The Reverend Takemi Sasamori (1933-2017) practiced the martial arts for over 70 years and was an ordained Methodist minister for over 55.  

Born in Hirosaki City, Japan, as the third son of martial arts legend Sasamori Junzo, the Rev. Sasamori grew up in a household where the ethics of the samurai were alive and well and where Christianity and the martial arts were part of daily life. Living through the violence of World War II and the turbulent period of Japan’s post-war recovery, he experienced daily harassment for being a Christian, the religion of the “enemy country.” Drawing upon both the physical and spiritual strength of his two passions of Christianity and kenjutsu, he persevered, eventually finding his calling in life as a minister. 

After graduating from Waseda and Aoyama Gakuin Universities with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Sociology and Theology respectively, he traveled to the United States to continue his studies, where he attended the Duke University School of Divinity and the Hartford Seminary Foundation, earning Masters of Arts Degrees in Christian and Religious Education. While in the United States, he served in positions as both Assistant and Associate Minister at the United Church of Christ in New York City for nine years. 

Upon returning to Japan in 1969, the Rev. Sasamori became the founding minister of the Komaba Eden Church, Meguro Ward, Tokyo, where, assisted by his wife Ariko, he ministered to over 150 parishioners. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from the California Graduate School of Theology in 1989. 

Throughout his life, the Rev. Sasamori continued to practice the martial arts as taught to him by his father and, in 1975, was officially recognized as the 17th Soke of Ono-ha Itto-ryu, as well as the Soke of the Shin Muso Hayashizaki-ryu  school of iaido and the Chokugen-ryu school of naginata. In his capacity as an officially-recognized martial arts master in Japan, he had over five hundred students world-wide and lectured and instructed annually in Japan, Asia, Europe and the United States. He was regularly featured in martial arts publications in Japan such as, Gekken Hiden, Budo, Kendo Jidai magazines, and others.

He published or had been featured in nine publications and three videos on both Christianity and the martial arts and served on the Board of Trustees of the Japan Traditional Martial Arts Association for over 35 years. 

He considered it his life's mission to to pass on to future generations the lessons of both bushido and Christianity.