MURATA Naoki, Hachidan, Kodokan Library

Guess this was missed somehow; the passing of MURATA Naoki (71), the curator of the Kodokan Judo Museum and Library on April 9, 2020 (https://www.ijf.org/news/show/murata-naoki-passed-away). I met him in March 2002 while visiting my son in Japan, stationed at Atsugi NAS in the Navy, and we talked about him remembering Kotani sensei telling him of the SAC-ARDS classes back in the 1950’s and 60’s. While Naoki was too young at that time he remembered how fond Kotani sensei was of us American Judoka.