Naoki Murata

Naoki Murata (村田 直樹, Murata Naoki; 21 July 1949 – 9 April 2020) was an 8th dan Japanese judoka and author. He has written many books about judo. He was also the curator of the Kodokan Judo Museum in Tokyo.

Murata was born in Tokorozawa, Saitama in 1949. He studied at the Faculty of Physical Education, Department of Martial Arts of the Tokyo University of Education, where he obtained the MA degree in physical fitness in 1973. He has been a judo instructor in more than ten countries, including Iceland and Thailand. He also worked as an assistant professor at Kagawa University. He was a curator of the Kodokan Judo Museum and Library. In July 2008, he has been appointed the Head of Directors of the Japanese Academy of Budo, chairman of the All Japan Judo Federation's Committee of Education and Proliferation of Judo as well as a member of the federation's Referee Committee. In 2013 he was promoted to the rank of 8th dan in Kodokan judo. Murata died on 9 April 2020 at the age of 70.