#Kanji Inoki

[jinnaizaemon]

Happy movie trailer day! In the meantime I'm making myself busy translating the second movie, and because I have a stupid amount of notes about that scene introducing the special Kisanta rescue team (the kids who didn't complete their homework), I thought I'd share them here. It's a bit long, so it's under the cut!

"1st year ha-class, Settsu no Kirimaru. Assigned with a book report. Planned to copy someone else’s homework. I was too busy working part time jobs!"

In the background there's a seigaiha wave pattern, which has been used since the Heian period, and so is well established already during Muromachi where Nintama takes place. Because of the unending motion of waves, it's an auspicious pattern that evokes resilience.

Then, there's of course the little coins Kirimaru loves so much ("kozeni!"). They are called eiraku-tsuho after the japanese reading of the characters 永樂通寳 on it, but back then they were commonly called eiraku-sen. They are copper coins worth 1 mon (the currency of the time) each, and they have a square hole in the middle so they can be tied to a string.

The text scrolling across the screen goes like this: 人も歩けば銭を拾う. "Even people can pick up coins if they keep walking." Looks like Kirimaru's own take on the japanese proverb "Even a dog can pick up a stick if it keeps walking.", meaning that good things are bound to happen if you keep going. 成るも成らぬも銭次第. "When there's money, there's a way." Literally "Success depends on money.", but is a spin on "when there's a will, there's a way". 銭は天下の落とし物 "Coins are what heavens dropped and left behind", literally. So something like "Coins fell from heavens' pocket." If it's a spin on a proverb, I don't know about it, sorry!

"1st year ha-class, Fukutomi Shinbei. Assigned with kanji exercises. Planned to copy someone else’s homework. Instead I ate a lot of yummy food!"

In the background are konpeitou, a type of candy introduced in Japan by Portuguese traders by the end of Muromachi.

At the time, it was an exotic and expensive product, but surely it's something Shinbei would be able to enjoy back at his family home in Sakai, whose port became a hub for foreign trade at the time due to Oda Nobunaga forming friendly relationships with the Portuguese (a missionary even gifted him konpeitou to earn his favors). So if there's one character who could afford konpeitou, it would probably be Shinbei! (I'm sure Tasogare Jinbei would love it too.)

The scrolling text reads: 地上の子の最大の幸福は満腹なれ "In a full belly lies a child of earth's chief happiness." Shinbei's own take on these verses part of Goethe's West-Eastern Divan: In sense of personal being lies A child of earth's chief happiness. 衣食足りて宿題忘るる "The poor can't afford homewowork." It comes from the japanese proverb "once fed and clothed, one learns manners", which I think in English would be "the poor can't afford manners". Literally translates to "Once fed and clothed, you forgeget about homework". Yes, Shinbei added an extra character, so the last word gets an extra vowel lol.

"3rd year ro-class, Kanzaki Samon. Assigned with farm work practice. Somehow never found the way to the assigned farm. That was homework for a 2nd year? So stupid!"

Behind him are mah-jong tiles with the characters for the fourth cardinal points on them: 北 (north), 南 (south), 東 (east), 西 (west). Obviously relating to his sense of direction.

The text reads: 進退は疑うなかれ "Don't doubt your actions." 敵を見て謀るなかれ "Do not scheme just by watching the enemy." Sadly I don't know where these lines come from. 迷わず行けよ行けば判る "Just go without hesitation; if you go, you will understand." This is taken from a quote by pro-wrestler Antonio Inoki.

"4th year i-class, Tairano Takiyashamaru. I tore the social science work I was given since it was for 1st years! I boast the best grades in my year, don’t make a fool of me!"

The rose frame evokes early shoujo manga, most notably The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda, where roses are a recurring symbol in the story of the main characters' enduring beauty and dignity even in the hardest times. That idea of beauty, utsukushisa, is something Takiyashamaru mentions a lot, insisting on doing things beautifully always.

The scrolling text reads: 選ばれし者の恍惚と不満ふたつ我有り "I have both the ecstasy and displeasure of being the chosen one." Taken from Dazai Osamu's short story Leaves. 天才を天才たらしめるのは私の本能 My instinct makes me a genius among geniuses. His own take on a quote by Bob Dylan:  "I believe that instinct is what makes a genius a genius.". He made it about himself... classic Taki...

"5th year ro-class, Fuwa Raizou. Got overwhelmed with apprehension over the science exercises aimed at 3rd years that I received. How come that homework is so easy?"

In the background are lined up onigawara. Oni is often translated as "ogre" or "demon", but originally the figure of the oni symbolizes everything that is out of human's power and influence, making them not necessarily malicious ; all events that amount to luck, fate, force of natures like earthquakes, storms, etc, Which is why you find onigawara, roof tiles made in the shape of oni, placed there in order to ward off evil and misfortune. Fuwa Raizou's name sounds similar to the yojijukugo (four kanji compound expression) 付和雷同 "fu wa rai dou" meaning "to follow others blindly". That's not very sympathetic towards ever hesitant Raizou, but the characters used to spell his name are different : 不(un-) 破(breakable) 雷(thunder) 蔵(warehouse, ownership) The unbreakable mind who puts thunder in a box, who made thunder his own. Under his indecisiveness there's a reliable senpai and protector, just like the onigawara!

Raizou has only one sentence scrolling across the screen:

お前の実力はこの程度ということなのだろうか "Could this be the extent of your ability?" I don't know if this refers to something else, the sentence being very... anime fight-speech like it makes it difficult to research haha.

"You never change, Raizou. Gave up on homework to follow Raizou. 5th year ro-class, Hachiya Saburou."

I love this transition! His introduction mirrors Raizou: He comments first, gives his reason for not doing his homework second, and shares his name last. Excuse my sloppy edit in the picture above, I wanted to include all the mask in one picture. The striped background evokes a theater curtains, and all of Raizou's onigawara are swapped with masks from Noh theater - they all represent different characters, of different archetypes, gender, etc. Some are humans, some are spirits, some are good or evil... conveying of course Saburou's mastery of disguise! I tried to name all the masks on the picture above, but I'm really no expert so I might have made mistakes. Incidentally, Ayakashimaru from 1st year ro-class is named after the "Ayakashi" Noh mask. Although they aren't pictured here, there exist masks named Fushikizou, Heita, and Magojirou.

As for the scrolling text... take a deep breath everyone because it's a lot:

比翼の鳥 連理の枝一膳の箸 把手共行 碎啄同時 "Lovebirds flying together, intertwined branches of a tree, A pair of chopsticks, walking hand in hand, a chance opportunity."

There's.. a LOT going on here, yojijukugo and poetic imagery, so let's break it down:

比翼の鳥 連理の枝 hiyoko no tori, literally birds in flight, is an expression meaning "a happily married couple". renri no eda means intertwined branches, the "renri" part refering to trees growing to become cojointed. In Japanese, such trees are seen as an auspicious symbol of marriage, and "renri" is an expression to refer to an intimate relationship.

This specific imagery is found in the Chinese poem, the Song of Everlasting Regret, telling the story of star-crossed lovers:

“In the heavens, we vow to be as two birds flying wingtip to wingtip, On earth, we vow to be as two intertwined branches of a tree.”

一膳の箸 ichizen no hashi is literally "a pair of chopsticks".

把手共行 hashukyouko means "to go together, hand in hand".

碎啄同時 sottaku douji means an once in a life time chance, a golden opportunity. It evokes two people learning and working in sync, and in Buddhism, it refers to a teacher helping a disciple attain enlightenment.

Oh...Saburou...❤️

"6th year ha-class, Zenpouji Isaku. Got an assignment for 4th years, “Steal the flag of the Tasogaredoki army”. But it didn’t count since I ripped the flag I got to make bandages out of it. It was in pieces, but I did bring back a whole flag…"

I'm not sure of what is in the background haha. The designs and the brown side remind me a lot of the matchboxes sold in the Taisho era and until mid Showa. They're known by the word for "matchbox label", 燐票, rinpyou. These matchboxes were used for advertising, notably by drugstores for selling medicine. This is at least what the designs of the boxes on the screenshot reminds me of, especially the blue Junko (the snake being associated with traditional medicine too).

The text reads: ちちんぷいぷい いたいのいたいのむこうのおやまへとんでゆけ "There, there, ouchies fly away, to the mountain over there." The whole sentence is written in the easy to read, phonetic hiragana alphabet, to match the "baby speech" tone of the sentence. The first part, chichin puipui, is used as a "spell" by parents, nurses, etc to comfort small children in pain. Then, the ouchies are sent flying away with a motion of the hand to make them feel better.

That's it for today! I hope it wasn't too long to read! Thank you for reading this far! If you have extra info, please let me know!

[tempenensis]

Hi Lele 👋👋

Yuki Tsukumo's CT name is "Star Rage", and Yuki Tsukumo is a former Star Plasma vessel. Do you think the name CT Yuki is related to the name "Star Plasma"? (sorry if this question isn't clear)

Interestingly, the reading for "Star rage" is

Bom-ba-ye (ボンバイエ), which comes from INOKI BOM-BA-YE, a Japanese martial arts TV program produced by the famous Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki lmao.

(But yes, I think this also refers to star plasma vessel. Star rage is the translation for the Kanji writing)

[f0xd13-blog]

Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born Kanji Inoki (Japanese: 猪木寛至, Hepburn: Inoki Kanji); February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name Antonio Inoki (アントニオ猪木, Antonio Inoki), a homage to fellow professional wrestler Antonino Rocca. Inoki was a twelve-time professional wrestling world champion, notably being the first IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the first Asian WWF Heavyweight Champion – a reign not officially recognized by WWE.

Maybe they unrecognized his title because of the first ever asian thing LMAO

[gdwessel]

RIP Antonio Inoki (2/20/1943 - 10/1/2022) + Katsuya Kitamura (12/14/1985 - 10/12/2022)

[Hello. It’s been a long while since I posted. So here’s a very long pre-amble to this piece, which seems a little out of date by now, but...:

·         I first wrote this the night after Antonio Inoki died. I tried to sell it to various outlets, but nobody bit. FanFyte shut down in September, so I couldn’t sell to them anymore. (If you want to see my complete works for FanFyte, click here.) I’m now doing work for Wrestling Inc., and some of this piece ends up in my debut, where I wrote about Antonio Inoki. I know this is now horribly out of date, but I waited to see if anyone would publish this for coin, and nobody wanted it, so here we are.

·         On that note, a lot of things have been changing, on social media and with myself. On the latter note, I am wrapping up the Strong Style Story incarnation of this blog, and by the first weekend of December will be making this my personal blog. Currently gdwessel.com points to a WordPress I haven’t updated since 2016. It will become this place, which will also become gdwessel.tumblr.com . I hit the wall with writing about puroresu exclusively, and frankly, I don’t want to do it for free anymore. I will still write about wrestling here, along with other things. But there are plenty of outlets these days for reporting and news on Japanese wrestling, many of them doing a better and more immediate job than I could have. Thank you for reading me these many years, and I hope you stick around for the transition to my own blog, where I will also be (hopefully) announcing some other writing projects very soon.

Without further ado…]

 It was reported [October 1, 2022] that Antonio Inoki, born Kanji Inoki, legally named Muhammad Hussein Inoki following a conversion to Shia Islam in 1990, died of systemic transthyretin amyloidosis at the age of 79.

It’s not going to be easy writing about Antonio Inoki, because, well, he’s Antonio Inoki. He was larger than life and seemed immortal. Quite literally, were it not for the fruits of his labors, I would not be here as a fan of puroresu for as long as I have been, let alone writing this eulogy of sorts. Inoki, as founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling, is of course one of the architects of Japanese pro wrestling as we know it today. But there was a lot more to him than that, and NJPW may not even be the one defining trait of his life and career.

Kanji Inoki was born in 1943, the sixth of seven sons, second youngest of 11 children in all. His family were pretty well off into the post-war years, where the death of Inoki’s father (a businessman and politician) whilst Kanji was five would cascade into hard times for the family, and in 1957, the family (including a grandfather who would pass during the journey) would relocate to Brazil. It was there Inoki excelled in athletics, and was scouted by Rikidozan, the Father Of Puroresu, at age 17 to go back to Japan and wrestle for Rikidozan’s Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion, alongside another athletic prodigy, the former Yomiuri Giants pitcher Shohei “Giant” Baba. Inoki was trained by both Rikidozan and Karl Gotch, with other training under the likes of amateur wrestler Isao Yoshiwara and judoka Kiyotaka Otsubo. This would go on to greatly influence the direction Inoki wanted to take pro wrestling. Inoki and Baba both debuted on the same JWA show, 9/30/1960, making Inoki’s official date of death 62 years and one day after his wrestling debut. Eventually he would take on the name Antonio Inoki, as tribute to his time in Brazil, and to wrestler Antonio Rocca.

Inoki would leave JWA twice during his tenure: once in 1966, after being second in the pecking order to Giant Baba following Rikidozan’s murder in 1963, going to the ultimately failed Tokyo Pro Wrestling company. He would return to JWA in 1967, and was sacked in 1971 for trying to organize a takeover of the promotion. This is what would ultimately lead to the founding of New Japan Pro Wrestling, which ran their first show on 3/6/1972 at Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, Inoki facing off against one of his trainers, Karl Gotch, in the tag-team main event of that show. In his way, Inoki would be an innovator of another hallmark of any Japanese wrestling promotion that has some years on them: the talent exodus to form a new company.

Inoki’s tenure as owner, founder and top star in NJPW is pretty well documented. Legendary feuds with the likes of Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Tiger Jeet Singh, Umanosuke Ueda, Masa Saito, Big Van Vader, Riki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami… the list goes on and on. Not to mention, the stars that the NJPW Dojo would produce in time: Keiji Muto / The Great Muta, Masahiro Chono, Shinya Hashimoto, Jushin Thunder Liger, Kensuke Sasaki, Hiroshi Hase, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Katsuyori Shibata. That list is endless too, even though some wrestlers who were reared in the dojo, for example Minoru Suzuki or Mr. Pogo, would make their names outside of NJPW.

What set Inoki apart from other promoters was his innovation and willingness to try other styles of fighting in a wrestling ring, bringing in non-wrestling combat sports participants to wrestle him (and others) in New Japan. In his own way, Inoki was a founding pioneer in what we now call Mixed Martial-Arts combat, made popular by the likes of Pancrase, Ultimate Fighting Championship and PRIDE. Indeed, Inoki’s “strong style” wrestling was an amalgam of pro wrestling and what was known as catch or shoot wrestling. Several of these “different style fights” ended up in shoots, notoriously against Akram Pahalwan in 1976, and against Croatian/Canadian strongman The Great Antonio on 12/6/1977, repeating a feat that Inoki’s sensei Rikidozan undertook on 6/2/1961 -  getting so pissed off against Great Antonio in a match that he started legitimately beating him up.

This commitment to “different style fighting” had its peak in the famous Boxing v. Wrestling match between Inoki and Muhammad Ali on 6/26/1976 at Tokyo Nippon Budokan that ended in a draw, and left Ali with leg injuries as Inoki spent much of the match on the mat kicking at Ali. It did prove Inoki’s concept of different fighting styles in a match could draw, even if we were still over a decade away from the formation of Pancrase and UFC. (The match was also homaged in the movie ROCKY III, with Rocky Balboa taking on Thunderlips, aka Hulk Hogan.) The meeting with Ali would also have a profound effect on Inoki in other ways, which I will relate below.

But as there was a peak, there was also a nadir. Inoki experimented a lot. Not all of it worked. There was the infamous Island Deathmatch against Masa Saito on 10/4/1987, fought on Ganryujima with no audience, and mostly in the dark, that I don’t really recommend. There was a “Nail Floor Deathmatch” (bed of nails match) in February 1978 that I wrote in a piece for FanFyte that sadly didn’t get published before Fanbyte Media shut down FanFyte, maybe I will print that separately here on this dormant blog.

And then there was the 2000s. Well, it would have started in 1997, when Inoki took Olympic champion judoka Naoya Ogawa under his wing to be part of Inoki’s UFO (Universal Fighting-Arts Organization) project that would interact with NJPW, but the peak of “Inokiism” occurred in the 2000s. As MMA was becoming a bigger deal on the world stage, Inoki would bring in more MMA and other martial artists, and indeed have NJPW wrestlers participate in MMA matches outside of NJPW as well. One of the more infamous instances was Yuji Nagata getting completed washed by Mirko Filipovic in 21 seconds at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye event on 12/31/2001. This was an era that would see the likes of Tadao Yasuda get elevated to IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and also see Shinsuke Nakamura, a prodigy by any stretch, get pushed to the top of NJPW not two years into his career, mostly on the back of successful MMA bouts himself, in deference to whether or not Nakamura was really ready for the top spot in the promotion. It would also see Keiji Muto and Satoshi Kojima, both stars of NJPW, jump ship to All Japan Pro Wrestling in early 2002 in defiance of the MMA direction NJPW was going in, and see Riki Choshu leave after being relieved of his duties as booker, blamed for the departures. Out of respect, we won’t discuss the infamous three-way IWGP title match between Kazuyuki Fujita v. Brock Lesnar v. Masahiro Chono. Let’s just say it was not good, and the fact remains, Inoki sold his shares of NJPW to videogame company Yuke’s not long after that debacle.

There are those who swear by this era of NJPW, and if it works for them, great. Wrestling offers something for everyone. In hindsight, some of it is not as bad as it seemed at the time… but at the time, it seemed pretty bad. Coinciding with a retraction of business in pro wrestling, after its global peak in the late 1990s, it was brave, but it was not great for business, and in fact, nearly cratered NJPW.

Inoki did sell the company in 2005, and afterwards still attempted to push his philosophy in both Inoki Genome Federation (formed 2007) and later in another company called ISM. IGF folded in 2019 (although Inoki had left it by 2017 to his son-in-law, Simon Inoki), and ISM ran a few shows, but was not a regular promotion.

One part of Inoki’s life and career that is not talked about enough is his political career, begun in 1989 when he was voted into the House Of Councillors under his own Sports & Peace Party banner. I mentioned before that Inoki was greatly affected by his meeting with Muhammad Ali. This extended to his political acts. In 1990, mimicking Ali, he went to Iraq to negotiate the release of Japanese nationals being held hostage in the run-up to the first Gulf War. Inoki was able to see 36 Japanese persons released from Iraq; the upshot of this would be Inoki not only running an NJPW event in Baghdad, but also converting to Shia Islam. This was also a very unofficial visit, not sanctioned by the Diet or the government, but it did help Inoki get re-elected in 1992.

What did not help were similar overtures and visits to North Korea, in the interests of creating peace between Japan and North Korea, a very tense relationship there owing to decades, and centuries, of colonialism, extending into the early 20th century. Of course, Rikidozan was also North Korean by birth, so that surely played into Inoki’s desire to see better relations between the two governments. This culminated in the Pyongyang International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace in Pyongyang, on 4/28/1995 & 4/29/1995, a two-day NJPW card with WCW participation that had great attendance (very likely compulsory), and the only meeting ever between Inoki v. Ric Flair, which Inoki, the only wrestler anyone in the crowd had any energy for, won. (This is also known as Collision in Korea – VICE would cover this in the third season of DARK SIDE OF THE RING, and of course I did a very long podcast about this with the hosts of the Days Of Thunder podcast.)

This did not go over very well with the Japanese public, as well as accusations that Inoki and the SPP were taking bribes, and had involvement with the yakuza. Inoki did not get elected to a third term in 1995, and stayed out of politics until running once more in 2013, this time under the Japan Restoration Party banner, which itself would dissolve in 2014, leaving Inoki as an Independent. He continued his unofficial visits to North Korea, still against the wishes of the government, while publicly declaring his desire for relations between the two nations to improve. He would ultimately retire from politics in 2019. Not long after that, due to illnesses and spinal issues, he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

None of which belies the fact that Inoki is very much a cultural icon in Japan. People from all walks of life lined up to get slapped by Inoki, his way of transferring his “fighting spirit” to others. He has been pastiched and referenced in very many comedy programs, dramas, manga and anime. (A personal recommendation – GOLOSSEUM by Yasushi Baba, a glorious insanity featuring A LOT of wrestlers against Vladmir Putin in a SF fighting extravaganza.) His large chin gave him an aura of being larger than life, and if someone is wearing a red scarf, chances are it’s an homage to the man. Even if pro wrestling is no longer the mainstream hit it once was in Japan, he occupies a rarified place in Japanese pop culture.

But as with most icons, in the end, Inoki was a man. As with other iconic cultural touchstones like, say, Stan Lee or David Bowie, real life is more complicated than the legends make them out to be. He did great things, he did not-so-great things. For every Andre the Giant, there was a Great Antonio. Not everything Inoki tried was a hit, but also, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Often, it’s the mistakes that make the successes better. Without the struggles of the company in the mid-2000s, with or without Inoki in charge, you don’t get Hiroshi Tanahashi becoming The Ace. Going to North Korea may have pissed off a lot of people in the government, but mending fences between Japan and the homeland of his beloved mentor was something he was passionate about. Ultimately, that’s what Inoki’s life came down to – his passions. He followed them and tried to make them reality.

Inoki’s life will be celebrated, and his death mourned, all over pro wrestling, all over Japan, all over the world. In a crazy world such as pro wrestling, we will probably never see the likes of him again. He was the right man for the right time, and ran with every idea he had in his head, for good or for ill. He took risks nobody would take today. Ultimately, he changed the world of pro wrestling, and the world of combat sports in general.

 Ichi.

 Ni.

 San.

 DA.

   Not two full weeks later, Katsuya Kitamura died at the far-too-young age of 36, on 10/12/2022. At this writing, it still has not been determined quite why Kitamura, a massive hulk of a man, suddenly needed to go to hospital, where he passed.

Kitamura burst into the NJPW fan consciousness in 2016, his debut coming at the tender age of 31, in the same dojo class as Tomoyuki Oka (Great O-Khan). He was a champion amateur wrestler, who was banned from the 2012 London Olympiad after failing a doping test. He was big. VERY big. He wanted to emulate Bill Goldberg, using his Jackhammer finish in matches, which culminated in Kitamura winning the 2017 Young Lion Cup.

Following that, Kitamura began a 7-match trial series, which most assumed would be the next step before an excursion to the USA, where he had wanted to wrestle superheavyweights. He never finished the trial, his last trial match coming on 2/10/2018 in a loss to Yuji Nagata. His seventh trial match, against Manabu Nakanishi, never took place as Kitamura had suffered a cerebral concussion, to the extent he would have to retire. During his recovery, Kitamura suffered a scooter accident that crushed one of his legs. He would officially leave New Japan on 1/31/2019.

His post-NJPW career saw him attempt bodybuilding, hosting a YouTube series on the subject. He also took part in his only MMA fight, a submission loss to Bobby Ologun at Rizin 32 on 11/20/2021 in Okinawa.

There’s not as much I can say about Kitamura as I did above about Inoki. Kitamura more represents the potential that was there, rather than accomplishments. He was poised to be a massive star in NJPW, the company was clearly banking on it. He would have brought something to New Japan that was lacking at the time, a native wrestler with such physical presence, that could go pound for pound against the giants that typically only seemed to come from visiting wrestlers.

He never got that far. The only T-shirt of Kitamura produced was a bootleg from The Atomic Elbow fanzine. (Yes, I have it!) He never had his big matches against giant American superheavyweights. All those Could Have Beens…

Ultimately, it’s important to remember, that with both Antonio Inoki, and Katsuya Kitamura, is despite accomplishments, or potential, they were people first and foremost. One was one of the most influential figures ever in professional wrestling. The other never got to make it that far.

Both are missed, in their own ways.

[sounmashnews]

[ad_1] Former skilled wrestler Antonio Inoki shouts at a press convention in Tokyo on August 21, 2014. Yoshikazu Tsuno /AFP through Getty Images conceal caption toggle caption Yoshikazu Tsuno /AFP through Getty Images Former skilled wrestler Antonio Inoki shouts at a press convention in Tokyo on August 21, 2014. Yoshikazu Tsuno /AFP through Getty Images Antonio Inoki was revered for by no means being afraid of a problem — whether or not it was dueling heavyweight champion Muhammed Ali or negotiating the discharge of hostages with the Iraqi authorities. That's why he was usually known as "the fighting spirit that burns." Inoki died at age 79 after battling a uncommon illness known as amyloidosis, his firm, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, introduced on Saturday. "His achievements, both in professional wrestling and the global community are without parallel and will never be forgotten," the skilled wrestling group wrote in a statement. Kanji "Antonio" Inoki was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1943 however spent most of his childhood in Brazil the place his household relocated. There, Inoki discovered a ardour for skilled wrestling and took on the title "Antonio." He was quickly recruited by Rikidozan, one of many the most famous Japanese wrestlers of all time, and returned to Tokyo to hitch the Japanese Wrestling Association. Inoki shortly turned extensively well-liked for his versatility and charisma in the ring. Years later, he went on to start out his personal wrestling firm in 1972 known as New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Inoki's reached world fame in 1976 when he confronted Muhammad Ali in a rare wrestler vs. boxer match in Tokyo. The match turned credited for pioneering what is thought right this moment as blended martial arts, the place a fighter is allowed to make use of any type of fight. Heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali preventing the champion Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki at Budokan Hall in Tokyo in 1976. Keystone/Getty Images conceal caption toggle caption Keystone/Getty Images Heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali preventing the champion Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki at Budokan Hall in Tokyo in 1976. Keystone/Getty Images Off the ring, Inoki was recognized for his makes an attempt to forge peace and diplomacy via sports activities. In 1990, Inoki was instrumental in liberating 36 Japanese hostages held in Iraq. During his lifetime, the late wrestler additionally made greater than 30 journeys to North Korea, serving as one in every of Japan's few hyperlinks to the authoritarian regime. Most notably, Inoki organized two giant sporting extravaganza — one in 1995 and one other in 2014 — held in Pyongyang to garner worldwide consideration. The first occasion, generally known as "Collision in Korea" drew almost 380,000 spectators and was thought-about the biggest-pay-per-view in pro-wrestling history. In 1998, Inoki retired as a wrestler and in 2010, he was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame. He is technically thought-about WWE's first-ever Japanese world champion however that title is not yet recognized by the group.

"Antonio Inoki was among the most respected men in sports-entertainment and a bona fide legend in his homeland," WWE wrote in a statement. "This passion for competition earned him the nickname "Moeru Toukon" amongst his peers, which translates to 'The fighting spirit that burns.'" [ad_2] Source link

[marcos123socram]

Antonio inoki Antonio Inoki (アントニオ猪木?), all'anagrafe Kanji Inoki (猪木寛至 Inoki Kanji?) Wrestler e grande atleta di arti marziali miste. Nel 2010 è stato introdotto nella WWE Hall of Fame. Inoki compare nella serie manga e anime L'Uomo Tigre, inizialmente con un ruolo secondario e poi come co-protagonista della seconda serie. Nella serie è l'unico a sconfiggere Tiger Mask(l’uomo tigre 🐯) #antonioinoki #antonioinokivsmuhammadali #antonioinokisakaba #tigermask #uomotigre🐯 #uomotigre #marcofiorenzaart #cartoonart #caricature #caricaturecartoon #marcomix #fiorenzaemaipiusenza #lartedimarcofiorenza #caricaturevip #inoki #cartonianimati #cartoons #tiger https://www.instagram.com/p/CjK_8yeIA98/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[kazifatagar]

Japanese Wrestler Who Fought Muhammad Ali Dies

Japanese Wrestler Who Fought Muhammad Ali Dies

Antonio Inoki, 79, a Japanese pro-wrestling legend and an elected member of Japan’s upper house, has died and a Japanese news site says the cause of death was heart failure. Born Kanji Inoki in Yokohama, Japan, he became a wrestler at the age of 17 after his talent was discovered in Brazil in 1960, where his family had relocated, according to Nikkei. His flamboyant and bombastic personality was…

[telodogratis]

È morto Antonio Inoki, il wrestler che sconfisse l'Uomo Tigre

È morto Antonio Inoki, il wrestler che sconfisse l’Uomo Tigre

AGI – Il leggendario wrestler professionista Antonio Inoki è morto a 79 anni di amiloidosi sistemica, una malattia incurabile. Inoki, il cui vero nome era Kanji Inoki, contribuì notevolmente a creare l’età d’oro del “puroresu”, o wrestling professionale, in Giappone durante l’era Showa con il suo famoso slogan “moeru tokon” o “spirito ardente”. Inoki compare nella serie manga e anime ‘L’Uomo…

[rf2610]

Toukon Inoki Michi: Puzzle de Daa! (Commercial - PlayStation 2)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Inoki

[leaveharmony]

@culturalrebel In Fairness Kazu’s new robe looks like this until the light hits it a certain way; it’s an Inoki tribute look with the history of the company in tiny little kanji woven or printed onto the fabric.

[nicknakano]

World Peace Through Professional Wrestling?

Antonio Inoki (real name Kanji Inoki) is a Japanese professional wrestler known for his many contributions to the sport around the world. His unique style-- a hybrid of wrestling and martial arts, which has been dubbed, “strong style”-- combined with his peculiar ideas, has developed a sort of cult of personality around Inoki.

Largely due to his popularity as a pro wrestler, Inoki was elected as a member of The National Diet of Japan. (similar to the U.S. Congress) His behavior has often been met with criticism-- like his greeting members of The Diet with his catchphrase, “元気ですか” (”Are you fine?”) during official business. 

Aside from his unusual behavior, Inoki has largely been a successful ambassador on behalf of Japan. In 1990, Inoki traveled to Iraq and successfully negotiated the release of Japanese nationals held hostage by the Hussein regime. 

More recently, Inoki made his 33rd trip to North Korea. While not an official trip, Inoki’s visit was met with controversy due to the volatile state of North Korea’s foreign affairs.

For Inoki, such controversy is nothing new. In 1995, against the advice of his peers, he organized the World Wrestling Peace Festival in Pyongyang. The event would draw over 300,000 spectators. 

Inoki’s direct, personal approach to foreign policy might seem like the grandstanding of a megalomaniac, but I believe it is more likely due to his sincere belief in the power of professional wrestling.

I’ll cover Inoki’s career and philosophy further, showcasing how he has used professional wrestling as a means to bring change throughout the world.

[elliscraddock]

Here's 935th photo art that I create to celebrate the founder of NJPW & @wwe Hall of Famer also my artwork customer, Kanji "Antonio" Inoki early birthday. #KanjiInoki #AntonioInoki (at Harlem) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLfFgVyJfeI/?igshid=1hzigydjjkudl

[luchablog]

Lucha Libre 97

I remembered I can use this to post random bits from old lucha magazines I’m badly attempting to translate instead of just overloading my Twitter feed.

Something you’d never see now: a magazine reporting how much someone was paid for their match. Although this may still be fictitious: the story is Karloff Lagarde was paid 13000 (or 1300 - I always get “mil” wrong) pesos after losing his hair to Rey Mendoza on July 30, 1965, but he could’ve got 20000 with a win.

Yes, there was a luchador named El Nazi. He won the pesos wrestling around South America and is back in Mexico City, not quite as exciting as the headline makes it sound

There’s a bunch of international results this issue for whatever reason. Kanji Inoki getting a random mention pops out.

[leaveharmony]

The Inoki Robe (which imo is spectacularly ugly compared to his greatcoats) is also reflective...which I guess having sort of peaced out emotionally of the WK main events / been distracted by Tana at the NOAH show I did not at first notice.  It’s also inscribed in tiny little kanji with the whole history of the company, which I’m assuming is from an in-universe perspective and therefore ends with “But then Kota won them and ruined everything, now the damn thing doesn’t even fit me and they have a fuckin’ rubber band holding it on”

[leaveharmony]

10,166 and climbing.  But closer to done, I may yet make it before december.

Probably should have eaten.  Very unfortunate sensory day, forgot about TWD til 20 minutes before it started, which didn't help.  I was just so uselessly, impotently angry earlier.  But I finished writing out the introduction and some of chapter one of Tana's book, which had fallen heavily by the wayside because of other projects and also cos I was Too Sad.  I was still too sad but I did it anyway.  He's talking about his childhood and family, which I know next to nothing about...I thought he might have said one of the kanji in his name (至) was chosen because it's also in Inoki's (original) given name, and his dad is a big fan.  But I haven't started proper translating yet so that was just what I think it said while I was writing it out.

[elliscraddock]

WWE殿堂入り、新日本プロレス漢字「アントニオ」In木誕生日の創立者を祝うために私が作成した321枚目の写真アートです。 In English: Here's 321st photo art that I create to celebrate @wwe Hall of Famer & founder of @njpw1972 Kanji "Antonio" Inoki @antoniokoinoki birthday. @ricflairnatureboy @charlottewwe @queencharlotte9 @shirai_io @wwe_asuka @kairisane_wwe @tatsumifujinami @shinsukenakamura (at Harlem) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8xtHD9Joyy/?igshid=rt89abtlmwq2