Rod Omoto, with Charlotte Omoto

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My Life in Kendo

Surrounded by the total devastation in Hiroshima in August 1945, Lieutenant Nobuto Omoto asked his ragtag group of recruits—young boys and infirm old men—if they had a home. “Hai! Hai! Hai!” they all replied, so he told them to go home. Then he was alone. How did a happy-go-lucky kid born in Wahiawa in the Territory of Hawaii in 1918 land in this predicament? My Life in Kendo is the story of that kid. After graduating from high school in Hawaii, Roderick Nobuto Omoto traveled to Kyoto in 1938 to attend the premier martial arts school, commonly known as Busen. While in Japan, he studied Japanese language and calligraphy and practiced tirelessly to improve his kendo. What he learned at Busen served him well when he was drafted into the Japanese Army in 1942. After the War, he worked for the Occupation Forces, married, and had two daughters. In 1960, the family emigrated to the Pacific Northwest and eventually settled in Tacoma, Washington, where he was active in promoting and practicing kendo. In his teaching and practice of this martial art, he was guided by the concept of Katsu Jin Ken (the Sword that Gives Life), the belief that the sole purpose for studying kendo is to become a better human being.

About the Author

Rod Nobuto Omoto received his bachelor's degree in engineering at Oregon State University in 1966. He was the founding Charter President of the Washington State Kendo Federation, now known as the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation, and a founding member of the University of Washington Kendo Club. He achieved the rank of Seventh Dan. He died in 2013 at the age of ninety-four.

About the Editor

Charlotte  Kazumi Omoto PhD, Rod’s daughter, is Professor Emerita of Biology at Washington State University. Charlotte Kazumi Omoto

 She was born Kazumi Omoto in 1951 in Matsue, Shimane-ken, Japan, and immigrated to the US with her parents and sister when she was ten. She received her BS in biology from the University of Washington in Seattle and her PhD in molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She did post-doctoral work at Princeton, Caltech, and Penn State University, accepting a position in the biology department at Washington State in 1984. She has written professional papers in her field of cell biology and genetics and is the co-author of Genes and DNA: A Beginner’s Guide to Genetics and Its Applications, a text for non-biology majors. An updated version of this book was published in 2015 under the title Genetics and Society. In retirement, she enjoys birding and studying native plants.

Publication: Winter 2026