WWII and Jigoro Kano

[ss29515]

I know Jigoro Kano died before WWII started, but considering that many people say he was a pacifist, I can't help but wonder what he would have thought and did during the Second World War. Just something I've always wondered about. Secondly, I've heard that the Kodokan changed during WWII. Is this true? If so, How?

thanks

[John Lindsey]

Well, it is hard to say what Judo might have been if there had not been a war. But, it seems that Judo was one of the major, if not the major, martial arts taken home by the occupation forces. Would Judo make it to the Games before Tokyo? Maybe...

[Joseph Svinth]

Judo, kyudo, and kendo were scheduled as exhibition sports for the 1940 Olympics. The Germans hoped to get judo as an actual Olympic sport, and were making much noise about this during the 1930s, but the Japanese were politely ignoring this noise, as judo, kyudo, and kendo were so uniquely Japanese that they had no real belief that any but the most unusual foreigner could hope to understand them. Thus these were being shown as cultural artifacts, rather as women's boxing was demonstrated in St. Louis in 1904 and wushu in Berlin in 1936.

On August 19, 1932, Kano told the Japan Society of Seattle that the Pacific Ocean was no longer a dividing gulf between the US and Japan. Instead, said Kano, "With the developing advancement of the lines of communication, year by year, the blue waters of the Pacific are rapidly becoming transformed into a connecting link that will eventually join us together in our common aim of world friendship and peace."

Regarding the Tokyo Olympics, in October 1936 a New York newspaper wrote: "’Exact details of the 1940 Games,’ said Dr. Kano, ’will be worked out by the organizing committee, and I can only give my personal point of view, but I believe that the Games should not be on too grandiose a scale. Everyone talks of the wonderful spirit of friendliness of the 1932 Olympic Games and that is what we hope to recapture in Tokio.’

Dr. Kano anticipates that the present Meiji Shrine Stadium will be enlarged or that a new stadium will be built. Plans are on foot for an Olympic Village and the Japanese hope to make every effort to assure the comfort of foreign visitors and to assist them to see the real Japan. It is expected that travel costs will be materially reduced by 1940."

With the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 there started to be considerable backlash against Japan holding the Olympics, both in Japan and abroad. This intensified in 1938, and while Kano returned to Japan insisting that the Games would continue with or without Japanese government support, it is my belief that Royal Brougham knew exactly what he was talking about in May 1938 when he wrote in the "Post-Intelligencer" that while doctors had a name for the disease that killed Kano on the way back to Japan, the real reason was a broken heart.

After Kano's death, his replacement at the head of the Kodokan was a retired admiral. Care to guess how this man felt about Japanese militarization?

[MarkF]

It makes one wonder just how Kano would have "butted heads" with his own government, considering how much he wanted the world to see "the real Japan." It is written that Prof. Kano was seen with tears in his eyes in LA in 1932, as he watched the parade of each country's athletes. I wonder, though, especially with the Berlin Olymoics, what he really thought of Judo in the Olympics. I know, I know, I have always said that Kano would be pleased with the world wide interest in Judo, but wondered aloud the direction of judo as a "game." But before he died (I don't know when or where), he said that there was a profound lack of technique in "contest judo" and said a return to the Kodokan style of randori should be addressed immediately. He also is known to have said that aside from the look and "feel" of judo and it's hardness and use of muscular strength, was due to a lack of qualified teachers. I was thoroughly convinced Kano may have been happy with the abundance of judo, but with that last thought, what would he have done to change it? I can't remember the year, but I remember a figure of 400,000 judoka before he died. If Kano had received his wish, what would have happened and would judo be the Olympic sport it is today? If not, what would be the direction of judo now, as seen on the international level? I can't help but think Kano would be pleased over all, as he did want to spread this into the international community. Also, besides judo, what about the effect Kano had in the overall martial arts community. The old Kodokan building was either given or sold to the Shotokan community. If not for Kano, I think much of what we see as ryu of jujutsu would not have survived, as well as the spread of the 'te arts.