Yoshihiro “Yosh” Uchida passed peacefully at sunrise, at home on June 27th this year at the age of 104.
Yosh was born in Calexico, CA to Shikazo and Suye Uchida. Raised in Garden Grove, where his family grew chili peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables. In 1930, his parents wanted him and his siblings to learn about their Japanese heritage, so they enrolled them in the local Japanese school. At that time, boys could also take judo, sumo or kendo. He and his three brothers enrolled in judo.
As a 15-year-old sophomore, Uchida earned his black belt at the Grand Judo Championships in Los Angeles. After a semester at Fullerton Community College, Uchida’s friend, Tak, convinced him to enroll at San Jose State. There he met Sam Della Maggiore, a student wrestling coach who recognized Uchida’s talent as a wrestler and judoka.
A few years earlier in 1937 the SJSC Police Academy had seen the advantages of adding judo to their curriculum. Sam introduced Yosh to Emilio Bruno, who taught judo at the Police Academy and only months earlier had started the SJSC’s judo team. In 1940 Bruno left SJSC and Yosh was asked to coach the judo students.
Executive Order 9066 ordered the internment of citizens of Japanese descent on February 19, 1942. Though the Uchida family was sent to the Poston Internment Camp in Arizona, and later sent to Tule Lake, Yosh had already received his draft notice.
From Fort MacArthur in California, he was sent to Camp Robinson in Arkansas, then Fort Meade, South Dakota where he trained as a Medical Laboratory Technician. Following his discharge, in 1946 he returned to SJSC where he graduated in 1947 with a degree in Biological Sciences.
Upon his return to San Jose, Uchida not only continued coaching judo at the Police Academy, but also began tirelessly working toward establishing judo as a nationally recognized sport. With guidance from U.C. Berkeley’s wrestling and judo coach, Dr. Henry Stone, the pair teamed to change judo, a martial art, into a sport by instituting a weight class system.
Establishing weight divisions allowed judokas to be judged by their technique and not by their strength alone. The change helped judo become more popular through the collegiate circle and they worked to establish judo as a recognized sport by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
In 1953 they were successful, and the first National AAU championships were hosted by San Jose State, and Coach Uchida was the tournament director. On an international level, he and Dr. Stone and others spoke with Avery Brundage who had just been elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
With Mr. Brundages’ support and knowledge of American and International Sports politics, they were able to qualify judo as a recognized sport with the International Olympic Committee. Yosh was appointed the first Olympic judo coach for the United States judo team in 1964 at the Tokyo Games.
His accomplishments and recognitions are many. The Spartan Complex where the dojo resides was one of the sites where Japanese Americans had to report before being sent to camp during WWII. This building was renamed Yoshihiro Uchida Hall in 1997 and rededicated in 2014.
He was inducted into numerous Halls of Fame, including the San Jose Sports Authority Hall of Fame and SJSU’s Legends Hall of Fame. He received the President’s “Tower Award” for decades of service to SJSU.
In 1986 he received the “Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon” by his majesty the Emperor Hirohito of Japan. It was received because of his work in furthering the understanding of Japanese culture through the sport of judo across the country and around the world.
In 2013, he was promoted to the rank of Judan (10th degree), the highest rank in judo. At 103, he was still checking in at the Spartan dojo to visit the students and offer guidance. In the Spring of 2023 San Jose State University recognized and thanked him for his 75 years of teaching and service to SJSU.
While many recognize him for his work in judo, he would not have been able to do this without the support of his family. In 1943 Yosh married Ayame Mae Hiraki, who he met when they were both students at SJSC. Mae and her family were interned in Arizona where she was teaching 2nd Grade in Poston when he proposed. He said he felt bad because her class loved her so that they all cried the day they married and left the camp for South Dakota where he was stationed.
When they returned to San Jose, even though he was a veteran, married with a 3 year old daughter no onewould rent them a room. When he went to see Sam, Sam and Dina Della Maggiore welcomed them back and helped them get resettled. With his training as a med tech and help from friends, he worked at various hospital labs until 1956 when he and Mae founded Physicians Laboratory, later Laboratory Services, Inc. In 1989 the Uchidas sold the laboratory. At the time Laboratory Services was the largest privately held medical reference laboratory in Northern California wth 450 employees and 42 satellite labs.
Yosh is survived by his two daughters Lydia Uchida Sakai (Steve Sakai), Aileen Uchida (Steven Shimizu), grandsons Michael Sakai and Kyle Sakai (Anh Thu Tran) and granddaughter Amelia The Sakai, many nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews, many judo students, alumni and friends. Preceded in death, by wife Mae, daughter Janice Uchida, brothers Isamu Sam, Suehiro Henry (Chieko), Shikao George (Jean), sister Kazuko Maehara (Yoshio). We thank our caregivers, Kathy, Maeden, Gemae and Jessie and the nurses and physical therapists who helped him live comfortably these last years.
A memorial will be held on Saturday September 28, 2024 at 1:00 pm
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin
640 North 5th Street
San Jose California 95112
In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made to the non-profit group of your choice or to the Yoshihiro Uchida Legacy Foundation, a 501c3 fund set up by alumni to benefit the SJSU Judo Program.
For more information on the Foundation please check the website at www.YULF.org
