Best friends at University, Akinori Hosaka and Yoshisada Yonezuka travelling on a train to a weekend Judo contest, Japan c.1956 Image copyright/permission Yonezuka-Hosaka
After graduating from university and working as Police Judo instructor in Sendai, North Japan, Akinori Hosaka departed for England in 1962 on a one year contract with the British Judo Association. He remained resident in the UK for the rest of his life. However, he did make frequent visits to his best friend Yoshisada Yonezuka who left Japan a few years after Hosaka to start a new life teaching Judo in New Jersey, USA.