Shigenobu Okumura sensei in 1985 giving advice before promotion examinations
Shigenobu Okumura was one of the senior instructors at the post-war Aikikai Hombu dojo, and one of only a few Aikikai instructors to have started pre-war.
He was born in Otaru, Hokkaido in 1922, began Aikido in 1940 at Kenkoku Daigaku in Japanese occupied Manchuria with Kenji Tomiki, and passed away on August 12th 2008.
After the war he spent three years and eight months as a prisoner of war in Siberia before being repatriated to Japan.
Okumura sensei, perhaps partly because of his longstanding ties to Kenji Tomiki, acted as an intermediary between Tomiki sensei and the Ueshiba family during discussions concerning Tomiki sensei’s introduction of competition to Aikido, and often advised him to change the name of his art.
This is the second part of a two part English translation of an interview with Shigenobu Okumura sensei. You may wish to read part one of the interview before moving on to this section.
This interview was  published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 ("Profiles of the Founder") in 2009. It originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / "Secret Teachings Monthly"), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan.
There was a short introduction to this work in the article "Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder". I previously posted an English translation of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2).

Shigenobu Okumura sensei, from Aikido Tankyu #37"Remembering the Late Okumura Shigenobu Shihan" (亡き奥村繁信師範の思い出)
"Budo is not just moving your body. At the end is whether to live or die, your view of life and death."   -Shigenobu Okumura
Shigenobu Okumura was one of the few pre-war students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba to remain at Aikikai Hombu after the war. Born in Hokkaido in Taisho year 11 (1922), he was a senior instructor at Aikikai Hombu dojo until his passing on August 12th, Heisei year 19 (2008).
He began Aikido in Manchukuo – the Japanese occupied Manchurian state "Manshu-koku" under Kenji Tomiki. While a student at Manshu Kenkoku Daigaku he was drafted into military service, and was later repatriated to Japan after three years as a prisoner of war in Siberia.
I remember watching him through an entire All Japan Aikido Demonstration one year as he sat and took notes on each and every group and individual participating. I’ve often wondered what those notes contained, and what happened to them.
This is the first part of a two part English translation of an interview with Shigenobu Okumura sensei that was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 ("Profiles of the Founder") in 2009. It originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / "Secret Teachings Monthly"), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan.
There was a short introduction to this work in the article "Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder".
I previously posted an English translation of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2).