On Saturday, 17 June 1939, the former Prime Minister and president of the Dai Nippon Butokukai, General Hayashi Senjuro, and invited persons attended the opening ceremony of the Dai Nippon Butokukai Okinawa Branch Butokuden, where Judo, Kendo and Karatedo performances were held for two days on the 17th and 18th.
The performance list shows Nagamine Shoshin and the kata name as “Chatan Yara no Kusanku.” This is the earliest instance the name appeared like this in writing.
The 2nd oldest mention in writing is from Mabuni Kenwa in 1941:
Even the Kata which is said to have been handed down by the Chinese person Kūsankū, who drifted ashore in Okinawa from China, even though they must be the same, Chatan Yara Kūsankū and Machibana Kūsankū are each different kata. Newer than these and other Kūsankū, Itosu Sensei newly created Shihō Kūsankū as well as the five Pinan Shodan to Godan, which have not been seen in any of the schools of the ancient times.
Mabuni Kenwa: “Nihon Bushidō no Ichi-bunpa toshite kakuriseru Karate-dō (Karate-dō has been established as one sect of Japanese Bushidō)”. In: Gekkan Bunka Okinawa, May 1941 Issue, Gekkan Bunka Okinawa-sha 1941.
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