Hidemasa Tanaka, a KODOKAN 5th Dan Black Belt, was born in Yokohama, Japan. He began practicing judo at the age of four. After graduating from Toin Gakuen High School, he attended Saitama University, where he participated in the national tournament for the first time. Upon completing his university education, Tanaka worked as a teacher in Yokohama. In 2001, he became a physical education teacher at Nara Junior High School and began advising the school’s judo club in 2003. Despite his busy teaching schedule, which limited his judo practice to…