In the aftermath of the Paris 2024 Olympics, few sports embody France’s national pride like judo. Yet the roots of this deep connection trace back to one remarkable teacher whose name is often overshadowed by his students. Mikinosuke Kawaishi, a Japanese judoka who arrived in France before the Second World War, revolutionized how the art was taught, practiced, and understood. Today Judo is the 4th most popular sport in france.
When Kawaishi landed in Paris in 1935, he was already a fourth-degree black belt from Japan’s Kodokan Institute. What made him different was not just his technical mastery but his ability to read culture as keenly as combat. He believed that for judo to flourish outside Japan, it had to evolve.
“Judo is like wheat or rice,”
he once said.
“You have to adapt it to the locality.”
At that time, most Japanese instructors abroad rigidly followed Kodokan traditions. They insisted on Japanese terminology, a steep hierarchy, and rigid training structures that often discouraged beginners. Kawaishi took the opposite approach. He simplified complex Japanese names by introducing numbered classifications such as “hip throw number one” or “leg technique number one.” He invented a colored belt system between white and black, giving students visible goals and a sense of progress. His son, Norikazu Kawaishi, later explained that his father wanted students to
“raise their motivation to wear the color of a higher level.”
More than a teacher, Kawaishi was a visionary who built judo into a profession. He founded clubs, charged proper fees, and trained students to become instructors themselves. This model turned judo into a self-sustaining ecosystem in France. By the end of the 1940s, hundreds of dojos were operating across the country and judo began to attract France’s intellectual and cultural elite. Among the members of the Jiu-Jitsu Club de France, which Kawaishi helped establish, were Nobel laureates Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie and Irène Joliot-Curie, along with the scientist Moshe Feldenkrais, who collaborated with him on early judo manuals.
While Japan’s Kodokan was moving toward sport specialization during the 1950s, Kawaishi preserved the art’s complete technical range. He taught self-defense techniques, throws, groundwork, and even leglocks, which were later removed from competition judo.
He placed great emphasis on kata, particularly Kyuzo Mifune’s Gonosen No Kata, which focused on counters and timing. His version of judo was not limited to the mat; it was meant to cultivate awareness, adaptability, and moral strength. He went on to write a book titled My Method of Self-Defence.
His methods spread quickly. Historian Michel Brousse of the University of Bordeaux described Kawaishi as
“the creator of the new profession of judo instructor.”
From France, his system reached more than thirty countries across Europe, Africa, and Asia. It was not unusual for Japanese teachers working abroad in the 1960s to find Kawaishi’s portrait hanging in local dojos, a silent acknowledgment of his global influence.
Yet in Japan, his name faded. His independence and reforms put him at odds with the Kodokan, which saw his approach as a “simplified” version of the art. When Kodokan representatives arrived in France in 1951, they openly criticized his teaching methods, leading to division within the French Judo Federation. The split disheartened Kawaishi, who felt that French judo was his life’s work.
“He was very disappointed because he thought of French judo as his own child,”
his son later recalled.
Kawaishi died in 1969 at the age of 69. Today, French judoka still honor him every January at his gravesite, where his headstone reads, “Founder of French Judo.” His legacy is visible in every dojo that values personal development as much as victory. France now counts over 530,000 registered judoka and more than 5,000 clubs, making it the most successful judo nation outside Japan.
Kawaishi’s success mirrors what the Gracie family did in the US.
Olympic silver medalist Amandine Buchard summarized his influence perfectly:
“In France, we say judo is a school of life. There is more to it than just winning and losing. Thanks to Sensei Kawaishi, judo is very popular in France. I am forever grateful to him.”
The success of French champions like Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbegnenou at the Paris 2024 Games continues to prove that Kawaishi’s approach endures. Nearly ninety years after his arrival, the spirit of judo he planted in France still thrives — complete, disciplined, and rooted in both self-defense and the humility of the bow.
