Masato Tamura was born in Fife, Washington, United States.[1] Tamura was born in 1913.[1] By 1965 he was a 7th Dan in Judo.[2] In 1969, Tamura was awarded the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame for Judo Instructor.[3] In 1972 he operated a dojo in California.[4]
Tamura originally trained in Seattle Dojo.[4] Mas Tamura was promoted to 3rd degree black belt by Jigaro Kano.[5] Tamura trained his brother Vince Tamura into a national champion and international competitor in Judo.[4] Tamura was instrumental in developing the hand to hand techniques used by the US Armed Forces.[4] This was after defeating an opponent over 50lbs more than himself.[5] Tamura is a former president of the United States Judo Federation.[6]
Tamura was married with three children.[1] Two of his daughters Rosemarie and Diane Tamura were competitors in Judo.[7] His son is Frank Tamura.[8] His wife Rose died in 2012, while Tamura died from cancer in 1982.[8]