He holds a 7th dan rank in judo, and maintains a close friendship with his former rival, Yasuhiro Yamashita.
Yasuhiro Yamashita, Seigo Saito, Yasuyuki Muneta, and Yohei Takai are the only other judoka in history who received the award four times.
Tomoyuki Yamashita | Yasuhiro Ishimoto | Yasuhiro Yamashita | Yasuhiro Nakasone | Yamashita: The Tiger's Treasure | Tatsuro Yamashita | Yosuke Yamashita | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | Yasuhiro Takemoto | Yasuhiro Suzuki | Yasuhiro Sonoda | Yasuhiro Nightow | Yasuhiro Kawakami | Yamashita Yoshiaki | Yamashita's gold |