In 1986, Nagamine Shōshin published his second book. It dealt with written and oral traditions of Okinawan karate and sumō masters. The reason he wrote this book was that he felt responsible for completing the last will of his good friend, Kushi Jokei, who had passed away too young.
In Nagamine Sensei’s own words:
There was my classmate Kushi Jokei. In 1935 he won the sumō tournament of Namino no Ue Festival and became a grand champion (yokozuna). We felt that his ideal of sumō and my view of karate were very similar and we mutually found a kindred spirit in each other. After graduating from commercial school, we firmly promised to maintain our inseparable friendship and study together throughout our lifetime. And he always accompanied me to the traditional Okinawa sumō Festival at Nami no Ue on May 17th, and at Makishi Utaki on May 5th of the old moon calendar, and at the memorial service for the war dead at Ōnoyama Park on October 23rd, and to other sumō events to study the sumō techniques of other sumō wrestlers.
After the end of the war, he organized the Okinawa Sumo Federation (Okinawa Sumō Renmei) to purify the devastated Okinawan society through sports, and he was one of the first to join the Okinawa Sports Association (Okinawa Taiiku Kyōkai) and assisted Chairman Kinjō Masayuki in laying the foundations for today’s Okinawa sumō.
At the same time he was collecting materials to summarize the origins and traditions of Okinawa sumō, but unfortunately, without seeing its realization, he fell sick and passed away.
Although I am a person who places himself in karate-dō, I have a relationship of particular friendship with Kushi Jokei, and I felt the responsibility to follow his will, to organize his records, and to publish his idea all in one piece. Thus, I came to write this book. I would be grateful if it could get the consent of most of my dear friends.”
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