In 1959, the original Japan Karate Federation, formally known as the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organizations, was formed to be an unifying organization to bring karate schools together by the Karate world leaders, who were its chairman Choko Sai, a head the Shudokan of Kanken Tōyama and vice chairmen Konishi from Shindō Jinen-ryū, Hiroshi Kinjo from Kanbukan, Otsuka Hinorori from Wado-Ryu, Tatsuo Yamada from Japan Kenpo Karate and Shinkin Gima from Shotokan.
New Formation
On October 1, 1964, the original Japan Karate Federation, which changed its own name to Japan Karate Renbukai, handed over its organization name to the new united league, such as Gōgen Yamaguchi of Goju-ryu, Ōtsuka Hironori of Wadō-ryū, Nakayama Masatoshi of Shotokan, Mabuni Kenei and Iwata Manzao of Shitō-ryū, in addition to the Japan Karate Rengokai, which was founded by Ryōichi Sasakawa. ThIs unified all the Karate organizations in Japan. Japan Karate Renbukai later changed its name to the JKF Renbukai, and then became an official member of the new JKF as a group, encompassing Bōgu uniformed Karate. Japan instilled "a uniform order in Karate", recognizing the four major schools, Goju-kai, Wado-Kai, Shotokan and Shito-kai. In 1967, Ryoichi Sasakawa became the chairman. On January 13, 1969, the JKF was officially incorporated as a central umbrella body for the four partner organizations and recognized under the Cabinet of Japan. In December in the same year, the All Japan Karate Championships were held at the Nippon Budōkan in Tokyo. The JKF also works with organizations using the :ja:伝統派空手|traditional styles of karate. In October 1970, the JKF became a member of the World Karate Federation. On March 29, 1972, JKF became a member of the :jp: 日本体育協会|Japan Sports Association. In 1978, the JKF first participated in the National Sports Festival in Matsumoto, Nagano. In 1981, Karate became an official game event of the NationalSports Festival. Traditionally, karate organizations followed disparate competition rules. Japan Karate Association attempted to standardize such rules. They addressed conflicts between the organizations that teach Kyokushin, a full-contact karate style, and other non-member organizations such as Seidokaikan. On December 11, 2009, the JKF started building a new headquarters named the Japan Karate Kaikan in Koto-ku, Tokyo. The JKF became a member of the Nippon Budokan. The JKF has been officially participating at the Asian Games, East Asian Games and the IOC-sponsored World Games as an official competition. The construction of the new Japan Karate Kaikan was completed and opened in November 2011. As a member of the Japan Olympic Association, the JKF has been putting efforts to include Karate into the Olympics as an official game along with other affiliated Karate organizations. In May 2016, it was announced that The Emperor’s Cup and The Empress’s Cup will be given to the champions of Japan Cup Karatedo. The ceremony of notification was held at the Imperial Household Agency and the Emperor’s Cup and the Empress’s Cup were commissioned in the presence of Mr. Michiyasu Takahashi, Deputy Commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency on May 17, 2016. On August 3, 2016, the IOC approves Karate as one of the five new sports for Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
Ranking system
The JKF officially recognizes the Dan, a Black Belt degree ranking system, from 1st Dan to 10th Dan and requires students to take a physical test up to 8th Dan. Since 2014, the JKF has also installed the additional basic ranking system called Kyū from 5th Kyū to 1st Kyū, and it requires a student to earn 1st Kyū first in order to earn 1st Dan.
Dan grades
;From 1st Dan to 3rd Dan ;From 4th Dan to 5th Dan ;From 6th Dan to 7th Dan ;For 8th Dan
Dan examination
Dan examination consists of Kata and Kumite. ;From 1st Dan to 5th Dan ;For 6th Dan ;For 7th Dan ;For 8th Dan
Shitei Kata
Besides rank exams, many JKF tournaments also require the performance of 'Shitei Kata' in the first and second rounds, selected from a defined list that all examiners and judges should be familiar with. For each of the main four styles there are two kata to choose from in the first round and second round of any compliant tournament.
For Shitō-ryū, the kata are Seienchin, Bassai Dai, Matsumura no Rohai, and Nipaipo.
International Karate Organization Kyokushin-kaikan
Ambassadors
On April 2, 2016, the JKF officially appointed Shin Koyamada, a Hollywood actor, producer and martial artist as the Karate Ambassador at the headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.
