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Aikido has the greatest number of schools in Japan, France, the United States, England, Germany, and Italy, in that order. Minoru Mochizuki was the first person to teach aikido in France, from 1951 to 1953. Then Tadashi Abe and Nobuyoshi Tamura of Aiki-kai followed. Aiki-kai aikido in France was promoted in affiliation with the French Judo Federation, which allowed aikido instructors to more easily receive government subsidies and to rent fully equipped gymnasiums at minimal cost. Consequently, tuition costs have been reasonable, a fact that has also helped to draw followers. France has approximately fourteen hundred clubs in two large organizations.
In North America Yoshimitsu Yamada and other younger instructors contributed to the rapid popularization of Aiki-kai aikido during the late 1960s. As of 2005 there were six hundred and forty clubs from various schools.The United States Aikido Federation (Aikikai, www.usaikifed.com) has the most with around two hundred and twenty clubs on the mainland.The United Kingdom has around three hundred and thirty clubs under the British Aikido Board (BAB, www.bab.org.uk). Three of the four main schools now have their own international organizations, the International Aikido Federation (Aiki-kai, www.aikido-international.org), the International Yoshinkan Aikido Federation (Yoshinkan, www.yoshinkan-aikido.org) and the Tomiki Aikido Network (JAA).

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