NEWSFLASH: Mas Oyama's Kyokushin Shogakukai Nonprofit Foundation Wins Back the Red Kanku Mark from Matsui in a Landmark Court Decision which Paves the Way for an Eventual Reacquisition of the "Kyokushinkai" Trademarks

This past month in Japan saw the first round results of a long fought court battle between Mas Oyama's Kyokushin Shogakukai nonprofit foundation and Mr. Matsui Shokei over the rightful ownership of the Kyokushin trademarks. Totaling less than twenty, the contested marks include the multiple variations of the logos that we most associate with Kyokushin such as the red Kanku mark, the "Kyokushinkai" calligraphy that appears on all Kyokushin uniforms, and the name Kyokushinkaikan. Ever since Mas Oyama's death in 1994, as Mr. Matsui began to lose his grip on Mas Oyama's 12 million member organization, resulting in the multiple competing Kyokushin groups we see today, the ownership of the Kyokushin marks has been hotly disputed. There can be no question that at the time of Mas Oyama's death, "Kyokushin" was the biggest name in Japanese Karate. It was the name that commanded the most respect, and accordingly attracted the largest number of new members. It is believed that even today many of Mr. Matsui's supporters remain with him, despite discontent, out of a desire to stay with the group that bears the original name of Mas Oyama's organization.

In the mid-1980's, Mas Oyama began preparing for the protection of the legacy that would remain after his death by creating the Kyokushin Shogakukai, a nonprofit foundation recognized by the Japanese government and governed by 15 trusted associates, so that Kyokushin would never fall under the leadership of a single potentially-flawed director and so that the Kyokushin name could never be used for personal financial gain. It was in the name of this foundation that Mas Oyama registered the ownership of the Kyokushin logos with the Japanese Trademark Office. It was therefore the foundation that Mas Oyama trusted to safeguard the Kyokushin name.

Unfortunately, in the final years of Mas Oyama's life, consumed with preparations for the 5th World Open Karate Tournament in 1991, the Kyokushin Shogakukai's official nonprofit foundation status was allowed to lapse. In order to maintain its nonprofit status, time-consuming minimum requirements had to be fulfilled, such as biannual meetings of the Board of Directors and biannual reports filed with the Japanese Ministry of Education. Most importantly, however, and most critical to Mas Oyama, was the requirement that a foundation of this type support itself exclusively off of the interest earned from the minimum required sum of one hundred million yen (nearly one million US dollars), and without this enormous sum in the bank, the foundation lost its legal nonprofit status. Although the foundation didn't cease to exist, it went into suspension until it could reacquire the required savings. Meanwhile, since Japanese trademark registrations have to be renewed every 10 years, some of the Kyokushin trademark registrations were not renewed in the name of the foundation, and a vulnerability was created that would open the doors to Mr. Matsui's registration of the trademarks in his own name after Mas Oyama's death.

One of the most shocking revelations of this past year's court investigation, proven by evidence and accepted as fact by the tribunal of judges, was that Mr. Matsui not once, but twice, falsified documents in order to transfer the ownership of the trademarks into his own name. Mr. Matsui's initial application to register the trademarks was apparently denied on the grounds that the marks had formerly been registered in the name of the foundation. The trademark office further determined that the importance of the Kyokushin marks was too profound to place them in the ownership of a single individual. It wasn't until Mr. Matsui returned a second time with a letter from prominent board member, Mr. Umeda, granting him permission on the behalf of the Board, that the trademark office relented and registered the trademarks in Mr. Matsui's name. Mr. Umeda, who is Chairman of the Board today, was shocked to find out that his name had been used by Mr. Matsui secretly and without his approval, and this discovery finally led to the foundation's filing suit.

Also as a result of this discovery, the foundation started to doubt the letter which Mr. Matsui had used to transfer an earlier set of trademarks into his own name right after Mas Oyama died. Mr. Matsui had only been able to transfer these marks because of an earlier letter which had been word-processed in the name of Mr. Shiotsugu, the Chairman of the Board at that time. It was most difficult to believe that Mr. Shiotsugu would have actually allowed Mr. Matsui to transfer the marks from the foundation into his private name because it was explicitly against the wishes expressed for the foundation by Mas Oyama's Will. Mr. Shiotsugu, though mentally competent, was an invalid at the time and he would always consult with Mr. Umeda in any Kyokushin-related issues. Yet Mr. Umeda had never heard about Mr. Matsui's supposedly obtaining Mr. Shiotsugu's permission until recently, when he read Mr. Matsui's sworn statements.

In court, Mr. Matsui claimed to have visited Mr. Shiotsugu at his home far from Tokyo in order to gain his permission to generate the letter. It turns out, however, that at the time of Mas Oyama's death Mr. Shiotsugu's "hanko" (traditional wooden red ink seal used in Japan instead of signatures on formal documents) was in the safe in Mas Oyama's Ikebukuro office - the office that Mr. Matsui inherited - and that Mr. Matsui never visited Mr. Shiotsugu's home. As an invalid, Mr. Shiotsugu was constantly attended either by his wife or by his nurse. Both women testified in court that Mr. Matsui never visited Mr. Shiotsugu's bedside. It was thus determined by the court that Mr. Matsui had committed the crime of forgery in the process of obtaining the Kyokushin marks.

Unfortunately, it took time and negotiation for Kyokushin-kan Chairman Royama Hatsuo and Vice Chairman Hiroshige Tsuyoshi to reconstitute the foundation's Board so that it might regain its official standing and bring the issue of the Kyokushin trademarks to trial. Ten years had passed since Mr. Matsui's crime, and since according to Japan's Statute of Limitations ten years is the time limit within which criminal charges of this type must be filed, the foundation missed its chance to prosecute Mr. Matsui for fraud. This year's court case, therefore, was a civil action seeking only to reclaim the trademarks.

Let us remember that Kancho Royama and Vice-Chairman Hiroshige put forth the effort to reestablish the foundation to fulfill the dying wish of Mas Oyama. The reestablishment of the foundation, after all, was laid out in Mas Oyama's Will as one of the tasks required of Kyokushinkaikan's new chairman, Mr. Matsui. We know that before his death Mas Oyama desperately sought to regain government recognition of his Kyokushin Shogakukai: He dispatched then Branch Chief Hiroshige Tsuyoshi more than once to the Japanese Ministry of Education with orders to exhaust every possible means to re-establish the foundation so that it might be there to watch over his legacy. Perhaps if Mr. Matsui had led the Kyokushinkaikan in a way that a majority of Mas Oyama's followers would have respected, Mr. Royama and Mr. Hiroshige might not have felt so obligated to step in and fulfill this dying wish of their teacher in place of Mr. Matsui, who had been charged with that responsibility. Since Mas Oyama's organization, however, was visibly disintegrating under Mr. Matsui's leadership, and since Kyokushin's reputation was suffering such damage as a result, the founders of Kyokushin-kan had no choice but to break with Mr. Matsui and activate the very safety mechanism that Mas Oyama had envisioned as a protection against precisely this danger.

Mr. Matsui was failing to safeguard Kyokushin. Mas Oyama's answer to such a situation had been the oversight of the Kyokushin Shogakukai nonprofit foundation. No wonder Mr. Matsui had taken no steps towards its reestablishment. And no wonder Mr. Royama and Mr. Hiroshige could see no other option. We at Kyokushin-kan are very pleased by this court decision in favor of the Kyokushin Shogakukai. Although the victory was not complete, it is clear that an irreversible course of events has been set into motion that will lead to the happiest of all possible outcomes for Kyokushin-kan and Mas Oyama's legacy.

The court returned ownership of the red kanku mark to the Kyokushin Shogakukai, but stopped short of stripping Mr. Matsui of the "Kyokushinkai" calligraphy and the name Kyokushinkaikan. To understand the bearing this court decision is likely to have in the future, it is important to understand the court's reasoning. Although we would often like courts of law to base their decisions on moral righteousness, a court's obligation is instead to interpret the letter of the law. This month's 50-page court decision was abundantly clear in its disfavor of Mr. Matsui, since it determined in no uncertain terms that he had obtained the Kyokushin trademarks through fraudulent means; however, its decision reflected its careful consideration of Japanese trademark law.

The trademarks that were returned to the Kyokushin Shogakukai were marks that were still in possession of the then sleeping foundation when Mr. Matsui made his fraudulent appeal for personal ownership of the marks. Remember that trademark registrations in Japan are only valid for 10 years and must be renewed. While the foundation's registration of several Kyokushin trademarks, including the red kanku mark, had not yet expired, the earlier registration of the Kyokushinkai calligraphy and the name Kyokushinkaikan had expired, and had not been renewed because the Kyokushin Shogakukai was inactive. Thus the court determined that whereas Mr. Matsui's fraudulent action (by means of the Shiotsugu forgery) had been injurious to the foundation in terms the red kanku mark and several other unexpired marks, his fraudulent action (by means of the Umeda forgery) in terms of the expired marks was in a sense injurious only to the trademark office. Since the case was a civil case filed by the Kyokushin Shogakukai against Mr. Matsui seeking reparations for the damage that Mr. Matsui had done directly to the foundation, the best the court could do in the context of this trial was to award the foundation the trademarks that Mr. Matsui had taken directly from it by means of fraud.

The true impact of this court decision, however, runs far deeper than the superficial fact of who owns the trademarks. For the first time, the Japanese public, and more importantly Mas Oyama's followers, have seen the extent to which Mr. Matsui's position of extraordinary power at the helm of Kyokushinkaikan was his own fraudulent construction as much as it was Mas Oyama's intent. Mr. Matsui's ownership of the handful of trademarks that he still possesses is far from permanent. Even if he can hold on to the trademarks through the Kyokushin Shogakukai's forthcoming round-two legal action to regain that which rightfully is its own, Mr. Matsui will lose the right to hold the marks when their registration expires. Though this court decision didn't return those last remaining trademarks to the foundation, it did determine that Mr. Matsui had no legal claim to them. And by returning the red kanku and other marks to the foundation, it recognized that the foundation does have a legitimate claim. Remember that if not for Japan's ten-year Statute of Limitations, the court's conclusion that Mr. Matsui had falsified documents could have landed him in prison. That opportunity was missed, however, and Mr. Matsui maintains enough influence in Japan that he will likely survive and continue to profit as the chairman of his own organization.

Although Mas Oyama did have high hopes for the 33-year-old Matsui Shokei he appointed chairman of the IKO, it is also clear from the other stipulations of Mas Oyama's Will that he never intended Kyokushin to become one man's fiefdom. On the contrary, Mas Oyama created the independent Board of the Kyokushin Shogakukai to watch over any individual leader who might become corrupted by power or money, so that Kyokushin would never be thusly tarnished. Of course, as non-karateka, the Board members could never be expected to know more about karate than any karate instructor elevated to chairman, but they can most certainly be trusted as independent observers to watch for signs of corruption and to judge whether or not any chairman is proceeding in accordance with the foundation's mission statement as created by Mas Oyama.

It is important to emphasize that the Kyokushin Shogakukai is NOT one and the same as Kyokushin-kan. The Shogakukai is a 15-member Board of Directors - including several original directors appointed by Mas Oyama himself - charged with ensuring that those who use the Kyokushin trademarks are propagating ideals that would have met with Mas Oyama's approval. It is true that Kyokushin-kan Chairman, Royama Hatsuo, and Kyokushin-kan Vice-Chairman, Hiroshige Tsuyoshi, were involved in convincing Shogakukai Board members to reconvene and seek to regain government recognition, and it is true that this board is currently supporting Kyokushin-kan as the group most representative of what Mas Oyama would have wanted. But it's also true that the Shogakukai is a separate organization that could someday strip Kyokushin-kan of its right to use the Kyokushin marks, just as it is currently working to strip them from Mr. Matsui.

So what bearing is this decision - and, we predict, the foundation's ultimate reclaiming of all of the Kyokushin marks - likely to have on the Kyokushin world?

During the past decade, Mr. Matsui has time and time again tried to prevent other of Mas Oyama's original fifty Japanese Branch Chiefs from using the Kyokushin trademarks on the grounds of the registrations that he held. The Kyokushin Shogakukai, however, will NOT attempt to prevent others of these fifty Japanese Branch Chiefs from using them, because the Kyokushin Shogakukai believes that Mas Oyama's appointment of these individuals and the permission that he granted them to use the trademarks in their designated geographical areas ought to be respected. It is hoped that this demonstration will be seen as the offering of an "olive branch" of peace and that some, if not many, of Mas Oyama's surviving Branch Chiefs will eventually return to the Shogakukai and re-incorporate into the single organization that Mas Oyama intended.

It is also clear, however, from Mas Oyama's Will that he did in fact intend for there to be only one Kyokushin organization to bear the Kyokushin name into the future. Accordingly, the Kyokushin Shogakukai is likely to prevent any of those 50 Japanese Branch Chiefs who do not join the unified organization supported by the Shogakukai from a) using the Kyokushin name or trademarks outside their assigned territory in Japan to promote any kind of national or international organization, or b) passing the name on to their students or descendants for use beyond their lifetimes. Additionally, the Shogakukai will steadfastly prohibit the use of the Kyokushin name, or any variation of the Kyokushin name, by anyone outside of the organization that it supports or those 50 surviving Branch Chiefs of Mas Oyama. Kyokushin-kan and Shin-Kyokushin, for instance, are examples of variations of the Kyokushin name that will NOT be permitted by the Shogakukai once it regains full rights to all Kyokushin trademarks. Kyokushin-kan will gladly deliver all rights in its own legally registered trademark to the Shogakukai once this occurs, so that the Shogakukai can restrict its use as it sees fit.

We at Kyokushin-kan strongly believe that the use of any specific name for our organization is really far less important than the ideals that we are promoting, or the vision that our leaders have for the future. The reason why Kyokushin karate remained the world's strongest karate during Mas Oyama's lifetime was that Mas Oyama possessed the vision to allow Kyokushin to evolve generation by generation to meet the demands of each new era. Accordingly, if we lack the vision to allow that process to continue, if we endeavor to stop Kyokushin's evolution at the exact moment that Mas Oyama died, or if we follow organizations without qualified leaders, Kyokushin will lose the prominence that Mas Oyama spent his lifetime achieving. We at Kyokushin-kan believe that Kancho Royama and Vice Chairman Hiroshige possess the necessary vision to deliver Kyokushin successfully into the 21st century in a way that would make Mas Oyama proud. It is for this reason that we would insist on following them no matter what name we had to use. While we are certain that Mas Oyama would be pleased to see that which he named continuing to be the world's strongest karate into the new century, we also know that he would rather see us go forward with a correct vision for Kyokushin's future, even with a different name, if by some technicality we were ever prevented from using his.

Happily, it doesn't appear that we at Kyokushin-kan will have to make any such sacrifice. One of those key ideals of budo karate that Mas Oyama taught us was loyalty, and we do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mas Oyama wanted us to continue to propagate his ideals of budo karate and to call it Kyokushin. Furthermore, we know that he wanted there to be only one Kyokushin. Therefore, we are deeply pleased to be watching the current events in Japan unfolding as they are. It will still take a little time and a little hard work, but all indications right now suggest that the Kyokushin Shogakukai will regain all the Kyokushin trademarks, just as it regained the red kanku mark, and that we will be able to fulfill the greatest loyalty to Mas Oyama both by continuing into the future with his ideals of what budo karate should be and, at the same time, ensuring that it will be called "Kyokushin", the name Mas Oyama intended for the world's strongest karate.

Essay written by Nathan Ligo, with the assistance of Takaaki Enami, and edited by Annie Gottlieb (Mrs. Jacques Sandulescu). The 50-page court decision is available online (in Japanese) at the following link: Click Here (and then click on the link with the tiny "PDF" icon).