is 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"). ...

. He currently works as an instructor or advisor for numerous organizations, including

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Un ...

, the

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...

, and th
All Japan Judo Federation
He retired from competitive judo on June 17, 1985 after a remarkable career where he won five gold medals in international competitions and marked 203 consecutive victories (with 7 draws in-between) until his retirement. He received the Japanese National Prize of Honor on October 9, 1984.

Biography

Competitive career

Yamashita began judo in primary school after being inspired by judo founder

Kanō Jigorō was a Japanese educator, athlete, and the founder of Judo. Along with Ju-Jutsu, Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical inno ...

, and had already attained a black belt by the time he reached junior-high school. Yamashita continued judo under the guidance of

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 ...

gold medalist

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 1965.1967 World Judo Championships gold medalist

Nobuyuki Sato is a former Japanese marathon runner. After finishing second in the Fukuoka Marathon 1998 with his career best of 2:08:48, he won the bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a W ...

after graduating from Tokaidai Sagami High School. His streak of 203 victories began in October, 1977, in an exhibition match held in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and ended with his final match in April, 1985, where he won 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 ...

for the 9th consecutive time. Yamashita qualified for the Olympics for the first time in 1976 as a replacement during his freshman year at Tōkai University. At age 19, he became the youngest judoka in history to win the open category of the All-Japan Judo Championships in 1977. He continued his success by winning a gold medal at the 1979 World Judo Championships, and secured a spot on the Japanese Olympic team in a highly publicized draw against

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

bronze medalist

Sumio Endo is a Japanese judoka, Olympic medalist and world champion. He is from Kōriyama, Fukushima. After graduation from Nihon University, He belonged to Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. He received a bronze medal in the heavyweight ...

. Yamashita went into the final of the 1980 All Japan championships as the favorite, but Endo put Yamashita in a

Kani Basami 300px, The attacker on the left sweeps the right foot of the opponent The foot sweep (also footsweep) is a move in many different styles of martial arts. It is used to trip an opponent. Foot sweeps are commonly used in Tang Soo Do, karate, Muay Th ...

, breaking Yamashita's

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

. The match was declared a draw even though Yamashita was hurt and unable to continue. Kani Basami had been a legal move until the match, but the seriousness of Yamashita's injury caused officials to prohibit its use in international competitions. Japan boycotted the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

in protest of the

1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and Yamashita was forced to look on as a spectator while his rivals competed on the Olympic stage. Yamashita won three more gold medals at the World Championships before qualifying for the Olympics for the third time in 1984. He was the only Japanese judo competitor from the boycott who also qualified for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. In his only appearance at the Olympics, Yamashita tore a right calf muscle in the preliminary match against Arthur Schnabel. This put Yamashita at a huge disadvantage since he executed his throws by pivoting on his right leg. Though he managed to win the match with an

Okuri-Eri-Jime is one of the twelve constriction techniques of Kodokan Judo in the Shime-waza list. Description In English this technique can be translated as "sliding lapel strangle". Escapes ''Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Theory And Technique'', by Renzo & Ro ...

, the injury caused him to visibly limp during the semi-final match against Laurent Del Colombo. Yamashita was thrown with an

Osoto Gari is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Jigoro Kano. It belongs to the first group, Dai Ikkyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also included in the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo. ...

only 30 seconds into the match, but managed to return an Osoto Gari and won the match with a

Yoko-Shiho-Gatame is one of the seven mat holds, Osaekomi-waza, of Kodokan Judo. In grappling terms, it is categorized as a side control hold. Technique description

(side four-quarter hold). He played the final match against Mohamed Ali Rashwan of Egypt. Yamashita won the final and the gold medal despite his injury. The match witnessed a remarkable fair play act from Rashwan who did not aim for Yamashita's right leg. Rashwan was even given an award from the International Fairplay Committee. Yamashita remained undefeated in both domestic and international competitions, though he drew several matches with two-time Olympic gold medalist

Hitoshi Saito was a Japanese judoka who won two consecutive gold medals at the Olympic games.

. Yamashita faced Saito in the final match of the All-Japan Judo Championships for 3 consecutive years from 1983 to 1985, and emerged victorious in every single one of those matches. After suffering from numerous injuries throughout his career, Yamashita decided to retire from competitive judo on June 17, 1985 at only 28 years of age. Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg-9

Post retirement

Yamashita served as an instructor for numerous organizations before becoming the

's Director of Education in September, 2003. His presence as the head coach of the Japanese judo team was felt when he strongly protested the controversial decision in a match between

David Douillet David Donald Hubert Roger Douillet (; born 17 February 1969) is a French politician and retired judoka. Douillet was born in the city of Rouen. Standing at and weighing , he won the judo heavyweight gold medals in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olym ...

and

Shinichi Shinohara is a retired Japanese judo and winner of the gold medal at the 1999 World Judo Championships in Birmingham. To Shinohara's disappointment, French champion David Douillet did not compete at Birmingham due to back injury; Shinohara was quoted as s ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. Yamashita has also compiled an instructional judo video with Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, who also holds a black belt in judo. The two first met during Putin's visit to

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 ...

in 2005, and Yamashita has traveled to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

to visit the President's former judo school. He is the chairman of the

Japanese Olympic Committee The is the National Olympic Committee in Japan for the Olympic Games movement, based in Tokyo, Japan. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams and raises funds to send Japanese competitors to Olympic events organised by the Internati ...

, and on 10 January 2020 he was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Judo style

Yamashita had a stocky build of 5 ft. 11 in. (180 cm) and weighed over 280 lbs (127 kg) during his competitive years. He stood with a left-handed stance, and his best move was the

Osotogari is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Jigoro Kano. It belongs to the first group, Dai Ikkyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also included in the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo. ...

mixed in with the Ouchi Gari. He found Ouchi to be successful and used it very frequently. He also found the Uchi mata to be highly effective against non-Japanese opponents, and used it frequently during his later years. He was also extremely effective on the ground, and many of his victories came with hold or choke moves. His proficiency from both the standing position and ground position allowed him to remain unbeaten for over 9 years.

References

External links

* *
Videos of Yasuhiro Yamashita in action
(judovision.org) {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamashita, Yasuhiro Japanese male judoka Sportspeople from Kumamoto Prefecture 1957 births Living people Tokai University alumni Judoka at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in judo Olympic judoka of Japan World judo champions People's Honour Award winners Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Japan Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon International Olympic Committee members