藤 家 教 平 様

Kyohei Fujiie  

1953 – 2021

It is with great sadness that the VKR advise its members of the passing of Mr Kyohei Fujiie, husband of Tomoko Fujiie, father of Rodan Fujiie and founder of Benalla Renshinkan Dojo. He died on 30 December in Shepparton Hospital from complications arising from COVID.

The below article has been prepared by Ben Sheppard Sensei:

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Kyohei practised Kendo intensively in junior high school and later studied karate as well.

Kyohei came to Australia in 1985 originally settling in Brisbane. Prior to this he lived in the US where he studied counselling. His first marriage produced a son, Rodan, who now lives in Melbourne. Later Kyohei moved to the Benalla area in north-east Victoria. He worked as a teacher and a counsellor for young people, including at Odyssey House, and in local schools. Before he established Benalla Renshinkan in 2008 he was teaching martial arts and Japanese culture to students with special needs.

In 2009 Kyohei married Tomoko who moved from Japan to live here and the two of them embarked on a new life together. Tomoko applied herself to studying Kendo, and Kyohei to taking part in guitar ensemble performances, which is Tomoko’s passion. 

The two of them were regular attendees at Nanseikan, leaving at five in the morning to drive the more than three hours to Melbourne in time for training. In the last few years, prior to travel restrictions, they would go from Nanseikan in the morning to training in Tatsumi Ryu Hyoho with Liam Keeley sensei in the afternoon. Rodan also joined them in this study.

Kyohei finally reached his long-sought retirement just before COVID. In place of coming to Melbourne he and Tomoko spent time travelling around Victoria.

Kyohei was a warm, thoughtful, compassionate, and eternally inquisitive man. He took the meaning of his given name “to teach peace” seriously. He was a man of the world, balancing his deep love of Japanese culture with a broader, global outlook and training in Western modes of thinking. His commitment to improving his Kendo and always doing his best, in spite of age and other setbacks, is something to aspire to. For this and many other reasons I will remember him.

Ben Sheppard