Isao Inokuma

Background

Isao Inokuma was born on February 4, 1938, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. He began practicing judo at the age of fifteen, developing in the postwar Japanese environment in which Kodokan judo was being rebuilt as both a school subject and an international competitive sport.

Inokuma studied at the Tokyo University of Education, the institution now associated with the University of Tsukuba. While still a student, he won the All-Japan Judo Championships in 1959 at the age of twenty-one, becoming the first student competitor to win the title. He won the championship again in 1963.

Education

Inokuma entered the Tokyo University of Education, where he combined higher education with intensive judo competition. The university had inherited the tradition of Japan's teacher-training and physical-education institutions, and its athletic programs were connected with the development of modern sports education in Japan.

His student career culminated in his 1959 All-Japan championship victory. The education and training he received there preceded his later work as a university instructor and coach.

Career

Inokuma won the All-Japan Judo Championships in 1959 and 1963. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, he won the men's heavyweight division, then the heaviest Olympic weight category apart from the open category. In the semifinal he defeated Akio Kaminaga's teammate? No. Inokuma defeated Soviet competitor Parnaoz Chikhladze in the semifinal and won the final against Canada's Doug Rogers, receiving the decision after a cautious match. His Olympic victory made him one of the central figures of Japan's judo success at the first Olympic Games held in Tokyo.

In 1965, Inokuma won the heavyweight division at the World Judo Championships. He also entered the open-weight competition, although he did not face Dutch champion Anton Geesink because Geesink competed in the heavyweight division. Inokuma retired from competition shortly afterward, citing a loss of motivation.

After graduating, Inokuma became a judo instructor at Juntendo University and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. In 1966 he left his position with the police to join Tokai Construction as an executive. Tokai Construction was a Japanese building and civil-engineering company whose business included public works and projects connected with Tokai University. Inokuma became its representative director and chief executive officer in 1993.

Inokuma continued his involvement in judo as an adviser to the International Judo Federation and as an instructor at Tokai University. At Tokai, he coached athletes including Yasuhiro Yamashita, who later won Olympic gold in the 1984 open-weight division. Inokuma died in Tokyo on September 28, 2001, during a period of severe financial difficulty at Tokai Construction.

Achievements

• Inokuma won the All-Japan Judo Championships in 1959 at the age of twenty-one, becoming the first student competitor to win the title.

• He won the All-Japan Judo Championships again in 1963, confirming his position among Japan's leading heavyweight judoka.

• He won the men's heavyweight gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, Japan's home Olympics and the first Games to include judo as an Olympic sport.

• He won the heavyweight division at the 1965 World Judo Championships and retired from international competition shortly afterward.

• As a coach and instructor, Inokuma helped develop later Japanese judoka, including Yasuhiro Yamashita, who won Olympic gold in 1984.

Works

More photos

• judo manual

  • Best Judo

    (Co-written with Nobuyuki Sato, this illustrated manual ex...)

    1979

  • Judo

    (A revised Japanese edition in the Kodansha Sports Series ...)

    1979

  • Youth Judo Introduction

    (Co-written with Toshiaki Hashimoto, this instructional wo...)

    1982

  • Judo: From Introduction to Anti-Giant Tactics

    (A Japanese instructional book presenting judo techniques ...)

    1973

• judo training manual

  • Weight Training for Championship Judo

    (Co-written with Donn F. Draeger, this manual addressed ph...)

    1966

Views

Inokuma's published judo writing presented the sport as a disciplined practice requiring technical precision, physical preparation, training, and fighting spirit. His manuals combined explanations of throwing, grappling, combinations, and conditioning with practical instruction for developing competitive judo.

Personality

Physical Characteristics: Olympedia recorded Inokuma's height as 173 centimeters and weight as 88 kilograms.

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  Judo

Connections

Inokuma's principal documented sporting connections included his rivalry with Akio Kaminaga and his Olympic final against Doug Rogers. His coaching work at Tokai University also connected him with Yasuhiro Yamashita, whom he trained before Yamashita became an Olympic champion.

rival:

Akio Kaminaga

Inokuma and Kaminaga were prominent Japanese heavyweight judoka and rivals during the period leading to the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Friend:

Doug Rogers

Rogers was Inokuma's opponent in the 1964 Olympic heavyweight final and won Canada's first Olympic judo medal.

Collegue :

Yasuhiro Yamashita

Yamashita trained under Inokuma at Tokai University before becoming an Olympic and world judo champion.

References

• Olympedia: Isao Inokuma Documents Inokuma's birth and death, Olympic participation, heavyweight gold medal, sex, height, and weight.
• University of Tsukuba Olympic and Paralympic Archive Identifies Inokuma among the Olympic medalists associated with the Tokyo University of Education and its institutional successor.
• CiNii Books author record: Isao Inokuma Documents Inokuma's authorship and co-authorship of Japanese and English judo books, including Best Judo, Judo, Youth Judo Introduction, and Weight Training for Championship Judo.
• WorldCat: Best Judo Documents Best Judo as a book by Isao Inokuma and Nobuyuki Sato, published by Kodansha International in 1979.
  1979
• Teikoku Databank: Tokai Construction Documents Inokuma's role as representative director of Tokai Construction from 1993 and the company's financial collapse after his death in 2001.
  2001