was a Japanese

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

who won a silver medal in the open weight category at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

.Akio Kaminaga
sports-reference.com

Biography

Kaminaga was born in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

, and began learning judo during high school; a considerably late start for a top competitor. Kaminaga improved his techniques at a quick pace, and took a

dan rank The ranking system is used by many Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, and other martial art organizations to indicate the level of a person's ability within a given system. Used as a ranking system to quantify skill level in a specific domain, it was ...

exam at the Kodokan Institute at the suggestion of his colleagues during his senior year in high school. Kaminaga defeated 19 straight opponents in the exam, and was awarded a third dan ranking on the spot. However, Kaminaga was completely outclassed when he participated in the

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

judo team's sparring sessions. This convinced him to enter Meiji University, and he continued to practice judo at the Kodokan Institute. Kaminaga had several career choices after graduating, but became an employee of Fuji Steel (currently

Nippon Steel was formed in 2012 by the merger of the old Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal. was established in 1970 by the merger of Fuji Iron & Steel and Yawata Iron & Steel. Nippon Steel is the world's third largest steel producer by volume as of 2019. ...

) at the recommendation of Meiji University alumnus and 1958 World Judo Championships gold medalist

Koji Sone was a Japanese judoka and world champion. He was born in the city Chichibu, Saitama and started judo in his childhood. His father was a 6th Dan in judo and his uncle a 9th Dan. Sone is a university-trained judoka from Meiji University. Af ...

. He finished in second place behind Sone in the 1958 World Championships, and won a then-unprecedented three championships at the

All-Japan Judo Championships is a judo tournament held every year in Japan. The men's tournament is held in Nippon Budokan on 29 April and the women's tournament (dubbed "Empress cup All-Japan women's Judo championships") is held in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in April. T ...

from 1960–1961 and 1964 to become the top heavyweight judo competitor in Japan along with

Isao Inokuma was a Japanese judoka. He won a 1964 Summer Olympics medal table, gold medal in the heavyweight division (above 80 kg) at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and a world title in 1965.1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and Kaminaga entered the competition bearing great expectations as the Japanese representative for the open weight category. However, he suffered a knee ligament injury shortly before the competition, and participated in the tournament hiding this injury. He reached the Olympic finals on October 23, but was defeated by Dutch judoka

Anton Geesink Antonius Johannes Geesink (6 April 1934 – 27 August 2010) was a Dutch people, Dutch List of judoka#Highest grades, 10th dan judoka. He was the first non-Japanese judoka to win gold at the World Judo Championship, a feat he accomplished in 1961 ...

, who pinned Kaminaga with a Kesa-Gatame to become the first non-Japanese judoka to win an Olympic medal in judo. Japan won all of the gold medals in the judo competition that year excluding Kaminaga's participation in the open weight competition, and the Japanese media criticized Kaminaga for failing to follow suit. Kaminaga retired from competitive judo in 1965 after suffering a

detached retina Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blin ...

. Kaminaga become the head coach of the Meiji University judo team in 1968 at the advice of Koji Sone, where he taught future Olympic gold medalist

Haruki Uemura is a judoka from Japan, who won the gold medal in the Open class at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In the final of the Olympic tournament in Canada he defeated Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic ...

. He also served as a coach of the Japanese judo team for the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

, but resigned from his post at Meiji University after one of his pupils, Masatoshi Shinomaki, lost in the preliminary round of the tournament. He lived as a

salaryman In Japan, a is a salaried worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works. Salarymen are expected to work long hours, to put in addit ...

afterwards, while continuing his affiliation with judo officials. He became the head coach for the Japanese Olympic judo team for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, but died a year later in 1993 from colon cancer at age 56.

References

External links

Videos of Kaminaga at the Olympics 1964 Tokyo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaminaga, Akio 1936 births 1993 deaths Japanese male judoka Judoka at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka of Japan Olympic silver medalists for Japan Sportspeople from Sendai Deaths from cancer in Japan Deaths from colorectal cancer Olympic medalists in judo Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics 20th-century Japanese people