Judo companies

What publicly-traded companies are major corporate supporters of, or better still... have a corporate culture deeply embedded in, judo? Whicn companies have judoka in their senior/executive management? I believe Komatsu has a significant dedication to having a judo team and providing employment for retired judoka. What other companies would be in this situation? My curiosity comes from a conversation I had with someone in the club about whether they would invest in a judo mutual fund, or companies that are heavily engaged in hiring judoka or have a judo culture.

Raj Venugopal wrote:What publicly-traded companies are major corporate supporters of, or better still... have a corporate culture deeply embedded in, judo? Whicn companies have judoka in their senior/executive management? I believe Komatsu has a significant dedication to having a judo team and providing employment for retired judoka. What other companies would be in this situation? My curiosity comes from a conversation I had with someone in the club about whether they would invest in a judo mutual fund, or companies that are heavily engaged in hiring judoka or have a judo culture.

Nippon Steel has a long tradition of employing famous jûdôka. Also Toyota Motor Corporation has a history involving jûdôka. NBK will probably know many more I am not thinking of, and I am not just referring to the movie industry ... I am not much in the business kind of things, just not my cup of tea.

I know that some of the companies CK listed are global names, but would any companies outside of Japan specifically employ judoka or invest heavily in judo?
Personally I can't see why they would.

Ssangyong used to support judo a lot before it went under. not a well known company outside of Asia, but at one time, it was a very big conglomerate. the current Korea Cup was sponsored by Ssangyong when the event was called Sungkok Cup, named after Ssangyong's founder's nom de plume.

KRA (korean (horse) racing association) is a big sponsor and also has their own judo team. it is the strongest judo team outside of Yonin Univ. lot of Yonin graduates end up there. if not the KRA, a lot of them get employed by municipal or provincial governments that have strong judo teams.

and Doosan has given money to judo development. Doosan's Chairman is former IJF prez, Park Yong Sung.

Tafftaz a number of French companies may be involved in promoting judo culture or have a hospitable corporate environment for judoka post-competition. Also, as noted elsewhere, Korean companies... maybe others....

How about public companies that have substantial equipment/gear/book manufacturing operations.

I wonder what a judo mutual fund would look like...

I know judo is strong in France but as a brit I have not heard of any companies outside of Japan supporting judo, but that is just me. Contrarian has listed Doosan, who I have heard of.
It would be interesting to know if any other large companies fund/support judo globally and not just in Asia.

Imagine what sort of companies might support judo - and don't be surprised when they are heavy equipment, construction and physical security.

BTW Doosan is a Korean maker of construction equipment. Much to the surprise of many Americans, Doosan now owns Bobcat, the Swiss Army knife of skidloaders. http://www.bobcat.com/

In Japan, there are:
Komatsu, noted for its women's team http://www.komatsu.co.jp/CompanyInfo/judo/
Alsok Security
http://www.alsok.co.jp/company/sports/judo_member.html
Asahi Kasei, a chemical company
http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/asahi/jp/sports/judo/
Mitsu Sumitomo Kaijo Insurance women's team
http://www.ms-ins.com/company/sports/judo/
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal
http://www.nssmc.com/hirohata/judo/

There is an All Japan Businessmen's Judo Association that has scores of companies as members. They organize in three tiers and have annual team competitions; many of their top players vie for top slots in Japan's Olympic and World Cup teams. Many companies you would have heard of (e.g., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, IHI, etc.) while others are small and domestic only. Some have semi-pro teams (i.e., the judoka are recruited, have jobs but primarily are in the companies to practice judo - see Komatsu, Alsok, etc.) while others are really private clubs with minimal support and recognition (Rakuten, the Japanese E-bay, has a team! I competed with their big guy last round, nice folks.)

See http://www.jitsujuren.jp/list/index.html. Don't have time to translate, but you will see there are many there. No links, unfortunately.

Maybe we should start a judo-supporting mutual fund!!

Raj ... why do you ask? Do you have a huge pile of cash that you want to invest in such a company?

In my company, 100% of the US-based employees practice judo 5 days a week and contribute financially and by volunteer work to the local judo community. We would certainly prefer a benevolent lender other than BOA ...

No piles of cash. Just a curiosity whether companies that have a heavy judo influence would bring a level of discipline and diligence to corporate activities that would lead to them being well-run, and potentially good investment targets. Or, would judoka be just as good/crappy at management as anyone else? As for BoA... pretty slick returns...!

Raj Venugopal wrote:No piles of cash. Just a curiosity whether companies that have a heavy judo influence would bring a level of discipline and diligence to corporate activities that would lead to them being well-run, and potentially good investment targets. Or, would judoka be just as good/crappy at management as anyone else? As for BoA... pretty slick returns...!

Nope, in my company at least we frequently ignore our work ... to go to judo!

Credit Lyonaise (financial services) and Petrole Hahn (cosmetics) are big supporters of French judo and have had their logos on the judogi of the national team for a long time (esp CL).

Jonesy wrote:Credit Lyonaise (financial services)

Very true for “Le Crédit Lyonnais”… and let's not forget… Adidas equipment.

Unfortunately fees for starting a mutual fund can be north of $100,000.... or more.
But interesting... companies in this imaginary mutual fund could include

Credit Lyonnais
Adidas
Komatsu
Nippon Steel
etc...

Now it would be interesting to assign holding percentages and analyze what returns would have been.