Katsutoshi Naito

When Katsutoshi Naito lost his mother as a child, he moved to Taiwan to live with his sister. He was raised in Taipei before returning to Japan. There, he attended the Kagoshima Higher Agriculture and Forestry School and joined the local judo and sumo clubs. During his third year at Kagoshima he won a martial arts contest in Kyoto and was promoted to 2nd Dan of Kōdōkan. After graduation, he advanced three further Dans in Tokyo.

Later, he enrolled in the Department of Agriculture at Penn State University and majored in horticulture. During this time, he discovered the Western style of wrestling. Naito became the national student champion and was nicknamed “Tiger Naito”. According to US immigration law in force, he was not allowed to represent the United States in international competitions. Probably on advice of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was included on the Japanese Olympic team to reduce the political friction between Japan and the United States. Although he was never defeated before by the two Americans Robin Reed and Chet Newton, he had to settle for the bronze medal due to a hand injury acquired during the passage to Europe.

After the Olympics, Naito returned to Japan and introduced wrestling at the Kōdōkan for the first time, but wrestling in Japan was only fully established in 1929. Naito moved to Taiwan again, working for a sugar company, before emigrating to Brazil in 1928. In São Paulo, he became one of the founders of the first organization promoting judo and kendo. Although it was closed when Japan was at war with Brazil, it was revived in 1948 and he later became chairman of the Judo Federation. In 1964, Naito was invited by the Japanese Wrestling Association to visit the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In 1969, he received the Kōdōkan’s 7th Dan. In Brazil, he was also very successful in the field of horticulture and was elected as chairman of the country’s horticulture association.