Kōdōkan

photo by Miyuki Meinaka · CC BY-SA 4.0

Home of judo since 1882: you can watch training for free from the gallery, weekdays 16:00–20:00.

From the eighth floor, a gallery overlooking the great dojo of 510 tatami lets you watch the practitioners train for free, on weekdays from late afternoon into the evening. On the floor below, the judo museum holds objects that belonged to the founder, Kanō Jigorō, but it is closed at weekends. You cannot step onto the tatami unless you are a registered practitioner: here you watch, you do not drop in to practise.

Kanō Jigorō founded the Kōdōkan in 1882, codifying into a single discipline (judo) the techniques gathered from several schools of jujutsu. Since 1958 the institute has been housed in its current building, in Kasuga, in Bunkyō Ward: the great dojo on the eighth floor, 510 tatami, is the heart of the school, where judoka train every day and grading examinations are held.

ℹ️ The dojo can be seen for free from the eighth-floor gallery on weekdays from 16:00 to 20:00 (Saturday until 19:30); it cannot be seen at weekends. The judo museum and library are free but open only Monday–Friday 11:00–18:00, closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and during the summer and year-end closures (kdkjudo.org, copied verbatim). You cannot step onto the tatami: practice is reserved for registered judoka.

🚉 Korakuen · 4 min walk

Sources: kdkjudo.org · kdkjudo.org · ja.wikipedia.org

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