Judo achieved Olympic recognition in time for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. It was the fulfilment of efforts which had begun long before the Second World War.

"The road towards recognition was long and difficult and often hazardous," said Dr Michel Brousse, author of an official history of the sport.

Judo had been formulated in the late 19th century by Jigorō Kanō, regarded by many as the "father of Japanese amateur sport".

Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita, 1984 Olympic open judo champion, told insidethegames that Kanō "was the master and left us a very special legacy for the sport."

Kanō had founded the Kodokan Judo Institute and was keen to spread his ideas across the world.

"The spirit of judo which has as its ideal world peace, concurs with the international spirit and if an International Federation comes into existence, I would like to visit the various countries and disseminate the spirit of judo."

In 1909, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and travelled to the Stockholm 1912 Olympics, where he met the President Baron Pierre de Coubertin in person for the first time.

After the First World War, Kanō was in Europe again for the IOC session in Antwerp. Whilst there, he gave judo demonstrations.

Back home, he was elected to the Japanese Imperial Senate. Coubertin announced the news at an IOC session.

In 1932, Kano joined fellow IOC member Seiichi Kishi at the Los Angeles Olympics, where they proposed that Tokyo should host in 1940. Kishi died the following year, so it fell to Kanō and Count Michimasa Soyeshima to spearhead the Tokyo presentation at the vote in 1936 before the Berlin Games.

When Tokyo was chosen, Prime Minister Kōki Hirota spoke of his delight.

"I am exceedingly delighted. The occasion will afford the nation an excellent opportunity for displaying to the whole world, the strong points in the characteristics of the Japanese nation."

At the 1937 IOC session in Warsaw, a progress report  announced "Budo was chosen as the demonstration of a national sport." This was to include both kendo and judo.

In a letter, Kanō wrote about "the wisdom and possibility of judo being introduced with other games and sports" to Gunji Koizumi, founder of the Budokwai centre in London.

"Judo is not a mere sport or game. I regard it as a principle of life, art and science. It should be as free as art and science from external influences, political, national racial, financial or any other organised interests. If it be the desire of other member countries, I have no objection." But he warned that "the Olympics were strongly flavoured with nationalism."

Japan was already at war in China. Tokyo organisers insisted "the Games have no connection with the 'China Affair'" but soon had to bow to the inevitable.

Kanō had attended the 1938 IOC session in Cairo but fell ill with pneumonia and died during the voyage home.

Soon the war in China forced Tokyo to give up the 1940 Games. With this decision, judo’s Olympic ambitions receded.

Yet Kanō’s spirit lived on with his son Risei, later to become International Judo Federation (IJF) President. After the war, Risei played his part in eventually gaining Olympic status.

Although Japan was initially banned from international sport in the immediate post-war years, judo grew in popularity elsewhere. In the words of the official IJF history, European judo became the ‘"true dynamo" of international development.

In 1951, European Championships were held in Paris, but the sport also grew in the United States. At the 1954 World Wrestling Championships in Tokyo, the US team was managed by enthusiastic judoka Henry Stone, head of physical education at the University of California in Berkeley. He told reporters: "Today there are over 700 Yudansha (black belt) Judoists in the United States. It is becoming more and more popular amongst universities and colleges. We are trying to get it entered in the Olympics as a regular sport in the future."

In Japan, there were calls for Olympic inclusion. The Japan Times concluded "it would not be any trouble at all to get the sufficient number of nations to sign up for judo competitions. Why not? You will be asking yourself.”

Germany’s Heinrich Frantzen, then President of the European Judo Federation, insisted that judo "richly deserved inclusion in the Olympic Games."

Tokyo had also launched another Olympic bid. It hosted the 1958 IOC session and the Asian Games, which included a demonstration of judo. The first two World Championships were also held in the city.

In 1959, Tokyo was elected host city for the 1964 Olympics, beating Detroit, Vienna and Brussels by a convincing margin. It had submitted a huge bid dossier in which judo was listed as a "demonstration" sport.

However, in 1960, an article appeared in the official Olympic Review on "the phenomenal development of judo." It was written by Eric Jonas of the European Judo Federation.

"The importance and development of judo as an international sport have been proved by the complete success of the last world championships in 1958", Jonas wrote.

When Japanese Olympic official Masaji Tabata visited Lausanne, IOC chancellor Otto Mayer reported that "Jonas suggested to Tabata that judo should be included as an official event rather than a mere demonstration. As the games are being held in Japan it would be a very good thing to include judo in the official events. I see no reason why the application should be rejected," Mayer said.

As the Olympic family gathered in Rome for a session before the 1960 Games, Risei Kanō sent a memo to IOC President Avery Brundage suggesting "it is a sport befitted for adoption as an Olympic event."

An exhibition judo match between Italian police and Japanese wrestlers was held. At the session, the request for inclusion on the full programme was formally tabled. Japanese IOC member Dr Ryōtarō Azuma "supports this request and says how gratifying it would be, were judo to be included."

The vote was 39 to 2 in favour, though disputes about the programme rumbled on. Mayer wrote to Azuma that November: "In my personal opinion, there are two sports which are entirely professional and which should be dropped and those are football and cyclisme [sic]."

Lobbying continued. French Judo Association President Jean Pimentel said: "As far as France is concerned, we shall back any proposal for the inclusion of judo in the next Olympics."

German IOC member Willi Daume suggested "there is a good chance of judo being put on the Tokyo programme out of courtesy."

In fact, courtesy won the day as judo was included, although only for men. Despite Mayer’s misgivings, football and cycling were maintained.

The Japan Judo Federation now discussed the major lingering problem. 

"Is it necessary to adopt a weight system as in boxing and wrestling?” Kitoaki Murata asked in the Japan Times.

"The suggestion should strike one as strange because according to conception, it is one sport where weight does not matter." He argued that "a trend in subsequent decades has been that a successful judoist must have more than average weight."

The Japanese Championships were already reflecting this change and then in 1961, Dutchman Anton Geesink became the first European to win a world title. He stood 1.98 metres tall and weighed 120 kilograms.

Kanō had already intimated that weight divisions would be used. It was decided there would be four.

The official Tokyo 1964 report notes that "it was decided that each contestant would be permitted to participate in only one weight category."

Lightweight Takehide Nakatani delighted the home spectators when he became judo’s first Olympic champion. His medal was presented by IOC President Brundage.

There was further delight when Isao Okano won middleweight gold and a third title went to heavyweight Isao Inokuma. For the final of the open category, 15,000 crammed into the arena where Japan’s Akio Kaminaga took on the mighty Geesink for gold.

The bout lasted nine minutes before victory went to Geesink.

"That moment was not just good for Dutch sport, but for the sport of judo," said Jos Hell, President of the Dutch Judo Federation.

Most regarded the competition as a success, but judo’s Olympic future remained uncertain. The 1963 IOC session in Baden-Baden decided to drop judo from the Mexico City 1968 Olympics.

New IOC member João Havelange, later better known as FIFA President, sprang to its defence. He spoke of the "perfect organisation of the judo competitions. Judo is a sport which has spread throughout the whole world thanks to the Japanese. The decision not to include judo in 1968 has caused considerable moral and material prejudice to a modern sport."

Havelange said the decision had "caused immense distress to our Japanese friends."

Azuma tried to persuade the IOC to reconsider in 1966 without success, but judo did return to the Olympic programme in 1972. It has remained ever since.