Sugata Sanshirō, (aka Jūdō Saga) is the fictionalised story (written by the Tsuneo Tomita, the son of prominent Kōdōkan jūdōka Tsunejirō Tomita), but based on the 1886, matches between Kōdōkan Judo and the older Jūjutsu schools.

The character 'Hansuke Murai' (who is a teacher of Ryōi Shintō-ryū Jūjutsu 良移心当流 柔術) was said to be based on Ryōi Shintō-ryū Jūjutsuka – Nakamura Hansuke (中村 半助), who fought Kōdōkan Jūdō (講道館 柔道) champion Yokoyama Sakujirō (横山 作次郎), known as ‘Demon’ Yokoyama (鬼横山). Both men fought for 55 minutes, but as neither could prevail the match was drawn. Nakamura was declared champion of East of Japan and Yokoyama champion of the West.