Kisaburo Osawa (1910 – May 28, 1991) was one of the first 9 Dan Holders and has been a great inspiration for the deshi’s he was teaching in the Hombu Dojo for many years.
Kisaburo Osawa studied Judo since he was 17 and got a Shodan at 25. In 1939 he was introduced to the O-Sensei and joined Aikikai (Kobukan at the time) in the same year. During the WW2 Kisaburo attends Master Ueshiba in his teaching at the Academy of Military Police (Kenpei Gakko). After the war, he becomes one of the most important teachers in the Dojo and a close advisor to the Kisshomaru Ueshiba.
After the passing of a founder, Kisaburo Osawa was appointed as a Dojo-cho in Hombu and held that position for almost 20 years until he gave it to the current Doshu, Moriteru Ueshiba.
In 1975 Sensei went abroad for the first time. It was a New York Aikikai of Yoshimitsu Yamada who is taking ukemi for the Kisaburo Osawa along with the Masatake Fujita and Mitsunari Kanai in the next video.
Kisaburo is not with us anymore but a memory, old videos and some other materials are still with us. His son Hayato Osawa is also an Aikikai Shihan with an 8th Dan.