About the Nichigetsukai Foundation
Purpose
The Nichigetsukai Foundation was founded on October 7th, 2002 in the state
of California, to act primarily as an administrative branch of the former Tsuki
Kage Gendai Budo Dojo (founded in 1997) and current Nichigetsukan Koryu
Bujutsu Dojo (founded in 2005) in Los Angeles. The Nichigetsukan
offers instruction in the classical Japanese martial traditions of Daito-ryu
Aikijujutsu and Ono-ha Itto-ryu.
The Nichigetsukai Foundation manages and coordinates the administrative efforts
of these dojo.
Structure
The Nichigetsukai Foundation is a non-profit organization administrated by
an all-volunteer board of directors.
Meaning
Nichigetsukai (
), also
pronounced Nichigachikai, translates literally as the "sun and moon organization".
This name was selected for a number of reasons, one of which was to keep in following
with the dojo nomenclature already established with the Tsuki Kage Dojo,
which means "moon shadow". The moon above must cast down its light in order to
create a shadow. The moon is in turn illuminated by the sun, and as such, the
moon is reliant on the sun for its own illumination. It is this interaction and
continuous cycle (harmony) of the sun and moon that creates "tsuki kage".
As such, this basic concept was deemed appropriate for our supervisory/overseeing
organization.
Mon
The mon (crest) used by the Nichigetsukai Foundation is the Matsudaira-han
Aoi crest (see the image at the top of this page). The Hoshina (later called "Matsudaira")
family were a close branch of the Tokugawa Shogunate family, and as such, the
Hoshina main branch was allowed to use the Matsudaira name and a crest that was
only slightly modified from the Tokugawa Aoi crest. This crest was selected because
the Matsudaira family (fuedal lords of the Aizu Clan) represented a common link
historically between two of the main classical arts studied by our membership.
Wago no Kami
In the Shinto belief, there is a legend of Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-Mikoto,
a female and male set of deities respectively that were believed to be responsible
for the creation of the Japanese islands. Izanami is a female deity (In/Yin),
typically shown holding a crescent moon spear ("gekken") and sometimes
shown with the moon above her. Izanagi is a male deity (Yo/Yang), typically
shown with a sun spear ("hiboko"), and is sometimes shown with the sun
above him. Nichigetsu symbolically carries with it the principle of on'yo
(yin and yang), and is also a secret teaching within Ono-ha
Itto-ryu. The sun and moon represent light and darkness (night and day, positive
and negative), which was a core part of the early Japanese Shinto belief system
as well as Confucianism and other Eastern philosophies. The manipulation and harmonization
of yin and yang is also an important principle and tactic in
Japanese martial arts, such as in the principle of "aiki" (harmonized
energy). The sun and moon illustrate this symbolic relationship.
Research into documenting early references to the principle/concept of aiki
has led to the possibility of a relationship between this principle and the
Izanami and Izanagi mythical tradition (and others), which were originally recorded
in documents such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (two of Japans
oldest known writings). These two deities are sometimes referred to collectively
as "Wago no Kami", or, the "deities of harmony" (pictured below). Ueshiba
Morihei Sensei, Founder of Aikido, was fond of the Wago no Kami as
one of his symbols of harmony, and referred to it from time to time in his writings
and various doka (songs of the way).
©2019, Nichigetsukai Foundation