PNKF History
Kendo has been practiced in the Pacific Northwest since the early twentieth century. Its history is shaped by local dojos, Japanese American communities, wartime disruption, and the regional federation formed to connect clubs.
The first Northwest clubs
Public kendo demonstrations were held at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1905 and at Tacoma’s Stadium High School Coliseum in 1910. The earliest known regional tournament followed in Seattle in August 1910. For years, the cost of equipment and the shortage of instructors limited the number of practitioners. Seattle Kendo Kai established a permanent home in the 1920s, and kendo classes also developed in Tacoma and Portland.
By the 1930s, Seattle and Tacoma dojos had built active communities, with affiliated youth instruction and club practices in Oregon. In 1936 the Hokubei Butokukai established a Seattle chapter; it first met at the Seattle Buddhist Church and later opened a dojo at 1212 South King Street. Instructors also traveled between communities, helping connect clubs around the region.
Community and prewar practice
Kendo was sustained by Japanese American communities and by teachers who treated it as a discipline as well as a sport. The historical account records women training at Northwest dojos in the 1930s, alongside men and young people. Clubs held annual shiai (tournaments), and the regional circuit included Steveston, Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. Practices such as winter kangeiko emphasized shared effort, etiquette, and perseverance. The last recorded prewar regional tournament was held at the Hokubei Butokukai dojo on South King Street on May 4, 1941.
A Hokubei Butokukai tournament took place in Gresham, Oregon, in February 1940. The photograph below preserves that event; its Japanese caption commemorates a youth club kendo division and the Japanese calendar year 2600.
Wartime interruption and revival
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, kendo clubs across the United States closed. Kendo did not resume in the United States until the mid-1950s. The postwar revival in the Northwest was led by instructors in Spokane and Seattle. Seattle Kendo Kai returned first to temporary gym spaces and later to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church; a Tacoma club followed in the early 1960s.
The wartime disruption was part of the wider rupture experienced by Japanese American communities. The clubs and instructors who rebuilt practice after the war helped preserve kendo in the region and pass it to new generations.
From WSKF to PNKF
The University of Washington Kendo Club formed in 1972. Seattle, Tacoma, and UW clubs joined through the Washington State Kendo Federation (WSKF) in 1975, during a broader effort to connect kendo organizations. As new clubs formed beyond Washington, the federation took the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation name. Today PNKF connects kendo and iaido clubs in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
Historical photograph and source
Hokubei Butokukai kendo tournament · Gresham, Oregon · February 11, 1940. The image caption refers to an Oregon combined tournament held to mark five years of the Gresham–Troutdale youth club’s kendo division.
This regional history draws on Joseph R. Svinth’s research, “Knightly Spirit: Ninety-five Years of Pacific Northwest Kendo.”