Do you really believe in the Tooth Fairy?

For whatever reason, many self-styled martial arts “grandmasters” create fictional styles and often even imaginary instructors to offer the illusion of a traditional Japanese heritage. It certainly seems simple. Just use an English-to-Japanese dictionary, available in most any library, select a suitable sounding name, and make extremely vague references to past training experiences and dubious origins.

During the early years, it was unlikely that even the most whimsical accounts could ever be successfully challenged. With the dawn of the “Information Age,” computer databases, and high-speed international access via the Internet, though, it’s not so easy to defend fake legends.

The reasons for creating bogus martial arts backgrounds are many and varied. Men have been telling stories about “the fish that got away” for ages. What is really surprising, though, is how many of their duped supporters continue believing in these myths even when faced with evidence to the contrary.

A few years ago, one infamous American instructor claimed to the third soke, or hereditary headmaster, of a classical school of Japanese swordsmanship developed in the late Edo period by Kurosawa Sasaki. According to the legend, the school totally died out in Japan, leaving him as the only remaining person to teach this kenjutsu style. The system’s name implied a relationship to two famous traditional ryuha (schools) in Japan, namely Itto-ryu and Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, both legitimate classical schools of Japanese swordsmanship.

When it was pointed out that the so-called founder’s name consisted of two Japanese surnames and no given name, the American soke explained that the founder's name was actually Kurasawa Sasaki Kojiro. This is strikingly similar to both Kurosawa Akira, a Japanese director best known for his dramatic samurai films, and Sasaki Kojiro, a character in Musashi, a samurai novel by Yoshikawa Eiji.

Though no record of this martial arts style or the founder’s existence can be ascertained, the hardcore supporters explained this fact away by inventing vague allusions about associations with the yakuza, Japan’s criminal underworld, and secret oaths.

Another so-called “Supreme Grandmaster” claimed to be the successor of Dai Yoshin Ryu after his "extensive training" with members of the Yokata family, Chijiro Yokota and Chijiro Koei Yokota, in Japan during the ‘60s. According to his initial story, he earned a “Senior license” directly from the Japan hombu or headquarters.

Shortly before the death of Chijiro Koei Yokota, this American martial arts master stated that he was presented with a scroll designating him as the hereditary leader of these “outstanding family [kobudo martial] arts which were only taught to the first born male of each generation for several hundred years.” Furthermore, a letter of appointment/verification was supposedly "registered in Japan," according to his version.

Many questions about the original story were raised, however, when he submitted an unsigned and undated English-language document into court records that was purportedly written by Chijiro Koei Yokoto to support his soke status and appointment as successor for Dai Yoshin Ryu. The story was changed, this time suggesting Mr. Yokoto was unable to formally proclaim any successor due to his untimely death, thus the American martial arts grandmaster simply named his own self-created martial arts style Dai Yoshin Ryu "to honor" the Yokoto family.

Despite the fact that neither any Yokoto or Yokata family record with any member named Chijiro nor a death certificate for Chijiro Koei Yokoto can be located in Japan, many supporters continue to believe in such myths. Even the American soke's own public statement revising the history is overlooked. A Google search for “Dai Yoshin Ryu” still results in many web sites with martial arts practitioners proclaiming they have been trained in various branches of the authentic and traditional Japanese martial arts of Dai Yoshin Ryu.

The death of the person in question and the subsequent collapse of the original organization in Japan is another common tactic used when confronted with difficult questions. For example, a letter of “Validation of Judo Grade,” complete with a 9th dan ranking, from Kitahara Suzuki of the Seibukan World Hombu was also offered for review. When no documentation of any Kitahara Suzuki or even a Seibukan World Hombu was found in Japan, the response was of course that the organization in question was disbanded after the death of Mr. Suzuki.

As this page from a brochure issued by Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department illustrates, police officers routinely keep in close touch with local residents and businesses. Click on the picture for a full-size image. For translation of the text, click here.

When allegations are made, another often-used tactic employed by hardcore followers is to demand “hard evidence” that such accounts are not true. However, this is often as difficult as proving that the Tooth Fairy does not exist.

What many Westerners don’t seem to understand is that Japan’s officialdom is meticulous about keeping records. They have many local government offices filled to overflowing with bureaucrats, each seemingly obsessed with maintaining detailed official records on both persons and property.

It is not that difficult to check these records, either. Although it is supposedly illegal to discriminate, most Japanese families still routinely check the family backgrounds of any prospective bride or groom to ensure there is no burakumin, members of Japan’s traditional lowest social caste, hidden in their respective family trees. Doing such deep background checks of official family records is the bread-and-butter for literally thousands of private detective agencies in Tokyo alone.

Of course, some do slip under the radar of Japan’s massive administrative systems. However, those who do manage to escape notice-typically illegal aliens, runaway spouses, wanted criminals, etc.- may only work at unregistered jobs and most generally reside in some form of transient housing. A person’s death is certainly recorded and death certificates routinely filed.

For any long-term resident, property ownership, or local business to not be fully documented, though, is practically impossible.

Local police boxes are called koban in urban areas and chuzaisho in rural areas. There are more than 1,200 kobans just within the city limits of Tokyo. Police officers assigned to these kobans are required to make two annual visits to each residence and business in their district. Due to the rapport established with local residents, it is extremely unlikely that any individual, much less an entire family could go unnoticed for long.

All citizens are required to maintain family records and other documentation. All births and deaths are duly noted and recorded at the local prefecture office. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that a family record, birth certificate, or at least a death certificate could not be located for any living or deceased citizen of Japan. The lack of any such records certainly makes their very existence rather questionable.

Yet for many, this is apparently not “hard evidence” that their martial arts teacher’s stories regarding a traditional Japanese lineage may be questionable. For those of you who insist on believing in fairy tales, however, I make the following offer.

For the low price of only $25, I will provide a certificate proclaiming your official appointment as “Deputy Tooth Fairy” and signed by the Head Tooth Fairy herself. Furthermore, I fully guarantee this certificate is suitable for framing. A full refund will be given to anyone providing "hard evidence" that the Tooth Fairy does not exist. 

Note: This article is an expansion of a friendly discussion with John Minton, a former believer who eventually recognized the truth. The title of the article and much of the content are based on his suggestions.