NOTICEJapanese Supreme Court Ruling on Use of "JKA" Name and Trademark After a decade of litigation, the JKA won a complete victory over the Asai group, which illegally changed the official executive register in the late 1980’s and for ten years fought to hold onto the JKA’s legally-recognized status that they had fraudulently seized. On June 10, 1999 the Japanese Supreme Court handed down a verdict declaring that we alone (the Nakahara group, with Master Sugiura Motokuni) are the officially-recognized Japan Karate Association (JKA), with all legal rights and privileges to that name. Specifically the Supreme Court ruled that: 1. We and we alone are to be recognized as the Japan Karate Association, officially sanctioned by the Ministry of Education in Japan. 2. As the officially-sanctioned JKA, we are eligible to use the Nippon Budokan (Martial Arts Stadium) for official events. 3. We are to be recognized as an official member of the Japan Karate Federation. 4. We are to be given the official support of the Committee for Juvenile Education. 5. We hold all legitimate rights for any and all kinds of publicity. With the Court's verdict, the original Nakahara group becomes the "one and only" JKA; the Asai group can no longer participate in any official karate events, nor does it have the right to authorize any organization to use the name of JKA in any country. Accordingly, the Dan grades issued by the Asai group are also not valid as official certificates of JKA. We are proud to declare that we are the world's one and only Japan Karate Association. We hope to bring all our members to awareness of this issue, and we ask for your cooperation in uniting the world of JKA. Sincerely, Ueki Masaaki Executive Director Japan Karate Association