Hikari Kurachi

Description

Japanese-Brazilian judo master known as the "Father of Judo in Santos", who introduced judo to the city in 1947 and founded the Academia Santista de Judô in 1949, the 7th branch of Ryuzo Ogawa's Budokan network. He was a Pan American judo champion (4th dan, 1956) and was Osvaldo Alves's first judo teacher.

Teachers (2)

• person
  Yuiti Hashizume

  sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō Probable

  Probable

  The Santos judo history book states Kurachi began judo training at age 10 under Yuiti Hashizume

  The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.

  (1937–1943)

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  1 source expand_more

  fact_check

  The Santos judo history book states Kurachi began judo training at age 10 under Yuiti Hashizume

  “Aos 10 anos de idade, Hikari Kurachi iniciou os treinos do Judô com o Sensei Yuiti Hasshizume que também lecionava japonês, Sumô e corridas em uma escola da colônia japonesa.”

  — Medeiros, José Gomes de; Dimitrov, Simone. Memorabilia do Judô em Santos - Estórias, Memórias e Personagensinfo
• 
  Ogawa Ryuzo

  sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō Probable

  Probable

  The Santos judo history book states Kurachi became a student of Ryuzo Ogawa at the Academia Ogawa in São Paulo after earning his nidan

  The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.

  (1946–1947)

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  1 source expand_more

  fact_check

  The Santos judo history book states Kurachi became a student of Ryuzo Ogawa at the Academia Ogawa in São Paulo after earning his nidan

  “Após a aquisição do título de Nidan, tornou-se aluno do lendário Mestre Ryuzo Ogawa na Academia Ogawa em São Paulo.”

  — Medeiros, José Gomes de; Dimitrov, Simone. Memorabilia do Judô em Santos - Estórias, Memórias e Personagensinfo

Ranks (1)

• sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō

  military_tech4 dan Probable

  Probable

  The Santos judo history book records Kurachi as Pan American champion at 4th dan in 1956

  The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.

  Dan-Kyu System (1956)

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  1 source expand_more

  fact_check

  The Santos judo history book records Kurachi as Pan American champion at 4th dan in 1956

  “No Pan americano de 1956 ocorrido na cidade de Havana em Cuba Hikari Kurachi disputava a medalha de ouro na categoria faixa-preta 4 DAN com o americano Kenzo Uyeno.”

  — Medeiros, José Gomes de; Dimitrov, Simone. Memorabilia do Judô em Santos - Estórias, Memórias e Personagensinfo

Students (1)

• 
  Osvaldo Alves

  sports_martial_artsKōdōkan Jūdō Probable

  Probable

  OnTheMat interview states Osvaldo's first judo master was Shikaru Kurashiin (Hikari Kurachi) of São Paulo, then Fujimata; PT Wikipedia and BJJ Heroes name only Fujimata, so the Kurachi attribution rests on the interview's identification

  The evidence favours the claim and nothing credible contradicts it, but it falls short of establishing it.

  fact_checkassessed by FSMverified

  Frederico Muñoz

  Researcher, Martialis

  1 source expand_more

  fact_check

  OnTheMat interview states Osvaldo's first judo master was Shikaru Kurashiin (Hikari Kurachi) of São Paulo, then Fujimata; PT Wikipedia and BJJ Heroes name only Fujimata, so the Kurachi attribution rests on the interview's identification

  “In Judo it was Shikaru Kurashiin of São Paulo, this academy still exist on Bairro da Liberdade (a very known Japanese colony in Brazil). After him, I keep training with his student named Fujimata.”

  — On The Mat. (2004). Interview with Oswaldo Alves link history info

Sources