I believe Morihei Uyeshiba (O-Sensei) was against the war, because of his religious beliefs. He actually fled Japan to avoid arrest for being an anti-war activist.

By 1938, Tomiki was an Assistant Professor at the Japanese University there. He taught Aiki Budo as part of the regular curriculum and taught Japanese ceremonial dance. Hideo Ohba Sensei worked there as Tomiki Sensei's assistant.

This photo shows Kenji Tomiki and Morihei Uyeshiba seated. (Tomiki is on the left.) Hideo Ohba is the taller man with a crewcut at the back (standing on the right). Sadly, I do not know the identity of the young man wearing spectacles at the back left.

In 1940, Kenji Tomiki was presented with the world's first Aikido 8th Dan by Morihei Ueshiba. He then began work to modernize Japanese martial arts (Budo).

For the next four years Tomiki taught Judo to senior Dan grades at the Kodokan dojo. He would train them in Judo until they were ready to drop, and then he made them do Aikido afterwards!

In 1945, when Japan was defeated and the Second World War ended, Professor Tomiki was made a prisoner-of-war and locked up in Siberia. Even in captivity, he continued to experiment with his Aikido. It was here during his three years' confinement that Tomiki invented the Unsuku Ondo and Tanduku Ondo (foot movements and hand movement exercises), which are unique to the Tomiki style of Aikido.

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