Kanō Jigorō
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was a Japanese educator, athlete, and the founder of
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 ...
. 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 Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing ...
.
Pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and Developmental psychology, psychological development of le ...
innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of
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 ...
ing to show the relative ranking among members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include "maximum efficiency with minimum effort" ( ''seiryoku zen'yō'') and "mutual welfare and benefit" ( ''jita kyōei''). In his professional life, Kanō was an
educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
. Important postings included serving as director of
primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...
for the from 1898 to 1901, and as president of Tokyo Higher Normal School from 1900 until 1920.Strictly speaking, the name was Tokyo Normal School from 1901 until 1903, and Tokyo Higher Normal School from 1903 to 1924. Tokyo Higher Normal School is today viewed as an ancestor of the Institute of Health and Sport Sciences at
University of Tsukuba is a public university, public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. It is a top 10 Designated National University, and was ranked Type A by the Japanese government as part of the Top Global University Pro ...
. See th
Institute of Health and Sport Science's web site
He played a key role in making judo and
kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...
part of the Japanese public school programs of the 1910s. Kanō was also a pioneer of international
sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
s. Accomplishments included being the first Asian member of the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) (he served from 1909 until 1938); officially representing Japan at most Olympic Games held between 1912 and 1936; and serving as a leading spokesman for Japan's bid for the 1940 Olympic Games. His official honors and decorations included the First Order of Merit and Grand
Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...
and the Third Imperial Degree. Kanō was inducted as the first member of 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 ...
(IJF) Hall of Fame on 14 May 1999.


Early years


Childhood

Kanō Jigorō was born to a
sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...
-brewing family in the town of Mikage, Japan (now within Higashinada-ku, Kobe). The family sake brands included "Hakushika", "Hakutsuru", and "Kiku-Masamune". But Kanō's father Kanō Jirōsaku (née Mareshiba Jirōsaku) was an adopted son and he did not go into the family business. Instead he worked as a lay priest and as a senior clerk for a shipping line. Kanō's father was a great believer in the power of education, and he provided Jigorō, his third son, with an excellent education. The boy's early teachers included the
neo-Confucian Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in t ...
scholars Yamamoto Chikuun and Akita Shusetsu. Kanō's mother died when the boy was nine years old, and his father moved the family 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 ...
. The young Kanō was enrolled in
private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
, and had his own
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
tutor. In 1874 he was sent to a private school run by Europeans to improve his English and German language skills. At the time of his adolescence, Kanō stood but weighed only . He was frequently
bullied Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an im ...
at school due to this small size and his intellectual nature, to the point other students dragged him out of the school buildings to beat him, so he wished he were stronger in order to defend himself. One day, Nakai Baisei (a friend of the family who was a member of the ''
shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
''s guard), mentioned that
jūjutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...
was an excellent form of physical training, and showed Kanō a few techniques by which a smaller man might overcome a larger and stronger opponent. Seeing potential for self-defense on this, Kanō decided he wanted to learn the art, despite Nakai's insistence that such training was out of date and dangerous. Kanō's father also discouraged him from jūjutsu, as he ignored the bullying his son suffered, but after noting Kanō's deep interest of the art, he allowed him to train on condition Kanō would strive to master it.


Jūjutsu

When Kanō attended the
Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
in 1877, he started looking for jūjutsu teachers. He first looked for
bonesetter Traditional bone-setting is a type of a folk medicine in which practitioners engaged in joint manipulation. Before the advent of chiropractors, osteopaths and physical therapists, bone-setters were the main providers of this type of treatment. ...
s, called ''seifukushi''. His assumption was that doctors who knew the martial art were better teachers. His search brought him to Yagi Teinosuke, who had been a student of Emon Isomata in the
Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū , meaning "Divine True Willow School", can be classified as a traditional school ('' koryū'') of jujutsu. It was founded by in the 1830s. Its syllabus comprises ''atemi-waza'' (striking techniques), ''nage-waza'' (throwing techniques), ''tor ...
school of jūjutsu. Yagi, in turn, referred Kanō to Fukuda Hachinosuke, a bonesetter who taught Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū in a 10-mat room adjacent to his practice. Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū was itself a combination of two older schools: the
Yōshin-ryū ("The School of the Willow Heart") is a common name for one of several different martial traditions founded in Japan during the Edo period. The most popular and well-known was the Yōshin-ryū founded by physician Akiyama Shirōbei Yoshitoki a ...
and Shin no Shindō-ryū. Fukuda's training method consisted mostly of the student taking fall after fall for the teacher or senior student until he began to understand the mechanics of the technique. Fukuda stressed applied technique over ritual form. He gave beginners a short description of the technique and had them engage in free practice ''(
randori is a term used in Japanese martial arts to describe free-style practice (sparring). The term denotes an exercise in 取り ''tori'', applying technique to a random ( 乱 ''ran'') succession of ''uke'' attacks. The actual connotation of ''rand ...
)'' in order to teach through experience. It was only after the student had attained some proficiency that he taught them traditional forms (''
kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practised ...
''). This method was difficult, as there were no special mats for falling, only the standard straw mats (''
tatami A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...
'') laid over wooden floors. Kanō had trouble defeating Fukushima Kanekichi, who was one of his seniors at the school. Therefore, Kanō started trying unfamiliar techniques on his rival. He first tried techniques from
sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
taught by a former practitioner named Uchiyama Kisoemon. When these did not help, he studied more, and tried a technique ("
fireman's carry A firefighter's carry or firefighter's lift is a technique allowing one person to carry another person without assistance, by placing the carried person across the shoulders of the carrier.
") that he learned from a book on western
wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
. This worked, and '' kataguruma'', or "shoulder wheel", remains part of the judo repertoire, although at this moment the judo organizations of some countries prohibit this throw in competition judo. On 5 August 1879, Kanō participated in a jūjutsu demonstration given for former United States president
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
. This demonstration took place at the home of the prominent businessman
Shibusawa Eiichi was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". He spearheaded the introduction of Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double- ...
. Other people involved in this demonstration included the jūjutsu teachers Fukuda Hachinosuke and Iso Masatomo, and Kanō's training partner Godai Ryusaku. Fukuda died soon after this demonstration, at the age of 52. Kanō began studying with Iso, who had been a friend of Fukuda. Despite being 62 years old and standing only tall, Iso had gained a powerful build from jujitsu training. He was known for excellence in ''kata'', and was also a specialist in '' atemi'', or the striking of vital areas. In Iso's method, one began with ''kata'' and then progressed to free fighting (''randori''). Due to Kanō's intense practice and his solid grounding in the jujitsu taught by Fukuda, he was soon an assistant at Iso's school. In 1881, Fukuda's widow gave the scrolls of the school to Kanō, then 21 years old. Some popular works suggest that Kanō obtained a teaching license in this school, but this has not been documented: no Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū certificate(s) with Kanō's name visible is depicted anywhere in the Kōdōkan museum or in any published source. Neither is such rank specified in any authentic Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū archival documents. While under Iso's tutelage, Kanō witnessed a demonstration by the Yōshin-ryū jūjutsu teacher Totsuka Hikosuke and later took part in ''randori'' with members of Totsuka's school. Kanō was impressed by the Yōshin-ryū practitioners and realized that he might never be able to beat someone as talented as Totsuka simply by training harder: he also needed to train smarter. It was this experience that first led Kanō to believe that to be truly superior, one needed to combine the best elements of several '' ryū'', or schools, of jūjutsu including Yagyu Shingan-ryū Taijutsu. Toward this end, he began to seek teachers who could provide him with superior elements of jūjutsu that he could adopt. After Iso died in 1881, Kanō began training in
Kitō-ryū is a traditional school ('' koryū'') of the Japanese martial art of jujutsu. Its syllabus comprises ''atemi-waza'' (striking techniques), ''nage-waza'' (throwing techniques), ''kansetsu-waza'' (joint locking techniques) and ''shime-waza'' ( ...
with Iikubo Tsunetoshi (Kōnen). Iikubo was an expert in ''kata'' and throwing, and fond of ''randori''. Kanō applied himself thoroughly to learning Kitō-ryū, believing Iikubo's throwing techniques in particular to be better than in the schools he had previously studied. It is Iikubo who issued Kanō's only verified jūjutsu rank and teaching credential, namely a certificate of
Menkyo is a Japanese term meaning "license." It refers to the license to teach used by practitioners of various Japanese classical arts and martial arts certifying some license within the school or ryū. The ''menkyo'' system dates back to the 8th ce ...
(not
Menkyo kaiden is a Japanese term meaning "license." It refers to the license to teach used by practitioners of various Japanese classical arts and martial arts certifying some license within the school or ryū. The ''menkyo'' system dates back to the 8th ce ...
) in ''Nihonden Kitō Jūdō'', dated October 1883.


Kodokan judo


Establishment

During the early 1880s, there was no clear separation between the jūjutsu that Kanō was teaching and the jūjutsu that his teachers had taught in the past. Kanō's Kitō-ryū teacher, Iikubo Tsunetoshi, came to Kanō's classes two or three times a week to support Kanō's teaching. Eventually student and master began to exchange places, and Kanō began to defeat Iikubo during ''randori'': To name his system, Kanō revived a term that Terada Kan'emon, the fifth headmaster of the Kitō-ryū, had adopted when he founded his own style, the Jikishin-ryū: "''jūdō''". The name combined the characters , meaning "pliancy", and ''dō'', which is literally "The Way", but figuratively meaning 'method.' From a technical standpoint, Kanō combined the throwing techniques of the Kitō-ryū and the choking and pinning techniques of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū. As such, judo's ''
Koshiki no Kata is a kata (a set of prearranged techniques) in Judo. It is also known as Kito-ryu no Kata (起倒流の形). It consists of 21 techniques originally belonging to the Takenaka-ha During a seminar held in 2007 in Solferino (IT) Alfredo Vismara (9t ...
'' preserves the traditional forms of the Kitō-ryū with only minor differences from the mainline tradition. Similarly, many of the techniques (but not the forms) of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū are preserved in the '' Kime no Kata''. Kanō's initial work was influenced by various methods and institutions. As he wrote in 1898, "By taking together all the good points I had learned of the various schools and adding thereto my own inventions and discoveries, I devised a new system for physical culture and moral training as well as for winning contests." However, after judo was introduced into the Japanese public schools, a process that took place between 1906 and 1917, there was increasing standardization of ''kata'' and tournament technique.


Development

Kanō also oversaw the development and growth of his judo organization, the
Kodokan Judo Institute 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'' ( ...
. This was a remarkable effort in itself, as the Kodokan's enrollment grew from fewer than a dozen students in 1882 to more than a thousand ''
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'Ivoi ...
''-graded members by 1911. In May or June 1882, Kanō started the Kodokan judo with twelve mats, in space belonging to the , a
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
temple in what was then the Shitaya ward of Tokyo (now the Higashi Ueno district of
Taitō is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. In English, it is known as Taitō City. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 186,276, and a population density of 18,420 persons per km2. The total area is . Thi ...
ward), with Iikubo attending the dōjō three days a week to help teach.''Japan Times'', 30 March 1913; see also Kodokan. Kanō had only a handful of students at this time, but they improved their technique through regular contests with local police jūjutsu teams. The Kodokan moved to a 60-mat space in April 1890.For dates, see Kodokan. In December 1893, the Kodokan started moving to a larger space located in Tomizaka-cho, Koishikawa-cho, and the move was completed by February 1894. The Kodokan's first ''kangeiko'', or winter training, took place at the Tomizaka-cho dojo during the winter of 1894–1895. Midsummer training, or ''shochugeiko'', started in 1896. "In order to inure the pupil to the two extremes of heat and cold and to cultivate the virtue of perseverance", Britain's E.J. Harrison wrote:Harrison, E.J. ''The Fighting Spirit of Japan.'' Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1982, p. 50. During the late 1890s, the Kodokan moved two more times; first to a 207-mat space in November 1897, and then to a 314-mat space in January 1898. In 1909, Kanō incorporated the Kodokan, and endowed it with 10,000
yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...
(then about
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
4,700). The reason, said ''Japan Times'' on 30 March 1913, was "so that this wonderful institution might be able to reconstruct, for that is what it really does, the moral and physical nature of the Japanese youth, without its founder's personal attention." The Kodokan moved once again during Kanō's lifetime, and on 21 March 1934, the Kodokan dedicated this 510-mat facility. Guests at the opening included the Belgian, Italian, and Afghan ambassadors to Japan. In 1958, when the Kodokan moved to its current eight story facility, that now has more than 1200 mats, the old building was sold to the
Japan Karate Association Japan Karate Association (日本 空手 協会; ''Nihon Karate Kyokai''; JKA; sometimes referred to simply as ''Kyokai'' 協会 in Japan) is one of the oldest global Shotokan karate organization in the world. Origins Gichin Funakoshi played a ...
.


Ideals

On 18 April 1888, Kanō and Reverend Thomas Lindsay presented a lecture called "Jiujitsu: The Old Samurai Art of Fighting without Weapons" to the Asiatic Society of Japan. This lecture took place at the
British Embassy in Tokyo The British Embassy, Tokyo (駐日英国大使館 ''Chūnichi Eikoku Taishikan'') is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in Japan, with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan being the chief of mission. The embassy compound ...
. Its theme was that the main principle of judo involved gaining victory by yielding to strength. Being an idealist, Kanō had broad aims for judo, which he saw as something that simultaneously encompassed self-defense, physical culture, and moral behavior. In 1915, Kanō gave this definition to judo: In 1918, Kanō added: During March 1922, Kanō brought all this to fruition through the introduction of the Kodokan Bunkakai, or Kodokan Cultural Association. This organization held its first meeting at Tokyo's Seiyoken Hotel on 5 April 1922, and held its first public lecture three days later at 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 ...
hall in Kanda. The mottoes of the Kodokan Cultural Association were "Good Use of Spiritual and Physical Strength" and "Prospering in Common for Oneself and Others." Although those are literal translations, the phrases were usually translated into English as "Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort" and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit." The theories of this organization were described in some detail in an article published in an American magazine '' Living Age'' in September 1922.


Professional life


Educator

Although Kanō promoted judo whenever he could, he earned his living as an educator. Kanō entered
Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
during June 1877. He
majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...
in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
, which at that time were taught by the Department of Aesthetics and Morals. He graduated in July 1882, and the following month he began work as a professor, fourth class, at the Gakushuin, or Peers School, in Tokyo. In 1883, Kanō was appointed professor of economics at Komaba Agricultural College (now the Faculty of Agriculture at University of Tokyo), but during April 1885, he returned to Gakushuin, with the position of principal. In January 1891, Kanō was appointed to a position at the Ministry of Education. In August 1891, he gave up this position to become a
dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...
at the Fifth Higher Normal School (present-day
Kumamoto University , abbreviated to ''Kumadai'' (熊大), is a Japanese national university located in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture in the Kyushu region of Japan. It was established on May 31, 1949, at which time the following institutions were subsumed into it; ...
). One of the teachers at Fifth Higher between 1891 and 1893 was Lafcadio Hearn. Around this same time, Kanō married. His wife, Sumako Takezoe, was the daughter of a former Japanese ambassador to
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. Eventually, the couple had six daughters and three sons.Ishikawa, Yasujiro. ''Who's Who in Japan,'' fifth edition. Tokyo: Keiseisha, 1916, p. 256. During the summer of 1892, Kanō went to
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
to help establish a program that would allow Chinese students to study in Japan. Kanō revisited Shanghai during 1905, 1915, and 1921. In January 1898, Kanō was appointed director of primary education at the Ministry of Education, and in August 1899, he received a grant that allowed him to study in Europe. His ship left
Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
on 13 September 1899, and he arrived in Marseilles on 15 October. He spent about a year in Europe, and during this trip, he visited
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, and
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. He returned to Japan in 1901. Soon after returning to Japan, he resumed his post as president of Tokyo Higher Normal School, and he remained in this position until his retirement on 16 January 1920. He also helped establish Nada Middle High School in 1928 at Kobe, which later became one of highest-ranked private high schools in Japan. Considering that he majored in political science and economics, Kanō's family thought that after graduating from university, he would pursue a career in some government ministry. Indeed, through influential friends of his father's, he was initially offered a position with the Ministry of Finance. However, his love for teaching led him instead to accept a position teaching at Gakushuin. The students of Japan's elite attended Gakushuin and were of higher social positions than their teachers. The students were allowed to ride in
rickshaws A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...
(''jinrikisha'') right to the doors of the classes, whereas teachers were forbidden. The teachers often felt compelled to visit the homes of these students whenever summoned to give instruction or advice. In effect, the teachers were treated as servants. Kanō believed this to be unacceptable. He refused to play such a subservient role when teaching his students. To Kanō, a teacher must command respect. At the same time, he employed the latest European and American
pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and Developmental psychology, psychological development of le ...
methods. The theories of the American educator
John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...
especially influenced him. Kanō's manner had the desired effect upon the students, but the administration was slower to warm to his methods and it was not until the arrival of a new principal that Kanō's ideas found acceptance. All this is to say that Kanō's educational philosophy was a combination of both traditional Japanese neo-Confucianism and contemporary European and American philosophies, to include
Instrumentalism In philosophy of science and in epistemology, instrumentalism is a methodological view that ideas are useful instruments, and that the worth of an idea is based on how effective it is in explaining and predicting phenomena. According to instrumenta ...
,
Utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charact ...
, and "evolutionary progressivism", as
Social Darwinism Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in We ...
was then known. The goals of Kanō's educational philosophies and methods (indeed, the goals of most Japanese educational programs of the early 20th century) were: to develop minds, bodies, and spirits in equal proportion; to increase patriotism and loyalty, especially to the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
; to teach public morality; and to increase physical strength and stamina, especially for the purpose of making young men more fit for military service.
Calisthenics Calisthenics (American English) or callisthenics (British English) ( /ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪks/) is a form of strength training consisting of a variety of movements that exercise large muscle groups (gross motor movements), such as standing, graspi ...
, especially as done in the huge formations favored at the time, could be boring, and at the high school and college levels, games such as
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
and
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
were more often
spectator sport A spectator sport is a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its competitions. Spectator sports may be professional sports or amateur sports. They often are distinguished from participant sports, which are m ...
s than a practical source of physical exercise for the masses. Moreover, at elite levels, baseball, football, and even judo did not put much emphasis on moral or intellectual development. Instead, elite coaches and athletes tended to emphasize winning, at almost any cost. For Kanō, the answer to this conundrum was one word: judo. Not judo in the sense of simply throwing other people around, and definitely not judo in the sense of winning at any cost. Instead, it was judo in the sense of "Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort" and "Mutual Welfare and Benefit." Or, as Kanō himself put it to a reporter in 1938: "When yielding is the highest efficient use of energy, then yielding is judo."


International Olympic Committee

Kanō became active in the work of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1909. This came about after
Kristian Hellström Kristian Hellström (24 July 1880 – 14 June 1946) was a Swedish middle-distance runner and a sports administrator. He competed at the 1906 Intercalated Games in the 800 m and 1500 m events and finished in fifth and third place respectively. At ...
of the Swedish Olympic Committee wrote to the governments of Japan and China to ask if they were going to send teams to the 1912 Olympics. The Japanese government did not want to embarrass itself on an international stage by saying no, so the Ministry of Education was told to look into this. The Ministry logically turned to Kanō, who was a physical educator with recent experience in Europe. Kanō agreed to represent Japan at the International Olympics Committee, and, after talking to the French ambassador to Japan and reading pamphlets sent by the Swedes, developed, in his words, "a fairly good idea of what the Olympic Games were." Toward fulfilling his duties as a member, in 1912, Kanō helped establish the Japan Amateur Athletic Association (Dai Nippon Tai-iku Kyokai), which had the mission of overseeing amateur sport in Japan. Kanō was the official representative of Japan to the Olympics in Stockholm in 1912, and he was involved in organizing the
Far Eastern Championship Games The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as the Far Eastern Championships, Far Eastern Games or Far East Games) was an Asian multi-sport event considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games. History In 1913, Elwood Brown, president of ...
held in
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
during May 1917. In 1920, Kanō represented Japan at the Antwerp Olympics, and during the early 1920s, he served on the Japanese Council of Physical Education. He did not play much part in organizing the Far Eastern Championship Games held in Osaka in May 1923, nor did he attend the 1924 Olympics in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, but he did represent Japan at the Olympics in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
(1928),
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
(1932), and
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
(1936). From 1931 to 1938, he was also one of the leading international spokesmen in Japan's bid for the 1940 Olympics.Svinth, Joseph R. "Fulfilling His Duty as a Member: Jigoro Kano and the Japanese Bid for the 1940 Olympics

Kanō's chief goal in all this was, in his words, to gather people together for a common cause, with friendly feeling. His goals did not, however, particularly involve getting judo into the Olympics. As he put it in a letter to Britain's Gunji Koizumi in 1936:Brousse, Michel and Matsumoto, David. ''Judo in the U.S.: A Century of Dedication''. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 2005, p. 110.


Death and legacy

In 1934, Kanō stopped giving public exhibitions. The reason was his failing health, probably compounded by
kidney stones Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...
. The British
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"). ...
Sarah Mayer wrote "People don’t seem to think he will live much longer" to her friends in London. Nevertheless, Kanō continued attending important Kodokan events such as ''kagami-biraki'' (New Years' ceremonies) whenever he could, and he continued participating in Olympics business. In May 1938, Kanō died at sea, during a voyage that he made as member of the IOC on board the
NYK Line Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha (Japan Mail Shipping Line), also known as NYK Line, is a Japanese shipping company and is a member of the Mitsubishi ''keiretsu''. The company headquarters are located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It operates a flee ...
motor ship A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V. Engines for motorships were developed during the 1890s, and by th ...
''
Hikawa Maru is a Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for '' Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha'' ("NYK Line"). She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as ...
''. Because the Japanese merchant fleet of the 1930s used Tokyo time wherever it was in the world, the Japanese date of death was 4 May 1938 at about 5:33 am JST, whereas the international date of death was 3 May 1938 at 20:33  UTC. The cause of death was officially listed as
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
.Hirasawa, K. "The Death of Professor Jigoro Kano, Shi-Han", ''Judo International'', edited by Henri Plée. Paris, 1950, pp. 3–4. but other sources list food poisoning as the cause of death. During the 1990s, there appeared allegations that Kanō was murdered by
poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
ing rather than dying of pneumonia.Brown, Carl. ''Law and the Martial Arts''. Black Belt Communications, 1998. Although there is no known contemporary documentation to support this claim, Kanō's opposition to
Japanese militarism refers to the ideology in the Empire of Japan which advocates the belief that militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation, and the belief that the strength of the military is equal to the strength of a nation. Histo ...
was well-known, and many others who also opposed it were allegedly assassinated. Judo did not die with Kanō. Instead, during the 1950s, judo clubs sprang up throughout the world, and in 1964, judo was introduced as an Olympic sport in the Tokyo Olympics, and was reintroduced at the
Munich 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. ...
in 1972. Kanō's posthumous reputation was therefore assured. Nonetheless, his true legacy was his idealism. As Kanō said in a speech given in 1934, "Nothing under the sun is greater than education. By educating one person and sending him into the society of his generation, we make a contribution extending a hundred generations to come." Kanō has also been compared to the
9th Marquess of Queensberry John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (20 July 184431 January 1900), was a British people, British nobleman, remembered for his atheism, his outspoken views, his brutish manner, for lending his name to the "Queensberry Rules" that fo ...
in the way his legacy left a whole new set of rules:


Honors

* Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, 1938 (Japan).NNDB
Order of the Rising Sun
*On 28 October 2021,
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
celebrated Jigorō's 161st birth anniversary with a
doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lift ...
on its homepage.


Published works

* Kanō, Jigorō. (October 1898 – December 1903). ''Kokushi''. * Lindsay, Thomas and Kanō, Jigorō. (1889, 1915 reprint)
"The Old Samurai Art of Fighting without Weapons"
''Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan'', XVI, Pt II, pp. 202–217. * Kanō, Jigorō. (Jan. 1915 – December 1918). ''Jūdō.'' * Kanō, Jigorō. (1922)

''Living Age'', 314, pp. 724–731. * Kanō, Jigorō. (1932)

Journal of Health and Physical Education, 3, pp. 37–40, 58 (originally a lecture given at the University of Southern California on the occasion of the Xth Olympiad). * Kanō, Jigorō. (1934)

unpublished lecture given at the Parnassus Society, Athens, Greece, on 5 June 1934, reprinted as "Principles of Judo" in ''Budokwai Quarterly Bulletin'', April 1948, pp. 37–42. * Kanō, Jigorō. (1936). "Olympic Games and Japan", ''Dai Nippon'', pp. 197–199. In Thomas A. Green and Joseph R. Svinth, eds., ''Martial Arts in the Modern World''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 2003, pp. 167–172. * Kanō, Jigorō. (1937). ''Judo (jujutsu) by Prof. Jigorō Kanō.'' Tokyo: Board of Tourist Industry,
Japanese Government Railways The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national railway system directly operated by the Japanese Ministry of Railways ( ja, 鉄道省, Tetsudō-shō, ) until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Rai ...
. * Kanō, Jigorō. (1937). "Jujutsu and Judo; What Are They?" Tokyo: Kodokwan. * Kanō, Jigorō. (Undated)
''Jujutsu Becomes Judo.''
* Kanō, Jigorō. (1972). ''Kanō Jigorō, watakushi no shōgai to jūdō.'' Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha. * Kanō, Jigorō. (1983). ''Kanō Jigorō chosakushū.'' Tokyo: Gogatsu Shobo. * Kanō, Jigorō. (1986). ''Kodokan judo/Jigorō Kanō; edited under the supervision of the Kodokan Editorial Committee''. Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International. * Kanō, Jigorō. (1995). ''Kanō Jigorō taikei/kanshū Kōdōkan.'' Tokyo: Hon no Tomosha. * Kanō, Jigorō. (2013). ''Mind over muscle – writings from the founder of judo''
Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and manga, ...
, English translation from Japanese anthology 2005


See also

*
Hard and soft (martial arts) In martial arts, the terms hard and soft technique denote how forcefully a defender martial artist counters the force of an attack in armed and unarmed combat. In the East Asian martial arts, the corresponding hard technique and soft technique ter ...
*
Idaten (TV series) is a Japanese historical drama television series and the 58th NHK taiga drama. It stars Nakamura Kankurō VI and Sadao Abe as marathon runner Shiso Kanakuri and swimming coach Masaji Tabata respectively. It began broadcasting in 2019 as p ...
*
Judo technique This is a list of judo techniques. They are categorized into throwing techniques (''nage-waza''), grappling techniques (''katame-waza''), body-striking techniques (''atemi-waza)'', blocks and parries (''uke-waza''), receiving/breakfall techni ...
* Kosen judo *
Kuzushi is a Japanese term for unbalancing an opponent in the Japanese martial arts. The noun comes from the transitive verb ''kuzusu'' (崩す), meaning ''to level, pull down, destroy or demolish''. As such, it refers to not just an unbalancing, but ...
*
Matsugoro Okuda was a Japanese jujutsu practitioner and judoka. A master of several styles, he was a contemporary to Jigoro Kano in the creation of a style that synthesized them all, and opposed the early judo movement before later joining it. Biography Okuda ...
* The Principle of Ju * Sanshiro Sugata * Statue of Kanō Jigorō, Shinjuku


Notes


References


Sources

* * *


External links


Articles by and about Kano Jigoro




Kanō Jigorō with Yamashita Yoshitsugu *
Videos of Kano Jigoro
(judovision.org)
The life and Writings of Jigoro Kano, Founder of Judo.
(thejudopodcast.eu)
The life and Writings of Jigoro Kano, Founder of Judo. Part 2
(thejudopodcast.eu) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kano, Jigoro 1860 births 1938 deaths International Olympic Committee members Japanese male judoka Judo Martial arts school founders Martial arts writers People from Kobe People who died at sea Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class University of Tokyo alumni