San Jose State judo alumni held a 103rd birthday gala Saturday evening for the school’s legendary coach, Yosh Uchida, a great promoter of the sport in the United States over the last 70-plus years.
Uchida helped organize the inaugural collegiate national championship in the sport, a Spartans win in 1962. San Jose State has gone on to win more than 40 men’s titles and more than 20 women’s crowns at the event.
Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, right, and his wife, Jessica Garcia-Kohl, have their photograph taken with Yosh Uchida during Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Noguchi Yasushi, the Consul General of Japan in San Francisco, has his photograph taken with Yosh Uchida during Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
The Spartans’ program has been a training ground for Olympians under Uchida, who represented the United States in the first Olympic judo tournament at the 1964 Games in Tokyo.
Uchida has been a South Bay figure away from the mat, too: He built up a medical laboratory business that sold to Unilab for $30 million in 1989 and founded the Japanese American Chamber of Silicon Valley in 1996.
Nearly three decades later – and 60 years after making judo a national collegiate sport – Uchida is still impacting the lives of his athletes.
Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, left, talks to George Henderson, also known as Krazy George Henderson, during Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) San Jose Mayor Matt Mahon mingles during Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Former U.S. Rep. Mike Honda mingles during Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez mingles during Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) People gather for Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) A jazz band plays during Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Friends of Yosh Uchida visit during Yosh Uchida’s 103rd birthday gala at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
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