DOB - 12 January 1944
COUNTRY - Japan
Weight - U93kg & Open

During his competition days in the late 1960s and 1970s, Nobuyuki Sato was known as ‘Newaza sato’ for the very simple fact that everyone feared his groundwork. This was the case at both national and international level, though the methods of getting his opponent to the ground varied. In Japan, it was most likely to be Ashi-waza; abroad it was more often Tai-otoshi. But the final result was invariably the same – Osaekomi.

However, his judo career has been much more than just competition. For ten years, from 1976 to 1985, he was manager of the Japanese national team, a successful period for Japan with such outstanding champions as Yasuhiro Yamashita, Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki, Sumio Endo, Shinji Hosokawa, Nobutoshi Hikage and Hitoshi Saito. It was a difficult period for Japan, with the rest of the world fast catching up, yet under Sato, Japan still managed, at many major tournaments, to take on average around half of the men’s gold medals. Furthermore, following his resignation in 1985, he became director of the IJF’s education and diffusion committee. It is therefore interesting to look at his personal competitive career with this future in management in mind.

Sato was born in the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, and at 12, followed his brother Nobuhiro into judo. His brother was effectively his first teacher. An affinity with Ne-waza showed itself early, but after an initial study of Osoto-gari he began working on Ashi-waza. Sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi came first, the Harai-tsuri-komi-ashi, followed by other foot sweeps in time.

When he went to Tsukuba University in the early 1960s, he began to make his mark in national events, aiming always at the All Japan Championships, Japan’s most coveted event. At 85kg, Sato was often the lightest competitor. In 1966, he won silver, and the following year another, losing only to Okano.

His International career beckoned, and he took heed of some astute advice from Akio Kaminaga. ‘He told me that because westerners adopt a wide stance I would find my Ashi-waza difficult against them, and I should develop Tai-otoshi,’ recalls Sato. In 1967, he won his first World title, the -93kg category at Salt Lake City, throwing most opponents with Tai-otoshi before holding them down. He won bronze in the World open weight category in Mexico city, losing only to Wilhelm Ruska, and a silver at -93kg in Ludwigshafen. In the World Championships in Lausanne, in 1973, he won gold again.

But time was passing and his single biggest goal of the All Japan Championships seemed to be eluding him. His last chance came at the age of thirty, in 1974, and, despite suffering badly from a cold, he won. His retirement enabled him to concentrate on the judo department at Tokai University where he has taught since 1969 and where he is still a professor to this day. Over three decades he has built it into one of the powerhouses of Japanese universities, and has entertained numerous foreign teams throughout that period.