Obituary MR R. SHIMA

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28606, 7 June 1958, Page 15

Obituary MR R. SHIMA

A holder of the coveted Japanese ■Black Dan Belt for ju-jitsu and organiser of the Shima Physical Culture School in Christchurch. Mr Ray Shima died this week. Mr Shima. a Japanese who became a nationalised British subject in 1939. was 72. Visiting New Zealand in 1913, Mr Shima later travelled to Australia. where he set himself up as a ju-jitsu instructor. He was engaged to train the Australian Army in hand-to-hand fighting during the First World War. In 1923 he returned to his home in Tokyo, and for several years was the instructor for ju-jitsu to the Tokyo police. In 1937, the Canterbury Wrestling Association sought the services of Mr Shima for a gymnasium for wrestlers, and he came to New Zealand to settle. As a masseur and instructor in personal defence he gained the highest respect, and was wellknown in the Christchurch business community. The president of the Canterbury Wrestling Association (Mr A. P. Craig) recalled that Mr Shima was never beaten in Australia and New Zealand m ju-jitsu. “In the days of Fuller’s vaudeville, he was featured as a star act, and people were offered £5O to last three minutes againsl him.” Mr Shima has no known- relatives in New Zealand.