 Saturday, January 21, 2012 - In his continued efforts to spread good will between America and Japan, Shin Koyamada spent part of the year’s end holiday season strengthening the ties between the great city of Kyoto and SKF.
Meeting with the Mayor of Kyoto City, the Honorable Daisaku Kadokawa, with heartfelt respect and gratitude Koyamada thanked Mayor Kadokawa and the people of Kyoto for their undying support of last year’s SKF event, USMAF 2011 (United States Martial Arts Festival 2011).
Mayor Kadokawa graciously accepted Koyamada’s recognition and took the opportunity to share with him, “Even though everyone in the world knows about Kyoto, it is important to keep promoting Kyoto's tourist attractions and traditional arts internationally, especially in the United States.
“Over the past few years, of the foreign tourists from around the world that come to visit and sightsee around our beautiful and friendly city, most are from the United States.”
Koyamada reciprocated, “We at the SKF look forward to continuously help promote Kyoto internationally and bridge the people between Kyoto, the United States and the rest of the world for many more years to come.”
Kyoto City is an international city where people from around the world gather to learn about Japanese culture and the arts.
 Koyamada reflects, “I’ve visited there a few times since my childhood. Because there’s so much to see and learn, I thought it would be fantastic for foreign tourists to not only come to Kyoto and explore the city, but through SKF we can at least provide the opportunity for those who haven't had the chance to go there to at least get a taste for learning the culture and the arts in their own countries through our events.”
The United States Martial Arts Festival® (USMAF) is one of SKF’s annual events to promote the arts and celebrate the international cultural community. The proceeds benefit the martial arts scholarship program (MASP) of the SKF, which is designed to provide underprivileged youth with funds so they can start training in martial arts in their neighborhood martial arts schools. MASP’s mission is to help young people discover martial arts as a means to learn self-discipline and enhance one’s potential in life and their communities.
USMAF 2012 is already in the works.
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