On Saturday, Japan lost one of its biggest icons.
Antonio Inoki — pro wrestler, businessman and politician — passed away after battling acute cardiac amyloidosis for over a year. His death closes the book on one of postwar Japan’s most interesting characters.
I did not know Inoki personally. I only ever passed him in the halls of the parliament from time to time when I worked there. I cannot say what kind of person he was behind the scenes — whether he was kind, honest or trustworthy. I only know him from his actions, the documented stories of his life, what I heard from my colleagues about him and the books he published. But what a life he led, sitting at the intersection of so many different elements of Japan’s postwar identity.