Brazil
Following completion of his tertiary studies, Harada took a position with the Bank of South America in São Paulo, Brazil. His manager there, on learning of his new employee's martial art training, asked him to conduct a demonstration; following this, fellow employees and other associates began training under his direction. Initially, the karate training took place in a judo dojo. Harada wrote to Funakoshi to request affiliation with the JKA, but the latter apparently wrote back advising him to start his own karate organisation. This marked the birth of Karate-do Shotokan Brazileo.
In 1956, Funakoshi awarded Harada the rank of 5th dan, which was then the highest rank in Shotokan karate. He has kept the same rank to this day, and 5th dan is still the highest rank attainable in his organisation (the KDS). In April 1957, Egami sent Harada a telegram to inform him that Funakoshi had died. In the period that followed, political troubles saw many of Funakoshi's senior students (including Harada) form the Shōtōkai group separate from the JKA.
Read more about this topic: Mitsusuke Harada