WKF President Antonio Espinós met Senior Vice Foreign Minister of Japan Nobuo Kishi on Wednesday, on the first day of Mr. Espinos’ visit to Tokyo. The government official welcomed the head of Karate’s international governing body at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry to discuss the expansion of the ancient modality in Japan and around the world.

WKF President Antonio Espinós met Senior Vice Foreign Minister of Japan Nobuo Kishi on Wednesday on the first day of Mr. Espinos’ visit to Tokyo. The government official welcomed the head of Karate’s international governing body at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry to discuss the expansion of the ancient modality in Japan and around the world. 

The meeting served to confirm the deep roots of the ancient modality in the nation where the sport was originated. The intention of the World Karate Federation of maintaining the tradition of the discipline while taking the sport to its bright new future was reaffirmed during the gathering.

While Karate is highly regarded as a vehicle to disseminate Japanese tradition and spirit around the world, representatives of the sport and the Asian country agreed on Karate’s remarkable impact in the birth nation of the discipline. The popularity of the sport in Japan has steadily grown through the years, with Japan Karate Association’s purpose of spreading Karate as a way of life being deeply integrated in Japan’s daily life and culture.

During the meeting, which was also attended by also WKF General Secretary Toshihisa Nagura and General Manager of WKF General Secretary Office Masayasu Kametani, the upcoming debut of Karate in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was also addressed. Mr. Espinós confirmed the efforts of the sports organization to make the best so the Karate event at the Olympic Games in the Japanese capital will be a big success.

(Picture: From left to right: WKF General Secretary Office General Manager Masayasu Kametani, WKF General Secretary Toshihisa Nagura, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mio Otashiro, WKF President Antonio Espinós, Vice Foreign Minister of Japan Nobou Kishi)