EBJI Visits Steveston Judo Club

November 19, 2016

EBJI was honored and humbled to visit the Steveston Judo Club in Vancouver this weekend. The dojo was founded in 1953 after WWII and is run completely on a volunteer basis. We were blown away by the beauty of the dojo itself and amazed by the Japanese Calligraphy featured above us in the picture, which was written by judo’s founder Dr. Jigoro Kano himself prior to his death. We thank the members of the dojo for allowing us to visit, compete in their tournament and learn more about the history of judo in this area.

EBJI Member Takashi Matsumoto reflected on his first trip to Canada: “Canada was very fun. It was exciting learning about the area’s rich history of judo. I was surprised by the culture and how it was different than the United States. Although Vancouver was very cold, I was warmed by the people and how they were so nice to us. We didn’t get to tour Vancouver as much as I wanted to, but I did get to learn about the history of the area during World War II and it was interesting to hear about what happened as a result of the war. Canada has a lot of inventions that we don’t have in the United States, such as an easy receipt printing machine at restaurants. Because it was winter, I didn’t get to experience Canada’s plentiful nature, but if the opportunity to go arises again, I would definitely choose to go.”