Title: The Way of Judo: A Portrait of Jigoro Kano and His Students
Author: John Stevens
Publisher: Shambhala
Publication Date: August 13, 2013
Format: Paperback / Kindle
Pages: 240, 5.5 in x 8.5 in
Cover Price: $22.95 ($16.95) / $17.99
ISBN: 9781590309162
Content
According to his profile at Amazon.com, “John Stevens lived in Japan for thirty-five years, where he was a professor of Buddhist studies at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. Stevens is a widely respected translator, an ordained Buddhist priest, a curator of several major exhibitions of Zen art, and an aikido instructor. He has authored more than thirty books and is one of the foremost Western experts on aikido, holding a ranking of 7th dan Aikikai.” The Way of Judo is one of his newer books. He previously wrote about professor Kano in his 1995 book Three Budo Masters, also reviewed at this site.
In an interview with the publisher, Mr. Stevens explained his reason for writing the book: “Since I have written books on three of the other most important martial artist masters of the 20th century—Tesshu Yamaoka (kendo), Awa Kenzo (kyudo), and Morihei Ueshiba (aikido)—I felt it imperative to write a book on Jigoro Kano, the founder of Kodokan judo, to round out the picture.”
The book contains a preface, followed by five chapters: 1. The Public Career of Jigoro Kano; 2. Kano, the Man Himself; 3. The Challenge of Creating Kodokan Judo; 4. Kano and His Students; and 5. The Teachings of Jigoro Kano. The book ends with a lengthy Resources section listing books upon which Mr. Stevens relied, and other material that may be of interest to readers.
I thought it funny that in the Resources section Mr. Stevens writes the following about his book Three Budo Masters: “the chapters on Funakoshi and Ueshiba are all right, but the one on Kano is not good and has been completely superseded by this biography.” I thought the Ueshiba material was partly fantasy, but the other sections were solid.
Pros
I liked The Way of Judo for several reasons. First, the Resources section at the end of the book is fabulous. It is a roadmap for additional Kano research and has helped my work. Second, the book devotes considerable attention to professor Kano’s students. All martial arts die without students, so this material showed how judo survived its founder. Mr. Stevens explained in his Shambhala interview that “one of his students established the Black Dragon Society, two of his students were elected prime minister, two of them became the richest entrepreneurs in the country, and one of them taught judo to a United States president… [M]any of the Chinese students who were taught at Kano’s academy were very influential on Chinese history, yet this is a detail that is virtually unknown. For example, Mao’s father-in-law had been a student of Kano’s in Japan, and he taught Mao some of Kano’s educational theories. Mao wrote a paper on Kano’s ideas.”
Third, Mr. Stevens includes details that most readers would want to know, but that might not appear elsewhere. For example, on pages 1 and 2 Stevens writes: “the name Kano means ‘production of delightful sake.’ Kano’s father’s original name was Mareshiba Shogenji (1813–85). The Shogenji family served as the hereditary keepers of the Hie Shrine in Omi. Mareshiba chose to become a Confucian scholar rather than a Shinto priest. He was hired as a home tutor in the Chinese classics for the Kano children. Mareshiba ended up marrying Sadako, one of the daughters, and then being adopted into the Kano family, thereafter assuming the name Jirosaku. Five children were born to Jirosaku and Sadako, three boys and two girls. Kano was the last child. His birth name was Shinnosuke. Later, he was called Jigoro (‘fifth child of Jiro’).” As a researcher I appreciate this attention to detail and explanation for non-Japanese-speaking readers. Did you know that professor Kano’s birth name could have easily been Mareshiba Shinnosuke?
Cons
I have very few concerns with this book. I only found a few minor issues. For example, Mr. Stevens writes on page 18 that “Even though Kodokan judo was established in 1882, for many years afterward his system was called “Kano ryu jujutsu” or simply “jujutsu” in many quarters. Actually, in the first year of the Kodokan’s existence, Iikubo was still giving lessons to Kano and his students, so the emphasis was on Kito ryu jujutsu, not Kodokan judo, because there was no such thing yet. Kano wrote that it was not until 1877 that the technical base for Kodokan judo was formulated.” Professor Kano started training in jujutsu in 1877, so this is a typo.
Conclusion
I give this book 5 out of 5 ninja stars.
I greatly enjoyed reading The Way of Judo. It’s simply the best English-language biography of professor Jigoro Kano available. It spends the right amount of time leading the reader through professor Kano’s life. However, it also explains how he founded and grew judo. It then explains key students and associates.
Most unusually, compared to other books, it spends time talking about the sort of person Kano was. The book is one of the few I’ve found that names his children and shares a few words about each. On page 70, Stevens shares with us some of Kano’s habits: “He was not interested in dealing with trifling details. He ate the same thing every day for lunch so he wouldn’t be bothered by having to decide what to order. He always carried an umbrella so he wouldn’t be troubled about whether or not to take one with him.” I highly recommend reading The Way of Judo, especially if you are a judoka or related martial arts practitioner. I read the Kindle edition and just bought a paperback copy to display in my library.
- Book Review: Worth Defending - November 25, 2020
- Book Review: See You on the Mat - November 24, 2020
- Book Review: Flashing Steel, 25th Anniversary Edition - November 23, 2020
Leave a Reply