Autograph request
Picture postcard sent by Bray to E.J. Harrison on 11th January 1904 asking for his autograph.
Ernest John ("E.J.") Harrison (22 August 1873 to 23 April 1961) was an English journalist, author and judoka. Harrison was born in Manchester, England, on 22 August 1873. He wrote many books about the practice of judo. He died in London, on 23 April 1961.
As a young man, Harrison was a journalist who worked for newspapers in England, British Columbia, and Japan. He enjoyed wrestling. In 1897, while working for Yokohama newspaper called Japan Herald, he began training in Tenjin shinyo-ryu jujutsu. After moving to Tokyo, he began training in Kodokan judo. In 1911, he was the first foreign-born person to achieve shodan (black belt ranking) in Kodokan judo. In 1912, his Fighting Spirit of Japan was among the first English-language books to describe the Japanese martial arts from the perspective of a foreign-born practitioner of those arts.
