Shigetaka Sasaki

Shigetaka Sasaki
Photo of Sasaki taken around 1930
Personal information
NicknameSteve
Born(1903-03-20)20 March 1903
Tottori, Japan
Died26 February 1993(1993-02-26) (aged 89)
Vancouver, Canada
Sport
CountryCanada
SportJudo
Rank     Hachidan (8th dan)
Club
  • Tai Iku Dojo / Kidokan
  • Tashme Judo Club
  • Ashcroft Judo Club
Coached by

Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki (佐々木 繁孝, 20 March 1903 – 26 February 1993)[1][2] was a Japanese and Canadian judoka who founded the first judo club in Canada and is considered the 'Father of Canadian Judo'.[3] After establishing the Tai Iku Dojo in Vancouver in 1924, Sasaki and his students opened several branch schools in British Columbia and also trained RCMP officers until 1942, when Japanese Canadians were expelled from the Pacific coast and either interned or forced to move elsewhere in Canada due to fears that they were a threat to the country after Japan entered the Second World War. When the war was over, the government required interned Japanese Canadians to either resettle in Canada outside of British Columbia's 'Japanese exclusion zone' (within 100 miles of the Pacific coast) or emigrate to Japan.[4]

Sasaki stayed in Canada, resettling in Ashcroft, British Columbia, and many of his students went on to establish their own dojos across the country. The Canadian Kodokan Black Belt Association (CKBBA), now known as Judo Canada, was chartered in 1956 with Sasaki as its president. He stepped down from the presidency in 1959, but continued to teach at his Ashcroft dojo and visit other clubs around the country as a guest instructor, and he spent much of his time helping Vancouver's dojos after retiring there in 1968.[1][5]

In 1984 Sasaki was promoted to hachidan (eighth dan), and in 1986 he was elected to the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun, Silver Rays by the Emperor of Japan for his dedication to promoting judo in Canada. He had taught for nearly 70 years by the time of his death in 1993 at age 89, and was posthumously inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 1996.[6][5][7][8]

  1. ^ a b Sasaki, S (1986). "Outline of the Development of Judo in Canada". Judo B.C. Digest. 4 (2): 3–7.
  2. ^ "Father of judo in Canada dies at 89". The Province. Vancouver. 1 March 1993. p. A6.
  3. ^ Gill, Nicolas; Leyshon, Glynn (2019). Judoka: The History of Judo in Canada (Second ed.). Montreal: Marcel Broquet. pp. 104–5.
  4. ^ Gill, Nicolas; Leyshon, Glynn (2019). Judoka: The History of Judo in Canada (Second ed.). Montreal: Marcel Broquet. ISBN 978-2-89726-352-2.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Gill, Nicolas; Leyshon, Glynn (2019). Judoka: The History of Judo in Canada (Second ed.). Montreal: Marcel Broquet. p. 105. ISBN 978-2-89726-352-2.
  7. ^ "History of Judo in Canada". Vernon Judo Club Website. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).