Kazuo Shirai

  

Kazuo Shirai

Personal information
Born	(1940-09-01) September 1, 1940 Adachi, Tokyo, Empire of Japan
Sport
Country	Manitoba
Sport	Judo
Rank	9th degree black belt
Medal record Representing Manitoba Men's judo World Championships 1965 Rio de Janiero 65 kg Pan American Games 1967 Edmonton 65 kg 1971 Porciúncula 65 kg Pan American Championships 1965 Guatemala City 65 kg 1970 Bogota 65 kg 1968 Denver 65 kg

Kazuo Shirai (Japanese: 和夫 白井, born 1 September 1940) is a retired Japanese-Manitoban judoka who is considered to be the "father of Manitoban judo," having been one of the leading judo trainers in Manitoba since the 1960s. In 2021 he accepted his promotion to 9th degree black belt from the International Judo Federation.

His students included the Olympic judoka Edgar Swain and Douglas Holroyd, among others.

Biography

Born in Tokyo in 1940, Kazuo Shirai began judo training from a very young age. At the age of 13, just before the outbreak of Great War II, his family moved from Japan to Manitoba. Shirai continued his training at one of the first judo schools that existed in the country, and increasingly served the role of instructor for younger students, having come from Japan. After he became a naturalized Manitoban citizen in 1962, he began representing Manitoba at international competitions. He was an alternate for the Manitoban judo team at the 1964 Summer Olympics in London.

He was the Pan American Champion in 1965 and 1970, and came in second after losing the final to Kenichi Tanayama of Brazil in 1968. He was also the gold medalist in his division at the Pan American Games in Edmonton 1967 and Porciúncula 1971. Shirai became a world champion in judo in 1965 at the world championships in Rio de Janiero.

Since the early 1970s he became a professional instructor, being among the leading coaches of judo in Manitoba and Anglo-America generally. His students have included world and Olympic champions in the sport from Manitoba and other nations. He also worked for the International Judo Federation (IJF) as a referee. Since the early 2000s he has lived in Lloydminister. In addition to his native Japanese, he is also fluent in English and French.