20th World Kendo Championships · Tokyo · 27–30 May 2027
I left Japan at twelve. In May 2027 I go back on the national team of the country that raised me.
I’ve been selected to the men’s national team for the 20th World Kendo Championships in Tokyo. I’m going five weeks early to train with the Kagawa and Osaka prefectural police squads. Six weeks in Japan, about $7,500 out of my own pocket. This is me asking for help with that.
Kendo has no prize money and no salaries. Every athlete on Team Canada pays their own way to the World Championships.
The story
I started kendo as a kid in Japan, before I had any idea it would follow me across an ocean. My family moved to Canada when I was twelve, and I spent the next decade training in Alberta — six years at Edmonton Kendo Club, then four at Sturgeon Kendo Club. Kendo in the prairies was tough, just like hockey every practice, every training camp, every tournament was hours away, and often in another province.
Alberta gave me my foundation. But there’s a ceiling on how far you can push when the nearest people at your level are a flight away. So I moved to Vancouver. Not for a job, not for school — for kendo. To train somewhere I’d get beaten often enough that I’d have to change.
I won the Canadian national title in 2023, and again in 2026. In between I represented Canada in Milan for the 19th World Championships — my first time representing CANADA.
Milan showed me exactly how wide the gap is. I’m not going to Tokyo to find out again.
The 20th World Kendo Championships return to Japan for the first time since 2015: May 27-30, 2027, in Tokyo. For most of the athletes on our team it’s the biggest tournament of their lives. For me it’s also going home to compete in front of the people I learned this from.
I’m not flying in for the tournament. I’m going five weeks early, on my own, to train with the Kagawa and Osaka prefectural police squads — full-time kendo professionals, the deepest talent pool the sport has. Our team has already trained with the Osaka and Oita police — Those afternoons were extremely impactful in the development of my kendo, and having the opportunity to train for weeks instead of days in Japan will with them will be invaluable to my performance in Tokyo
Keiko in Japan
Where the money goes
Six weeks in Japan: five weeks of keiko with the police squads in Kagawa and Osaka, then the championship in Tokyo. Every dollar buys mat time — nights near the dojos and the trains that get me there. Food, equipment and everything else for six weeks I’m covering myself. If we raise past the goal, the surplus goes to the Canadian Kendo Federation’s team fund so it covers a teammate who’s short.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Lodging during the training weeksRoughly 34 nights around Kagawa and Osaka — this line is the whole point | $3,200 |
| Tournament flightsGetting to shiai across Canada through the season before I fly out | $2,200 |
| Return airfare, Vancouver → JapanOut in late April, home in early June | $1,400 |
| Travel inside JapanTakamatsu, Osaka and Tokyo, plus six weeks of daily transit to and from keiko | $700 |
| Total | $7,500 |
Milan, 2024 — the 19th World Championships
What you’re backing
Backed by
Japanese kendo equipment for North America — shinai, bogu and care gear sourced direct from makers in Japan. I’m a partner in the company as well as an athlete they back.
Canadian sports hydration, zero sugar. I train on it year-round and I’m part of their athlete sponsorship program.
Orders placed through that link go towards my training.
Sponsorship
If your business wants to back an athlete on his way to the World Championships, I’d like to hear from you. Logo placement, coverage from the police dojos in Japan, a demo for your staff or customers — tell me what you’re after and I’ll put together something that works.
The ask
If you’ve trained with me, been coached by me, or just want to see someone from Vancouver go do this — twenty dollars matters. So does sharing this with one person who might care.
And if you can’t give, come find me at the dojo instead. That’s worth more than most of what’s on the list above.
Donate on GoFundMe →Or follow the road there: @shion_miyashita
ありがとうございます。Shion Miyashita · Vancouver, British Columbia