Martial arts, schools and sport

Judo: throws, groundwork and learning with a partner

Kanō Jigorō: judo, education and the Olympics

Kanō Jigorō (1860–1938) founded Kodokan judo and worked extensively in teacher education and sports administration. His projects linked physical training, personal development and contribution to society, while bringing Japan into the modern Olympic movement.

The Kodokan: teaching, technique and organisation

A judo teaching institution founded in Tokyo by Jigoro Kano in 1882, responsible for instruction, research, technical organisation, grades and preservation. Its buildings serve these activities.

Kendō: equipment, practice and a valid strike

Kendō is a modern Japanese martial art practised with bamboo swords called shinai and protective equipment, alongside paired forms using wooden swords. In competition, a scoring strike must meet defined technical criteria; contact with armour alone is not enough.

Seiza: a posture, a name and a setting

Seiza today usually means kneeling with the lower legs behind the body and the hips resting near the heels. It appears in etiquette and some traditional arts, alongside other ways of sitting.

Bukatsu: school clubs beyond the classroom

Iaido: drawing the sword, kata and schools

A martial way based on handling the Japanese sword through prescribed kata in imagined encounters, including drawing, using and resheathing the sword, with attention to etiquette and sustained awareness.

Kyūdō: the actions around a shot

Kyūdō is Japanese archery practised as a martial discipline. Training joins the shot to posture, breathing, movement and etiquette. Competitions, grading examinations and the teachings of different schools give it several overlapping settings.

Karate: Okinawan roots, forms and modern competition

Karate developed in Okinawa through unarmed techniques, set forms and partnered practice. It spread through schools, dōjō and instructor networks, with different lineages and competition rules.

Okinawan kobudō: weapons, kata and multiple lineages

Aikido: changing roles in paired practice

Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba. Its training uses body movement, balance-breaking, throws and controls. Practitioners learn through paired practice, while some organisations also hold regulated competitions.

Tokyo 1964: competition, city and broadcasting

Tokyo hosted the eighteenth Summer Olympic Games from 10 to 24 October 1964, with some competitions held in other prefectures. The event combined international sport with preparations in transport, architecture, visual design and broadcasting.

Japan’s school system: nine compulsory years and several onward routes

Six years of elementary school and three of lower secondary form Japan’s usual compulsory stages. The familiar 6–3–3–4 outline adds three years of upper secondary and a typical four-year bachelor’s degree, but integrated schools, support provision and vocational routes make the full system more varied.