Later Life
On 19 September 1954, the Budokwai moved to new, larger premises; shortly after this, Koizumi returned to Japan for the first time in 50 years. His sister, relatives, and a Kodokan delegation led by its President, Risei Kano (one of Jigoro Kano's sons), received him at the airport. The Kodokan treated him as an honoured guest. After his visit, Koizumi returned to the UK. Koizumi wrote some books on judo, including Judo: The basic technical principles and exercises, supplemented with contest rules and grading syllabus (1958) and My study of Judo: The principles and the technical fundamentals (1960). He continued teaching judo throughout the early 1960s.
The night before Koizumi died, Charles Palmer (one of Koizumi's students) sensed that something was amiss—Black Belt magazine correspondent Kei Tsumura relates that "instead of his usual smiling 'good-night', he shook his hand and said 'good-bye'" (p. 50). On 15 April 1965, Koizumi apparently committed suicide. He was found wearing his best suit, seated in his favourite chair, beside the gas stove in his home, and reportedly with a plastic bag over his head.
Koizumi's death shocked the worldwide judo community, and caused much controversy. Some considered his suicide dishonourable, while others argued that his death mirrored those of honourable samurai. Grant (1965) indicated that he had been promoted to 8th dan before he died, but Fromm and Soames (1982) stated that the Kodokan promoted him to 8th dan posthumously.
Read more about this topic: Gunji Koizumi
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