Grasping (and Throwing?) Stronger Japan-US Ties: Judo Exchange in Washington D.C.
Since the early days after Judo’s establishment in the late 19th century, the Washington D.C. area has been a surprisingly fertile ground for the martial art’s influence in the US. Most famously, after being impressed by a demonstration, President Theodore Roosevelt actually took lessons from a Japanese instructor at the White House, eventually attaining a brown belt! More than a century later, and as competitors from around the world get ready for Judo’s Tokyo 2020 competition, Washington D.C. remains a key connection point, as demonstrated by a successful series of Judo exchange programs.
The most recent visit featured 17 Judo athletes from more than a dozen Tokyo-area universities, who visited the Embassy and trained with the Washington Judo Club at Georgetown University. The athletes (known as judoka) also trained at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, which is actually where President Roosevelt’s instructor Yamashita Yoshitsugu was employed all those years ago and was one of the hubs for Judo’s American re-emergence in the 1950s and ‘60s.
With that history in the air, and some of the Tokyo-based students experiencing their first overseas trip, the training sessions were a great opportunity for the judo athletes to demonstrate the strength of sporting exchange.
As the Captain of the group, Taiga Morita, explained after the visit, even though the two sides couldn’t directly communicate through language, they connected through Judo, their shared sport and passion. “I explained details of the techniques through only gestures and feeling and when I received their attacks I could tell that the American athletes truly enjoyed practicing Judo,” remarked Morita. “I was moved by their attitude. Their humble and positive attitude towards learning is something I won’t forget.”
While in Washington D.C., the University Judo Federation of Tokyo delegation also visited the Embassy, where they toured the Old Residence and Ippakutei tea house, and heard from Embassy Spokesman Takehiro Shimada and Economic Counselor Masatoshi Kawano about Japan-US ties and the role the Embassy plays in building that diplomatic relationship. “Sporting exchange is one of the most effective ways to build people-to-people ties” remarked Minister Shimada, “So it was good to talk to these young athletes about where they fit into that effort.”
Welcoming the World to Judo and Tokyo 2020
Counselor Kawano, is a judoka himself and has been a member of the Washington Judo Club since he arrived at the Embassy. He actually joined the Tokyo delegation at their training sessions led by the group’s 3-person coaching team, which included 2010 half-lightweight division World Champion Yuka Nishida. In his twin role as diplomat and athlete, Kawano has also helped to coordinate previous visits by top Judo athletes arranged by Japanese NPO Solidarity of International Judo Education(SIJE).
In the last couple of years, these visits brought elite judoka Yusuke Kumashiro and Megumi Tachimoto to the area for extended training tours, part of SIJE’s effort to spread the spirit and techniques of Judo around the world. “Judo got its start as an Olympic sport in 1964 at the Nippon Budokan, and as it returns to that venue in 2020, it is remarkable to see how high the level of competition and participation around the world has grown,” remarked Kawano. “These exchange programs have been a great chance for athletes to measure their abilities against their counterparts, which has brought a lot of excitement and energy to the DC-area Judo community.”
During her visit in 2017, Megumi Tachimoto had a chance to spar with Lori Pierce, who won the 2004 Silver Medal for the Paralympics’ adapted Judo event for visually impaired competitors, an event that will again be held during the Paralympics competition in Tokyo. Kawano remarks that “having trained with DC’s diverse Judo community, I am proud that Judo has become more inclusive, and that Tokyo 2020 will reflect that by including women’s events, the Paralympic competition, as well as the new “Mixed Team” Olympic event, which will be held for the first time.”
From the basement of President Roosevelt’s White House, to the US Naval Academy’s storied halls, to the world’s biggest sporting spectacle, Judo’s growth as a sport and a gentle philosophy has created a new cultural bridge between Japan and the United States. And as exchange programs bring more athletes from both countries into contact with each other, the benefits of these ties will be felt by more and more participants.
As Mr. Yoshihisa Komori, the 6th Dan Sensei who has been coaching Washington Judo Club for over a decade reflected, “Washington DC hosts many different types of exchange and friendship programs that have created deep and wide Japan-US ties. But I believe that out of all these great programs, Judo provides a unique experience. The physical and emotional communication that happens when athletes bow and then struggle to grasp and throw each other creates a special body-to-body language that doesn’t require words. I don’t know if there is a more effective communication tool to build true human-to-human understanding.
