June 1, 1920: Menkyo Kaiden
Nakayama presents Otsuka with a Menkyo Kaiden: a certificate of full proficiency. This is a great honour because a Menkyo Kaiden is rarely issued at such a young age, if at all. It implies a transmission of the style to the next generation. In other words: the holder of the Menkyo Kaiden is generaly considered to be the 'carrier' of the style.

1922: Funakoshi enters Japan
Gichin Funakoshi, student of Anko Itosu, demonstrates karate at the All Japan Athletic Exhibition inTokyo.
Upon arrival in Japan, Funakoshi decides to use the 'empty’ hand characters to indicate his art. He says: "Just as an empty valley can carry a resounding voice, so must the person who follows the Way of Karate make himself void or empty by ridding himself of all self-centeredness and greed. Make yourself empty within, but upright without. This is the real meaning of 'empty' in Karate."
Invited by Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, Funakoshi extends his stay on the Japanese mainland to perform a series of demonstrations in the Tokyo area, including at the Judo Kodokan. As Funakoshi receives more and more requests for demonstrations he decides to settle in Tokyo.
Picture: Gichin Funakoshi

july 1922: Otsuka meets Funakoshi
Otsuka is told about Funakoshi's demonstrations of Okinawan Karate. It arouses his curiousity and he wants to know more about this art. So he visits Funakoshi who only recently rented a room in Tokyo. Otsuka comes with the intention of learning karate, but Funakoshi doesn't have any students yet. He pays the 15 yen rent for his room by sweaping floors and doing kitchen work. Funakoshi decides to rent another room in the building as a dojo (training hall) and gathers a small group of students, Otsuka among them. In the beginning Funakoshi has to make many extra hours to be able to pay the extra rent. But soon the word is out and his group of students quickly expands.

April 12, 1924: First black belts
Otsuka is among the first ever to receive a karate black belt certificate from Funakoshi.
Picture: Otsuka receives his black belt certificate from Funakoshi.

1924: Nagurado Hospital
Otsuka leaves his job at the Kawasaki bank and devotes all his time to martial arts and healing. He sets up his own orthopedic hospital called Nagurado which, however, did not have many patients because Otsuka devoted most of his time to karate.

1926: Otsuka meets Motobu
Otsuka meets the renowned Okinawan master Choki Motobu who teaches him kata Naihanchi. 
(It is not exactly clear when Otsuka met Motobu. According to the Nihon Budo Taikei, The Japanese Encyclopeadia of Budo, Otsuka was present at an encounter between Motobu and Funakoshi in 1929. Otsuka was forced to come to the rescue of Funakoshi. It is likely that this was the first time Motobu and Otsuka met. However, according to Jiro Otsuka his father Otsuka met Motobu and Mabuni '3 years after' 1923 or 1922. See 'biography of grand master Hironori Otsuka', by Jiro Otsuka.)
Picture: Choki Motobu






1926: Otsuka leaves Funakoshi
Otsuka decides to leave Funakoshi.
(The time Otsuka left Funakoshi is another misty fact in Wado history. According to the Otsuka family this must have been in 1926. But according to the Nihon Budo Taikei, TheJapanese Encyclopeadia of Budo, Otsuka was in Funakoshi's dojo when Motobu came to visit in 1929. And according to Harry Cook in 'A Precise History of Shotokan' Otsuka left Funakoshi in 1934, according to Shingo Ohgami in 1935.)

1928: Otsuka meets Mabuni
Otsuka meets the renowned Okinawan master Kenwa Mabuni who adjusts his Pinan katas.
Picture: Kenwa Mabuni

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