Education
Masaki began judo during elementary school, and graduated from Tenri Highschool and Tenri University, where he was awarded as an outstanding competitor at the All-Japan Collegiate Judo Championships four times.
正木 嘉美
Masaki began judo during elementary school, and graduated from Tenri Highschool and Tenri University, where he was awarded as an outstanding competitor at the All-Japan Collegiate Judo Championships four times.
Masaki continued to work and train at the university after graduating, but was unable to gain a spot on the Japanese national judo team as the third-string competitor behind Yasuhiro Yamashita and Hitoshi Saito. However, when Saito entered in both the +95 kg and Open weight categories of the 1985 World Judo Championships, he was severely injured in the final of the +95 kg competition, forcing him to give up his spot in the Open weight category. Though seen as the favorite to represent Japan in the Open weight category at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Masaki was defeated by Naoya Ogawa and Hitoshi Saito in qualification tournaments and did not make an appearance at the Olympics.
Masaki has continued to work for Tenri University after retiring, both as a judo instructor and a professor in sports science.
He has also worked as an instructor for the All-Japan Judo Federation.