2026.1 KENDOJIDAI
Photography: Sasai Takamasa
Interview: Yanagida Naoko
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Kano Seiya
Born in 1997 in Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture. After graduating from Toin Gakuen High School, he went on to study at University of Tsukuba. Upon graduation, he joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. His achievements include winning the team title and placing second individually at the All Japan Police Kendo Championships, as well as competing in the All Japan Inter-Prefectural Kendo Championship. He currently holds the rank of 5th Dan in Kendo.
The All Japan Police Championships Where Years of Keiko Bore Fruit
“I was prepared to stake my entire Kendo life on it.”
For Kano Seiya, those words were no exaggeration.
At the All Japan Police Kendo Championships (individual division) held in September 2025, he advanced to the final for the first time in his career. The reason he was able to achieve this result, he says, was the determination that he had to produce a result—no matter what.
“This was my second time competing in the tournament. My first appearance was two years ago, but I was struck with the first decisive point in the second round and lost. I felt frustrated and ashamed. I tried to make up for it in the team competition, but the results didn’t come easily… That’s why I approached this tournament with that kind of determination.”
Under the tournament regulations, competitors who placed in the top eight in the previous edition, as well as those who advanced to the upper rounds of the All Japan Kendo Championship, are automatically granted entry. All other teams are allowed to send only two representatives. For the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, which has more than 20 candidate athletes in its special training squad, earning one of those two spots is extremely difficult. Simply securing a place in the tournament is already a major opportunity.
“In addition to the two spots allocated by regulation this year, four others had qualified, including Takenouchi Yuya Sensei, the champion of the All Japan Championship, along with Miyamoto Keita, Hoshiko Keita, and Ohira Shoshi. At that point, I knew I simply had to go for it.”
On the day of the tournament, Kano said his start in the opening match was not particularly strong. However, as he became accustomed to the atmosphere of the venue, from the second round onward he began to feel that he was “able to fight at his own pace.”
In the third round he scored a Kaeshi-Men against Natsumeda Ryusuke. In the fourth round he landed a Debana-Kote on Miyazaki Kuniharu. In the quarterfinal he executed a Morote-Tsuki against Hoshino Hideaki to advance to the semifinal. There, he delivered a superb Men against Mizuta Chihiro, the rising star from Fukuoka.
“This tournament allowed me to feel that the things I have been working on in Keiko are finally becoming my own. In the final, I lost to Hoshiko Keita, which also helped me recognize the areas where I am still lacking. I have already secured qualification for the next tournament, but I expect the attention on me will become stronger. This time, it may simply be that the things I have been working on happened to work well. From here on, I want to continue training so that my seme will be effective against my opponents no matter how the match develops.”
Looking back on the tournament as a whole, Kano felt that he was able to observe his opponents’ reactions and naturally deliver techniques at the right moment to strike. He believes that maintaining the mindset of “always being patient, communicating pressure to the opponent, and never losing the contest of seme” ultimately leads to the ability to break down an opponent’s defense.
A Bitter Debut That Became the Catalyst for Growth
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