Kyuzo Mifune

KYUZO MIFUNE was born in 1883 in Iwate prefecture, and Mifune began practicing Judo in his junior middle-school days. He joined the Kodokan in 1903 when he came to Tokyo to attend Waseda University, and became the close disciple of Jigoro Kano, the father of Judo and founder of the Kodokan. From 1910, he was a Judo instructor at a number of universities, high schools, and junior high schools. In 1923 he acquired the rank of 7th dan, and became a Kodokan instructor. In 1945 he was awarded 10th...See more

KYUZO MIFUNE was born in 1883 in Iwate prefecture, and Mifune began practicing Judo in his junior middle-school days. He joined the Kodokan in 1903 when he came to Tokyo to attend Waseda University, and became the close disciple of Jigoro Kano, the father of Judo and founder of the Kodokan. From 1910, he was a Judo instructor at a number of universities, high schools, and junior high schools. In 1923 he acquired the rank of 7th dan, and became a Kodokan instructor. In 1945 he was awarded 10th dan at the age of sixty-two. He was not physically imposing (159 cm tall and 56 kg), but he made up for that with his persistent hard training and logical, scientific approach to Judo. After developing many new Judo techniques and variations, he came to be known as the "God of Judo." He passed away in 1965 at the age of eighty-two. At his hometown, Kuji, a Memorial Gymnasium was erected in his honor, called the Mifunejudan. FRANCOISE WHITE, received a first class degree in Japanese from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and also studied at Sophia University, Tokyo. She has a keen interest in martial arts and Japanese culture, and currently works as a translator of Japanese in London. See less