Grading Admin: Overview
Our affiliation with Aikikai Headquarters is via Yokohama International Aikido Club. Membership of both is due for any one who is grading for the first time with us. These are one-off payments for lifetime membership.
Yokohama membership is also required for members who have been graded by other Hombu organisations. Hombu membership is not required till the applicant grades further.
Members who already hold a Hombu grade, and are therefore already a Hombu member, should give a copy of their membership card / grading certificate for the Lancashire Aikikai records held by our Hombu Representative. Only Yokohama membership will be required in these circumstances.
Grading Admin: Information required
Our Hombu Grading Representative, no longer require forms of any kind to register grading details.
A brief email is all that is needed with the following candidate information :
- - Name/DOB/address
- - Gender.
- - Nationality
- - Occupation (if applicable).
- - Contact details (phone, email).
- - Current rank/rank applied for.
The Hombu Grading Rep - contact details - go to our page listing Task Holders and select Item 7 for the Reps name and Aikikai's email address
Hombu Cards and Yudansha Book
To register for a Yudansha Book on reaching Dan Grade a passport style photo is required. Actually smaller than a passport size at 4cm by 3cm so the applicant's head needs to be slightly smaller than this.
- Hombu Cards, kyu gradings, no longer need to be collected in to be sent back with every grade application.
- Yudansha Book, dan gradings, should however be submitted with every Dan grade application.
Hombu Grades
The twice-yearly grading submission process to Hombu will take place at the established times (mid-April and mid-October before the end of these months). Our Hombu Grading Rep will send out reminders to club leaders in advance of these dates.
Costs vary according to currency exchange rates. The Aikikai fixes the fees for a Kyu grade twice a year in May & November based on exchange rates to cover the next subsequent six month period.
Fees for Dan grades, due to them being substantially higher, will be calculated at the time of submission. This will allow for a more recent yen-pound conversion and ensure that all costing is as accurate as possible. (The first instance of this in practice is likely be in the lead up to the mid-October 2024 grading submission.)
The ¥ fees are:
- Hombu and Yokohama Life time membership fees (one off payment needed for the first Hombu grade) ¥10000¥
- Kyu grade fee ¥3000
- 1st Dan ¥15000
- 2nd Dan ¥22400
- 3rd Dan ¥35000
- 4th Dan ¥46000
- for 5th to 7th Dan fees we will enquire when a recommendation is made
For the first Hombu grade both the Hombu and Yokohama membership are subsidised by the Lancashire Aikikai paying half.
1st November 2025 until 30th April 2026 (¥191.37 to the £) Clubs need to pay for 5th Kyu's £41.79 (inc membership subsidy) ; other Kyu Grades £15.67,
Dan grades 1st Dan £78.37, 2nd Dan £125.40, 3rd Dan £182.87, 4th Dan £240.35 are a guide only and will be dependent on currency rate at the time of their grading.
For a detailed break down click here
After the Hombu Grading Representative has submitted the batch of forms (May & Nov) to Japan. He will arrange the issue invoices to each Club for payment to the Treasurer.
The invoice should be paid by BACS to Lancashire Aikikai and inform the Treasurer the payment has been made. It is recommended Clubs should think about running gradings before April and October to coincide with the submission cycle to Japan.
It is recommended Clubs should think about running gradings in the weeks immediately prior to the submission and no later than the middle of April and October . The Admin is then sorted prior to the end of those months as submission to Yokohama Int. Aikido Club is at the end of these months.
There is no restriction on when gradings may take place it is just that the submisson date occurs twice in the year. So the grading if held just after the closing date for every 6 months it could be 8 months before the certificate from Japan arrives.
