His family moved often because his father worked for a life insurance company, which made him change schools frequently. He attended primary school in Niigata and secondary school in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Moving so often at a young age was fine, but as time went by it became harder to make new friends and Igarashi Kazuo kept to himself, keeping only a few friends. His first contact with martial arts
was in the Tsurumi high school in Yokohama where he joined the Judo club. He chose it because he was shy and wanted to change that. He got his shodan in three years. The training was tough and fun. That gave him confidence. It was a good experience for him to have trained different martial arts. In 1964 he started his university studies in Meiji University in the faculty of politics and economics. There he joined the Aikido club under the teaching of Kobayashi Yasuo Sensei, who had founded the Meiji University Aikido club around 1955, while he was still a university student. During his time in the club, Igarashi Sensei trained Monday to Saturday two intensive hours a day. Igarashi Sensei chose to train Aikido because he found in it mysticism uncommon in other martial arts. Having met great masters like Kobayashi Sensei, Tohei Sensei, second Doshu Kisshomaru Sensei and O’Sensei himself, he got amazed by their understanding of Ki, and how big a person can be regardless of its body size. After graduating from college in 1968, Igarashi sensei started working as an editor for a publishing company that specialized in topics related to engineering. This work consumed his life for five years, during that time he could barely go to the Dojo. In 1972 he decided to quit his job and pursue Aikido. At that moment he pleaded to Kobayashi Sensei to become a resident student at the freshly opened Tokorozawa Dojo. Kobayashi sensei offered him to live in Kodarira Dojo with him instead. He moved in on January 1st, 1973. He had saved enough money to live without working for two years, also his company allowed him to work whenever he had free time. With that chance he could work during the day and return to the dojo at night. In 1973 Bruce Lee released a blockbuster movie that led to a boom in martial arts in Japan. Kobayashi Sensei was extremely busy; and as a result he asked Igarashi Sensei what he wanted to do. The question was whether he wanted to become a professional instructor; it was a good opportunity then. He was unsure about making a living out of Aikido teaching alone, so he enrolled in an acupuncture course which he got his degree from three years later. He never became professional, but the knowledge he got from it helped him in his Aikido study. The dojos started to spread and he started to teach more and more. He moved away from the dojo in 1976 when he got married. In 1978 Igarashi Sensei was invited by Toshikazu Ichimura Sensei to teach in Sweden, Finland and surrounding Scandinavian countries. That was the beginning of his travels abroad and a big influence in his teaching methods. In 1983 he opened his own Dojo in Hashimoto, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa prefecture. In January 2000 he was awarded 7th dan. By 2012 Igarashi Sensei was visiting on a regular basis Finland, Sweden, Russia, Australia, Greece, South Korea, Canada, Hawaii, and Argentina. He has also visited England, Hungary, Poland, Taiwan and Iran. Now he has become 70 years old, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SENSEI!!! To celebrate with him we are looking forward to join him in his upcoming trips and seminars. Please feel free and invited to join him at any of these events. They will be displayed in the Calendar section of his official webpage. Please read Igarashi Sensei’s interview in the Profile section of his official webpage. Aikido Igarashi Dojo official webpage:
http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/igarashidojo/english/english.html
