Yamashita Yoshitsugu
Yamashita Yoshitsugu | |
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Complete license | |
Notable students | Theodore Roosevelt; Imperial Japanese Naval Academy; Tokyo Imperial University; US Naval Academy; Tokyo Municipal Police |
Yamashita Yoshitsugu (山下 義韶, February 16, 1865 – October 26, 1935), also known as Yamashita Yoshiaki, was a Japanese
Biography
Early years
Yamashita was born in
He was a member of the Kodokan team that competed with
A notoriously violent man, Yamashita was known for his many
Introducing judo to America
In February 1902, Seattle-based railroad executive 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."[9] Hill spoke to a Japanese American business associate, Masajiro Furuya,[10] 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.[11] 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.[12]
The ship carrying the Yamashita party docked in Seattle on October 8, 1903.
Soon after arriving in the
Roosevelt, concerned that the United States would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, began to advocate for jujutsu training for American soldiers.
Later life
At the end of the 1906 academic year, Yamashita left the United States for Japan.[28] On July 24, 1906, he participated in a conference in Kyoto 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 Tokyo Higher Normal School (東京高等師範学校, Tōkyō Kōtō Shihan Gakkō).[7] In this capacity, he often attended judo tournaments and exhibitions.[29] 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.[30]
An example of Yamashita's teaching method is the advice:[31]
Always try to think of improvement, and don't think that you are too good. The latter is very easy to do while learning judo.
Yamashita's last major public appearance was probably the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the
One of the Imperial Princes was present and the
Prime Minister and the Minister of Education delivered a long oration. All the famous Judo men were there and there was a rather touching scene when Mr. Yamashita, the oldest pupil, came forward. He has lost his voice with advancing years and another man had to read his speech for him, but as he stood facing Prof. Kano I could not help thinking of the long years that these two men, now so old, had struggled to make Judo popular, and what a wonderful day it must be to them to have lived to see such an amazing achievement. Famous men demonstrated beautiful Kata when the speeches were over and Prof. Kano had dedicated three trees to his three teachers, and comic relief was provided by a match between me and [Kaichiro] Samura,[33]who was good enough to get the worst of it.
His ultimate promotion to 10th dan was posthumous.[33]
References
- ^ a b c Tomita, Tsuneo (November 1962). "Histoire du Judo," Revue Judo Kodokan, v. 12:5.
- ^ Sol, Kim. "Part 8: Kodokan Becomes an Organization." bstkd.com
- ^ a b Yamashita, Yoshiaki (October 1929). First Match of the Battle. King magazine, Dai Nihon Yubenaiko Kodansha.
- ^ Abel, Laszlo (December 1984). "The Meiji Period Police Bujutsu Competitions: Judo versus Jujutsu," JMAS Newsletter, v. 2:3, pp. 10–14.
- ^ Muromoto, Wayne. "Judo's Decisive Battle: Great Tournament between Kodokan Judo's Four Heavenly Lords and the Jujutsu Masters." Furyu, v. 3.
- ^ Tomita, Tsuneo (1955). The era of Sanshiro Sugata. Haruhodo.
- ^ a b c d Svinth, Joseph R. (October 2000) "Professor Yamashita Goes to Washington". Journal of Combative Sports.
- ^ Maruyama, Sanzo (1939). Great Japan Judo History. Keisatsu Kyokai.
- ISBN 0917304772.
- ^ Iwamoto, Gary (September 6, 2005), "Rise & Fall of an Empire", International Examiner.
- ^ Letter from Sam Hill to Y. Yamashita dated July 21, 1903, in Maryhill Museum of Art collection.
- ^ Letter from Y. Yamashita to Sam Hill dated August 26, 1903, in Maryhill Museum of Art collection.
- ^ "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival," SS Shinano Maru, October 8, 1903, in National Archives and Records Administration microfilm roll M1383, "Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Seattle, Washington, 1890–1957," Roll 2 (April 17, 1900, SS GOODWIN – January 17, 1904, SS TOSA MARU).
- ^ Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 25, 1903.
- ^ Roosevelt, Theodore (1919). Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children. Joseph Bucklin Bishop, ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 113–114.
- ISBN 1556435630.
- ^ New York World, October 26, 1902.
- ^ Anonymous (August 27, 1927). "Training the Helpless Flapper to Fight Her Own Battles". Literary Digest, p. 47.
- ^ Earns, Lane. "Nagasaki Kyoruchi no Seiyojin (Westerners of the Nagasaki Foreign Settlement)". University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
- ^ New York Sun, p. 2, April 17, 1904.
- Sandow's Magazine. December 7, 1905, with annotations by Joseph R. Svinth. [1] Despite what one sometimes reads,[2] Grace Davis Lee was not related to General Robert E. Lee. Photographs of Yamashita, his wife, Kawaguchi, and some of their students can be viewed online; see Yoshiaki Yamashita Photograph Album (PH 006). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.[3].
- ISBN 9781479807291.
- .
- ^ Army and Navy Journal, March 25, 1905.
- ISBN 1557501432.
- ^ Memorandum from Charles J. Bonaparte, Secretary of the Navy, to Chief, Bureau of Navigation, dated November 3, 1905, in US Naval Academy archives.
- ^ Letter from Superintendent of Naval Academy to Chief of Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, dated May 4, 1906, in US Naval Academy Archives.
- ^ Letter from Imperial Japanese Embassy to the Bureau of Navigation, The Navy Department, dated December 19, 1906, in US Naval Academy archives.
- ^ For a description of such an event in Kobe in 1925, see O'Neill, Frank (November 1925). "The Brown Man in the Field of Sports," The Ring. p. 19.
- ^ Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Administrative Division, Planning Section, Ed. Torite no kata – Keishicho Judo Kihon (警視庁柔道基本 – 捕手の形). Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Agency, 1926.[4]
- ^ "Do's and Don'ts in Learning Judo by Yoshiaki Yamashita". JudoInfo.com
- ^ Letter from Sarah Mayer to Gunji Koizumi dated 27 November 1934, [5]
- ^ a b Ohlenkamp, Neil. "Profiles of Kodokan 10th Dan Holders." judoinfo.com. Last modified 7 January 2006. Retrieved on 10 April 2007.
Video footage
- Koshiki no kata Yoshitsugu Yamashita with Jigoro Kano