November
3, 2008, Rena ‘Rusty’
Kanokogi, President, NY
State Judo, Inc., was
awarded the Order of the
Rising Sun, Gold Rays
with Rosette for her
outstanding
contributions to the
promotion of judo. The
conferment ceremony took
place at Ambassador
Sakurai’s residence on
November 24th. Brooklyn
Borough President Marty
Markowitz, tennis legend
Billie Jean King, and
many other friends
joined the night’s
celebration.
In
his congratulatory
remarks, Ambassador
Sakurai said, “this
award [is] not just as
recognition of your
achievements but is also
a symbol of the strong
bonds of friendship you
have forged between the
people of Japan and the
United States”. Calling
her “Kanokogi-sensei”,
the term which means a
teacher or respected
master in Japanese, the
Ambassador further
stated that he hopes the
spirit of judo will
continue to grow here in
New York and around the
world.
In her
speech, Ms. King praised
Ms. Kanokogi for being
her long time friend as
well as a great
sportsperson. Then,
President Markowitz
presented Ms. Kanokogi
with the proclamation.
Messages were provided
by Mr. Yukimitsu Kano,
President of Kodo Kan,
and Mr. Hideki Matsui,
baseball player for the
New York Yankees. In his
statement, Matsui
expressed his
appreciation to Ms.
Kanokogi and said, “Such
remarkable achievements
could have only been
accomplished by a person
truly immersed in the
values and spirit of
Judo”.
Rena
‘Rusty’ Kanokogi is
known for her
extraordinary role
promoting the sport
worldwide and for
blazing a path that
would make the Japanese
martial art an official
women’s Olympic event.
Ms.
Kanokogi began
practicing judo at a
time when the sport was
virtually off-limits to
females. When she helped
her team to victory at
the New York YMCA state
championship in 1961,
she had to give up her
medal because she was a
woman. Later, she
traveled to Japan to
train at judo’s world
headquarters, the
Kodokan, becoming the
first foreign woman in
history to practice at
the main dojo in Tokyo.
After returning to the
United States, she
established the “Kyushu
Dojo Community Service
Center” with her husband,
Ryohei Kanokogi, also a
judo player, in her
native Brooklyn. There
she devoted her energies
to coaching and
promoting the sport to
young people.
In a
major effort to
popularize women’s judo,
Rusty advocated holding
a first-ever women’s
judo world championship.
Eventually approved by
the International Judo
Federation and held at
New York’s Madison
Square Garden in
November 1980, Rusty
organized the event and
raised money for it by
mortgaging her own house.
Buoyed by the success of
the world championship,
and spurred by her
efforts and those of
other judo officials
from Japan and around
the world, women’s judo
became a demonstration
sport at the Seoul
Olympics in 1988, and it
finally earned a spot as
a full medal sport at
Spain’s Barcelona games
in 1992.
Rusty
Kanokogi was inducted
into the International
Women’s Sports Hall of
Fame in 1994. She has
received many other
accolades, including a
Henry Stone Award and a
bronze medal from the
International Judo
Federation.
