History of Nanka Judo Yudanshakai

Kodokan to  

AN EARLY HISTORY OF NANKA JUDO YUDANSHAKAI

The first Kodokan dojo in Southern California was the Rafu Dojo, which was established in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles in 1915 by Tokugoro Ito. By 1917, there were still only two dojos in Southern California.  The name Rafu comng from the Japanese way of saying L.A.

Between 1920 and 1935, there were over 40,000 Japanese living in the LA area, with the majority living within three miles of Little Tokyo, a suburb which became the cultural hub for the Los Angeles Japanese diaspora.

At the end of the 1920s, there were eight dojos in the Los Angeles area. The Head Instructors of these clubs met and agreed that Judo would grow more effectively through the existence of an overseeing entity and so the Nanka Yudanshakai (Southern California Judo Black Belt Association) was organized during the winter of 1928-1929. Its purpose was to facilitate harmony, friendship, and so on via tournaments, and it also standardized promotions. A year later ten of the head instructors in LA wrote a joint letter to the Kodokan in Tokyo seek permission to visit and  approval to visit Kano-sensei. Those senseis traveled to Japan and managed to meet Master Kano, despite the financial hardships of such an endeavor, to obtain approval to establish a Yudanshakai branch of the Kodokan in Los Angeles.

In the spring of 1930, Master Kano approved the establishment of the Kodokan Nanka Yudanshakai, on three conditions: to cooperate with friendship between all dojos, to enhance the art and teaching of judo, and to spread the teachings to anyone who wanted to learn the sport.

After the formal establishment of the Kodokan Nanka Yudanshakai, many dojos began to open, especially at Japanese community centers all across California. In 1932, Master Kano came to Los Angeles for the Olympic Games, and decided to inspect all the dojos established throughout California. During his stay, Master Kano made continuous efforts to implement an official judo structure related to the Kodokan. The government of the Nanka Yudanshakai was reorganized at the direction of Master Kano while he was visiting as well, and four other Yudanshakais were formed in total: Southern California, Northern California, Seattle, and Hawai’i.

There were 26 dojos in Southern California by the time WWII started, with 422 black belts and around 2,000 students. Despite the atrocities of the war, judo continued to flourish even in relocation camps such as Manzanar, Heart Mountain, Post Gila River, and Rule Lake. Although many other judo clubs ceased operations during the war years, Seinan Dojo kept its doors open. Jack Sirgel, the head instructor at the time, visited the Manzanar relocation camp for his students. Even throughout the war, the spirit of judo lived on.

 History of Nanka Judo by Hayward Nishioka

Judo was established at the Yamato building around 1917 because in 1915 the Japanese Consulate was established in Little Tokyo/LA and thereby created the Japanese Children Home, the first Japanese Hospital, Maryknoll Mission, the Yamato Community Center, etc.  This dojo was known as Rafu Judo Dojo, with Head Instructor Tokugoro Ito, as head instructor.  My grandfather learned judo from Ito sensei for years at that location, and then transfer to another dojo that Ito sensei established in the McArthur Park/Westlake area, since it was closer to my grandfather place of residents (Uptown District of LA, now known as Korean Town).

In the mid 1920-35, there were over 40,000 Japanese living in the LA area.  Majority of the Japanese lived within three miles of Little Tokyo and there were several thousand families living in outlying areas as farmers and in agriculture business.  Not only in the LA County area but Orange County, San Bernardino as well as Central and Northern California.  My dad was a picker at a farmer in French Camp, south of Stockton, and he was a member of the Stockton Judo club in the 1931-40s.  During this period, an increasing number of Nisei made its impact on judo.

In 1929, there were eight dojos and judo spread statewide in all communities as well as the  number of black belts.

There was a meeting with the judo instructors, and they decided to unite and try to establish a group for judo.  In 1929, ten of the LA Head Judo instructors jointly wrote letters to the Kodokan, and subsequently received approval to visit Kano sensei. Thereafter,  the senseis traveled to Japan and actually met Master Kano.  (Remember in the old days, you had to FIRST meet a lower rank person, and then another and another BEFORE you are able to see Kano sensei.)  This must have been a financial hardship for the sensei, since most of them were gardeners or farm workers.

The purpose of this meeting was to obtain approval to establish a Yudansha-Kai branch of Kodokan in LA.  The ten instructors were Tasuke Hagio (my instructor), Raitaro Hagio, Yamauchi, Yasutaro Matsuur, Yamasa, Murakami (San Fernando dojo) , Iida, Matsutaro Nita, Kiro Nagano and Riyuji Tatsamo.

In March of 1930, Kano sensei approved the establishment of a Yudansha-kai in the Los Angeles area, on the condition that all the Yudansha:

1. Cooperate with friendship between ALL dojos.
2. Enhance the art and teaching of judo
3. Spread the teaching of anyone who wanted to learn the sport of judo.

15 Head Instructors met at the Yamato Building in Little Tokyo and established the KODOKAN NANKA JUDO YUDANSHA-KAI.  Yasutaro Matsuura of Seinen Dojo was the first President of Nanka.

Throughout the years, the “Nanka Judo Yudanshakai” name was changed, due to politics and personal conflict reasons .

After the Yudanshakai establishment, many dojos begin to open, especially at Japanese Community Center across California.  That is the reason why there were numerous pictures with Master Kano at various dojos in 1932.  Kano sensei came for the Olympics BUT he also wanted to inspect all the dojos established by various Yudanshakai, including Central California and Seattle.