1950 US judo photo article in 'Scene' / グラウ世界

Just found an April 1950 US magazine 'Scene / Gurafu Sekai' (latter in Japanese as グラフ世界, or Graphics World?). Never seen before - apparently aimed at the Japanese-American community in the US. Half English, half Japanese. This month has an extended article on judo, including coverage of the first postwar SoCal judo tournament (5 teams, '80% Caucasian', won by San Jose State), an article by Kano Risei (Kano son and then third KDK kancho), an intro of Doiguchi sensei ('the foremost proponent of judo in America'), and a panel on the state of judo today with Nagaoka 10dan, Ishiguro 8dan, and Otsuji Shiro, 'the Will Rogers of Japan'.

It's a real period piece. Profiles of businessmen and women talk of their life 'before the evacuation' and afterwards, pix from the 'Tokyo bureau' of everyday scenes of life amidst the devastation and poverty of postwar Japan, etc.

My favorite non-judo portion - a photo spread entitled 'Short Cut to Glamour' by George Ohashi, hairdresser, who 'At the time of the evacuation, he had three shops in Southern California and had 30 beauty operators working for him. He now has a shop in Denver and one in Sacramento.' He writes:
"
So you are a Nisei girl. And nature didn't endow you with the tall, slim build so stylish these days.
Well, be of good cheer, girls. The new trend in coiffures - shorter and shorter for '50 - is just the thing for you.
Here's why. Most Nisei girls not only are chunky, but have too much hair.
.....
"

Hmm.... maybe that's why Billc shaves his head....   

Speaking of hair, from the series on the Kodokan, there's a photo of a gent with a receding hairline ジェーン (Jean? also spelled as 'Shane'?) 2dan from France throwing a young (and apparently very cooperative) Daigo 6 dan. There's also another French judoka ローシ (Rouche? Rossi?) 2 dan getting a kataguruma ride from said Jean (sp?).

Other names:
- E. Bruno - 4 dan judo instructor at the San Quentin penitentiary (clearly Emilio 'Mel' Bruno - I didn't know that about him....)
Chicago area
- Kosaku Okamura 3 dan, instructor at the Lawson YMCA
- Shitsuke Maeda 5 dan, instructor at the Oak Park Judo School
- Matato Tamura 5 dan, president of the Chicago Jiujitsu Institute
- Minoru Osako 4 dan, president of the Chicago Judo Club applying jujigatame to a very unhappy looking gent during a 'tournament match'
- Kiro Nagano 6 dan, chairman of the Southern California Yudanshakai

Fun stuff. After I research it, I'll donate it to the KDL Library or something.

NBK

Thanks, Mr. Natural. Look forward to seeing more ... I am sure there are others here that would get a kick.

As to the shaved cranium ... it's because of the tremendous amount of power constantly flowing through my central processor ... not sure what your reason is ...

NBK wrote:Just found an April 1950 US magazine 'Scene / Gurafu Sekai' (latter in Japanese as グラフ世界, or Graphics World?).  Never seen before - apparently aimed at the Japanese-American community in the US.  Half English, half Japanese.  This month has an extended article on judo, including coverage of the first postwar SoCal judo tournament (5 teams, '80% Caucasian', won by San Jose State), an article by Kano Risei (Kano son and then third KDK kancho), an intro of Doiguchi sensei ('the foremost proponent of judo in America'), and a panel on the state of judo today with Nagaoka 10dan, Ishiguro 8dan, and Otsuji Shiro, 'the Will Rogers of Japan'.  

It's a real period piece.  Profiles of businessmen and women talk of their life 'before the evacuation' and afterwards, pix from the 'Tokyo bureau' of everyday scenes of life amidst the devastation and poverty of postwar Japan, etc.

My favorite non-judo portion - a photo spread entitled 'Short Cut to Glamour' by George Ohashi, hairdresser, who 'At the time of the evacuation, he had three shops in Southern California and had 30 beauty operators working for him.  He now has a shop in Denver and one in Sacramento.'  He writes:
"
  So you are a Nisei girl.  And nature didn't endow you with the tall, slim build so stylish these days.
  Well, be of good cheer, girls.  The new trend in coiffures - shorter and shorter for '50 - is just the thing for you.  
  Here's why.  Most Nisei girls not only are chunky, but have too much hair.  
.....
"  

Hmm....  maybe that's why Billc shaves his head....   

Speaking of hair, from the series on the Kodokan, there's a photo of a gent with a receding hairline ジェーン (Jean? also spelled as 'Shane'?) 2dan from France throwing a young (and apparently very cooperative) Daigo 6 dan.  There's also another French judoka ローシ (Rouche?  Rossi?) 2 dan getting a kataguruma ride from said Jean (sp?).  

Other names:
- E. Bruno - 4 dan judo instructor at the San Quentin penitentiary (clearly Emilio 'Mel' Bruno - I didn't know that about him....)
Chicago area
- Kosaku Okamura 3 dan, instructor at the Lawson YMCA
- Shitsuke Maeda 5 dan, instructor at the Oak Park Judo School
- Matato Tamura 5 dan, president of the Chicago Jiujitsu Institute
- Minoru Osako 4 dan, president of the Chicago Judo Club applying jujigatame to a very unhappy looking gent during a 'tournament match'
- Kiro Nagano 6 dan, chairman of the Southern California Yudanshakai

Fun stuff.  After I research it, I'll donate it to the KDL Library or something.

NBK
   

Some big names of Japanese-American jûdô pioneers in there still with their original Japanese names, who later in the US became referred to by an 'Americanized' name, such as:

the late Masato 'Vince' Tamura, USJA 9th dan ...

I assume that Minoru Osako is Minoru 'John' Osako, famous Nisei jûdôka originally from the Seattle area ...

And Kosaku Okamura is Kosaku 'Henry' Okamura (see: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-06-07/news/0506070174_1_kodokan-judo-institute-judo-champion-black-belt) ...

Yes, it's pretty clear there were the Anglicized names for external consumption and the Japanese only real names for the Japanese community.

NBK wrote:Just found an April 1950 US magazine 'Scene / Gurafu Sekai' (latter in Japanese as グラフ世界, or Graphics World?).  Never seen before - apparently aimed at the Japanese-American community in the US.  

Speaking of hair, from the series on the Kodokan, there's a photo of a gent with a receding hairline ジェーン (Jean? also spelled as 'Shane'?) 2dan from France throwing a young (and apparently very cooperative) Daigo 6 dan.  There's also another French judoka ローシ (Rouche?  Rossi?) 2 dan getting a kataguruma ride from said Jean (sp?).  

A Jean at the Kodokan in 1949 should be Jean Beaujean.

http://www.debard.org/article-2293161.html

Jihef wrote:

NBK wrote:Just found an April 1950 US magazine 'Scene / Gurafu Sekai' (latter in Japanese as グラフ世界, or Graphics World?).  Never seen before - apparently aimed at the Japanese-American community in the US.  

Speaking of hair, from the series on the Kodokan, there's a photo of a gent with a receding hairline ジェーン (Jean? also spelled as 'Shane'?) 2dan from France throwing a young (and apparently very cooperative) Daigo 6 dan.  There's also another French judoka ローシ (Rouche?  Rossi?) 2 dan getting a kataguruma ride from said Jean (sp?).  

A Jean at the Kodokan in 1949 should be Jean Beaujean.

http://www.debard.org/article-2293161.html

I have always wondered what happened to him. As I understand it he emigrated to Canada, but then his trace dried up. I have no idea if he is still alive or not, but if so he must be around 90 years of age. I also find it strange that with his experience he would not have become famous in Canadian judo ...

Cichorei Kano wrote:I have always wondered what happened to him. As I understand it he emigrated to Canada, but then his trace dried up. I have no idea if he is still alive or not, but if so he must be around 90 years of age. I also find it strange that with his experience he would not have become famous in Canadian judo ...

Well, in 2006 he was still looking good…
In this snippet, he talks about Yves Klein :

http://www.canal-insep.fr/search?keyword=beaujean&limit=-1

NBK wrote:There's also another French judoka ローシ (Rouche?  Rossi?) 2 dan getting a kataguruma ride from said Jean (sp?).   

Jean Beaujean was in Japan with Roger Duchêne at the time (see Michel Brousse).

http://books.google.be/books?id=iu8WIAFFwTgC&lpg=PA302&ots=0pbFSavuUr&dq=%22Jean%20Beaujean%22%20canada&hl=fr&pg=PA302#v=onepage&q&f=false

Jihef wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:I have always wondered what happened to him. As I understand it he emigrated to Canada, but then his trace dried up. I have no idea if he is still alive or not, but if so he must be around 90 years of age. I also find it strange that with his experience he would not have become famous in Canadian judo ...

Well, in 2006 he was still looking good…
In this snippet, he talks about Yves Klein :

http://www.canal-insep.fr/search?keyword=beaujean&limit=-1

Very interesting, thanks for this !  This is certainly the first sign of being alive I have heard, and I hope he still is alive. I would very much like to meet the man. I suppose you have no information as to what country he is living in, whether he is still in Canada or has returned to France ? Jean Beaujean was also a teacher to my teacher like Jean de Herdt, as the two were black belts when we still did not have any black belts.

Cichorei Kano wrote:

Jihef wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:I have always wondered what happened to him. As I understand it he emigrated to Canada, but then his trace dried up. I have no idea if he is still alive or not, but if so he must be around 90 years of age. I also find it strange that with his experience he would not have become famous in Canadian judo ...

Well, in 2006 he was still looking good…
In this snippet, he talks about Yves Klein :

http://www.canal-insep.fr/search?keyword=beaujean&limit=-1

Very interesting, thanks for this !  This is certainly the first sign of being alive I have heard, and I hope he still is alive. I would very much like to meet the man. I suppose you have no information as to what country he is living in, whether he is still in Canada or has returned to France ?  Jean Beaujean was also a teacher to my teacher like Jean de Herdt, as the two were black belts when we  still did not have any black belts.

http://www.canal-insep.fr/fr_FR/judo/la-creativite-du-vide-1

In this interview Beaujean talks about Klein (who he said didn't understand what was judo) and about his trip in Japan. There is also a film showing Isao Okano in action following the interview.

Cichorei Kano wrote:Very interesting, thanks for this !  This is certainly the first sign of being alive I have heard, and I hope he still is alive. I would very much like to meet the man. I suppose you have no information as to what country he is living in, whether he is still in Canada or has returned to France ?  Jean Beaujean was also a teacher to my teacher like Jean de Herdt, as the two were black belts when we  still did not have any black belts.

Well, I have double checked, and sadly Jean BEAUJEAN is deceased now.
He died in August 2009.

I am not surprised - the picture is of a strapping young man, not a child, and this is 60 years on.

If I can figure out how to post pix I'll post it.

Jihef wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:Very interesting, thanks for this !  This is certainly the first sign of being alive I have heard, and I hope he still is alive. I would very much like to meet the man. I suppose you have no information as to what country he is living in, whether he is still in Canada or has returned to France ?  Jean Beaujean was also a teacher to my teacher like Jean de Herdt, as the two were black belts when we  still did not have any black belts.

Well, I have double checked, and sadly Jean BEAUJEAN is deceased now.
He died in August 2009.

I am sorry to hear. Do you have more information as to where he died and his exact age ?

NBK wrote:I am not surprised - the picture is of a strapping young man, not a child, and this is 60 years on.

There's always a chance though ...

Jean de Herdt was still alive until early 2013, and my teacher until half 2012. Most of these people were born around 1923/1924 ... so if they REALLY live a long life, they 'could' still be alive.

Cichorei Kano wrote:I am sorry to hear. Do you have more information as to where he died and his exact age ?

If I am not mistaken, this should be his obituary :

Décès
Jean BEAUJEAN de PARIS (75000) à l'âge de 91 ans
publié le 19-08-2009.

Sadly, there is very little to find about him online.

J-F.

Jihef wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:I am sorry to hear. Do you have more information as to where he died and his exact age ?

If I am not mistaken, this should be his obituary :

Décès
Jean BEAUJEAN de PARIS (75000) à l'âge de 91 ans
publié le 19-08-2009.

Sadly, there is very little to find about him online.

J-F.

So, he would have been born around 1918 then, which would have made him older than both my teacher and Jean de Herdt.

Well, I still have several pictures and anecdotal information from when he traveled from Paris to Antwerp every weekend, and from the first black belt exams he presided over within the BELAJA federation. Since after the split between the AFBJJ and the BELAJA, Jean de Herdt stayed with the AFBJJ while Beaujean became the technical director of the BELAJA. Later, de Herdt was briefly replaced by Levannier, before Abe Ichirô would take over for the AFBJJ, whereas Hirano Tokio became the successor of Beaujean within the BELAJA. I also still have considerable information about the frictions that went on in Paris when Beaujean returned from Japan. Essentially, like Yves Klein, both distanced themselves from Kawaishi who had been Beaujean's teacher. Very much like Abe Ichirô later, Beaujean concluded that what Kawaishi was teaching apparently was considerably different from the jûdô they were doing at the Kôdôkan which was some of the earliest suggestions that many of the Japanese teachers in jûdô were not real jûdôka. The same applied for Koizumi who initially had never learnt any Kôdôkan jûdô when Kanô jump-promoted him to 2nd dan as a marketing gesture with the intent to have Kôdôkan jûdô dominate in Europe over potential other Japanese disciplines. In all fairness though, Kawaishi had obtained several jûdô ranks in Japan and his training at Waseda is not challenged, so why despite those credentials his jûdô still would deviate so much in terms of technical matters (we are talking about things such as apparent absence of kuzushi, not the different structures and names he proposed) is somewhat of an enigma (unless Kawaishi simply wasn't a very good Japanese jûdôka ??? -I haven't really seen any film recordings that really enable us to properly assess the quality of Kawaishi's actual jûdô skills), but it is the same problem that was observed by Abe Ichirô, who obviously was well, and even much better qualified in Kôdôkan jûdô than Beaujean.

That's a very interesting post, CK.

I'm not sure Kawaishi ever really saw himself as a truly Kodokan man. He wrote, after all, "MY METHOD of Judo", not Kano's method!!! He also retained a lot of his jiu jitsu, which was obviously very important to him.

Sadly, I am a few generations removed from Kawaishi, and even the man who brought Kawaishi's method to this country. My early instructors were technically poor but looking beyond to their sensei, I see basic technical ability but no evidence of advanced movement and kazushi. To be fair, though, I have not trained with him intimately.

I digress slightly here, but I notice two sorts of ju-jitsu: that which emphasises self-betterment and that which is about disposing of an attacker as effectively as possible. I am not sure if it is a reflection of Kawaishi, of the Dutch or of the man himself who introduced Kawaishi's method, but I was brought up in the latter camp. The Way was not important. Advanced subtleties were not really important. I'm not saying that is a bad thing, necessarily; in a stressful situation, fine motor skills and complex movements are the first to become unworkable. However, that kind of ju-jitsu becomes a life-long collection of techniques and that is what I note in Kawaishi schools.

DougNZ wrote:That's a very interesting post, CK.

I'm not sure Kawaishi ever really saw himself as a truly Kodokan man.  He wrote, after all, "MY METHOD of Judo", not Kano's method!!!  

When I wrote 'Kôdôkan' I meant "Kôdôkan jûdô" and not the "Kôdôkan establishment". I think that particularly, many teachers trained at the Busen (Michigami, etc.) did not have a particularly high opinion of the Kôdôkan establishment, but they still did the "jûdô of Kanô". What I mean is that ... there also seems to have been a tangible difference between the jûdô of Butokukai-educated jûdôka like Michigami, which definitely was the jûdô of Kanô and that was Kawaishi was teaching. Kawaishi certainly did not teach Jikishin-ryû jûdô or Kitô-ryû jûdô in which he had not training. So the question remains where exactly the jûdô of Kanô that Kawaishi was teaching came from ? What I would not find credible is that someone who would have learnt and understand the importance of kuzushi that he would create his own method of that art practically devoid of kuzushi (as a matter of speaking) ...

In the information we have, many answers are absent, particularly those to critical or more intrusive questions. Why exactly did Kawaishi collide with so many people in jûdô including his own fellow countrymen ? Was it personal, or did it have to do with jûdô itself ? He did make it to a considerably high rank, and he can't have received this just a a Chrismas present, especially not if he supposedly was such a difficult person. Why is there not more film material of Kawaishi available on which you can actually see him do jûdô ? The man lived until end of the 1960s, so the means to create decent film material was randomly available.

What was Kawaishi's objective with "My method of judo" ? We have to base ourselves on what is in the book, although he did not write these books himself. They were compiled and appeared under his name, but he did not literally 'author' them. In any case, it does not seem that he was attempting to create a "Kawaishi-ryû jûdô", but rather a personal didactic approach to Kanô-ryû jûdô or Kôdôkan jûdô.

From what I understand, in France anyway, Kawaishi was a difficult man.  You were either Kawaishi and in or not Kawaishi and out.  It seems that his grip was such that it wasn't until he was absent some time from France (during the war years) that people were able to break his power.  By the time he returned, there were other Kodokan kodansha in France and he had lost his monopoly.  So personality was definitely one factor.

A second is bound to be his education.  When he was learning in the pre-Waseda days, the Kodokan 'institute' was, I understand, a collection of ju-jitsu recruits as much as Kano-trained judoka.  In a place like Hemeji, away from Tokyo, who knows who built his foundation techniques?  I am guessing that it wasn't until the mid-1920s that Kodokan judo in Japan started to get some consistency.  By then, Kawaishi was gone.

Another factor, too, seems to be that Kawaishi harked back to 'old days' and resisted change in the 1950s and 60s.  Maybe it was the ju-jutsuka in him showing itself more as he got older but he kept the 'illegal techniques' and kata, and seemed to shun the evolution towards what would become Olympic sport. I think that, to a degree, his books on judo, kata and self defence were his 'line in the sand' on judo evolution.

It is difficult to know the circumstances behind his 7th dan.  Was it based on knowledge and technique or was it based on what he had done for judo in Western Europe?  You are probably closer to knowing the answer to these questions than anyone, CK.

Cichorei Kano wrote:

Jihef wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:I am sorry to hear. Do you have more information as to where he died and his exact age ?

If I am not mistaken, this should be his obituary :

Décès
Jean BEAUJEAN de PARIS (75000) à l'âge de 91 ans
publié le 19-08-2009.

Sadly, there is very little to find about him online.

J-F.

So, he would have been born around 1918 then, which would have made him older than both my teacher and Jean de Herdt.
...

http://www.judoinside.com/judoka/view/35450/
lists his birth date as 25-April-1918