Hiroshi Tada was born on December 13th, 1929 and is the only living 9th Dan Aikido Aikikai holder. He entered Hombu Dojo in 1950 and doing aikido now for 67 years! He was just always there, he knows them all, and seen it all happened and changed with his own eyes.
shihan
Patrick Cassidy
Patrick Cassidy is a 6th dan Aikikai Aikido instructor. He is a founder and a Dojo-Cho at Aikido Montreux in Switzerland.
Hiroshi Ikeda
Hiroshi Ikeda holds a 7 Dan in Aikikai and is a Shihan based in the USA. He learned from the Misogi Saotome and is a founder of the Boulder Aikikai Dojo.
Interview with Hiroyuki Sakurai
An interview was taken on June 9, 2018, during a seminar with the Shihan at Chisinau, Moldova. Hiroyuki Sakurai held 6 Dan at the time. During the 2020 Kagamibiraki ceremony, Sensei received 7th Dan from the Aikikai.
Tsuruzo Miyamoto
Tsuruzo Miyamoto was born on March 30, 1953, on the island of Kyushu, Japan. He is an 8 Dan and one of the most respected Hombu Shihans at the moment.
Mitsugi Saotome
Mitsugi Saotome Shihan is one of the few former OSensei’s uchi-deshi’s still alive. He saw with his eyes all those things we read about. Sensei fully devoted himself to the Aikido and Ueshiba’s and you will learn why inside.
Nobuyoshi Tamura
Nobuyoshi Tamura (2 March 1933 – 9 July 2010) was an 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan. He was advised by the Seigo Yamaguchi to become an uchi-deshi in Hombu which he did on August 5, 1952, in the times of a founder, Morihei Ueshiba. Nobuyoshi ended up as one of his favorite pupils and ukes.
Yoshinobu Takeda
Yoshinobu Takeda is an 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan. He had a chance to learn from the O-Sensei and Seigo Yamaguchi was his main teacher.