Interesting videos on youtube! "the last ninja"! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIX-tLYWAp4"]JINICHI KAWAKAMI SOKE - YouTube[/ame]
One off his videos says he is the 21st generation soke of Koga ryu. I have heard he is a martial arts researcher beyond that I know nothing of his claims beyond what the videos say.
I did some research on him a while back. I think i read somewhere that his claims are not genuine. (If you watch the way he throws the shuriken you will understand)
His supposed history and Hatsumi's have numerous similarities, right down to each of them having patronage ninja museum/theme parks, entertainment industry consultation experience and so on. I have never seen any critique of Jinichi Kawakami that would not also sting when applied to Hatsumi. I find the critique of shaken funny since there are many ways to throw them ( the exhaustive http://www.secrets-of-shuriken.com.au/index1.htm site has a summary of the dispute on how to properly throw them ). Kawakami's been around for a long time. At one time he was known for extremely harsh training methods, which are in evidence if you look at his hands. He allegedly only had one student for a very long time because nobody else could withstand the training. He apparently has two schools, including a beginner's school run by the aforementioned disciple, so Japanese residents could visit without too much trouble. Known fraudster Juan Hombre's group has visited him, which is unfortunate, but then again, Hombre also fooled the Genbukan for a time (see http://www.kamikaze-portal.com/hombre/hombre.htm ), so he seems to be pretty good at tricking martial arts organizations o all stripes. Since Hombre is known for having claimed curator Shunichiro Yunoki was his ninja master, Kawakami is occasionally confused for this Yunoki. Someone also spread a rumour on various sites that Kawakami studied Burmese Bando, which is also untrue, based on a combination of poor understanding and, no doubt, a powerful wish that Kawakami never entered the conversation. Kawakami's group has a site at: http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~bankeshinobi/navi04.htm and there's a English site that *might* be his at: http://www.freewebs.com/bankeshinobinodenkensyujyo/index.htm Both sites have contact information. None of this should be taken as an opinion in favour of the authenticity of anyone.
I haven't heard of him until recently, so I don't know or care much... If it is fake at least it is a japanese fake, looks like japanese movements. Instead of kung fu and korean martial arts being passed off as Japanese.
It is interesting to know that unless otherwise proven there may be another out there to teach "ninjutsu". I had never heard of this guy till a day or so ago so it doesn't affect my training nor do I think that a bunch of people in the Bujinkan will want to go a switch to this guy. I just think it would be cool if we weren't the last surviving ninjutsu school in the universe. Something different.
Just like to say that yes, the English website is real: http://www.freewebs.com/bankeshinobinodenkensyujyo/ I have been training under Yasushi Kiyomoto for quite some time now.....................it's alot rougher and different than anything I've ever experienced. I didn't think that people trained like this anymore...............but I was proven wrong. Take a look at his teacher's body (Jinichi Kawakami) or his body (Yasushi Kiyomoto) and you instantly know these aren't your "average" people. Rough training is a requirement if you want/and are accepted to study....... this is the normal practice/requirement.
Anyone can have any website they choose................. It's the information on the website that matters. Academic websites? That's pretty laughable. There are millions of types of websites out there.
I love threads like this one. On one hand we have people with (usually) false claims that are entertaining and fun to make fun of. On the other hand we have people who are hypocrites with unverified lineage. Durrr.
