Hanshi Hiroyasu Fujishima, 8th Dan (8th Degree Black Belt), is one of the highest classified black belts in the continental USA within the Shotokan Karate International Federation. Born in 1941 in Japan, Hanshi began his karate training and career in junior high school and continued throughout his university years at Takushoku University. Hanshi trained with the leading students of Master Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan, and excelled in all aspects of the art. In addition, he also studied Judo and Aikido, earning black belts in both.

In 1967, Hanshi moved from Japan to California, attending USC to study international trade. Continuing his practice of Shotokan, he joined the faculty of California State University, Northridge, where he became Professor in the Department of Kinesiology. At CSUN, he taught karate, taekwondo, and self-defense for over 50 years.

In 1969, Hanshi founded the CSUN Karate Club on campus as well as his own private karate school, California Karate Association. In total, he has had over 61 years of continuous personal training in the art of Shotokan Karate-Do and has been teaching this art for over fifty years.

In 2002, Hanshi Fujishima was awarded the title, Hanshi, by our international organization’s founder, Soke Hirokazu Kanazawa. This honorific is often translated as senior expert or “teacher of teachers.” In fact, it is a recognition of the esteem in which masters of the highest rank are held.