智誠館 CHISEIKAN DOJO｜京都の合気道道場
A Dojo for Today’s and
Tomorrow’s Leaders.
In a complex and rapidly changing world, leaders need the ability to bring mind and body into alignment, see what truly matters, and act without hesitation.
For more than 13 years in Kyoto, Chiseikan has explored the embodied intelligence of Aikido and the underlying principles of technique, or riai, pursuing both the deeper essence of budo and what it means to lead.
Chiseikan International Aikido Class · 智誠館インターナショナル合気道クラス（月曜夜）
Learn aikido in Kyoto - in the lineage that first carried it to the world.
Taught in English and Japanese. Explained so you understand why every technique works.
Chiseikan practices the budo of Minoru Mochizuki (1907–2003), who trained directly under judo founder Jigoro Kano and aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba — and who, in 1951, became the first master to bring aikido to the West. Chiseikan is the only dojo in Kyoto that carries his teaching — the style we practice today as Nenshinryu Budo.
This class is for adults who are living, working, or studying in Kyoto for three months or longer, and who want to learn seriously: to grow physically and mentally, to understand Japanese culture more deeply, and to practice the two principles at the heart of this budo - seiryoku zen’yo (the best use of mind and body) and jita kyoei (flourishing together with others) - on the mat and in daily life. Classes are taught in both English and Japanese - your instructors are fluent in both, so you can ask a question in either language and understand every class fully. Beginners, international students, and expats are all welcome.
Why Practice at Chiseikan Dojo?
Lineage · 系譜
Kyoto’s only dojo in the Mochizuki line
Minoru Mochizuki studied under both Kano and Ueshiba, and went on to master the eighteen classical martial arts (bugei juhappan). He devoted his life to teaching what he called Sogo Budo — comprehensive budo: within his dojo he held separate classes in the different arts he had mastered, never reducing them to a single style, while pursuing the principles that connect them. Nenshinryu Budo was founded by Toru Kinefuchi, who served five years as Mochizuki’s uchi-deshi — inheriting his techniques, then adding new forms and teaching methods of his own and evolving the art. At Chiseikan, we teach those techniques and forms, that budo philosophy, and that way of practicing.
True Budo · 真の武道
Many teachers, many perspectives
First you build a solid foundation in Nenshinryu Budo’s techniques and its way of using the body. On that base, our global network opens the art up: guest instructors from Minoru Mochizuki-affiliated dojos in Japan and overseas, and from other martial arts, visit and teach throughout the year — so you experience the same principles from different angles, without being confined to a single style. What we teach is aikido. How you learn to see it is much broader. This is what we mean by true budo.
Teaching · 指導
Understand why every technique works
We teach logically. In each class you learn why a technique works: how it affects your partner’s balance and structure, and what your own posture, center, and balance are doing as you perform it. Understanding comes first — then practice makes it part of your body.
Beyond the Mat · 畳の外へ
Practice that helps outside the dojo too
Your instructors, Yoshie and Philip Sugai, also teach budo-based leadership programs for companies and MBA schools in Japan and overseas. The calm, balance, and way of meeting a partner that you build on the mat are skills you will notice at work and in daily life.
Chiseikan International Aikido Class · 智誠館インターナショナル合気道クラス（月曜夜）
Class
Chiseikan International Aikido Class
Begins
November 2026
When
Every Monday, 19:30–21:00
Where
Shijo, Kyoto (interim dojo until spring 2027)
Languages
English & Japanese
Who
Adults in Kyoto for 3 months or longer - residents, workers, and international students · no experience required
Monthly Fee
¥8,000 per month
To Begin
Entry fee ¥10,000 (one time) · sports insurance ¥2,000/year · dogi approx. ¥15,000 (one time)
Trial
¥2,000 per session
Grading
Separate examination fees apply for promotion to each belt level
Come practice once, meet the teachers and the members, and then decide.
INSTRUCTORS
Instructors
Authentic Budo. Real-World Leadership Experience.
Chiseikan rests on two foundations.
The first is an authentic martial arts lineage passed directly from generation to generation. The second is years of practical experience working directly with executives, organizations, and people carrying significant responsibility.
Chiseikan is where these two worlds meet. Our instructors bring both a deep understanding of budo and direct experience leading, teaching, and developing people in real-world settings.
Yoshie Sugai
Dojo-cho | Nenshinryu Budo Shihan-dai
From the Depths of Budo to Embodied Intelligence for Executives
The Pursuit of Budo and the Development of Nenshinryu
Yoshie Sugai began training in Aikido in Japan and overseas in 1996. Following a four-year break for childbirth and raising her family, she encountered Kinefuchi Shihan in 2003, whose teachings carry forward the budo philosophy of Minoru Mochizuki. She immersed herself in training across the four dojos where Kinefuchi Shihan taught, undertaking intensive practice while contributing directly to the establishment of the Aikido Club at the International University of Japan in Minami-Uonuma and to the creation and technical systematization of Uonumaryu Aikido, which later became Nenshinryu Budo. Her practice has focused relentlessly on riai: understanding both the logic underlying a technique and the physical movement that makes it work. She holds 8th dan and the title of Shihan-dai.
Establishing the Kyoto Dojo and Training Executives
In 2013, Yoshie established the Uonumaryu Aikido Kyoto Dojo and subsequently oversaw multiple training locations in Kyoto. Her teaching moved beyond simply learning forms or reproducing movements. Instead, she focused on the budo principles underlying technique. From this emerged a distinctive training approach designed to help already accomplished leaders refine their leadership capabilities further through the embodied intelligence of budo. She has since delivered this training to senior executives and top leaders from major organizations.
Establishing Chiseikan and the Challenge of Budo Today
Following the renaming of the tradition as Nenshinryu Budo in autumn 2020, Yoshie established Chiseikan in Kyoto in spring 2021. Her teaching is grounded in rigorous martial arts practice and a precise understanding of riai. It has earned the respect of experienced martial artists and dan-ranked practitioners while also enabling leaders from Japan and around the world to explore the fundamental principles of leadership through both in-class learning and physical experience.
Qualifications and Areas of Expertise
Budo and Bodywork
Language and International Training
Japanese Culture and Aesthetic Disciplines
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Nenshinryu Budo, 8th Dan, Shihan-dai
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Chiseikan Instructor
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Esalen Massage Practitioner
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Thai Massage Practitioner
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EIKEN Grade Pre-1
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Secretarial Skills Test, Grade 2
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Graduate, Schola de Regina finishing school
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Graduate, Tokyo School of Business
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Licensed Kimono Dressing Instructor
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Certified Preserved Flower Instructor
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Extensive study of tea ceremony, ikebana, calligraphy, Japanese dance, dance, and other traditional and embodied arts
副師範 Assistant Instructor
Philip Sugai
Assistant Instructor | Professor, Doshisha Business School | Director, Value Research Center
Philip Sugai began practicing Aikido in New York City in 1999. After moving to Japan, he trained in Aikikai Aikido in Niigata City before beginning his study with Master Toru Kinefuchi in 2003, in the Aikido Club that Yoshie Sugai had established at the International University of Japan, and has trained under him ever since. A 7th-dan black belt in Nenshinryu Budo, he supports Yoshie in the dojo. As a Professor at Doshisha Business School, he built the university’s Value Research Center on the principles and philosophy Yoshie teaches, a foundation he credits for much of his work on the global stage.
Founder · 創始者
TORU KINEFUCHI FOUNDER OF NENSHINRYU BUDO
Toru Kinefuchi entered Minoru Mochizuki’s dojo as one of the last generation of uchi-deshi — live-in apprentices — and for five years lived, ate, and trained at his teacher’s side. During those years he also practiced in France and built the international budo relationships he maintains to this day, inheriting both the techniques and the thinking of Mochizuki’s budo.
On that foundation he created his own forms and teaching methods, founding Nenshinryu Budo. Today he teaches at the honbu dojos in the Uonuma region of Niigata (Horinouchi, Urasa, and Ojiya). Chiseikan is the Kyoto branch of his school.
RANKS
Aikido - 5th Degree Black Belt
Japanese Jujutsu - 5th Degree Black Belt
Judo - 3rd Degree Black Belt
Niigata Website → www.aikidoniigata.com
Opening 2027 · 常設道場
Embodied Aikido Wisdom × Business Dialogue =
Budo Lab for Global Leaders"
Leadership keeps asking more of you.
At Chiseikan, you train to see more clearly, stay composed under pressure, and act with greater precision.
These capabilities are rooted in principles refined through generations of budo. At Chiseikan, they are not simply explained. You make them your own through regular Aikido practice.
What you develop in the dojo becomes part of how you lead, decide, negotiate, and act — especially when the situation demands more.
For Today’s Leaders
Executive Class
For: Business owners, senior leaders, and top management
A form of embodied learning for executives. Through Aikido practice, you experience the principles of budo physically and learn to apply them to business decision-making and leadership.Rather than relying on intellectual understanding alone, you develop embodied intelligence that can reveal new ways forward when conventional thinking reaches its limits.
Classes are fully bilingual in Japanese and English. Advance application is required for admission. When business travel takes you away from Kyoto, you may also continue training, subject to availability, at affiliated dojos in Tokyo, Niigata/Uonuma, and Perth, Australia.
For Tomorrow’s Leaders | Age 25+
Young Leaders Class
For: Emerging and next-generation leaders aged 25 and above
For young professionals who want to continue growing and develop the capacity to perform at their best, whatever the situation.
Train alongside intellectually sharp, highly motivated peers and, at times, experienced executives.
From an early stage in your career, you will develop an internal standard for sound judgment and cultivate the ability to lead others with clarity and confidence.
Practice & Dialogue · 稽古と対話
Learn through the body, Deepen through dialogue
Through dedicated Aikido practice, you will discover insights for your business and decision-making directly from your physical experience. Each session is followed by a post-practice discussion, facilitated by an instructor with an extensive business background, to deepen the dialogue and shared inquiry among participants.
These discussions draw directly on each participant’s own real-world leadership experiences and current challenges.
Example Flow of Practice
一
Training · 稽古
Technique — Kotegaeshi
When you try to force your partner with your hands, the body tenses and resists, and the technique fails. Maintain awareness of your own “center axis,” release the tension — and your partner moves effortlessly.
二
Facilitation · 問い
Questions asked after practice
“How did your partner react the moment you tensed up? How does this physical sensation connect to those moments in your organizational management or negotiations, when trying to exert control creates resistance?”
三
Discussion · 対話
Insights from your own work
Participants apply these insights to their own business challenges — connecting the physical experience in the dojo to their real-world leadership — and share what they find, so that everyone learns and improves together.
Membership · 事前面談
About the interview process
To ensure Chiseikan remains a community of people genuinely committed to building their practice in the dojo and applying its lessons to their own work — rather than seeking casual exercise or a unique Kyoto experience — all new members join a preliminary interview, so that we can confirm together that the dojo matches your personal and professional goals.
ADVANCED CLASS
Advanced Martial Artists Class
For: Martial artists who hold 1st kyu or dan rank in another school or tradition, or equivalent experience
For experienced practitioners who feel that their current training alone is no longer taking them deeper.
In this class, you can master the techniques and riai of Minoru Mochizuki’s Aikido, together with its authentic budo philosophy. Chiseikan is the only dojo in the Kansai region transmitting this lineage in this form.
Beyond a Single Dojo: A Wider World of Budo
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Broader training access (additional fees apply): In addition to our branch and sister dojos in Tokyo, Niigata/Uonuma, and around the world, you can also train at martial arts dojos of other traditions overseas.
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Exposure to diverse techniques and perspectives: Because we maintain partnerships and exchanges with dojos of other martial traditions even in our regular training, you gain valuable opportunities to encounter different techniques and viewpoints.
Admission Requirements
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1st kyu or above in another martial art or Aikido tradition, dan rank, or equivalent experience
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A serious commitment to learning Nenshinryu Budo
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Previous rank and experience in other schools are respected.
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Members begin with a white belt in our school.
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Students learn our unique technical system and may earn rank through our own grading system.
※Admission includes a preliminary assessment and trial training session.
At Chiseikan, you’ll find an environment where your martial arts learning and potential can keep expanding, without limit.
FOUR VALUES
Four Values That Redefine Leadership
適
Adaptability
TEKIRYOKU
An unwavering center with the flexibility to change
Develop the ability to remain grounded in your principles while responding fluidly and immediately to rapidly changing circumstances.
響
Influence
EIKYŌRYOKU
Changing the situation without relying on force
Learn the riai of receiving, redirecting, and making use of another person’s force rather than trying to overpower it. Applied beyond the dojo, these principles help leaders avoid unnecessary confrontation and guide situations toward better outcomes in organizations, negotiations, and relationships.
観
Insight
DŌSATSURYOKU
Seeing the essence in an instant
In a world overflowing with information, develop the ability to look beyond the surface, recognize what truly matters, and make clear decisions without hesitation.
共
Co-Creation
KYŌSŌ
A high-quality community of global leaders
Train in a fully bilingual environment with executives and leaders from Japan and around the world who share a serious commitment to learning, growth, and leadership.
Lance Spice
Budo has shaped the way I try to live my life. I am far from perfect, and there are plenty of times when I fall short of the standards I set for myself, but the principles of Jita Kyoei and Seiryoku Zenyo give me something meaningful to strive for. I have learned that when I focus on helping others develop and succeed, everyone benefits, including myself. This is the foundation of what we do at our Dojo. We teach because we enjoy seeing people grow in confidence, skill and character, and that growth inspires us to keep improving too. The same approach has influenced my professional life, where opportunities to lead have come from supporting others and seeking outcomes that benefit the broader organisation rather than chasing personal recognition. Through Budo, I have come to believe that real success is not measured by what we achieve alone, but by how much we contribute to the growth and wellbeing of those around us.
Daniel Cuellar
This way of thinking that Yoshie-sensei teaches has become the foundation of my professional mindset and attitude towards work. In my team, every decision I make and every action I take is always aiming at constantly improving myself, but at the same time at supporting my teammates in their own improvement: nobody is left behind, we all grow together. This is what makes our team such a great one in our company! And trust me, the results and performance are right there to prove it!
Colin Niland
Budo has had a profound impact on my life, both personally and professionally. Through my relationship with Yoshie Sensei and Philip Sensei, I have developed a much deeper understanding of Seiryoku Zenyo and Jita Kyoei, and how these principles can be applied far beyond the dojo. They have helped me rebuild relationships within the martial arts community, grow as a leader at work, and seek outcomes where everyone can move forward together. As both a martial arts school owner and a manager, I now think much more consciously about how I can help others grow and bring out their best. It is a lifelong journey, but these principles continue to shape how I train, lead, and interact with the world.
EXECUTIVE PROGRAMS AND KEYNOTES
Executive Programs and Keynote Experience
Programs jointly delivered by Yoshie Sugai and Philip Sugai
The instructors of Chiseikan work far beyond the dojo, delivering specialized executive workshops and keynote presentations for major corporations, leading business schools, and international conferences in Japan and around the world. These sessions combine Yoshie Sugai’s experiential leadership methodology, developed through the embodied intelligence of budo, with Professor Philip Sugai’s academic expertise in contemporary management and global strategy. The result is a distinctive approach that works simultaneously through the mind and body, allowing leaders to refine their decision-making and explore the principles of navigating conflict without unnecessary confrontation.
International Conferences and Keynotes
Invited keynote speakers at global business forums and international events, including the Nitto Global Business Summit in Turin, Italy.
Global Universities and Executive Workshops
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Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
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RMIT University, Melbourne
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University of Auckland
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University of Ferrara
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Oxford-Cambridge Alumni Association of Victoria
Leading Executive MBA Programs
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IMD Executive MBA
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University of St. Gallen Executive MBA
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EHL-CEIBS Hospitality EMBA
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Shizenkan MBA
OUR STORY
History and Relaunch Schedule
More Than 13 Years of Chiseikan in Kyoto
Yoshie Sugai began studying under Kinefuchi Shihan in Niigata in 2003. After receiving 8th dan, she was authorized to establish the world’s first Kyoto branch of what would become Nenshinryu Budo.
She subsequently established the private Chiseikan dojo in Kyoto’s Ukyo Ward, which operated through 2025, building more than 13 years of teaching experience in Kyoto. Chiseikan then entered a one-year hiatus during an extended period of overseas academic research. Throughout that period, however, its instructors continued training and participating in seminars at dojos representing a wide variety of martial arts traditions, continuing to develop both their practice and their capabilities as teachers.
Chiseikan Returns to Kyoto in Two Stages
October 2026 | Interim Dojo in Shijo
Temporary Dojo
Training resumes at a dedicated practice space in Shijo, Kyoto, beginning with the Young Leaders Class:
Mondays | 19:30–21:30 | Once per week
Through regular practice, we will begin rebuilding and expanding the new Chiseikan community.
Spring 2027 | Permanent Dojo
A permanent Chiseikan dojo, designed specifically to provide an optimal training environment, is scheduled to open in spring 2027. All classes will begin operating from the permanent dojo at this stage.
Members joining from 2026 will transition directly to the new dojo.
EXECUTIVE & YOUNG LEADER PROGRAM FEES
料金
All fees are in Japanese yen and include tax.
Monthly Tuition
Initial Fees and Insurance
The admission assessment is approximately 60 minutes and includes an in-person interview and practical trial training session. Advance reservation is required.
If you decide to join Chiseikan during your trial session, the admission fee will be waived.
Leave of Absence: Members may take a leave of absence for up to one year while maintaining membership status by continuing to pay the annual membership fee.
Detailed registration fees and grading requirements for kyu and dan ranks will be provided upon admission.
Trail Classes: Nov. 9 & 16th Only
Join our next Trial Class
Your first step is a trial class: one full 90-minute practice with us, ¥2,000. Train, meet the teachers and members, and see if Chiseikan is right for you - then decide.
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