Trevor Leggett

Trevor Pryce Leggett (22 August 1914 – 2 August 2000)[a] was a British judo teacher, author, translator, and head of the BBC's Japanese Service for 24 years. He was one of the first Europeans to study martial arts in Japan. Leggett served in the Ministry of Information during World War II. After the war, he taught judo at the Budokwai and worked in Japanese language services at the BBC. He held the title of Shihan and the rank of 6th dan in judo from the Kodokan. 

Leggett helped introduce Japanese culture to the United Kingdom and was honored for this by being inducted into Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1984. He also produced many works on Eastern philosophy. Leggett was born on 22 August 1914 in Brondesbury, northwestern London, in the United Kingdom. He was the third son of Ernest Lewis Leggett, a professional violinist who had come from a farming family, and Isobel Mabel Leggett (née Pryce), a nurse from an affluent Scottish family.

E. Leggett had been a child prodigy and was an orchestral leader under conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. Since his father disapproved of his interest in martial arts, Leggett had to begin practicing judo in secret. Sir Leslie Glass, recalling Leggett's account of his own youth, said that "Trevor was a tall, rather gangling figure. He told me he had been outsize at school and bullied. He had taken up judo to work out the resentment which had built up inside him".

Leggett joined the Budokwai in London in 1932, training primarily under Yukio Tani, who would have a profound influence on the young man. Biographers Anthony Dunne and Richard Bowen (2003) relate that on one occasion, Leggett "looked in at the Budokwai, but, feeling a bit off color and deciding not to train, walked away. He met Tani, who asked where he was going. Responding to the five feet three-inch Tani, Leggett said, 'Well, you know, I thought I'd give the training a miss tonight. 

I'm a bit off-color, and rest will do me good.' 'Now, Leggett San, if a man with evil intent rushes up to you in the street with a hammer, what are you going to say? I'm sorry, but I don't feel too good. Can you attack me next week?' Leggett turned on his heel and went back to the Budokwai. It was incidents of this nature, and there was a number, which made a major contribution to his steely self-control and determination" 

During his time at the Budokwai, Leggett was promoted through the ranks to 1st dan, 2nd dan, and 3rd dan. He also studied law at university, graduating with a degree from the University of London in 1934. In 1936, he met Hari Prasad Shastri, a teacher of Adhyatma Yoga who, like Tani, would have a significant impact on him. Shastri became his teacher of yoga and its philosophy. He went to Japan in 1938 and continued his studies in judo. 

He received his 4th dan, 5th dan, and 6th dan promotions from the Kodokan. Leggett recounted that judo was rougher and more dangerous as practiced before World War II than after the war. When World War II began in Europe, Leggett was attached to the British Embassy in Tokyo. When Japan entered the war in 1941, he was interned along with the other embassy staff. While confined with his fellow Britons, Leggett abstained from alcohol—unlike many of his colleagues—which reflected his ascetic character. 

He managed to continue his judo training with his Japanese guards. During his time in Japan, continuing his study of philosophy, he also received instruction at a Buddhist monastery. In the second half of 1942, the detainees were exchanged for staff of the Japanese Embassy in London. Leggett joined the Ministry of Information and attended a Japanese language refresher course at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Given his degree of fluency, he received private classes with renowned academic Arthur Waley. 

During the remainder of the war, Leggett served in India. He held the rank of Major in the Ministry of Information's Far Eastern Division, which later merged with the Psychological Warfare Division. At the end of the war, he returned to London.