On March 22nd, an unexpected event was held at Happoen (Minato Ward), a long-established restaurant and wedding venue. The name is EXECUTIVE FIGHT Bushido. This is a martial arts event for executives produced by Takayuki Kohiruimaki (46), a three-time champion of K-1 WORLD MAX who colored the martial arts world.
The fighters in the ring are executives from various fields, including CEOs and representative directors of venture companies. Although this is a charity event, it is not a flirtatious event. All the fighters are serious and earnest.
<figure id="attachment_366257" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3456px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366257"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cf4c26f8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/eaec04b20db0bbd548a38abe4cbbdb21-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366257" class="wp-caption-text">Appearing in the ring under the spotlight and striking a fighting pose</figcaption></figure>
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Kohei Morinaga, 39, a self-proclaimed fighting economic analyst, was also in the ring that day. Kohei&#8217;s father is Takuro Morinaga (66), who announced late last year that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer and is currently fighting the disease. We interviewed him about a week ago for our Friday magazine, and he was very energetic and spoke in Morinaga-bushi, which was hard to believe that he was battling the disease.
The venue for the match was a party room on the second basement floor of the main building. A full-fledged ring was set up in the room, and there was also a hanamichi (flower path) leading to the ring, with party tables surrounding the ring.
<figure id="attachment_366258" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3456px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366258"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7d221e76"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/3a0a68e1341e9fa5517ba40e5f5b2c7e-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366258" class="wp-caption-text">The fighters had lost 10 kg in just one month to prepare for this match, and they had worked hard to keep their bodies in shape.</figcaption></figure>
The matches began. Kohei Morinaga appeared in the third match. His opponent was Masateru Kitashiro, chairman of Endoku Medical Corporation. Although he is a doctor, his costume was elaborate, and Morinaga had a slightly unfavorable advantage in terms of appearance. Moreover, compared to Morinaga, who looked a little tired from the weight loss, Kitashiro&#8217;s body was fully finished.
The gong rang and the match began. It is a two-minute, two-round match. You can feel the tension as both sides fight with all their might.
It seemed like the opponent who had spent time training and perfecting himself to the limit seemed to be stronger, but once the match started, Morinaga&#8217;s punches and kicks were pretty spot on. His technique may be better than his opponent.
<a href="#" data-ident_hash="0ad85347"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/7dff9ef5d4082e178a6eca1890b48c76-1.jpg" alt=""></a>
<figure id="attachment_366251" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3456px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366251"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366251" class="wp-caption-text">The two fighters exchanged hard strikes. Occasionally, he was able to land a nice counter. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_366259" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3456px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366259"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4c23c1e1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/f0dc5266d8c1b455be8b9add2901208e-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366259" class="wp-caption-text">Morinaga had the upper hand at the end of the fight.</figcaption></figure>
The match is over and we await the decision.
The first one was winner Kitashiro, 19-20. The second was even, 20-20. The third was 19-20 to the winner, Kitashiro.
Unfortunately, he lost by decision.
<figure id="attachment_366256" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2592px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366256"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a835d916"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/f8b1920bf76b523e75027a60b728f05f-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366256" class="wp-caption-text">After the fierce battle, he greeted the audience with a microphone in hand. Although he lost, he looked refreshed.</figcaption></figure>
I happened to bump into Mr. Kohiruimaki, and he invited me.
Morinaga gladly accepted the invitation, thinking it was fate, but in fact, his entire schedule for February and March was filled with work.
In reality, however, his entire schedule from February to March was filled with work. Because my father was unavailable, there were a lot of jobs that I had to fill in for him. At that time, I weighed 69 kg, but I managed to lose 10 kg just by restricting my diet .Although it only took a month. However, I wasn&#8217;t able to practice much, so I could see that I ran out of stamina during the match today. My opponent was also improving his body.In that sense, I thought I would be defeated in the first round. But I managed to keep standing. I&#8217;m glad I was able to stay standing without falling. Well, in the end, I lost (lol).
Morinaga also does MMA (mixed martial arts) and has a day job, so there is no doubt that it is difficult. Even so, it&#8217;s hard to say that executives and martial arts are a good match no matter how you look at it.
I think it&#8217;s a great way to get in shape, said Mark Zuckerberg of &#8220;Meta&#8221; and Elon Musk of &#8220;Tesla&#8221;. After all, when you train your body, your mind becomes stronger. In that sense, I can understand why CEOs do it. I myself practiced judo for three years in high school and karate for two years in college. After that, I specialized in watching, but last year I started to actually do it myself.
<figure id="attachment_366255" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2592px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366255"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="daad992a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/2f8fe55dd7d36da61d436ec030c42d1f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366255" class="wp-caption-text">Praying for his father&#8217;s speedy recovery</figcaption></figure>
I met my father, Takuro, the other day and told him I was surprised to see how well he was doing,
He said, Yes, he was dying at the end of the year. The current treatment seems to be right for him. But he seems to be suffering from swelling in his legs and other symptoms that are typical of cancer patients.
He often takes his father&#8217;s place, but what are his views on the economy?
However, it is different when it comes to what I should do personally. I think I should be proactive in investing, but my father says I shouldn&#8217;t invest, so there is a conflict there.
The father says that the current phenomenon is the biggest bubble in human history, and the son says that he does not think the current stock price level is a bubble. However, both are thinking about what can be done to protect the lives of ordinary people and eliminate social disparity.
On the one hand, the father is battling cancer and continues to speak out about what he needs to tell the world, and on the other hand, the son is supporting him in his fight.
Yes, they are fighting together as father and son.
<figure id="attachment_366254" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2592px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-366254"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="36493be2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/03/eb70f809988027e101ec99ace5dbf605-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-366254" class="wp-caption-text">As an economic analyst, he is the opposite of his father.</figcaption></figure>

 Katsumi Koizumi

 Yuri Adachi

 Kohei Morinaga, a son of Takuro Morinaga, stood up in the ring and challenged his father, Takuro Morinaga, who is battling cancer, to a fight as a way to cheer him up. Although he narrowly lost this time, he said that he would continue his own fight while cheering on his father who is battling the disease on his sickbed.

A Shout Out to My Father! Kohei Morinaga the “Fighting Economic Analyst” Steps Into the Ring

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