Yoshihiro Uchida, Coach of United States' First Olympic Team, Passes Away at 104
by Bill Kellick
The judo world comes together to mourn the passing of Sensei Yoshihiro Uchida, the grandfather of American judo and coach of the first U.S. Judo Olympic Team in 1964. Uchida, who turned 104 in April, passed away June 27.
Uchida founded the judo program at San Jose State University nearly 80 years ago and remained the program’s head coach for its entire history. He also helped organize the first National Collegiate Judo Association Championship in 1962 where SJSU started their perennial powerhouse run by winning the first of more than 40 national titles.
As coach of the inaugural U.S. Judo Team at the sport’s Olympic debut in Tokyo, Uchida guided Jim Bregman to a bronze medal in the -80kg division. Other members of that 1964 Olympic Team were George Harris and two of Uchida’s students at SJSU…former Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Paul Maruyama, who went on to become head coach of the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic Judo Teams.
Uchida began teaching judo classes at SJSU while still an undergraduate. Following World War II, he returned to the school to teach his first judo class where his first students were WWII veterans. After graduating in 1947 with a degree in biology, he remained the SJSU coach and is credited with creating weight divisions used in competition.
Under Uchida’s tutelage, the SJSU Judo program has produced numerous Olympians, including two-time Olympian and 2012 bronze medalist Marti Malloy. After winning her bronze in London, Malloy honored Uchida with the Order of Ikkos medal, an award presented by Team USA medal-winning athletes to a coach, mentor or other individual who has been instrumental in their success.
For his contributions to judo, Japanese Emperor Hirohito awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure with Golden Rays in 1986. In 1996, Uchida was formally inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame. He has also received numerous awards from SJSU, including the Tower Award, the school’s highest award in 1992, and an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2004. The campus building that houses the judo dojo was renamed “Yoshihiro Uchida Hall” in 1997, and also houses the SJSU Hall of fame featuring those judokas who thrived under Uchida's mentoring.