I had the priviledge of meeting and working out with Iaso Inokuma in 1970 while I was training in Japan.

He reminded me a lot of my Judo Sensei Yone. He was always well groomed and stylish. Whenever he came to the dojo he always had the cleanest judo gi out of all the 200 + training at the Kodokan.

Physically, despite his size, he was one of the strongest Japanese I had oppurnitiy to work out with. He took this poor judo player (me) out to eat a number of times which was a treat as I was penniless at the time.

It was reported in the Yomiuri newspaper dated September 30, 2001 that Isao Inokuma had committed suicide in Tokyo on September 28. He was 63.

Born in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture in 1938, he started judo at the age of 14. In 1959, aged 21, he won the All Japan Judo Championship at his first attempt and won it again in 1963. A graduate of the prestigious Tokyo University of Education (present-day Tsukuba University) he was 173 cm. tall, and his fighting weight was between 81 - 86 kilograms. Despite his somewhat small physique, his aggressive style and superb Tai-Otoshi and Ippon-Seoi-Nage techniques in particular helped him win the heavyweight category gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and the open category gold medal at the 1965 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He retired from contest judo in 1966, later becoming a professor at Tokai University. From 1993 until his death he was president of Tokai Construction Co. Ltd..