Kaori Yamaguchi

Who is Kaori Yamaguchi?

Kaori Yamaguchi is a retired judoka.

Yamaguchi won the All-Japan Judo Championships 10 consecutive times from 1978-1987 and won her first medal at the 1980 World Judo Championships. She went on to win 4 silver medals and one gold medal at the World Judo Championships. She also made an appearance at the 1988 Summer Olympics, and finished with a bronze medal, though women's judo was a demonstration sport at the time. She retired from competitive judo in 1989 when she graduated from the University of Tsukuba. She worked as an instructor for the University of Tsukuba and Musashi University since retiring. Yamaguchi is currently Associate professor of Tsukuba.

She is the model for the protagonist in Naoki Urasawa's judo manga, Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl, and makes a cameo appearance in the film version of the manga as well.