Just as in the 19th Century Japan had modelled itself on the great Western empires, and in particular the British, so in the early 20th Century many Westerners were taking an interest in Japanese ways due to its astounding rise in such a short time to become a leading world power and a major world empire.  Japan was considered in every way equal to Western powers.  As such, Japanese culture became popular in the West.  Japanese fighting arts, due to Japan's astounding military prowess, became highly respected.  Already by the time of the First World War (1914-18), Western armies were training their recruits in Jiu-jitsu, which can even be seen in film reels of basic training at the time.  Judo began to spread, by means of interested visitors, emigrants, adventurers and later through teachers sent by Jigoro Kano.  Not only Western militaries adopted Jiu-jitsu but so did police forces.  And, as one Western nation's officialdom sponsored Jiu-jitsu, so did the next.  Canada's national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, adopted Jiu-jitsu (called "Judo" interchangeably by Westerners) as its unarmed combat system in 1932 after challenging Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki to all-out fights with its top boxer and wrestler.  Shigetaka won both fights.  The famous American president Theodore Roosevelt had his own private Judo instructor in the White House.  The popular culture in all Western countries incorporated Jiu-jitsu fighting into many books, magazines, films and gymnasiums.  Self-defence Jiu-jitsu classes sprung up like wildfire.  Do keep in mind the respect the West developed for all things Japanese because of its immense military and economic power developed over such a relatively short span of time, seemingly out of nowhere.  It had flat-out defeated Russia in 1905 and conquered most of East Asia and a large part of the Pacific shortly thereafter.

Kano, does not seem to have been comfortable with imperialism.  He was, however, quite flattered by the interest the rest of the world was showing in his Judo.  He even visited a number of Western nations, including Canada, to spread the art, and in fact sent out a number of instructors.  Judo had come a long long way from its humble beginnings as a concept initially rejected by the Japanese government.  It was now becoming an international, popular, famous, phenomenon.  Kano passed away of an illness aboard a ship returning from an International Olympic Committe conference in 1938.  While there is no indication that Kano thought of Judo becoming an Olympic sport, by the time of his death Judo had become a very popular competitive activity worldwide.  When the Olympics came to Japan in 1964, Judo was included, and so became an Olympic sport.