Shoryuhai
The Harvard Invitational Shoryuhai Intercollegiate Kendo Tournament, or for short, is the oldest intercollegiate kendo tournament in North America. Now in its 28th year, the Shoryuhai is hosted annually by the Harvard Radcliffe Kendo Club each spring. The 2026 tournament held March 21 and 22, 2026. Teams come from all over North America and Europe, including teams from Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The tournament is held in the Harvard University Malkin Athletic Center basketball court. The fundamental purpose of the Shoryuhai is to promote kendo at the collegiate level.
History
Origins
In April 1997, several Northeast-region college students came together at Harvard for an informal good-will kendo tournament. The tournament was sparsely attended - totaling not more than 15 competitors. The following year, attendance increased three-fold, and included teams from Harvard, Yale, Cornell, McGill University, the University of Connecticut and the University of Waterloo in Canada. In 2009, a team from the University of Münster in Germany joined the competition for the first time, making it the first European team to participate.
The Trophies
In 1998, the two tournament trophies were donated by the former Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, as tokens of his encouragement. At the time, Hashimoto-sensei saw this tournament and all of North American collegiate kendo as a "rising dragon", or 昇龍 (shōryu), hence the name shoryuhai. The first of the trophies - permanently held at Harvard - bears the engraved names of each year's victorious team. The second, traveling trophy is loaned to each year's winning team to be displayed at their respective university or college until the following year's tournament.
Fighting Spirit Awards
In 2024, Shoryuhai began presenting Fighting Spirit Awards in honor of Masaru Mori (5 dan) and Hironori Tahara (hanshi 8 dan). In the early days of Shoryuhai, Mr. Mori was a pivotal character who forged connections and brought figures such as Tahara-sensei to Shoryuhai. Tahara-sensei served as the shinpancho of Shoryuhai for the majority of years since 2006. Sadly, Mr. Mori passed in July 2020 and Tahara-sensei passed in Oct 2023. In their honor, the 4th place winner who lost to the 1st place winner is presented the Masaru Mori Fighting Spirit Award in Individuals, and the Hironori Tahara Fighting Spirit Award in Teams.
Format
The tournament is divided into team and individual rounds on Saturday and Sunday. Individuals are single elimination, unlimited encho, no hantei. Teams are round robin.
Results
Team Tournament
Year |
Final |
Third Place |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Winner |
Runner-up |
||
2025 |
University of Pennsylvania |
University of California, Los Angeles |
Harvard University A Team |
2024 |
University of California, Berkeley |
New York University A Team |
Boston University A Team |
2023 |
University of Washington A Team |
Boston University A Team |
New York University D Team |
2022 |
POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19; Hosted Ryuko Taikai in lieu of Shoryuhai |
||
2021 |
POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 |
||
2020 |
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 |
||
2019 |
University of Washington |
University of California San Diego |
Stony Brook University A Team |
2018 |
Stony Brook University |
New York University A Team |
Boston University A Team |
2017 |
Stony Brook University |
New York University A Team |
Boston University A Team |
2016 |
New York University A Team |
University of California, Los Angeles A Team |
University of California, San Diego A Team |
2015 |
New York University A Team |
University of California, Los Angeles A Team |
|
2014 |
New York University A Team |
University of California, San Diego A Team |
Boston University A Team |
2013 |
University of California, San Diego A Team |
University of California, Riverside A Team |
Boston University A Team |
2012 |
University of Washington |
University of California, San Diego A Team |
New York University A Team |
2011 |
University of California, San Diego A Team |
Boston University A Team |
Boston University B Team |
2010 |
University of California, Los Angeles A Team |
University of Washington |
State University of New York at Stony Brook |
2009 |
University of California, Los Angeles A Team |
State University of New York at Stony Brook A Team |
University of California, Davis |
2008 |
University of California, Davis |
University of California, San Diego |
Cornell University A Team |
2007 |
University of California, Los Angeles A Team |
University of California, San Diego A Team |
Harvard University A Team |
2006 |
University of California, Los Angeles A Team |
University of California, San Diego A Team |
University of California, San Diego B Team |
2005 |
University of California, San Diego |
Salem State College |
State University of New York at Stony Brook |
2004 |
University of California, Los Angeles |
University of California, San Diego |
State University of New York at Stony Brook A Team |
2003 |
University of Waterloo |
State University of New York at Stony Brook A Team |
Cornell University |
2002 |
Harvard University A Team |
George Washington University |
Cornell University |
2001 |
Cornell University A Team |
University of Washington |
Harvard University A Team |
2000 |
University of Connecticut |
Harvard University A Team |
Cornell University A Team |
1999 |
McGill University |
Cornell University A Team |
Cornell University B Team |
1998 |
University of Waterloo |
Harvard University A Team |
Cornell University A Team |
1997 |
Harvard University A Team |
Not Recorded |
Not Recorded |
Individuals Tournament
Year |
Final |
Third Place |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner |
Runner-up |
|||
2025 |
Jacob Huh, University of Pennsylvania |
Shaun Chung, United States Coast Guard Academy |
Taisho Shiono, Stanford University |
Yujiro Nakano, University of California, Los Angeles |
2024 |
Keita Tanabe, University of California, Berkeley |
Tetsuro Takao, University of California, Berkeley |
Atsushi Saito, Soka University of America |
Yeongjae Shin, Yale University |
2023 |
Kyle Fukuda, University of Washington |
Andy Yuen, University of Washington |
Manu Shivakumar, University of Pennsylvania |
Joshua Yang, Drexel University |
2022 |
POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19; Hosted Ryuko Taikai in lieu of Shoryuhai |
|||
2021 |
POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 |
|||
2020 |
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 |
|||
2019 |
Akira Fujii, University of Washington |
Sungha Park, Columbia University |
Victor Peng, New York University |
Gen Takahashi, University of California, Los Angeles |
2018 |
Masayuki Katsumi, Stony Brook University |
Sungha Park, Columbia University |
Alissa Mori, Columbia University |
Yumeto Shigihara, Boston University |
2017 |
Masayuki Katsumi, Stony Brook University |
Sung Hun Choi, New York University |
Chihiro Shiromoto, Tufts University |
Colin Smith, New York University |
2016 |
Sung Hun Choi, New York University |
Hwoyoung Choi, University of California, Los Angeles |
Keishi Okazaki, Brown University |
Mashiro Yamazaki, Bergen Community College |
2015 |
Naonori Suto, San Diego State University |
Damian Williams, University of California, Santa Barbara |
Viet Nguyen, University of California, San Diego |
Philip Kwon, San Diego State University |
2014 |
Shintaro Takahashi, University of California, San Diego |
Sung Hun Choi, New York University |
David Moon, University of California, Riverside |
Colin Smith, New York University |
2013 |
Fumiaki Ayabe, University of California, San Diego |
Terima Nagatani, University of California, Merced |
Isabel Lorimer, University of California, Riverside |
Matthew Yang, Rutgers University |
2012 |
Yannis Hachouf, University of California, San Diego |
Mevlana Gemici, Cornell University |
Matthew Yang, Rutgers University |
Tomoyuki Fujiyama, Columbia University |
2011 |
Matthew Yang, Rutgers University |
Hojin Park, University of California, San Diego |
Takashi Ohashi, Cornell University |
Mevlana Gemici, Cornell University |
2010 |
Hideto Kinjo, University of California, Riverside |
Julian Amano, University of California, Los Angeles |
Tenji Takino, Soka University of America |
Alex Eitoku, Boston University |
2009 |
Takeshi Yokoyama, University of California, Los Angeles |
Aki Goya, University of California, Los Angeles |
Keisuke Shimoyamada, University of California, Los Angeles |
Teppei Shima, University of California, San Diego |
2008 |
Mizuo Kudo, University of California, Los Angeles |
Matthew Yang, Rutgers University |
Eugenia Yang, Boston University |
Antoine Fortier, McGill University |
2007 |
Tenji Takino, Soka University of America |
Aki Goya, University of California, Los Angeles |
Antoine Fortier, McGill University |
Hojin Park, University of California, San Diego |
2006 |
Tenji Takino, Soka University of America |
Ann Tamura, University of California, San Diego |
Katsushi Chinen, Mt. San Antonio College |
Hirotsuga Takahashi, University of Massachusetts Amherst |
2005 |
Sadanobu Inoue, Salem State College |
Nathan Makino, University of California, Los Angeles |
Eugenia Yang, Boston University |
Yoshihiro Homma, University of California, Los Angeles |
2004 |
Daniel Han, Cornell University |
Randall Iwashita, University of California, San Diego |
Nathan Makino, University of California, Los Angeles |
Young Shik Cho, University of California, San Diego |
2003 |
Shinya Deguchi, George Washington University |
Hyungjin Lim, State University of New York at Stony Brook |
Arthur Nam, Thomas Jefferson University |
Daniel Han, Cornell University |
2002 |
Takashi Kido, University of Bridgeport |
Tomohiko Hayashi, Boston University |
Shinya Deguchi, George Washington University |
Kentaro Fujita, New York University |
2001 |
Miyuki Koga, Wesleyan University |
Tomohiko Hayashi, Boston University |
Shinya Deguchi, George Washington University |
Oliver Nguyen, McGill University |
2000 |
Shinya Deguchi, George Washington University |
Manabu Ito, McGill University |
Hyunsik Jeong, University of Connecticut |
Tomohiko Hayashi, Boston University |
1999 |
Mitsuhiro Sudo, Yale University |
Jon Shishido, Harvard University |
Manabu Ito, McGill University |
Tomohiko Hayashi, Boston University |
1998 |
Robin Tanaka, University of Waterloo |
Hyun June Choi, University of Waterloo |
Not Recorded |
Not Recorded |
1997 |
Not Recorded |
Not Recorded |
Not Recorded |
Not Recorded |