SKIF was established in 1978 by Late Soke Hirokazu Kanazawa who had studied directly under Grand Master Gichin Funakoshi, and was the Director and General Manager for Forign Affair Division of JAPAN KARATE ASSOCIATION before he founded SKIF. SKIF, a Specified Nonprofit Organization in Japan has been expanding its activities since its founding and now has affiliated groups in over 130 countries worldwide.