April 15^th, 2009 
Ikebukuro, Tokyo

On April 15^th, 2009, Koichi Tada an 18 year-old from Miyazaki Prefecture made his first step into Honbu Dojo as the 40th term of 'Uchideshi', i.e. apprentice student. In the solemn atmosphere of So-Honbu Dojo, IKO President Kancho Shokei Matsui gave a speech to Tada. 'Three years of Uchideshi life may seem a very long time but it can be just a short period in term of your life.' Kancho added 'You must pursue a true meaning of strength and wisdom of life in general through the development of Kyokushin Karate skills and physical toughness. Koichi has set his goal to be strong after 1,000 days of Uchideshi training and his dream is to become a Kyokushin World Champion like Shihan Hitoshi Kiyama also a native of Kyushu.