Last week the government of Japan honored former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) for being an excellent judo player and helping Japan and the United States understand each other better.

In other words, Japan conferred the “Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon” on Campbell. We can all agree that this is the awesomest-sauce ever.

According to a statement from Meiji University in Japan, Campbell is the former president of the Northern California Judo Association Congress.

This actually makes total sense because he lived in Japan and “studied Judo in earnest from 1960 to 1964” at Meiji University. The judo master (as HOH has taken to calling him) represented the U.S. in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

So what happened next in the tale of Ben Nighthorse Campbell?

The statement sums it up as follows: “After returning home, besides contributing to the spread of Japanese culture acquired through Judo at the Meiji University and commercialized American Indian jewelry with pride, and made great success.”

Also, there was U.S. politics. No big deal.

Read the entire press release here.

Campbell was one of 59 foreigners to receive a 2011 Spring Imperial Decoration.