The Japanese martial art and combat sport

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, 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 Nipponi ...

has been practised in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

since 1943.

History

Judo was introduced to Canada in the early twentieth century by Japanese migrants, and was limited to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

until the forced expulsion, internment, and resettlement of Japanese-Canadians after Japan entered the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1941. Japanese Canadian expulsion and internment was pivotal in the development of Canadian judo because it forced judoka to settle in other parts of the country. Some returned to the Pacific coast after 1949, but most found new homes in other provinces. New dojos opened in the

Prairies Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, primarily in the mid-to-late 1940s, and the centre of Canadian judo shifted from Vancouver to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, where a significant number of judoka had settled after the war. Many early dojos were housed at the local branch of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

, which also provided short-term accommodation, assisted with finding employment, and coordinated social programs for resettled Japanese Canadians. Clubs at

military bases A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

barracks, and

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

were also common.

's first judo club was founded in 1943 in

Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

by Yoshio Katsuta and

Yoshio Senda Yoshio Senda (14 February 1922 – 9 September 2009) was a Canadian judoka, Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's first ''kudan'' (ninth-degree black belt) in Judo, and founder of the Lethbridge Kyodokan Judo Club. In 1989, the University of ...

, both of whom moved from BC to Alberta to avoid being interned. Katsuta was born in Japan and had received his ''yondan'' (fourth ''

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

'') from the

Kodokan The , or ''Kōdōkan'' (講道館), is the headquarters of the worldwide judo community. The ''kōdōkan'' was founded in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo, and is now an eight-story building in Tokyo. Etymology Literally, ''kō'' ( ...

before immigrating to Ocean Falls in 1937, and Senda was born in Mission and had earned his ''shodan'' (first ''dan'') under Eichi "John" Hashizume and Yoshitaka Mori a few years before moving to Alberta. There were about 30 mostly Japanese Canadian students at the Raymond club, and practices were held in the reception room of the

Raymond Buddhist Church The Raymond Buddhist Church is a building in Raymond, Alberta, Canada that has been a schoolhouse, a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple, and a meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Until it closed in 2006, it w ...

. A year later, Hashizume (Senda's instructor in Mission) and a Mr. Kuramoto opened a dojo in

Picture Butte Picture Butte is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located north of the city of Lethbridge. It claims the title of "Livestock Feeding Capital of Canada." History Picture Butte received its name from a prominence southeast of town. By ...

. After the war, more than 300 displaced Japanese Canadians decided to stay in southern Alberta, and Senda established the Kyodokan Judo Club at the original

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

YMCA building at 4th Avenue and 10th Street South in 1952.

History

See also

References

Further reading