I know Okada-sensei. I think I met him for the last time at the Kôdôkan maybe in summer 2007 or something. There were some questions I wanted to ask him about Oda-sensei whom he personally knew, but it was impossible because his "mental abilities" at that point appeared already importantly reduced. He was also in and out of the hospital. This was in summer, and as you know the climate in Tôkyô with it humid heat can make it very challenging for elderly people with a health condition. I have never seen him since and I don't know if he is even still alive. But I looked at the Internet and did find a videoclip with pictures and footage of him teaching a seminar in Genua in Italy in February 2009 and on these pictures he seems to look OK. In any case no one seems to have heard of him since, and I know he had health problems. I am not sure exactly how old he is since Hal Sharp mostly gives anecdotal information and stories without specifics such as exact dates and locations and other information that matters to historians. Let's assume that Okada-sensei was about 79 years old in 2009, then this would mean he was about 25 years old when Oda died and not even born when Jûdô Taikan was published. It seems to me that the gentleman in the picture looks 35-50 years old, which means he would need to have been born between 1880-1895, at least approximately. It's not easy to say for sure just from the picture, which is a profile or at the most a 3/4 profile picture and does not show his ful face. He resembles Handa Yoshimaro, who was born in 1882 in Kagoshima prefecture, and who had a samurai heritage. He was someone heavily involved in the development of women's judo, who was a teacher to Fukuda Keiko, and who died due to alcoholism as a 9th dan in 1949, 67 years old. He is the person you can see as uke to Kanô in this picture:judoplayer hat geschrieben:@Cichorei Kano
Vielen Dank für Ihre schnelle Antwort. Ich habe versucht ein Foto auszuwählen, wo man Oda's Uke relativ gut erkennen kann. Ich hoffe dieses Bild ist hilfreich:
Die meisten Informationen über Oda Jôin oder Oda Tsunetane habe ich auf dem von Mr. Hal Sharp produzierden Videos " Mastering Judo" erhalten. Auf diesen Video führt sein früherer Schüler "Mr.
Toshikazu Okada" Oda's Techniken vor. Im Video "Mastering Judo the Interview" und "Mastering Judo Katame Waza" bekommt man viele Informationen und Anektoden über Oda Sensei Wirken und Leben sowie seine Verbindung zum Kosen Judo, dessen Entwicklung er maßgeblich mit beeinflusst hatte.
http://images.blog-24.com/1190000/1192000/1192176.jpg
However, I am just guessing. I am sure there were many others in judo with similar hairstyle and a mustache who llived around that time. So it is well possible that I am wrong.
