Biography is compiled based on the materials from:
Takemusu Aikido: Background and Basics, by Morihiro Saito and Budo by Morihei Ueshiba
The photos on this page are reproduced from Takemusu Aikido and Traditional Aikido books, and publicly available online sources.
Morihei Ueshiba is recognised as one of the world’s greatest martial artists for creating Aikido, a profound synthesis of his spiritual insights into the nature of the universe. More than just a fighting style, Aikido is a holistic approach to life that Morihei described as “a divine path inspired by the gods that leads to truth, goodness, and beauty.”
Morihei Ueshiba was born on 14 December 1883 in the seaport town of Tanabe, in what is now Wakayama Prefecture. He was the fourth child and the eldest son of a widely respected farmer who served on the local council for many years.
As a child, Ueshiba was frail and often ill. To strengthen him, his father encouraged physical activities, introducing him to sumo wrestling and swimming.
Ueshiba attended Tanabe Higher Elementary School and later Tanabe Prefectural Middle School, but he left formal education in his early teens. Instead, he enrolled at a private abacus academy to study accountancy. After graduating, he worked briefly at a local tax office. However, in 1901 or 1902, he left home to pursue a new path as a merchant in Tokyo. His time in the capital was cut short by beriberi illness that forced his return home. Yet, this period proved significant, as it marked the beginning of his martial arts journey. During his stay in Tokyo, Ueshiba studied Shinkage-ryu kenjutsu (swordsmanship) and Tenjin Shinyō-ryu jujutsu.
In 1903, Morihei Ueshiba joined the Imperial Japanese Army, where he received extensive hand-to-hand combat training, including bayonet and rifle techniques. During his service, he also had the opportunity to study Yagyū-ryu jujutsu, a traditional Japanese martial art known for its comprehensive curriculum of grappling techniques and weapons training. Even after his discharge in 1906, Ueshiba continued his training at the Yagyū-ryu dōjō, eventually earning a Menkyo Kaiden, a Certificate of Transmission, in 1908.
After the military service, Morihei Ueshiba returned to Tanabe, where he began studying Kodokan Judo.
In the early 20th century, the Hokkaido prefectural government offered grants and incentives to encourage mainland Japanese groups to settle in the region. In 1912, Ueshiba organised and led a group of fifty-four households consisted over eighty people to Hokkaido. They settled in Shirataki, near the village of Yobetsu, a site Ueshiba had chosen during an earlier visit. At the time, the area was a remote wilderness, and the settlers faced harsh weather and poor soil conditions. Life revolved around farming, lumbering, and the daily struggle to survive the unforgiving Hokkaido winters. Ueshiba worked tirelessly to support the community, gaining influence as a leader among the settlers from Tanabe. He also became involved in local politics, serving a term as a county councilman.
During his time in Hokkaido, Morihei Ueshiba met Sokaku Takeda, a renowned master of Daito-ryu jujutsu. Ueshiba was captivated by the system’s powerful and precise techniques and devoted considerable time and resources to studying under Takeda. The Daito-ryu curriculum included joint locks, pins, and other intricate manoeuvres, comprising several hundred techniques. Takeda also demonstrated a skill known as "aiki," a method of controlling an opponent’s intent and neutralising aggression. While Takeda was an expert in various weapons—especially the sword—Ueshiba focused primarily on mastering Daito-ryu jujutsu. These techniques would later become the foundation for Aikido, and Takeda’s influence on Ueshiba’s martial art was profound.
Ueshiba became one of Takeda’s most accomplished students and occasionally accompanied him on teaching tours around Hokkaido. During this period, Ueshiba received a first-level transmission scroll, recognising his advanced understanding of Daito-ryu.
At the end of 1919, Morihei Ueshiba received news that his father was gravely ill. He quickly settled his affairs in Shirataki, leaving most of his possessions to Sokaku Takeda, and departed for Tanabe. On his journey home, Ueshiba heard about the remarkable healing powers of Onisaburo Deguchi, the charismatic leader of the Omoto religion. Driven by curiosity, he made a detour to Ayabe, a small town near Kyoto where the Omoto headquarters were located. Ueshiba was deeply moved by Deguchi’s spiritual presence and stayed for a few days before continuing on to Tanabe.
By the time Morihei reached home, his father had already passed away. Struggling with grief and seeking spiritual solace, Ueshiba decided a few months later to relocate to Ayabe and embrace an ascetic life within the Omoto community. He soon became part of Onisaburo’s inner circle, gaining the leader’s trust and admiration. Impressed by Ueshiba’s martial abilities, Deguchi encouraged him to teach Daito-ryu jujutsu to Omoto followers. This led to the opening of the “Ueshiba Private School” at his home, where he offered instruction in the martial art.
In 1922, Sokaku Takeda visited Ueshiba in Ayabe, bringing his family along and staying for nearly six months. During this time, Takeda continued to refine Ueshiba’s training and, upon his departure, awarded him a formal teaching certificate — a significant recognition of Ueshiba’s mastery of Daito-ryu jujutsu.
Onisaburo Deguchi pursued ambitious plans to expand the influence of the Omoto religion, one of the boldest being the creation of a utopian religious nation in Mongolia. In February 1924, he set out for the continent with a small group of close companions, including Morihei Ueshiba. In pursuit of this vision, Deguchi allied himself with a rebel military commander active in the region — a decision that soon proved disastrous. The group was captured by Chinese authorities and sentenced to death. Their lives were spared only through the last-minute intervention of the Japanese consulate, which secured their release.
Upon his return to Japan, Morihei Ueshiba sought to rebuild his life by blending his martial practice with farming. During this period, he became deeply interested in spear techniques and continued his intensive training in both swordsmanship and jujutsu, further refining the martial skills that would eventually evolve into Aikido.
Among Morihei Ueshiba’s Daito-ryu students were several naval officers, including Admiral Seikyo Asano, who was also an Omoto believer. Admiral Asano, impressed by Ueshiba’s martial skill, spoke highly of him to his navy colleagues and encouraged Admiral Isamu Takeshita to visit Ayabe and witness Daito-ryu firsthand. Struck by Ueshiba’s extraordinary abilities, Takeshita soon arranged for him to conduct demonstrations and seminars in Tokyo during the autumn of 1925. Among Ueshiba’s influential patrons was Gombei Yamamoto, a retired admiral and two-time prime minister. During this period, Ueshiba also spent twenty-one days teaching martial arts at the Crown Prince’s Palace, further solidifying his reputation.
Between 1925 and 1927, Ueshiba made several trips to Tokyo, where he instructed members of the military and political elite. With Onisaburo Deguchi’s blessing, he eventually decided to relocate to Tokyo and establish himself as a martial arts instructor.
In the early years of his Tokyo residence, Ueshiba taught primarily in the private homes of his patrons. His students were drawn from Japan’s upper echelons—military officers, prominent politicians, and business leaders. Among his most devoted supporters was Admiral Isamu Takeshita, a passionate advocate for the martial arts who had previously served as president of the Sumo Association. Takeshita studied Daito-ryu for more than ten years and even hosted classes in his own home. His tireless efforts to promote Ueshiba’s art within elite social circles played a crucial role in establishing Morihei Ueshiba’s success in Tokyo. Without Takeshita’s backing, it is unlikely that Ueshiba would have achieved the widespread recognition that laid the foundation for the future of Aikido.
In 1930, Morihei Ueshiba acquired a villa in Ushigome, Wakamatsu-cho, and soon began constructing a new dojo. By 1931, the Kobukan Dojo was completed on the same site where the Aikikai Hombu Dojo stands today. This period, known as the Kobukan era, marked a significant chapter in Ueshiba’s life. Among his live-in disciples and students were future Aikido luminaries such as Yoichiro Inoue, Kenji Tomiki, Minoru Mochizuki, Tsutomu Yukawa, Shigemi Yonekawa, Rinjiro Shirata, and Gozo Shioda. These years were especially demanding for Ueshiba, as he not only taught at the Kobukan but also at numerous dojo established in Tokyo and Osaka.
Thanks to his extensive connections with naval and military officers, Ueshiba was invited to provide martial arts instruction at several military institutions, including the Toyama Military Academy (a training school for army officers), the Nakano School (commonly known as the "Spy School"), and the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. As the demands on his schedule grew, Ueshiba increasingly delegated teaching responsibilities to his senior students from the Kobukan.
In 1932, the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Martial Arts was founded, and by 1933, Morihei Ueshiba was appointed its president. By the mid-1930s, his reputation had spread throughout the martial arts world, establishing him as one of the most renowned martial artists of his time.
During this period, Ueshiba continued to teach Daito-ryu aikijujutsu—as Sokaku Takeda’s art was sometimes called—and even awarded transmission scrolls under this name. However, his relationship with the demanding and authoritarian Takeda grew increasingly strained, prompting Ueshiba to distance himself from his teacher. After 1935, there appears to have been no further direct contact between them. Nonetheless, Daito-ryu techniques—albeit in a modified form—continued to form the core of Ueshiba’s technical repertoire. During the pre-war years, his evolving art became known as “aikibudo.”
In 1941, Morihei Ueshiba was invited to perform a special Enbu (demonstration) for the Imperial Family at the Imperial Guard Dojo, located within the Kōkyo—the Imperial Palace grounds in Tokyo.
Between 1939 and 1942, Ueshiba conducted several aikibudo demonstrations in Manchuria. The final demonstration during this period took place in the presence of Manchurian Emperor Pu Yi, a moment that highlighted the far-reaching influence of Ueshiba’s martial art.
With the outbreak of the Pacific War, many of Morihei Ueshiba’s most promising young instructors and students were sent to the front lines, leading to a significant decline in activity at the Kobukan Dojo. In 1942, after falling ill with a serious intestinal disorder, Ueshiba chose to retire to the village of Iwama in Ibaraki Prefecture, where he had purchased land several years earlier. Far from the chaos of war-torn Tokyo, he embraced a quieter life of farming, training, and meditation.
The Iwama years were pivotal in shaping modern Aikido. Freed from the demands of urban life, Ueshiba dedicated himself entirely to the study and refinement of his martial art. In this peaceful rural setting, he pursued intensive training and deep reflection, refining a discipline centred on the peaceful resolution of conflict.
After the war, the Allied occupation forces imposed a ban on all Japanese martial arts, but the remote village of Iwama allowed Ueshiba to preserve and develop his art by then already known as Aikido. During this period of seclusion, he began a serious study of the sword and staff, known in Aikido as “aiki-ken” and “aiki-jo.” For Ueshiba, a profound understanding of these weapons was essential for mastering open-handed techniques. He envisioned Aikido as a comprehensive system that seamlessly integrated armed and unarmed practice.
Throughout much of this time, Morihiro Saito, then a young disciple, served as Ueshiba’s primary training partner. This close relationship gave Saito unparalleled exposure to advanced techniques and subtle insights that the founder did not openly share with most students.
It was during these years in Iwama that Morihei Ueshiba articulated the concept of Takemusu Aiki — the ability to spontaneously execute an infinite array of techniques, each perfectly aligned with the circumstances at hand. This philosophy became the spiritual heart of his evolving art, embodying the principle of harmony through dynamic creativity.
From the early 1950s, Morihei Ueshiba began to travel across Japan, responding to invitations to teach, lecture, and demonstrate his evolving martial art. Many of the students who began training after the war and witnessed the founder in action were inspired by his energetic yet graceful movements and his ethical approach to martial arts.
By nature, Ueshiba was an optimistic man who often revealed a light-hearted side while teaching or demonstrating. Yet, when discussing the deeper meaning of Aikido, whether in class or in informal settings, a more contemplative side would emerge. Always spontaneous, he could become angry if he observed dangerous practices or a lack of seriousness during training. These many facets of his character left a lasting impression on those who trained under him.
In 1956, Aikikai held the first public martial arts demonstration since the end of the war in Tokyo. The event, which lasted five days, made a strong impression on the foreign dignitaries who attended. Although Ueshiba had initially opposed public demonstrations, he eventually agreed in order to promote the growth of Aikido. This marked the beginning of a series of large public demonstrations that would follow.
In his later years, as his health began to gradually decline, Ueshiba spent much of his time in Tokyo. He took a less active role in the management of the Aikikai, leaving his son Kisshomaru Ueshiba in charge of the instruction at Hombu Dojo, but still continued to give demonstrations. No longer able to move as quickly or freely as he could when he was younger, the founder’s aikido underwent a transformation. Many of his techniques became abbreviated and he would be seen to throw his young and powerful students with a rapid gesture, or the flick of a hand, sometimes without even touching his partner.
Because this phase of Ueshiba’s life corresponded with the first stage of aikido’s growth internationally, the image of a little old man with a white beard waving his hand in front of a charging attacker dominates in the minds of many students and teachers of the art. The founder’s art in the last years of his life was the product of more than sixty years of training and contemplation. The wide exposure he received through his public demonstrations and the later availability of films has spawned many imitators.
In 1961 Ueshiba went to the United States on the invitation of the Hawaii Aikikai.
In 1969, Ueshiba became ill. He led his last training session on March 10 and was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. He died on April 26, 1969. His ashes were buried in the cemetery of the Ueshiba family temple in Tanabe, and strands of the founder’s hair were enshrined at the Aiki Shrine in Iwama, the Ueshiba family cemetery in Ayabe, and at the Kumano Grand Shrine.
Morihei Ueshiba received several rewards from the Japanese government in recognition of his contributions to martial arts.