'Bangladeshi curry is the best': A world karate champion on Dhaka, discipline and raising a champion daughter

Katsutoshi Shiina Shihan, 8th Dan of the Japan Karate Association and a former World Champion in kata, is in Bangladesh for the fifth time to lead the JKA Annual Camp 2026. Over six days of training in Dhaka and Chittagong, he will work with karateka ranging from young children to senior practitioners. Before the camp began, he spoke about what Bangladesh and Japan have in common, why a difficult dojo can make a stronger person, why children should know how to arrange their shoes—and why, as a father, he was proud that his daughter chose karate for herself.

Inside the convention hall in Dhanmondi, the scale of the gathering is difficult to miss.

Hundreds of karateka sit in orderly rows on a vast red-and-blue mat, most in spotless white gi. Some are children barely old enough to have begun school; others are teenagers and adults. Coloured belts—orange, green, brown and black—punctuate the white rows.

At the far end of the hall, beneath the banner for the JKA Annual Camp 2026, senior instructors sit on a raised stage. Japanese flags and floral arrangements frame what is otherwise a remarkably simple proposition: students, teachers and a large expanse of mat.

The atmosphere is formal, but not cold. Children watch intently as demonstrations take place in the centre of the floor. At one point, a young karateka steps forward to perform a kata—a choreographed pattern of movements, a simulated or "shadow" fight—while dozens of fellow students sit silently around the mat.

For Shiina Shihan, this kind of scene is familiar. His teaching has taken him across the world. Bangladesh, however, has become a place he has returned to—and one he says he has long wanted to visit more often.

He spoke through Sumita Masao, First Secretary of the Embassy of Japan, who is a Karate instructor on his own rights. His answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.

This is your fifth time in Bangladesh. How does it feel to be back, and what are your impressions of the country?

For a long time, I could not come here due to the security situation. I had been waiting for the opportunity. Now things are better, and finally I am here. I think Bangladesh is a good country. I have travelled to many countries and tasted the curry and rice in each one. Bangladeshi curry is the best one.

I also feel that Bangladeshi people and Japanese people are very similar. Our minds are similar.

What do you most want people in Bangladesh to understand about karate?

One of the best things about karate is fairness. Everybody can face everybody—men and women, people of different backgrounds. Everyone stands in the same position.

And there is another important thing: you need an opponent. If your opponent is not there, you cannot do karate. So you should be thankful to your opponent. That kind of mindset, that sense of thankfulness, is also one of the good things about karate.

Dhaka is extremely hot at this time of year, yet you deliberately train in a dojo (karate studio) in Tokyo without air conditioning. Why do you choose to train in such difficult conditions?

In Japan, my dojo does not have air conditioning.

Even in summer, it becomes very hot. In winter, it is extremely cold; sometimes the water freezes. So the conditions are severe in both seasons. It does not affect the training.

Our lives are also like that. Life fluctuates between very difficult times and very happy times. The dojo should be the same.

We have to become accustomed to difficult conditions. If you can get used to those conditions, you can become mentally stronger.

So the heat here does not trouble me.

You will be teaching in both Dhaka and Chittagong. Have you noticed any differences in the students so far?

So far, I do not see any difference.

The students seem very dedicated.

Parents often think of discipline in terms of studying hard and doing well at school. What does discipline mean to you in the dojo?

I understand that in Bangladesh, parents want their children to study very hard.

In Japan, parents also value studying. But they also think children need free time. They take them to playgrounds. They want them to play with other children and build friendships.

That kind of time is also very important.

And in Japan, we really value small things. For example, we cherish children who can arrange their shoes very neatly.

A child may study very hard and be very smart, but if they cannot even tie their shoe laces, that is not good.

We think these small things are very important in raising a child.

One of karate's attractions is that you don't need a gym or expensive equipment to practise it. Does that make it especially accessible to children?

Yes. Karate does not require any gym equipment.

You do not need dumbbells or fancy machines. It is just you and your body.

The important thing is the basic technique—kihon.

Through training the basics and through karate technique, you can develop a good body. You learn how to control your body and manage its movement.

Having very large muscles is not necessarily good for karate. Muscle strength by itself is not what makes a good karate competitor.

The basics, technique and mental condition are much more important.

If Bangladesh wants to produce a JKA World Champion, where should that journey begin?

The basics are very important.

I have seen students achieve good results in other countries. I teach in Vietnam, for example, and one of my students won a gold medal. Vietnam was very happy about that.

So it is possible.

And if the government continues to support the improvement of sport, I think that is a good direction.

Your daughter, Mai, became a World Champion in her own right. You never pushed her towards karate, yet she chose it for herself. What was that like for you as a father?

I never told Mai that she had to do karate. I never told her to follow me or become a karate practitioner.

She decided it herself, from her own will.

When she entered JKA Headquarters as a competitor, I was actually in Vietnam. I did not even know she was going to compete. I had not recommended that she do it.

I believe that if a person can concentrate on and excel at one thing they really like, that is fine.

It can be karate. It can be painting. It can be anything.

In Mai's case, she really focused on karate and she really enjoyed it.

I am very proud of her.

After six days here, what do you hope will stay with the Bangladeshi students long after you fly home?

I have been instructing karate all over the world, and I have learned that the most important thing is not only making good karateka.

It is also making good friends in each country.

That has been my best experience as an instructor.

So for the Bangladeshi students, I want them to become people of the world.

I hope they will go overseas, enjoy the food, meet new friends and share their karate. Through those experiences, they can become better people.

And I want them to be polite. Above all, I want them to be good people.

The JKA Annual Camp 2026 brings together karateka of different ages and levels for intensive training in Dhaka and Chittagong. For the youngest participants, the rows of white gi and coloured belts can seem almost ceremonial; for the instructors, the rituals are part of the training itself—learning to listen, move together, respect the person opposite you and take care of the smallest details.

Shiina Shihan's philosophy is, in the end, remarkably simple. Karate may build strength and technique, but its deeper purpose is to build people: resilient enough to endure difficult conditions, disciplined enough to care about small things, independent enough to choose their own path, and open enough to make friends wherever they go. 

After decades of teaching around the world, that may be the lesson he most wants to leave behind in Bangladesh: become good at karate, certainly—but more importantly, become a good person.

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Namia Akhtar is an anthropologist and has previously worked at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Dhaka, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the European External Action Service (EEAS). She can be reached at namiaakhtar11@gmail.com