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Dr. Jigoro Kano (嘉納 治五郎 Kanō Jigorō, 1860 in Kobe, Japan - 1938) is the founder of Judo.

Jigoro Kano was born to a family that operated a small sake brewery. Never physically strong, he suffered from various illnesses as a child and was constantly bullied. He tried to learn jujutsu to get even, but was opposed by his parents who feared he could be seriously injured. His parents instead had him study rigorously and in 1877, Kano enrolled in Imperial University. Away from his parents, he finally started learning jujutsu. He studied two different jujutsu styles each focusing on different aspects of fighting techniques.

In 1882, Kano founded Kodokan Judo. His system of martial arts (judo) all but replaced its parent art of jujutsu in Japan. Kano also successfully introduced judo into the Japanese school system. Also a member of the International Olympic Committee for Japan, Kano believed in the Games as a way to bring countries together. When World War II was imminent, he lobbied for having the 1940 Olympic Games organized in Japan. This finally happened in 1964, after his death, when the Games were held in Tokyo. For this occasion, Judo became an Olympic discipline, which raised a controversy in the Judo world. Indeed, Kano had always been opposed to organized competition in Judo, for he believed it would taint the non-opposition spirit of his art.

Kano allegedly died of pneumonia in 1938, aboard the SS Hikawa Maru after attending an IOC conference, promoting Judo as an Olympic sport. There is, however, growing evidence that he died actually of food poisoning. In the historical context, Japan was engaging in World War II, and the government had plans to turn the Kodokan into a military academy. Kano was outspoken in his opposition to this and he stated that there was no place for militarism in the Kodokan. After his death, a few weeks later, the Kodokan was indeed a military academy.

References

Two articles written by Kano are hosted at the International Judo Information Site:

• Jujutsu Becomes Judo
• Jujutsu

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