is a Japanese method of displaying all the names of the members in a group by collecting the names on individual plaques called and hanging them together in a specialized case called . Nafudakake can be found in traditional art forms such as chadō, in modern art forms such as judo, at Shinto shrines (where they are used to display the names of benefactors) and in some modern organizations such as volunteer fire departments.List of flowers at a Japanese tea ceremony dojoDraeger, D. Judo Training Methods: A Sourcebook Tuttle Publishing, 2011. See also Dalien, J. "Judo Etiquette" JudoInfo.comImages of a Shinto shrineHill, C. reports seeing nafudakake in a Japanese fire house. AikiWeb.com Forum, 2003. In English, the term is most commonly associated with Japanese martial arts, and nafudakake are commonly considered an element of a traditional martial arts dojo."Dōjō: The place of the Way" Shin Ki Tai Karate website glossary.
Nafuda
Nafuda are thin, rectangular wooden plaques on which individuals’ names are written vertically in kanji or kana or horizontally in Latin script. The plaques are usually made from a light wood such as pine and hand-painted. The back of the plaque may contain information about the person's history in the dojo.Herndon, J. A Dojo Guide; cited in Nafudakake Name board Shin Ki Tai Karate website glossary.
The term "nafuda" should not be confused with the identification worn on the tare of kendo armor, for which the same word can be used.
Purpose and use of nafuda
Nafuda are used for different purposes in different dojos. In some dojos, nafuda are arranged according to rank, and a person's nafuda is moved upon attaining a higher rank, although other dojos display only the nafuda of yudansha but not those of mudansha.Bateman, B. reports that they are arranged in grade order in his dojo and moved AikiWeb.com Forum, 2003.Re no mudansha, see example nafudakake of Mugenjuku Dojo in Kyoto mentioned in this article In some dojos, nafuda are used to track attendance and in others a member's nafuda is removed for failure to pay dojo fees on time.Bateman,C reports: "he takes his plate down and puts it into a basket, and the name is subsequently recorded and the plate put back" AikiWeb.com Forum, 2005Bronson@2:48AM reports that his iaido instructor takes down nafuda rather than asking for payments AikiWeb.com Forum, 2008 In some dojos, only the nafuda of currently active members are displayed, while in others the nafuda of past members who have moved away or died are displayed as a kind of memorial.Clark, C. reports that nafuda stay on the rack if a "connection" has been made with other members of the dojo AikiWeb.com Forum, 2003.Rehse,P. reports that nafuda are not removed after death AikiWeb.com Forum, 2003 Some dojos display the nafuda of foreign affiliates of the dojo, but do so separately from active members of the dojo.Rehse, P. reports that his dojo has a separate nafudakake for foreign affiliates AikiWeb.com, 2003. Some dojos display the adult and child nafuda separately.Herndon, J. reports having 2 for adults and 1 for children in the 1980s e-Budo.com Forum, 2007 In yet other dojos, everyone who has received a dan grade from the dojo is listed as yudansha on the nafudakake.Hackett,M@10:38AM reports that all yudansha have permanent nafuda, while mudansha nafuda can be removed AikiWeb.com Forum, 2008 The nafudakake can be used to display the names of the dojo's lineage and style's founders.lbb@1:14AM reports that his style's founder is in the top row to the left AikiWeb.com Forum, 2008"Nafudakake" Aikido Center of Jacksonville blogHarvard Aikikai displays nafuda for Morihei Ueshiba, Moriteru Ueshiba, and Mitsunari Kanai in addition to their club members Harvard Aikikai, 2001-2005. In the Seattle Dojo, which is the oldest judo dojo in the United States,"About Seattle Dojo" www.seattledojo.com displayed nafuda from early members help maintain the historical memory of the dojo.Svinth & Yamamoto have a nostalgic exchange in this forum discussion e-Budo.com Forum, 2006
Design and placement of nafudakake
There is no standardized design for nafudakake. The nafuda may be hung from small hooks on the kake or held in place by wooden trusses.Nafuda hanging on hooks at National Engei Hall The nafudakake may be placed in the shimoza (cosmological "south"—often the actual south wall) of a dojo, although it may also be located in other places such as the shimoseki (cosmological "west"), which in Daoist thought is representative of rectitude, or the proper relationship between members of the dojo."Dōjō: The place of the Way" Shin Ki Tai Karate website glossaryLowry, D. In the Dojo, reprinted with permission as "What Puts the Tao in the Dojo? Part 2" in FightingArts.com The joseki (cosmological "east") may also be used, and if the arts of more than one are taught in the same dojo, separate nafudakake for both schools may be displayed.Rodríguez Valero, D. "La distribución de un Dojo" Aikido Alicante
The arrangement of the nafuda on the kake may be very different from one dojo to another. Although Chinese characters are traditionally read vertically and in columns from right to left, some dojos place their senior member in the upper left portion of their nafudakake.lbb@1:14AM reports that his style's founder is in the top row to the left AikiWeb.com Forum, 2008"Nafudakake" Aikido Center of Jacksonville blog
The following example of a nafudakake is hanging on the west wall (shimoseki) of a Japanese aikido dojo. The dojo displays one nafudakake for instructors and a separate one for yudansha. In this example, the nafuda should be read right-to-left as follows:
+ instructors’ nafudakake nafuda(read L-R) transliteration"translation" purpose 合気道無限塾 Aikido Mugenjuku name of the dojo 代表 daihyo"delegation" categorizes all the nafuda that follow asrepresentatives of the dojo 師範 shihan"master" categorizes the nafuda that follows aschief instructor of the dojoジャックパイエ "Jacques Payet" name of chief instructor 指導員 shidoin"instructors" categorizes the nafuda that follow asinstructors at the dojo name name of instructor name name of instructor 指導補助員 shidohojoin"assistants" categorizes the nafuda that follow asassistant instructors names 6 names of assistants
+ yudansha nafudakake nafuda kanji(read L-R) transliteration"translation" purpose 四段 yondan"4th degree" categorizes the nafuda that follows asranked 4th-dan in the dojo name name of 4th-dan holder 二段 nidan"2nd degree" categorizes the nafuda that follow asranked 2nd-dan in the dojo name name of 2nd-dan holder name name of 2nd-dan holder 初段 shodan"1st degree" categorizes the nafuda that follow asranked 1st-dan in the dojo names 11 names of 1st-dan holders
In addition to the terminology presented in this example, nafudakake may designate sensei (teacher), senpai (senior student), or any of a number of other positions recognized in martial arts dojos.
External links Daniel Rodríguez Valero. "La distribución de un Dojo" Aikido Alicante [Spanish]: blog post describing the nafuda at Kumanojuku (includes photographs) images of nafudakake Photograph of nafuda being hand-painted Check-paid marker at a traditional Japanese restaurant that looks similar to a nafuda Photograph of the Nomo Dojo (kendo): nafudakake can be seen in the shimoseki, to the left of someone facing the dojo's shomen (i.e., probably the west wall of the dojo) Photograph of Yoshinkan hombu dojo with nafudakake in background Photographs of Seattle Dojo's nafudakake: nafuda from the oldest judo dojo in the United States: also available on Flickr Photograph of old nafudakake in the home of Shimizu no Jirocho; see also Ninkyō Shimizu-minato Photograph of nafudakake in which names painted on both sides of the nafuda are used to track attendance at a workplace Photograph of Aikido Center of Jacksonville's nafudakake: senior member in upper left corner. Photograph of Aoi Koyamakan Dojo Photograph of an Okinawan karate dojo's nafudakake: from its website Photograph of white oak nafuda with walnut kake from Shelby Shotokan Karate Photograph of nafuda that combine Japanese characters with Latin script read in a different plane from an Italian aikido dojo Commercial website showing a variety of different styles of nafudakake available for purchase virtual nafudakake Some martial arts dojos have begun putting "virtual nafudakake" on their websites. In some cases, a simple list of dojo members is called a "nafudakake", but some dojos have used CGI for their nafudakake. The following is a list of examples of "virtual nafudakake": Example of virtual nafuda of a martial arts instructor and Directory of virtual nafuda Aikido of Pamplona website Tomodachi Judo Club Water Oak Aikikai Karate Taiyokan
References