Why did Bushi Tatsuo Sensei pick January 15, 1956 as the date to announce the starting of a new style? Bushi Tatsuo Sensei was a Sumuchi [also referred to as a Sanjinso, which means three social trends meaning past, present and future, and as such would be asked by his community, etc., to choose specific dates for important events such as this naming.
When performing sumuchi the diviner would base it on the client's birth date and other factors. He also used the I Ching, almanac and other books of divination.
As a sumuchi Bushi Tatsuo knew the importance of choosing a most prosperous day/date. As a sumuchi/sanjinso he consulted the ancient oracles and decided that "Oshogatsu" (Okinawa dialect) or "Koshogatsu" (Japanese dialect), meaning "Small New Year," relies on the "Lunar Calander. (Moon!)" The Oshogatsu begins on the "first full moon" of the New Year. The time falls generally on dates somewhere around the fifteenth of January. A widely observer time in the rural areas of both Okinawa and Japan.
It was fitting that Bushi Tatsuo Sensei would announce the new name for his karate on Soguwachiguwa (Small New Year) which in modern times falls on January 15th. He would have used the I Ching to pick this date as was customary for Okinawa Sumuchi's. What better date than small new your to plant a new seed to bear new crops, the seed of Isshinryu for the crop of karate-do or "Ti."
As is tradition on the island of Okinawa Small New Year's follows the lunar calendar and is celebrated on the first full moon of the year, January 15th. Although not planting a agricultural seed, he planted a new style with new idea's and named it "Isshin-ryu!" As a sumuchi, who read the ancient classics, he understood that "All things begin with one," and on January 15th in the year 1956 Bushi Tatsuo Sensei planted "one seed."
Bibliography:
Advincula, A. J. The Naming of Isshin-ryu: In the beginning there was the one. Isshnikai:The Official Website of Sensei Arcenio J. Advincula. http://www.isshinkai.net/history03-birthofisshinryu.html. 2009
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