Kano Jigoro
嘉納治五郎
Japanese educator and founder of judo, who opened the Kodokan in 1882, introduced the kyu and dan grades and became the first Asian member of the International Olympic Committee.
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Kano Jigoro was born on the 28th day of the 10th month of 1860 by the lunar calendar of the time, that is 10 December 1860, in Mikage, today part of Kobe. Kodokan and the IJF celebrate his birthday on 28 October. He is the founder of judo. He studied political science and economics at the University of Tokyo in 1877–1881 and in 1882 completed a degree in moral philosophy and aesthetics.
He learned jujutsu from Fukuda Hachinosuke and Iso Masatomo of the Tenjin Shinyo-ryu school and from Iikubo Tsunetoshi of the Kito-ryu school. According to the Kodokan chronology, in February 1882 he opened the private school Kano juku and in May 1882 the Kodokan in the Buddhist temple Eisho-ji in the Shitaya district of Tokyo, at first on an area of twelve tatami.
He introduced the kyu and dan grade system and the distinction of belts by color. He created the katas Nage-no-kata, Katame-no-kata and Ju-no-kata. The philosophy of judo is summed up by his mottoes seiryoku zenyo (maximum efficiency) and jita kyoei (mutual benefit). His students included Mitsuyo Maeda, Kenji Tomiki, Tsunetane Oda and Minoru Mochizuki. In the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai he headed the randori committee from 1899 and the kata jujutsu committee from 1906. In 1922 he enabled Gichin Funakoshi to give a public karate demonstration and invited him to the Kodokan, and in 1927 he met Chojun Miyagi and Kenwa Mabuni in Okinawa.
He directed the Tokyo Higher Normal School, with interruptions, in 1893–1920. From 1909 he was the first Asian member of the International Olympic Committee, and in July 1936 he won the hosting of the 1940 Games for Tokyo in Berlin. He died on 4 May 1938 of pneumonia aboard the ship Hikawa Maru on his return from an IOC session in Cairo. According to Wikipedia, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Judo Federation in 1999.
Early life
Kano Jigoro came from Mikage in Settsu Province, today part of Kobe. He was the third son and fifth child of Jirosaku and Sadako, and the family ran a sake brewery and a shipping business. According to the IJF, his father Jirosaku (1813–1885) held a high official post in the navy. After his mother died in 1869 he moved with his father to Tokyo, though Tsukuba University gives the move as 1870.
By his own account, from the age of seven he studied calligraphy and the Chinese classics with the painter Yamamoto Chikuun, later English at private schools and at Kaisei School. As a boy he was small and weak. According to biographer Andy Adams he was in his youth about 157 centimeters tall and weighed around 41 kilograms, and this is what led him to jujutsu. In 1877 he entered the University of Tokyo.
In 1891 he married Sumako Takezoe and they had nine children. His son Risei Kano became the third president of the Kodokan in 1946.
Training and teachers
According to Adams, his first jujutsu teacher was Fukuda Hachinosuke of Tenjin Shinyo-ryu, recommended by the bonesetter Yagi Teinosuke. Fukuda died in 1879 and Kano then assisted Iso Masatomo of the same school, known for stressing kata. In Kito-ryu he trained with Iikubo Tsunetoshi, a master of throws, who according to Wikipedia gave him a menkyo certificate in October 1883.
According to tradition he devised the technique kata-guruma after being defeated by the heavier Fukushima Kenkichi. According to Mike Callan's academic work, the first student to receive shodan, in 1883, was Tomita Tsunejiro. The Kodokan proclaimed the dan and kyu rules on 5 June 1920.
Contribution and innovations
According to the Kodokan chronology, Kano opened the private school Kano juku in February 1882 and the Kodokan at Eisho-ji temple in May 1882. In 1884, according to Adams, the statutes were drawn up, the first match of reds against whites took place and Kano proclaimed the name Kodokan judo. The great dojo of the Kodokan was ceremonially opened on 20 May 1894, on 3 May 1909 the Kodokan became a foundation, and in 1911 it began a course for training judo teachers. In 1922 Kano founded the association Kodokan Bunkakai, and in November 1930 the first All-Japan Championships took place.
He was equally influential in education. He directed the Tokyo Higher Normal School, predecessor of today's Tsukuba University, with interruptions from 1893 to 1920, and the number of students grew from 86 to 724. In 1908 he introduced judo and kendo as compulsory elective subjects and in 1915 a four-year physical education program.
In 1909 he became the first Asian member of the International Olympic Committee, in 1911 he founded the Japan Sport Association (Dai Nippon Taiiku Kyokai), and in 1912 he led the Japanese delegation to the Olympic Games in Stockholm. In July 1936 he won the hosting of the 1940 Games for Tokyo in Berlin, confirmed on 12 March 1938 in Cairo.
Philosophy and principles
The Kodokan names as the aim of training to strengthen the body by practicing attack and defense, to develop the mind toward perfecting character, and to contribute to society. According to the Tsukuba University chronicle, Kano proclaimed two main principles in 1922 when founding the Kodokan Bunkakai: seiryoku zenyo, the most effective use of strength, and jita kyoei, mutual benefit.
In a lecture for the Parnassus Society in Athens on 5 June 1934 he explained them as the highest efficient use of mental and physical energy and as mutual aid and concessions leading to mutual benefit. According to him, judo was not only a martial art but a method of training body and mind applicable throughout life.
Legends and documented facts
The date of his birth differs in the sources. Kano was born on the 28th day of the 10th month of 1860 by the lunar calendar of the time, which corresponds to 10 December 1860, and Tsukuba University converts it that way. The Kodokan and the IJF celebrate his birthday on 28 October, as, according to the IJF, Kano himself did.
The founding dates of the Kodokan also differ. Andy Adams gives February 1882 and nine students, the Kodokan distinguishes February 1882 for the Kano juku school from May 1882 for the Kodokan and links 1884 with the statutes and the name Kodokan judo.
The widespread notion that Kano sought judo in the Olympics has weak support. Historian Joseph Svinth cites reports that Kano left the athletic association leadership in 1922 over disputes about professionals, but that he did not want judo in the Games is Svinth's conclusion, not a documented statement of Kano. The legend of poisoning on the return from Cairo is not documented, the official cause of death is pneumonia. Only Adams gives the anecdote of the sunken sake ship.
Legacy
Kano died on 4 May 1938 of pneumonia aboard the ship Hikawa Maru returning from an IOC session in Cairo, and his body reached Yokohama on 6 May. His nephew Jiro Nango became second president of the Kodokan on 18 December 1938, his son Risei Kano third in 1946. The 1940 Games in Tokyo were not held because of the war. Judo entered the Olympic program on 22 August 1960 and medals were first contested at the Tokyo Games in October 1964.
For the hundredth anniversary of his birth the Kodokan unveiled his statue on 29 October 1960, and on 9 October 1968 a monument to the birthplace of Kodokan judo was erected at Eisho-ji temple. In his native Kobe a monument to his birthplace has stood since December 2018, and the public hall of Mikage has a memorial corner. Tsukuba University lists him as a key figure of its history, and according to Wikipedia he entered the IJF Hall of Fame in 1999.
Teachers, students and family
Associated Martial Arts
Kata and forms
Quotes
the maximum or the highest efficient use of mental and physical energy directed to that aim
This harmony can only be attained and retained by mutual aid and concession, leading to mutual welfare and benefit.
Judo in its fuller sense is a study and method in training of mind and body as in the regulation of life and affairs.