Yamashita Yoshiaki
Encyclopedia
Yamashita Yoshitsugu was the first person to have been awarded 10th degree red belt (jūdan
) rank in Kodokan
judo
. He was also a pioneer of judo in the United States.
, Japan. His father was of the samurai
class. As a boy, Yamashita trained in the traditional (koryū
) Japanese martial arts
schools of Yōshin-ryū and Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū
jujutsu
. In August 1884, he joined the Kodokan judo dojo
of Kano Jigoro
(嘉納 治五郎 Kanō Jigorō, 1860–1938), as its nineteenth member. He advanced to first degree black belt (shodan
) rank in three months, fourth degree (yondan) ranking in two years, and sixth degree (rokudan) in fourteen years. He was a member of the Kodokan team that competed with Tokyo Metropolitan Police jujutsu teams during the mid-1880s, and during the 1890s, his jobs included teaching judo at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy
and Tokyo Imperial University (modern University of Tokyo
).
began to develop judo
from jiu-jitsu
, his efforts were met with fierce opposition from jiu-jitsu practitioners. However, Kano drew a loyal following that included exceptional fighters. Hence the term "Four Guardians of Kōdōkan" came into existence, referring to Yamashita Yoshiaki along with Tsunejiro Tomita
, Yokoyama Sakujiro
, and Saigō Shirō.
In February 1902, a Seattle-based railroad executive named Samuel Hill
decided that his 9-year-old son, James Nathan, should learn judo, which he had apparently seen or heard about while on a business trip to Japan. In Hill's words, the idea was for the boy to learn "the ideals of the Samurai class, for that class of men is a noble, high-minded class. They look beyond the modern commercial
spirit." Hill spoke to a Japanese American
business associate, Masajiro Furuya, for advice. Furuya referred Hill to Kazuyoshi Shibata, who was a student at Yale University
. Shibata told Hill about Yamashita, and on July 21, 1903, Hill wrote a letter to Yamashita, asking him to come to Seattle at Hill's expense. On August 26, 1903, Yamashita replied, writing that he, his wife, and one of his students (Saburo Kawaguchi) would leave for Seattle on September 22, 1903.
The ship carrying the Yamashita party docked in Seattle on October 8, 1903. A week later, on October 17, 1903, Yamashita and Kawaguchi gave a judo exhibition at a Seattle theater that Hill had rented for the evening. Attendance was by invitation only, and guests included Sam Hill's mother-in-law, Mary Hill (wife of railroader J.J. Hill
), Senator
Russell Alger, and assorted Sportswriters. Afterwards, Hill took the Yamashita party east to Washington, D.C.
, where Mrs. Hill and young James Nathan were then living. Meanwhile, the favorable publicity surrounding the event caused Japanese Americans living in Seattle to start their own judo club, known as the Seattle Dojo
.
Soon after arriving in the District of Columbia, Yamashita visited the Japanese Legation
, and in March 1904, the Japanese naval attaché
, Commander Takeshita Isamu
, took Yamashita to the White House
to meet President Theodore Roosevelt
. Roosevelt practiced wrestling
and boxing
while in the White House, and he had received jujutsu jackets
from William Sturgis Bigelow
and jujutsu lessons from J. J. O'Brien, a Philadelphia police officer who had studied jujutsu while living in Nagasaki. Roosevelt was impressed with Yamashita's skill, and during March and April 1904, Yamashita gave judo lessons to the President and interested family and staff in a room at the White House. Subsequently, at other locations, Yamashita and his wife Fude gave lessons to prominent American women, to include Martha Blow Wadsworth (sister of Kindergarten
pioneer Susan Blow
), Hallie Elkins (wife of Senator
Stephen Benton Elkins
), and Grace Davis Lee (Hallie Elkins' sister), and their children.
In January 1905, Yamashita got a job teaching judo at the U.S. Naval Academy. There were about 25 students in his class, including a future admiral, Robert L. Ghormley
. The position ended at the end of the school term, and Yamashita was not rehired for the following year. When President Roosevelt heard of this, he spoke to the Secretary of the Navy
, who in turn told the Superintendent of the Naval Academy
to rehire Yamashita. Consequently, Yamashita's judo was taught at the Naval Academy throughout the first six months of 1906.
that had been called for the purpose of standardizing judo forms (kata
) that could be taught in Japanese public schools.
From the 1910s to the 1930s, Yamashita worked as a judo teacher at . In this capacity, he often attended judo tournaments and exhibitions. He also taught judo to the Tokyo Municipal Police. Thus, from September 1924 to April 1926, Yamashita was part of a committee that developed a new kata for Japanese police.
An example of Yamashita's teaching method is the advice:
Yamashita's last major public appearance was probably the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Kodokan, an event which took place in November 1934. British judoka Sarah Mayer described Yamashita's participation as follows:
His ultimate promotion to 10th dan was posthumous.
Dan rank
The ranking system is a Japanese mark of level, which is used in modern fine arts and martial arts. Originally invented in a Go school in the Edo period, this system was applied to martial arts by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo and later introduced to other East Asia countries.In the modern...
) rank in Kodokan
Kodokan
, or the Kodokan Institute, is the headquarters of the worldwide judo community. Literally, kō means "to lecture" or "to spread information," dō means "the way," and kan is "a public building or hall," together translating roughly as "a place for the study or promotion of the way." The Kodokan was...
judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
. He was also a pioneer of judo in the United States.
Early years
Yamashita was born in Kanazawa, IshikawaKanazawa, Ishikawa
is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.-Geography, climate, and population:Kanazawa sits on the Sea of Japan, bordered by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. The city sits between the Sai and Asano rivers. Its total area is 467.77 km².Kanazawa's...
, Japan. His father was of the samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
class. As a boy, Yamashita trained in the traditional (koryū
Koryu
is a Japanese word that is used in association with the ancient Japanese martial arts. This word literally translates as "old school" or "traditional school"...
) Japanese martial arts
Japanese martial arts
Japanese martial arts refers to the enormous variety of martial arts native to Japan. At least three Japanese terms are often used interchangeably with the English phrase "Japanese martial arts": , literally meaning "martial way", , which has no perfect translation but means something like science,...
schools of Yōshin-ryū and Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū
Tenjin Shinyo-ryu
, literally meaning "Divine True Willow School", can be classified as a traditional school of jujutsu. It was founded by Iso Mataemon Minamoto no Masatari in the 1830s...
jujutsu
Jujutsu
Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....
. In August 1884, he joined the Kodokan judo dojo
Dojo
A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...
of Kano Jigoro
Kano Jigoro
was the founder of judo. Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the...
(嘉納 治五郎 Kanō Jigorō, 1860–1938), as its nineteenth member. He advanced to first degree black belt (shodan
Shodan
, literally meaning "beginning degree," is the lowest black belt rank in Japanese martial arts and the game of Go. The 2nd dan is higher than Shodan, but the 1st dan is called Shodan traditionally and the 1st dan is not called "Ichidan"...
) rank in three months, fourth degree (yondan) ranking in two years, and sixth degree (rokudan) in fourteen years. He was a member of the Kodokan team that competed with Tokyo Metropolitan Police jujutsu teams during the mid-1880s, and during the 1890s, his jobs included teaching judo at the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy
Imperial Japanese Naval Academy
The was a school established to train officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888...
and Tokyo Imperial University (modern University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
).
The Four Guardians of Kōdōkan
When Kanō JigorōKano Jigoro
was the founder of judo. Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the...
began to develop judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
from jiu-jitsu
Jujutsu
Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....
, his efforts were met with fierce opposition from jiu-jitsu practitioners. However, Kano drew a loyal following that included exceptional fighters. Hence the term "Four Guardians of Kōdōkan" came into existence, referring to Yamashita Yoshiaki along with Tsunejiro Tomita
Tsunejiro Tomita
, born , was the earliest disciple of judo. His name appears in the first line of the enrollment book of the Kōdōkan. Tomita, together with Saigō Shirō, became first in history of judo to be awarded black belt grade by the founder of judo Kanō Jigorō, who established the ranking system...
, Yokoyama Sakujiro
Yokoyama Sakujiro
, was one of the earliest disciples of Kanō Jigorō. Yokoyama was 22 when he entered the Kōdōkan dojo in April, 1886. Yokoyama further assisted Kano in establishing the Kōdōkan. He was awarded the seventh grade in October, 1904, which was the highest dan in judo at the time...
, and Saigō Shirō.
Introducing judo to America
Samuel Hill
Samuel Hill , usually known as Sam Hill, was a businessman, lawyer, railroad executive and advocate of good roads in the Pacific Northwest...
decided that his 9-year-old son, James Nathan, should learn judo, which he had apparently seen or heard about while on a business trip to Japan. In Hill's words, the idea was for the boy to learn "the ideals of the Samurai class, for that class of men is a noble, high-minded class. They look beyond the modern commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
spirit." Hill spoke to a Japanese American
Issei
Issei is a Japanese language term used in countries in North America, South America and Australia to specify the Japanese people first to immigrate. Their children born in the new country are referred to as Nisei , and their grandchildren are Sansei...
business associate, Masajiro Furuya, for advice. Furuya referred Hill to Kazuyoshi Shibata, who was a student at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. Shibata told Hill about Yamashita, and on July 21, 1903, Hill wrote a letter to Yamashita, asking him to come to Seattle at Hill's expense. On August 26, 1903, Yamashita replied, writing that he, his wife, and one of his students (Saburo Kawaguchi) would leave for Seattle on September 22, 1903.
The ship carrying the Yamashita party docked in Seattle on October 8, 1903. A week later, on October 17, 1903, Yamashita and Kawaguchi gave a judo exhibition at a Seattle theater that Hill had rented for the evening. Attendance was by invitation only, and guests included Sam Hill's mother-in-law, Mary Hill (wife of railroader J.J. Hill
James J. Hill
James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
), Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Russell Alger, and assorted Sportswriters. Afterwards, Hill took the Yamashita party east to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where Mrs. Hill and young James Nathan were then living. Meanwhile, the favorable publicity surrounding the event caused Japanese Americans living in Seattle to start their own judo club, known as the Seattle Dojo
Seattle Dojo
The Seattle Dojo is located at 1510 S. Washington in the Squire Park neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is the oldest judo dojo in the continental United States, having been founded sometime before 1907 in what is today the International District....
.
Soon after arriving in the District of Columbia, Yamashita visited the Japanese Legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
, and in March 1904, the Japanese naval attaché
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
, Commander Takeshita Isamu
Isamu Takeshita
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was also a diplomat whose accomplishments included helping end the Russo-Japanese War favorably for Japan and obtaining former German possessions in the Pacific for Japan following World War I...
, took Yamashita to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
to meet President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
. Roosevelt practiced wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
while in the White House, and he had received jujutsu jackets
Judogi
Judogi is the formal Japanese name for the traditional uniform used for Judo practice and competition. It is actually derived from traditional articles of Japanese clothing. Jigoro Kano derived the original judogi from the kimono and other Japanese garments around the turn of the 20th century, and...
from William Sturgis Bigelow
William Sturgis Bigelow
William Sturgis Bigelow was an American physician and collector of Japanese art. He was one of the first Americans to live in Japan , and to introduce the American public to Japanese art and culture...
and jujutsu lessons from J. J. O'Brien, a Philadelphia police officer who had studied jujutsu while living in Nagasaki. Roosevelt was impressed with Yamashita's skill, and during March and April 1904, Yamashita gave judo lessons to the President and interested family and staff in a room at the White House. Subsequently, at other locations, Yamashita and his wife Fude gave lessons to prominent American women, to include Martha Blow Wadsworth (sister of Kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
pioneer Susan Blow
Susan Blow
Susan Elizabeth Blow was a United States educator who opened the first successful public Kindergarten in the United States. She is known as the "Mother of Kindergarten".-Early life:The eldest of six children, Susan Blow was the daughter of Henry Taylor Blow and Minerva Grimsley...
), Hallie Elkins (wife of Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Stephen Benton Elkins
Stephen Benton Elkins
Stephen Benton Elkins was an American industrialist and political figure. He served as the Secretary of War between 1891 and 1893...
), and Grace Davis Lee (Hallie Elkins' sister), and their children.
In January 1905, Yamashita got a job teaching judo at the U.S. Naval Academy. There were about 25 students in his class, including a future admiral, Robert L. Ghormley
Robert L. Ghormley
Vice Admiral Robert Lee Ghormley was an admiral in the United States Navy, serving as Commander, South Pacific Area, during the Second World War.-Biography:...
. The position ended at the end of the school term, and Yamashita was not rehired for the following year. When President Roosevelt heard of this, he spoke to the Secretary of the Navy
Charles Joseph Bonaparte
Charles Joseph Bonaparte was an American lawyer and political activist from Maryland who served in the Cabinet of President Theodore Roosevelt. Bonaparte was Secretary of the Navy and then Attorney General. While Attorney General, he created the Bureau of Investigation...
, who in turn told the Superintendent of the Naval Academy
James H. Sands
Rear Admiral James Hoban Sands was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War and eventually became Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.-Naval career:...
to rehire Yamashita. Consequently, Yamashita's judo was taught at the Naval Academy throughout the first six months of 1906.
Later life
At the end of the 1906 academic year, Yamashita left the United States for Japan. On July 24, 1906, he participated in a conference in KyotoKyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
that had been called for the purpose of standardizing judo forms (kata
Kata
is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general....
) that could be taught in Japanese public schools.
From the 1910s to the 1930s, Yamashita worked as a judo teacher at . In this capacity, he often attended judo tournaments and exhibitions. He also taught judo to the Tokyo Municipal Police. Thus, from September 1924 to April 1926, Yamashita was part of a committee that developed a new kata for Japanese police.
An example of Yamashita's teaching method is the advice:
Yamashita's last major public appearance was probably the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Kodokan, an event which took place in November 1934. British judoka Sarah Mayer described Yamashita's participation as follows:
His ultimate promotion to 10th dan was posthumous.
Video footage
- Koshiki no kata Yoshiaki Yamashita with Jigoro Kano