James H Takemori Inducted 2015 James H. Takemori wrote the following about his judo experiences. In 1937 at the age of 11, I had my first taste of judo in the small town of Parlier, California. My sensei was a Buddhist reverend. When I first started practicing ukemi...

Kayla Harrison Inducted 2015 Kayla Harrison made history at the 2012 Olympics in London by winning the first Gold Medal by any American (man or woman) in the history of the sport of judo. Her victory marks another step in a career characterized by success at the...

Kyu Ha Kim Inducted 1994 Kyu Ha Kim began his martial arts training in his home village at the age of five; his first teacher was his elder half-brother, Kyu Tae Kim. At fifteen, Kyu Ha Km entered Tae Jon High School and began formal martial arts training under Han...

Hideo Hama Inducted 1993 Tak Mizuta wrote: The following are anecdotal incidents regarding Sensei Hama. During the mid and late 1930s, I practiced judo at the Yakima (Wapato, Washington) Dojo. Sensei Hama occasionallly dropped in to our practices. I remember him...

Jim Onchi Inducted 1994 In 1932 Jim met and attended a Judo clinic that Japan’s Judo founder, Professor Jigoro Kano, presented when he came to Portland. This must have been a pivotal time for Jim to meet and train directly from the founder of Judo and to learn his...

Eichi Koiwai Inducted 1993 Eichi Karl Koiwai, M.D. (February 21, 1920 – February 23, 2009) was the president of the United States Judo Federation (USJF) in 1973 and 1974 and the chairman of the United States Olympic Committee in 1973. Koiwai was the chairman of the...