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About this data
What is here, how it was gathered, how confident we are, and how it stays current.
Read this first. This is a best-effort directory, not an official register. 309 of 453 places come from a 2019 prefectural roster and have not been re-checked; 70 were checked against a current official page in October 2026. Always confirm by phone or message before travelling.
How we rate every listing
| Label | Meaning | Places now |
|---|---|---|
| Checked Oct 2026 | Details confirmed against the operator's or federation's own current page. | 70 |
| Listed — not independently confirmed | Found on a third-party listing or an older page; not yet confirmed with the operator. | 65 |
| 2019 roster — not re-verified | Appears in the 2019 prefectural dojo roster. Address and instructor have not been re-checked since. | 309 |
| Lead — location unconfirmed | A group we know exists, but we could not confirm where or whether it is operating. | 9 |
What we do
- Collect. Start from official rosters and federation lists, then add gyms and clubs found through operators' own websites, directories (as leads only) and community reports.
- Verify. Compare each listing with the operator's or federation's own current page. Where possible, confirm with a call or message. Record the date.
- Label. Every listing shows its verification level and last-checked date. Unconfirmed items are labelled, never silently promoted.
- Re-check on a schedule. A monthly automated report lists entries older than their re-check window (checked: 6 months; others: 12 months; leads: 3 months) and dead website links.
- Fix quickly. Reports from visitors and owners go into a public queue. Closed places are marked closed and kept for a year so people searching old names find the answer.
Counts and what they mean
The counts on the home, art and area pages are numbers of listed places, not a census. An art or area with few listings may simply be under-researched. “Places” excludes governing bodies; a place that teaches several arts is counted under each, so art totals add up to more than the number of places.
Names, translations, addresses and map positions
- Japanese is shown as published. English names for karate dojo from the roster are descriptive (instructor surname + style); we do not guess at readings of dojo names.
- Instructor names are romanised from the roster's furigana (kana readings); treat spellings as approximate.
- Addresses for private dojo from the roster are shown at block level; apartment names and room numbers are removed.
- Map positions (0 places so far) come from the Japanese government's public address-search service (GSI); roster-only dojo are rounded to about 100 m. We link out to Google Maps rather than embedding it.
Known gaps
- Aikido and Shorinji Kempo come from federation directories, not individually re-checked; most traditional karate dojo have no published phone, hours or website.
- Class times on several official pages are images and could not be read automatically.
- Some gym websites forbid automated access; those gyms are listed from other sources and labelled accordingly.
Data you can reuse
The full list is in locations.csv (CC BY 4.0 (our compilation of facts; underlying facts belong to no one — see Sources)). Please credit this site and keep the “last verified” column.
Who maintains this
This is a volunteer project. See Suggest an edit or For dojo owners. Status of all rows: Unverified 309, Active 127, Needs check 27.