Pacific Northwest Judo: The Seattle Dojo, 1924-1953
by Joseph R. Svinth
far above Mount
Rainier above the
clear summer sky the
high plane of heaven
--Richard Hayes
© 1999, used by permission
 n 1924 the Seattle judo club known as the Seattle
Dojo merged with the parent organization of the Seattle
Asahi and Mikado baseball clubs, and the amalgamation
was called the Nippon Athletic Club. Although the young
men in the Nippon Athletic Club soon fragmented into
bitterly rival groups known as the Nippons and the Taiyos,
the Issei (first generation Japanese immigrant) men who
supervised these clubs cared more about shaping the
character of the Nisei (American-born children of the
Issei) than winning or losing games.
The reason, said Kenkichi Sawai, the Seattle branch
manager of the Japanese steamship company NYK, was that
the second generation seemed "contented with an easy
life. Instead they must be ambitious, and try hard
whatever profession they choose." Sports--and especially
Japanese sports like judo and kendo--were seen as useful
tools for teaching this ambition and drive. As University
of Washington sociology student Frank Miyamoto wrote in
his 1939 master's thesis:
a primary function of these sports is a disciplining
of the will. The recent enthusiasm shown among the
second-generation Japanese in these sports is undoubtedly
in large part a reflection of the enthusiasm shown by
their parents, for the latter see in these sports a
means of giving their sons a form of discipline which
they feel is lacking in America.
So by the late 1920s most of the club's approximately
100 members were second generation. A photo taken during
late 1927 or early 1928 shows the club in the basement
of the Tacoma Hotel at 822 Jackson. Hiroshi Kurosaka,
third dan ("third degree black belt"), was head instructor.
The mat was canvas, as the Seattle Dojo did not buy
rice straw tatami until the summer of 1934. Of
this era, Tad Kuniyuki, one of the youths shown in that
photograph, later recalled:
Mr. Kurosaka was the best judo instructor for the
young students because he taught each of the students
the name of the waza (technique) and why the waza
worked when applied properly (the laws of physics)
and also how to counter it. He also started the use
of colored belts for the young teenagers and younger
so they would have a higher belt to work for before
getting a brown belt.
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