I was speaking to my family and relatives and decided to share this as a means to bring clarity for Sosai, the general public, as well as students of Kyokushin.

After the movie "Fighter in the Wind" was released, very loosely modeled around Sosai's life, there have been many speculations and inaccurate claims about his nationality. What we are going to state now is for providing factual information. Please keep in mind that Sosai was born during the Japanese Occupation (1910 - 1945) of Korea.

Sosai is South Korean by descent. He was born in a small village a few hours from Seoul. At the time of his birth, the area now known as South Korea was part of the Japanese Empire. Because of poverty, at age three, he and his sister were sent to his aunt’s house in Manchuira. He remained there until 1936, when he returned to Korea. The following year he came to Japan along with his older brothers, he was 13 years old.

When South Korea became an independent nation Sosai was made a Korean citizen. My mother was Japanese, but having married a foreigner she also became Korean by nationality. Both of my elder sisters were considered Korean until 1964. Sosai received Japanese citizenship in March 1964, along with my mother and my sisters. Two politicians were listed as Sosai's (and the rest of the family members) witnesses and guarantor for his citizenship application. They were Matsuhei Mori and Shiotsugu Hideo. I am sure you will find them in the World Tournament pamphlets. Neither my mother nor my sisters had been to Korea at that stage.

In June the same year, Honbu was built and Oyama Karate became International Karate Organization Kyokushinkaikan.

It is important to note Sosai's love and vision for Japanese Budo was very much influenced by Miyamoto Musashi. I am not commenting to make an issue of race but more why Sosai became Japanese. It was for Kyokushin Karate.

There has been some media coverage in Korea about his nationality, which was not factual. We have informed the KBS (Korean Broadcasting Station) about this, so in future accurate facts can be stated.

Thank you so much taking time to read this. It means a lot to my family.

Grace Eki Oyama
Kuristina K. Oyama