Historic Site of the Kano Jigoro Villa (Tenjinyama Green Space park)Kano Jigoro was the founder of Kodokan Judo. He is known as the “father of Japanese athletics” since he first led Japan to the Olympics as the first president of the Japan Sport Association (Japan Amateur Athletic Association at the time).1-10 Midori, Abiko CityBy foot 10 minutes from Abiko Station (750 m)8This bronze statue of Kano Jigoro wearing a kimono was made by Fumio Asakura, a sculptor called the “Rodin of Japan”. It measures 2.14 m in height (about 3 m with the base) and was installed on the site of the villa on a hill in front of Lake Teganuma. It is the 7th statue of that kind (now only 6 remain). Other statues based on the same model can be found at the Kodokan Judo Institute and the University of Tsukuba. It has been built mainly by local associations of citizens to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city’s founding and the Tokyo Olympics, originally planned to be held in 2020.Kano Jigoro was an educator and the founder of Kodokan Judo. In 1911, he built a villa on a hill facing Lake Teganuma in Abiko. He developed close friendships with the locals, such as the mayor, as well as Sugimura Sojinkan, an international journalist who lived in the neighborhood, and Murakawa Kengo, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University. Moreover, he opened a plantation (Kano Koraku Plantation) in the vicinity of his villa and hired specialists to make his first steps in the farming business. After Yanagi Muneyoshi, his nephew and a central figure of the Shirakaba school, moved next to Kano’s villa, Shiga Naoya and Mushanokoji Saneatsu also settled in Abiko and created an exquisite cultural environment there. This is another reason why Kano Jigoro is an important personality for Abiko.Kano Jigoro founded Kodokan Judo and diffused it based on the principles of “Seiryoku-Zenyo” and “Jita-Kyoei”.He committed himself to education by working for a long time as the president of the Tokyo Higher Normal School and, at the same time, was the first oriental person to become a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He helped Japan to participate in the Olympics and to contribute attract the Olympics in Tokyo in 1940. Photo by courtesy of Kodokan Judo Institute.
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