Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

JUDOGI C/W BLACK BELT

Date Range From

1930

Date Range To

1949

Materials

COTTON, FELT

No. Pieces

2

Length

147.3

Width

88.9

Description

.1. WHITE COTTON JUDOGI. HAND STITCHED. REPAIRS THROUGHOUT. THERE ARE EVEN REPAIRS DONE ON REPAIRS. BADLY FRAYED, HOLES/RIPS UNDER EACH SLEEVE. YELLOWED, ESPECIALLY ON TOP PART OF JUDOGI. .2. JUDOGI BELT, COTTON 20.3 (L) CM. BLACK COTTON SEWN OVER WHITE, SEWN ONTO FELT LINGER. BADLY FRAYED & WORN. SEE CONSERVATION REPORT.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

SPORTS

History

DONOR USED JUDOGI UNTIL THE LATE 1940S. HIS MOTHER KEPT REPAIRING THE SUIT WHICH WAS PASSED ONTO DONOR'S WIFE FOR REPAIR, WHEN THEY MARRIED. DONOR WAS UNABLE TO OBTAIN A NEW JUDOGI DURING THE DEPRESSION. DONOR STARTED TEACHING JUDO IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1952. HE TAUGHT IN RAYMOND, ALTA. FROM 1943-1951. SEE FILE FOR ADDITIONAL HISTORY. NARRATIVE BELOW SOLICITED FROM FLORENCE SENDA IN EARLY 2010 WHEN THIS ARTIFACT WAS EXHIBITED AS PART OF THE GALT’S TREASURES & CURIOSITIES DISPLAY. THE NARRATIVE BECAME THE BASIS FOR THE ARTIFACT’S LABEL COPY IN THE EXHIBIT. *** THIS UNIFORM BELONGED TO YOSHIO SENDA. YOSHIO WAS BORN IN 1922 IN MISSION CITY, BC AND STARTED JUO AT AGE 8 YEARS, EARNING HIS SHODAN (1ST DEGREE BLACK BELT) IN 1938. THIS UNIFORM WAS PROBABLY PURCHASED AROUND THAT TIME. WHEN WWII BROKE OUT AND ALL PEOPLES OF JAPANESE DESCENT WERE EVACUATED FROM 100 MILES INLAND FROM THE COAST OF BC, THE SENDA FAMILY MOVED TO ALBERTA TO THE BEET FIELDS IN THE PICTURE BUTTE AREA. IN 1943, THE RAYMOND JUDO CLUB (THE FIRST IN ALBERTA) WAS STARTED WITH MR. YOSHIO KATSUTA AS HEAD SENSEI, AND YOSHIO SENDA WAS ASKED TO GO TO RAYMOND AS AN ASSISTANT SENSEI. DURING HIS 7 YEARS IN RAYMOND, YOSHIO EARNED HIS NIDAN (2ND DEGREE BLACK BELT), LEARNED THE TRADE OF PAINTING AND PAPER HANGING FROM MR. KATSUTA, AND MET AND MARRIED FLORENCE HIRONAKA. IN 1952, YOSHIO, FLORENCE AND CHILDREN RONALD AND MAE MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE WHERE YOSH STARTED HIS OWN BUSINESS, “YOSH SENDA PAINTING AND DECORATING”. THAT FALL, DAVE ROBERTS ASKED YOSH TO TEACH JUDO AT THE OLD YMCA, AND AS THE SAYING GOES THE REST IS HISTORY FOR JUDO IN LETHBRIDGE. YOSH WORKED AT HIS TRADE DURING THE DAY AND VOLUNTEERED TO TEACH JUDO 3 – 4 EVENINGS A WEEK. AT FIRST, YOSH WOULD GET HIS MOTHER TO PATCH THE SUIT, BUT BY THE TIME I MARRIED YOSH, THIS SUIT WAS VERY WELL WORN AND NEEDED PATCHING AFTER EVERY PRACTICE. I ALSO REMEMBER SEWING HEAVY SHEETING ON THE 50 YEAR OLD TATAMI, DAMAGED BY USE AND THE EFFECTS OF OUR DRY CLIMATE. LATER, CLUB MEMBERS WERE ABLE TO RAISE ENOUGH MONEY TO PURCHASE A NEW TATAMI. A NEW YMCA BUILDING WAS BUILT, GIVING THE CLUB A LARGER AREA TO PRACTICE. IN 1967, THE UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE JUDO CLUB WAS FORMED. OVER THE YEARS, YOSH WAS A CANADIAN HEAD COACH TAKING THE CANADIAN TEAM TO MANY OLYMPIC GAMES, PAN-AM JUDO TOURNAMENTS, WORLD JUDO TOURNAMENTS, CULTURAL EXCHANGES TO JAPAN, ETC. HE RECEIVED MANY AWARDS, TOO MANY TO MENTION HERE, BUT I WILL LIST A FEW. 1989 – RECIPIENT OF “HONORARY DOCTOR OF LAW” DEGREE FROM THE U OF L 1991 – DECORATED “THE ORDER OF SACRED TREASURES, GOLD AND SILVER RAYS”, CONFERRED BY HIS MAJESTY, THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN 2007 – RECEIVED HIS KUDAN (9TH DEGREE BLACK BELT), THE FIRST AND ONLY IN CANADA TO DO SO 2007 – YOSH SAW HIS DREAM OF HAVING A FREE-STANDING JUDO DOJO, AND THE LETHBRIDGE KYODOKAN CLUB OPEN AT 2775 28 AVE S 2008 – RECIPIENT OF THE ORDER OF CANADA SADLY, YOSHIO SENDA PASSED AWAY SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2009. ***

Catalogue Number

P19790274000

Acquisition Date

1979-10

Collection

Museum

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