Japanese Waiter Performs Jiu-Jitsu on Diner
An attempt to leave an Empire restaurant without paying for a meal ended in a swift martial arts takedown.
Barney McGovern, a laborer, was treated to a practical lesson in Jiu-Jitsu at noon, when he attempted to walk out of the Empire restaurant, Eighth and Pacific, without paying for his meal. Before McGovern had stepped from the threshold, S. Kikuchi, one of the Japanese waiters, was upon him and for a few minutes the air was full of McGovern and Jap. City Detective D. O. Smith, ambling along the next instant, put a sudden halt to the pyrotechnics and walked the fighters to the city jail.
“For a few minutes the air was full of McGovern and Jap.”
While the reporting relies on period-typical language, it highlights a fascinating cross-cultural intersection in early 20th-century Tacoma. Jiu-Jitsu was a burgeoning novelty in the American consciousness at the time, frequently featured in news anecdotes of the era.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.