In 1879 , Ulysses S. Grant , the former President of the United States , visited Japan . While in Tokyo , he attended a jujutsu presentation at Shibusawa Eiichi 's home in Asukayama . Kano Jigoro was one of the jujutsuka present . At that time , jujutsu was just starting to become known in Europe and the Americas . Excepting literal circus acts , few non @-@ Japanese had much chance of seeing or learning about the art . Even in Japan , judo and jujutsu was not considered separate disciplines at that time . Indeed , it was not until 1925 that there started to be clear differentiation of the names in Japan , and outside Japan , judo and jujutsu was not completely separated until the 1950s .