself first and formost as a regular kendoka like any other. He wants to train and enjoy hanging out with his kendo buddies. It's about friendship, and about good kendo, and about relationships between people - sharing knowledge and helping other people be the best that they can. Kendo is important and kendo is fun, really fun!