Some refer to Shinwa Taido as an off shoot of Aikido and glossed over with no more consideration given to it. Actually the two arts were one and the same for quite a number of years and both were taught under the name of Aiki Budo. The people that most influenced Aikido also influenced Shinwa Taido. There has always been a tradition that (Hoken Inoue), the most senior student of Morihei Ueshiba was expected to become the next Doshu of Aikido since he was also related to him. The two arts and their respective founders are so intertwined that it becomes necessary to unwind them to understand the history Shinwa Taido. It is also helpful to understand the make-up of Japanese customs and society to understand what transpired during the formative years of these arts.
The logical starting place is with the founder of Shinwa Taido, Hoken Inoue. He was born in 1902, in Wakayama Prefecture into a wealthy family. During the course of his life, in accordance with Japanese tradition he was to change his first name several times. We know him as Hoken but he has also gone by the names of Kitamatsumuru, Yoichiro, Yoshiharu, Seisho, Teruyoshi, and finally Noriaki. His mother was the oldest sister of Morihei Ueshiba who also lived in Wakayama Prefecture at that time. Inoue's first experience with the martial arts was at the age of ten, when at the urging of his grandfather, he, his brothers and uncle studied judo for a short time.
At the age of thirteen Inoue became unruly. He refused to go to school and neither his teachers nor his parents could control him. His father sent him to the northern island of Hokkaido to live with his uncle who had moved there several years earlier. According to Inoue , he was allowed to run wild and was well behaved by the time he returned to Tanabe, several years later.
His uncle, Morihei Ueshiba, (the founder of Aikido) was a serious student of the martial arts and had already studied judo and several other classical arts prior to this time. Inoue was present at Engaru when Morihei Ueshiba met Sokaku Takeda the headmaster of Daito-ryu jujitsu. Ueshiba practiced there for ten days before returning to his home in Shirataki. Inoue, repulsed by Takeda's mannerisms refused to participate in practice and just observed. He did however, practice with his uncle when they returned home. When Ueshiba became serious about studying Daito-ryu jujitsu his father and Inoue's father got together and paid to build a dojo at Shirtaki. They then invited Takeda to come and teach and paid him a monthly stipend. Inoue did not know how much they paid, but both men were well to do and according to him the amount was generous. These Daito-ryu forms that Inoue and Ueshiba practiced and modified together were to become the roots of their respective arts.
According to Inoue, he and his uncle worked together at the modification of these techniques, and he was as much responsible for the final form as was his uncle. In Japan, there is a very strict code of social conduct. Within the family unit however, this code is sometimes ignored. Such is the case with Inoue and Ueshiba. Even though publicly the uncle was considered the senior, when the two practiced together they dropped the formalities and acted as equals. In 1920, Inoue moved to Kameoka to study under the Reverend Onisaburo Deguchi. Ueshiba and his family moved there about a year later and he too became a convert to the Omoto1 religion. Deguchi realized that Ueshiba was and exceptional martial artist and helped promote him and his art. At this time the art was being taught as Daito-ryu Jujitsu.
In 1922, Takeda "visited" Ueshiba in Tanabe, a habit he was to repeat through out his life whenever he needed money. The reverend Deguchi did not care for Takeda and suggested to Ueshiba that he change the name of the art from Daito-ryu Jujitsu to Aiki. He also gave some money to Ueshiba to give to Takeda so that he would go away. According to Inoue, he became upset with his uncle when hesitant to add the term 'aiki' to the name. Eventually the name was changed to Daito-ryu Aikijujitsu, but the fact that Ueshiba had had doubts about changing the name, was one of the factors that contributed to the split between the two after the war. At the age of 21, Inoue returned to his birth place to engage in mushashugyo, (itinerant training in the martial arts). He was very successful and decided to go to Tokyo to teach. When he went to get his parents approval, they informed him that they could only support him if he ran the family business. Being his usual head strong self he told his family he was not able to run the business, and instead went off with his uncle to teach the martial arts.
Inoue acted as an assistant instructor to his uncle from the mid 1920's on, and from 1932 to 1935 he was a senior instructor for the Budo Senyokai, an organization setup by the reverend Deguchi to promote Ueshiba and his martial art. He taught mainly at Kameoka and at dojos in the Kyoto and Osaka areas. He also made trips and taught in Manchuria and Korea, which at that time were occupied by Japan. Several events occurred during this time period that further strained the relationship between Inoue and Ueshiba. One was that Ueshiba was teaching his art as Kobubudo (imperial martial way). Inoue felt this would be fine if he had had the emperor's permission, but he didn't. There was also a strained relationship between the royal family and the Omoto religion which sponsored Ueshiba. This situation came to a head in what is known as the second Omoto incident. On December 8, 1935 Deguchi was arrested and convicted of disturbing the peace and lese majeste. The Omoto religion and all its auxiliary organizations were ordered disbanded, all of its property was seized or destroyed and many of its members arrested. Fear of being arrested forced Ueshiba to cut off all ties with the Omotos. Inoue was the only person who did not cut his ties with the Omoto believers.
There was also a problem with who would be the next head of the organization. Ueshiba had three sons, the first two dying at an early age. Kisshomaru, the only surviving son, was showing no interest in the art and as late as 1935 had not started to practice. Ueshiba had married his eldest daughter to Kiyoshi Nakakura and adopted him as his son, a common practice in Japan to extend the family line. After five years, Nakakura felt he would not be able to carry on the art and divorced his wife, thus nullifying the adoption. Rightly or wrongly it was assumed that Inoue would be the next Doshu since he was a member of the family and certainly had the credentials to succeed his uncle. When Kisshomaru finally became serious and was named director of the Kobukan, there was still some doubt as to whether he would succeed.
The final point of separation appears to be after the war when Ueshiba visited Inoue and told him that he had decided to call the art Aikido. Inoue had been teaching it as Aiki Budo for the previous ten years. He continued to teach under this name until 1956 when he changed the name to Shinwa Taido.
1 The Omoto religion was the first religion in Japan to believe in the singular biblical God that created the heavens and earth. This differed greatly from the main religion of Japan and was a great souce of turmoil within the Japanese Empire. It was this turmoil that cause first and second Omoto incidents