Nori Bunasawa

Noriaki Bunasawa (Japanese: 樗沢憲昭, Bunasawa Noriaki; born November 3, 1947) also known commonly as Nori Bunasawa, is a Japanese judoka, head coach of team USA at the 1975 World Judo Championships, Japanese judo-jujutsu researcher and historian, writer, sports journalist, actor, fight choreographer, and script consultant.[1] He owned (until 2008) and established martial arts specialty newspaper Judo Journal in the US, which covered judo, jujutsu, sumo, BJJ, MMA and other professional combat sports news. He co-authored a novel based on Mitsuyo Maeda's life The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived which will be adapted into a feature film by a major production company of which he will be a script consultant and action choreographer.[1] He is also the founder of the Mitsuyo Maeda based fighting method: Bunasawa Jukkendo.[2]

Nori Bunasawa
BornNoriaki Bunasawa
(1947-11-03) November 3, 1947
Saitama, Japan
Native name樗沢憲昭
Height172 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb; 11 st 0 lb)
DivisionLightweight
StyleJudo, Jukkendo
Teacher(s)Yoshimi Osawa
Masahiko Kimura
Rank  9th dan (red belt) in Judo
OccupationJudoka, judo instructor, writer, actor, fight choreographer, sports journalist
UniversityWaseda University

Biography

Nori Bunasawa was born on November 3, 1947, in Saitama, Japan. He studied judo under Yoshimi Osawa and Masahiko Kimura.[2] As a high school student he trained with Waseda University's Judo team, and as a result, he won the high school championships in the middleweight division.[3] He attended Waseda University from 1966 to 1970 and graduated with a Bachelors of science in the social sciences.[4] During this time, he won the Tokyo collegiate championship in the lightweight (under 154 lb) division.[4] In 1969, he won silver in the lightweight division at the All Japan weight limit national championships by fighting world champions Hiroshi Minatoya, Hirofumi Matsuda, Asian champion Yujiro Yamazaki[5] and defeating the latter two competitors.[4]

In 1975, automobile tycoon Willard Robertson selected Bunasawa to be the inaugural head judo instructor of Robertson's newly constructed, 6-million dollar[6] Ichiban Sports Center in Arkansas.[7]

Bibliography

Novels
  • The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived (with John Murray, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9648984-1-7)

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1990Martial MarshalGonji TamashitaLead role
2006Letters from Iwo JimaJapanese Journalist

References
  1. "Noriaki Bunasawa, Judoka, JudoInside". www.judoinside.com. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  2. Bunasawa, Nori; Murray, John (2007). The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived. Nevada: Innovations, Inc. and Judo Journal. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-9648984-1-7.
  3. Shindo, Kenichi (October 3, 2020). "青春スクロール　市立浦和高校". Asahi Shimbun.
  4. "Title Techniques". Black Belt. Vol.16, No.7: 38. July 1978.
  5. "All Japan Judo Championships Fukuoka, Event, JudoInside". www.judoinside.com. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  6. Zimmerman, Richard (January 1980). "Ichiban-Fourth Olympic Training Center for Judo". Black Belt. p. 30. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  7. "Ichiban Sports Complex shares strange story". Arkansas Online. May 12, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
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