is a Japanese

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, 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 Encyc ...

. He won the gold medal in the under 100 kg class at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. He is well known for his specialty throws,

Uchi Mata is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Kanō Jigorō. It belongs to the second group, Dai Nikyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo. It ...

(, inner thigh throw) and

Ōuchi gari is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Kanō Jigorō. It belongs to the first group, Dai Ikkyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan The , or ''Kōdōkan'' (講道館), is the headquarters of t ...

(, major inner reap). He is considered by the Judo community as one of the best competitive

. His notable accomplishments include three golds at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and All Japan Championships (one of four Judokas who have accomplished this). His older brother, Tomokazu Inoue is also judoka and former Asian champion. He is affiliated with Sohgo Security Services (Alsok), a security firm.

Biography

Kosei Inoue won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the -100 kg division, most notably doing so by winning every single match by

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In judo In judo, an ''ippon'' may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the ...

. At the victory ceremony, he carried a photograph of his recently deceased mother onto the podium. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Kosei Inoue was chosen as the captain of the Japanese team. He was highly favored to win another gold in the u100 kg division. However, he suffered a major upset and did not place. Elco van der Geest of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(2002 European Champion) defeated Inoue at the last minute with a drop seoi nage (shoulder throw) in the quarter final. Movlud Miraliyev of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

countered Inoue's ''o-uchi gari'' with a ''ura nage'' to win the match during Repechage Round 3. In 2005 he won the gold at the

Jigoro Kano Cup The Grand Slam Tokyo (formerly ) is an international judo competition held as part of the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Tour Grand Slam series. The first Jigoro Kano Cup was held at the Nippon Budōkan from November 23 to 26, 1978 ...

, which is an A level contest with many former world and Olympic medalists. He did not compete until 2007 because of a shoulder injury in 2005 and returned at +100 kg At the 2008

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. Th ...

, Inoue lost to Yohei Takai by ippon, which ended his hopes of joining the Olympic team headed for Beijing. He promptly announced his retirement from international competition. Inoue was replaced by

Satoshi Ishii is a Japanese-Croatian retired Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional boxer and judoka who has held Croatian citizenship since 2019. Ishii won the gold medal in Judo at the Summer Olympics, Olympic Judo at the Beijing ...

, who defeated

Keiji Suzuki is a Japanese judoka and sports scientist. Suzuki won the Olympic gold medal in the heavyweight (+100 kg) division in 2004. He is also a two-time world champion. Suzuki is noted for being a remarkably small judoka in the heavyweight di ...

in the final bout of the 2008 AJJC (International Herald Tribune, April 29, 2008) and won a gold medal in the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

Personal life

Inoue married Japanese actress and television personality Aki Higashihara on January 14, 2008. After announcing his retirement from competitive judo, Inoue was selected by the Japan Olympic Committee to travel to the UK in order to learn English. After living in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland (and training with the Scottish-based GB team members) for 6 months he moved to London to teach at the

Budokwai in London is the oldest Japanese martial arts club in Europe.Budokwai: The history ...

for 12 months before returning to Japan as the Men's Heavyweight coach for the National team. Following Japan's least successful Olympics for Judo at the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Olympic Games, it was announced that Inoue would succeed

Shinichi Shinohara is a Japanese television personality, judoka and winner of two gold medals at the 1999 World Championships in Birmingham. To Shinohara's disappointment, French champion David Douillet did not compete at Birmingham due to back injury; Shinohara ...

as the new head coach of the national team.

Achievements

References

External links

* * *
Judo Legends

Competition videos of Kosei Inoue
on Judovision
Kosei Inoue podcast: "My Life in Judo"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inoue, Kosei 1978 births Living people Tokai University alumni People from Miyakonojō Sportspeople from Miyazaki Prefecture Japanese male judoka Olympic judoka for Japan Judoka at the 2000 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Japan Jacket wrestlers Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom People associated with Edinburgh Olympic medalists in judo Asian Games gold medalists in judo World judo champions Judoka at the 1998 Asian Games Judoka at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games judoka for Japan Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Oath takers at the Olympic Games