<figure id="attachment_357085" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357085" style="width: 1000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="99e76c5b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/ea7a01957c6ac2fee6a251eb8706ad5d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357085" class="wp-caption-text">Yamane reacts angrily to a direct interview by a reporter for this magazine</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Friday?　You finally came!&#8221;</span></p>
<p> A man shouted at him with a tremendous sword. Akira Yamane, who resigned as president of the Japan Boxing Federation because of his association with antisocial forces, was being bashed at the end of 2006. When a reporter from this magazine, who had pioneered the allegations, directly confronted Yamane in front of his home, he expressed his anger, as if venting a long-standing grudge. Mr. Kei Kato, an Osaka resident who interviewed Mr. Yamane, recalls.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He shouted, &#8220;Oi, you son of a bitch! The other reporter who accompanied him froze in his tracks. But I intuitively thought, &#8216;He&#8217;s not a bad guy. His emotions were honest and his anger level was low. For some reason, I found him &#8216;cute. We pushed and prodded each other as Mr. Yamane wound me up. After a while, I felt calmer, and Mr. Yamane said, &#8216;Do you want to go for coffee? and invited me to a coffee shop. That was the beginning of our relationship. That was the beginning of our relationship.</span></p>
<h2> What are you doing today, Kato-chan?&#8221;</h2>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> On January 31, Mr. Yamane passed away at a hospital in Osaka City at the age of 84. He was 84 years old and had been battling lung cancer since late last year. Mr. Kato, the aforementioned reporter, looks back on the dynamic and sensitive life of &#8220;Yamane the Man,&#8221; who wrote &#8220;the uncrowned emperor&#8221; on his business card.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> After I interviewed him directly, for some reason Mr. Yamane took a liking to me and told me, &#8216;I feel as if I have known you for a long time. He probably gets a line every day and can&#8217;t wait to get back to me if I don&#8217;t reply. &#8216;Kato-chan, what are you doing today?&#8217; and he would call me. &#8216; At most, four days a week, we would go out to dinner, and then I would be invited to a lounge run by Mr. Yamane&#8217;s wife or to his home.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Mr. Yamane never made the other party pay for the meal. This must have been Yamane&#8217;s way of doing things.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The first time I drank alcohol, he even offered to pay for my cab ride home. I was sorry that he had to pay for my meal, but I refused, saying that I would never accept such a payment. He threw a bag of potty into the cab, so I got out of the car and returned it.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Later, Mr. Yamane told me how happy he was. I was the only one in the media who didn&#8217;t accept a footnote,&#8221; he said. He watches people&#8217;s behavior and statements in detail and senses when someone has a problem. That is why he disliked people who lied so much.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Yamane the Man&#39;s surprising amount of alcohol consumption"></div>
<div>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
</div>
<div></div>
<p>Yamane-san says he becomes passionate as soon as he starts talking. When I became a naturalized citizen of Japan, I swore out loud to <wbr></wbr>that I would give my life for my country. I am a happy <wbr></wbr>person. <wbr></wbr>I have lived a straight life and never cheated people, so even after the riots, I was treated really well <wbr></wbr>,&#8221; he said in a loud voice with body language and hand gestures.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said in a loud voice with gestures, &#8220;Surprisingly, I was not a strong drinker. When I did drink, it was only one or two glasses of beer and one or two glasses of shochu with water. When Mr. Yamane&#8217;s fans visited the lounge and opened a bottle of champagne, he would drink three or four glasses and look sleepy in the back. You were always very careful about your attire. Whenever he had something important to attend to, he always wore a suit and sunglasses. His hats were all high-end, and I think they cost hundreds of thousands of yen.</span></p>
<p> Mr. Kato&#8217;s relationship was a family affair, and he even received a congratulatory gift when his child was born. When he visited Yamane at the end of last year to visit her after she fell ill, he was shocked by her behavior.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> She had lost a lot of weight and looked as if she was having a hard time. Even so, he never complained. When I entered his hospital room, he probably tried to welcome me with his usual hospitality. He tried to get up. When I told him to go back to bed, he would inspire himself with these words: &#8220;To overcome illness, you have to be strong-minded. I told him to stay in bed, and he would inspire himself with these words: &#8220;The only way to overcome illness is with energy! He said, &#8220;To overcome illness, you have to have energy!</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Two days before he passed away, I received a call from his wife saying, &#8220;The chairman wants to talk to you,&#8221; and I rushed to the hospital. But I was so confused that I don&#8217;t remember much of what Mr. Yamane said. &#8230;&#8230; I told him that I would go to Taiwan with him when he recovered. He was a great father figure to me. So sensitive yet dynamic. Such a person will never appear again. I pray from the bottom of my heart that he will rest in peace.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Yamane, the man,&#8221; with his strong character, ran through the Showa and Reiwa eras. He lived an appalling life, carrying out his own way of life.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Flashy images of Otoko Yamane"></div>
<div></div>
<figure id="attachment_357088" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357088" style="width: 1500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4a982a0f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/31c5690641ae83a7bf23aa2a3441677c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357088" class="wp-caption-text">Mr. Yamane&#8217;s business card with the inscription &#8220;The uncrowned emperor&#8221; (photo partially doctored)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_357089" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357089" style="width: 8192px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="adf51316"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/b1a3fe118f45deb5b8800dd407caf396.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357089" class="wp-caption-text"> Mr. Yamane founded the mixed martial arts tournament &#8220;SPIRIT. In the center is Tomoya Takahashi of the tournament, and on the right is Ensen Inoue.</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<figure id="attachment_357093" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357093" style="width: 6240px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6eeec0cf"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/016aac49997c3dda751f7681b299d503.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357093" class="wp-caption-text"> The lounge run by Mr. Yamane&#8217;s wife. It has a glamorous atmosphere.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_357092" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357092" style="width: 1000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ffc22341"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/2e28fc9e6cf3acb4fa1f66464409b80d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357092" class="wp-caption-text"> Also debuted as a You Tuber.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_357095" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357095" style="width: 1280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="420713be"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/04600f543fbc4ad1a6f47711264676b6.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357095" class="wp-caption-text"> Whenever he had something important to do, he always dressed in a high-quality suit.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_357096" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357096" style="width: 1000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2476441a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/821c1dc43560869bdd9f29472d392ed8.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357096" class="wp-caption-text"> Filming for a YouTube video</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<figure id="attachment_357098" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357098" style="width: 1000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="46d1ac50"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/8861f140eb51eb30869b5eff97998f5b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357098" class="wp-caption-text"> With Tomoya Takahashi, the world heavyweight champion of WYBC, a new organization established by Mr. Yamane.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_357099" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357099" style="width: 1000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c6e4d5b1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/222cfe2e4419da2b825f9684d9834129.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357099" class="wp-caption-text"> With his wife at the entrance of the lounge</figcaption></figure>


 Kei Kato

 Akira Yamane, former president of the Japan Boxing Federation, passed away at the age of 84. He was 84 years old and had been a close friend of this magazine's reporter, who lived in Osaka, since he was furious with him after interviewing him directly. We look back on the life of the maverick Yamane, who lived by his own way of life, with some poignant episodes.

When interviewed directly by a reporter, the late Akira Yamane was furious, saying, &#8220;Hey, you! The late Akira Yamane &#8220;exchanged four times a week with a reporter of this magazine&#8221; and his shocking words and actions just before his death.

When interviewed directly by a reporter, the late Akira Yamane was furious, saying, “Hey, you! The late Akira Yamane “exchanged four times a week with a reporter of this magazine” and his shocking words and actions just before his death.

Access Ranking