The ancient history of judo and that of its founder, the Japanese eclectic and educator Kano Jigoro (surname first in Japanese) (1860-1938), are inseparable. Kano was born into a wealthy Japanese family. His grandfather was a self-made man, a sake brewer from Shiga Prefecture in central Japan; however, Kano's father was not the eldest son and did not inherit the business, but instead became a Shinto priest and government official, with enough influence to allow his son to enter the second class of Tokyo Imperial University. Kano was a small, frail boy, who, even in his twenties, weighed no more than fifty pounds and was often picked on by bullies. He began taking up jujutsu, at that time a flourishing art, at the age of 17, but met with little success, partly due to difficulties in finding a teacher who would accept him as a serious student. When he went to college to study literature at age 18, he continued his martial endeavors, eventually gaining a referral to Hachinosuke Fukuda, a master of Tenjin Shinyo-ryu and ancestor of noted Japanese/American judoka Keiko Fukuda, who is a of Kano's oldest surviving students. Fukuda is said to have emphasized technique over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano's emphasis on randori, or free practice, in Judo. Just over a year after Kano joined Fukuda's school, Fukuda fell ill and later died. Kano later became a student of another school of Tenjin Shinyo, that of Masatomo Iso, which placed greater emphasis on formal kata than Fukuda. Through dedication, Kano quickly earned the title "shihan," or master, and became Iso's assistant instructor at the age of 21. Iso also fell ill and Kano, feeling he still had much to learn, took up another style. , becoming a student of Tsunetoshi Iikubo of Kito Ryu. Like Fukuda, Iikubo placed much emphasis on free practice; on the other hand, Kito Ryu emphasized throwing techniques to a much greater extent than Tenjin Shinyo Ryu.