lit a candle 6h ago64. That's not old at all. Sorry for the loss to his son Seigo and the rest of the family, and to everyone at Tenri.
Their story
Yoshimi Masaki was a Japanese judoka, coach, and sports scientist whose career bridged one of the strongest heavyweight eras in Japanese judo and decades of teaching at Tenri University. Born on 20 August 1962 in Tadaoka, Osaka Prefecture, he grew up helping in his family's milk-delivery business and began judo…
Yoshimi Masaki was a Japanese judoka, coach, and sports scientist whose career bridged one of the strongest heavyweight eras in Japanese judo and decades of teaching at Tenri University. Born on 20 August 1962 in Tadaoka, Osaka Prefecture, he grew up helping in his family's milk-delivery business and began judo in the fifth grade at the local Yoneda dojo in Kishiwada. A large, powerful left-handed fighter, he built his game around harai-goshi and ashi-waza, especially de-ashi-barai.
At Haruki Junior High School he helped the team finish third at the national middle-school championships. He then entered Tenri High School, a judo powerhouse, where intense training under coaches including Kato and Nomura (father of Olympic champion Tadahiro Nomura) remade him. He won high-school team titles and, as a senior, took both the individual heavyweight and team crowns at the Inter-High. At Tenri University he became one of the rare collegiate stars named outstanding competitor at the All-Japan Collegiate Team Championships four years running, a mark shared with legends such as Yasuhiro Yamashita. He also won the All-Japan Collegiate Open three years in a row, a streak even Yamashita never matched.
Masaki's international breakthrough came in an unlikely way. At the 1985 World Judo Championships in Seoul he traveled as a reserve behind Hitoshi Saito. When Saito was injured in the +95 kg final, Masaki was thrown into the open-weight division at short notice. Under crushing pressure (in that era a Japanese heavyweight defeat was often framed as a national setback), he fought through to the final and defeated Egypt's Mohamed Rashwan with a de-ashi-barai in only about fifteen seconds, becoming world champion. The same year he had already won open-weight and team gold at the Universiade in Kobe.
In 1986 and 1987 he captured the All-Japan Judo Championships, fulfilling Tenri's long-standing wish for a domestic open champion, and in 1986 he also won Asian Games open-weight gold in Seoul. Domestic competition with Yamashita and Saito remained ferocious; Masaki never competed at the Olympic Games after losing key 1988 qualification bouts. A back injury at the 1987 World Championships in Essen ended his open-weight defense there, and the late substitute Naoya Ogawa went on to win that title.
After retiring from competition he stayed at Tenri University as a faculty member in physical education and sports science, publishing research on weight cutting, athlete psychology, and budo culture. He served repeatedly as Tenri University judo coach, mentored athletes including future Olympic medalist Shinichi Shinohara, and worked as a men's national-team heavyweight coach and All Japan Judo Federation strengthening committee member. He held the rank of Kodokan ninth dan. Colleagues and the International Judo Federation remembered him as a demanding mentor who carried competitive standards into teaching.
Masaki died on 30 August 2026 at the age of 64. Japanese media described the death as sudden; the cause was not made public. A private family funeral was followed by a farewell gathering at Tenri University's Furusato Hall on 19 September 2026. He is survived by family including his son Seigo Masaki, who competed for Tenri University judo. IJF President Marius Vizer praised his lifelong commitment on and off the tatami. Masaki's own mottoes, drawn from his Tenri coaches, were effort and persistence: do more uchikomi than the next person, and burn with the will to win.
Biography adapted from English and Japanese Wikipedia; IJF farewell 2026-09-02; Homemate judo interview; Tenri Jiho; Sponichi/Hochi death notices.
In their own words
“Effort. If others do ten uchikomi, you do fifteen. Those five are your effort.”
Masaki citing coach Kato's teaching as his lifelong motto (Homemate interview)
“Without burning the obsession to win absolutely, you cannot win. That persistence is our school's weapon.”
On shunen (persistence) as a Tenri judo value (Homemate interview)
“I thought Yamashita was a genius who did not need to train. Then I saw he trained harder than anyone.”
Recalling junior national camp with Yasuhiro Yamashita (Homemate interview)
“When Sato sensei said the final day would be me, the blood drained from my face.”
On being named Saito's open-weight replacement at the 1985 Worlds (Homemate interview)
“First polish one tokui-waza. From that trunk the branches of other techniques grow.”
Coaching advice on building a signature technique (Homemate interview)
“Sensei Yoshimi Masaki's lifelong commitment to Judo leaves an enduring legacy.”
IJF President Marius Vizer, farewell statement, 2 September 2026
“He will be remembered not only for his achievement on the world stage, but also for the commitment and knowledge he brought to judo throughout his life.”
International Judo Federation farewell article, 2 September 2026
“Praise works better for me than constant criticism. I want to raise students by encouraging them.”
On his preferred coaching style, Homemate interview
Photos
1Yoshimi Masaki in competition
by People Forever
Yeah 64 stopped me too when I read it.