google is your friend,
International Ryukyu Karate Research Society/琉球唐手術国際研究會: The [1936] Meeting of the Okinawan Karate Masters
if your interested you can read the transcript of the meeting here.
this meeting took place in October of 1936. honestly if you have ever studied history in your life that should be all that need to be said on the subject but i can break it down.
The world was leading up to WWII. Japan had already invaded Manchuria, China and established the Manchukuo Japanese state there. The cultural feeling of Nationalism was being pushed by the Government heavily and many attitudes were changing. Okinawa was being sucked into this and was becoming even more of a Japanese territory,more so than previously.
in July of 1937 Japan and China were officially entered into the Second Sino-Japanese wae . In December of 1937 Japan had attacked China in the Massacre of Nanjing. where between 40 and 300 thousand people were killed as well as some of the worlds worst atrocities being committed.
Fascism in Japan | History of Western Civilization II
"Left-wing groups had been subject to violent suppression by the end of the Taishō period, and radical right-wing groups, inspired by fascism and Japanese nationalism, rapidly grew in popularity. The extreme right became influential throughout the Japanese government and society, notably within the Kwantung Army, a Japanese army stationed in China along the Japanese-owned South Manchuria Railroad. During the Manchurian Incident of 1931, radical army officers bombed a small portion of the South Manchuria Railroad and, falsely attributing the attack to the Chinese, invaded Manchuria. The Kwantung Army conquered Manchuria and set up the puppet government of Manchukuo there without permission from the Japanese government. International criticism of Japan following the invasion led to Japan withdrawing from the League of Nations.
The withdrawal from the League of Nations meant that Japan was politically isolated. Japan had no strong allies and its actions had been internationally condemned, while internally popular nationalism was booming. Local leaders such as mayors, teachers, and Shinto priests were recruited by the various movements to indoctrinate the populace with ultra-nationalist ideals. They had little time for the pragmatic ideas of the business elite and party politicians. Their loyalty lay to the Emperor and the military. In March 1932 the “League of Blood” assassination plot and the chaos surrounding the trial of its conspirators further eroded the rule of democratic law in Shōwa Japan. In May of the same year, a group of right-wing Army and Navy officers succeeded in assassinating the Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. The plot fell short of staging a complete coup d’état, but effectively ended rule by political parties in Japan."
Funakoshi Gichin while in mainland Japan had established his martial art as a viable method for young people to "foster the Japanese spirit" .
this Okinawan meeting by Nakasone Genwa was essentially to push Okinawan Martial arts into the realm of Socialistic nationalism. to get them in line with the Japanese nationalist party. it can be interpreted as a warning that Chinese sympathizers will not be tolerated.
in the Okinawan meeting master Ota Chofu says : "
i dont think anybody dislikes the term KARA however, there are those who resent the term TOU" .
Toudi the original term used throughout Okinawa was in reference to "China Hand".
it was quite obvious that to continue to call your art Chinese and acknowledge its Chinese origin was not going to do you any favors in this new cultural climate.
and that boys and girls is how hundreds of millions of people die by the hands of the darkest malevolence the human race can muster. evil can be building under the surface, it can be invisible. unless you can see the ripples on the surface, how it changes the little things, the simple things like the word Toude to Karate. sound familiar?
all go back to my cave now and let Y'all think about it.
