How Japan’s Martial Arts Emerged From the Clash Between Tradition and Modernity

Creating Traditions

Jigoro Kano practicing Judo with Mifune Kyuzo (Wikimedia Commons)

Today, millions of people around the world practice a Japanese martial art like Aikido, Judo, or Karate. In popular culture, they represent not just a syllabus of techniques and training methods but a connection to the warriors of the past like the Samurai or the Ninja, and martial traditions like…