Ryozo Nakamura
Ryozo Nakamura Inducted 1993 Ryozo Nakamura immigrated to the United States as an adult from Japan, in order to share his knowledge with the U.S. National Judo Team. It was in the States that he married and began his family. Ohio Judo's Hall of Fame has a posting of...
Toshitaka Yamauchi
photo of Toshitaka Yamauchi from the West Clovis Dojo site Toshitaka Yamauchi Inducted 1993 Clovis Judo Club was started in the spring of 1956 by Professor Toshitaka Yamauchi, 7th Degree Black Belt from Japan (Later promoted to 8th Degree Black Belt). He started the...
Phil Porter
photo source: http://wwmaa.org/phil-porter/ Phil Porter Inducted 1993 Philip S. Porter began his Martial Arts career as a boxer in 1943 at age 18. He was later a member of the West Point Boxing Team; and in 1950, Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the Western Area...
Seigoro Murakami
Seigo Murakami Inducted 1993 Seigoro Murakami established the first dojo in the San Fernando Valley of Southern Calfornia in 1921. source: Wikipedia In 2002 the fiftieth anniversary was celebrated with a book of USJF history. In it were a number of biographies....
Toshiaki Inouye
Toshiaki Inouye Inducted 1994 Inouye Sensei was born on March 9, 1925, in Hilo, Hawaii. His lifelong pursuit of Judo began at the age of 9 in 1934. He received the rank of Shodan on November 10, 1941 at the age 16. On April 5, 1994, he was inducted into the US Judo...
Yasuyuki Sakabe
Yasuyuki Sakabe Inducted 1993 from the archive – a program from 1978 PROFESSOR YASUYUKI SAKABE The Judo Black Belt Association of Hawaii dedicates the 1978 National Championships to PROFESSOR YASUYUKI SAKABE. A distinguished international judoka, Professor Yasuyuki...
Sam Hamai
Sam Hamai Inducted 1994 On January 27, 1994, the Judo community lost one of its leaders when Isamu (Sam) Hamai passed away at the age of 72 at his home in Palo Alto, California. Hamai Sensei was survived his wife Emiko, son Harold and wife Laura, and his two...
Mits Kimura
Mits Kimura Inducted 1993 Mitsuho Kimura was born in San Francisco in 1916. He was oldest of 8 children. About 1931, the family moved to the San Gabriel valley, in Southern California, and a few years later, Kimura graduated from El Monte High School, where he...
Takahiko Ishikawa
Takahiko Ishikawa Inducted 1993 Memories of My Sensei Takahiko Ishikawa, 9th Dan by Harold (Hal) E. Sharp I would like to share some of my experiences with you about my Sensei and dear friend, Takahiko Ishikawa, 9th Dan, who passed away at the age of 91 in June, 2008....
Vince Tamura
Vince Tamura Inducted 1994 Vince Tamura was born in Fife, Washington, one of eleven children. It was there in a Japanese-American community, that he first became interested in Judo. At the age of five, Vince stepped on Judo mat for the first time. After residing...