A Record of One Man’s Love, Passion, and Lifelong Dedication to Myanmar’s Ancient Art of Bare-Knuckle Fighting
Based on original testimonies by Takuya Takamori, coordinator of the Myanmar-Japan Lethwei goodwill tournaments (2004–2017) and identifier of the Bagan Lethwei murals (2005).
Bonding To Myanmar
A Child’s Promise at a World Exposition
In the scorching summer of 1970, a ten-year-old boy from Hyogo Prefecture stood with his family at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan’s first World Exposition, a spectacle that drew millions from across the globe.
Pavilion after pavilion was packed beyond entry. Searching for somewhere to go, the family wandered until they found a lone pavilion with almost no visitors at all. They went inside, looked around briefly, and left. The boy glanced at the nameplate on the way out. It read: Burma Pavilion.
He had never heard the name before.
“How lamentable,” he thought to himself, “to have so few people when everywhere else is full.” And then, with the quiet certainty that only a child can possess, he made himself a promise: When I grow up, I will definitely help this country.
That boy was Takuya Takamori.
He would spend the next five decades keeping that promise, and in doing so, he would help uplift an ancient, local martial art from obscurity, broker a historic international tournament, and document the oldest known visual proof of Lethwei’s existence, buried in the ruins of a 1,000-year-old civilization.
An Education in Compassion
Takamori grew up in a household where Sumo and Boxing flickered on the television set, watched by his grandfather and father in the evenings. Somewhere during his middle or high school years, he encountered a manga that described mysterious martial arts from Burma, referred to as “Muay Katchua” and “Burma Kenpo.” The terms were strange and half-forgotten even then. But the connection to that childhood memory at the Expo lodged them permanently in his mind. (The identity of the manga title Takamori read is lost as he cannot recall.)
This was the first exposure for Takamori to Lethwei, something he will become deeply intertwined with later in life.
His grandfather, born in 1905, had been drafted as a young man and fought across China, Manchuria, and Singapore. And before the war’s end, found himself on the northernmost reaches of Japanese territory. Three days after Japan’s surrender, the Soviet Union invaded. Takamori’s grandfather was captured, deported to Siberia in winter, and subjected to forced labor before finally returning home. He never spoke a single word about the war to his family.
Takamori spent years tracing his grandfather’s footsteps through military records and memoirs, learning what the man could not bring himself to say.
Through that search, he encountered another story, one told repeatedly in the journals of Japanese soldiers who had survived the Burma front in World War 2 in the Southeast Asian theater. Takamori learned through these records that, even as their own land was turned into a battlefield, the locals had sheltered Japanese soldiers retreating through jungle and disease, fed them, nursed their wounds, and buried their dead. They had done the same for Allied soldiers. Of the roughly 300,000 Japanese men sent to Burma, over 180,000 never returned. Burma’s civilian death toll reached an estimated 250,000.
“Though I was born after the war,” Takamori has said, “I am deeply moved by this. Not just as a Japanese person, but as a human being. It fills me with feelings of gratitude and a desire to apologize.”
This was the final thread pulling him toward Myanmar. Lethwei was going to become the vehicle with which he would express his gratitude.
Building Something From Nothing
At age 22, Takamori opened a private school (juku) in Tokyo. At 30, he returned to his hometown in Hyogo Prefecture and continued teaching children there.
In 1995, he founded an NGO called Futokoro, motivated by rising rates of juvenile crime and suicide in Japan, and by what he had seen of suffering and resilience in developing nations abroad. Futokoro’s first project was delivering polio vaccines to children in Myanmar.
He finally set foot in the country in 1997, after years of longing, after considerable difficulty obtaining a visa, and after arranging permission for travel outside the major cities.
While working on his humanitarian activities, he enquired about Lethwei and where he may find out more about it.
A staff member at Tour Mandalay, a Yangon travel agency, told him, “If you’re talking about Lethwei, it has to be U Win Zin Oo.”
Bringing Japanese Fighters To Myanmar For The First Time
The First Time He Saw Real Lethwei
Win Zin Oo was already a renowned coach who had produced multiple Lethwei stars and champions. He told Takamori that a tournament was coming up soon in the town of Hinthada, and invited him along. They left Yangon before dawn by car, drove for hours on unpaved dirt roads through choking clouds of dust, and at one point loaded the vehicle onto a boat to cross a great river. Also riding with them that day was a young promoter named Soe Than Win, who would later become another major figure in the sport.
In Hinthada, Takamori watched fighters like Saw Thae Myo and Saw Thae Aung compete in bouts where opponents appeared to be separated by more than ten kilograms in weight. Matches were fought bare-knuckle, with headbutts, to a degree of intensity he had never witnessed anywhere in the world.
“It was not at all the weak or technically backward martial art people in Japan imagined it to be,” Takamori would later recall. “It was incredibly advanced, strong, and beautiful. Furthermore, I received a deep impression that this was a sacred martial art.”
Back in Yangon, he went to Win’s gym, filmed the athletes at practice, visited the small house where they all lived together, and spoke with them at length through his new friend. He and Win were the same age. From that visit forward, they became, in Takamori’s own words, lifelong best friends.
Seven Years of Trying
Takamori returned to Japan carrying footage of Lethwei matches and VCDs purchased in Yangon. He dubbed them onto VHS tapes and sent them to Japanese combat sports organizations. He asked them to include Myanmar fighters in their events. He was turned down repeatedly. Partly because Myanmar fighters competed in weight classes under 75kg, which Japanese promoters rarely featured for foreign bouts. And partly because Takamori was, as he readily admits, “a complete amateur in the world of combat sports.”
For years he could not bring himself to tell Win what he dreamed of. He began to wonder whether his vision of a Myanmar-Japan exchange built around Lethwei was simply impossible for an amateur like him. Then the idea came from Myanmar which proposed that Japanese fighters come to Myanmar.
The task of finding those fighters fell to Takamori. For Japanese fighters, Lethwei rules were entirely new. No gloves, only bandages, and even headbutts, which had been banned in all previous combat sports tournaments… because of these harsh rules, it was difficult to gather fighters.
Then Takamori remembered a man from his own hometown: Masami Ozaki, president of the mixed martial arts organization PANCRASE. Ozaki connected him with Mitsuru Miyata of the All Japan Kickboxing Federation, who put out a call for participants.
Two organizations answered: Wajutsu Keishukai, headed by Yoshinori Nishi, and Tanaka-juku, directed by Kenichi Tanaka.
Takamori reflected on the fighters who agreed to participate, “The reason for their participation was not the fight money. For Japanese fighters at that time, the purse was low, an amount you could earn in a single day at a part-time job. Those four fighters didn’t come for money; they came for the challenge of a ferocious martial art from an unknown country, unique to that land, where even headbutts were allowed, and which had a traditional status that could be called a national sport. Furthermore, it was a formal national event, something no Japanese person had ever experienced.
It was the spirit of challenging the unknown that moved them. Just like me, it was because the “unknown mountain” standing before them was high. I felt that the higher the mountain, the more their spirits rose with the sense of responsibility and the desire to overcome it.”
Throughout those seven years of endeavor, Takamori funded his repeated trips to Myanmar by cutting back on his own living expenses. He was not, as he says plainly, a wealthy man. Yet he was determined to climb this mountain.
Myanmar vs. Japan: July 2004
The first international goodwill Lethwei tournament – Myanmar 4-on-4 Japan vs. – was held on July 10 and 11, 2004, at Thuwunna National Indoor Stadium in Yangon. It had taken seven years to realize.
“When I received the news from Win that the event was confirmed,” Takamori has said, “I was so happy that I danced with joy.”
The preparation had been a saga in itself. As it was in the early 2000s, compared to current times, global internet and communication infrastructure was so limited that photographs could only be sent if they were under 200 kilobytes. Takamori and Win had to rely on expensive international phone calls that would disconnect after thirty to sixty seconds, requiring hours of attempts to reconnect. There were also difficulties with exchanging fighter data materials.
The team that traveled to Yangon was formidable in spirit if not by industry standard. Legendary martial artist Toshio Fujiwara – the first foreigner ever to become a Muay Thai champion, a man Takamori had admired since childhood – served as team leader and provided guidance to the fighters before their bouts. The Japanese delegation went 1 win, 2 losses, and 1 draw.
The tournament was covered by Japanese mass media and reported extensively in combat sports magazines. A TV crew captured the story of a twelve-year-old Myanmar boy named Nge Nge, a student at Lethwei Golden Belt Champion Moe Palel’s gym, who competed in the junior division. The resulting feature, broadcast on Hodo Station (TV Asahi), recorded the highest viewer ratings in the program’s history. Myanmar, and Lethwei, suddenly became known across Japan.
“Myanmar had become known in Japan through the traditional martial art of Lethwei,” Takamori reflected. “The joy was enough to make me forget the seven years of hardship leading up to the event.”
Search For Proof For 1000 Years Of History
The Discovery in Bagan
People involved in Lethwei often said the sport had roughly 1,000 years of history. No one really had actual proof though.
Takamori decided to look for proof himself. In 2005, having saved enough from his modest income to fund the trip, he went to Bagan, the ancient city whose more than 3,000 temples and stupas stand as the architectural heart of Myanmar’s ancient history dating back to the 9th century (Year 849). His reasoning was simple: if Lethwei was 1,000 years old, then Bagan was the prime place to look.
He hired an interpreter and spent three days moving between villages, asking questions, gathering fragments of information.
On the third day, he found two locations with murals that seemed relevant: one in a famous, accessible temple where a painting near the entrance had been overlooked by everyone who walked past it; another in a small stupa-like structure hidden in overgrown grass. Its interior was littered with alcohol bottles and cigarette butts, apparently used as a hiding place by local youth.
Both murals clearly depicted two figures fighting. But Takamori could not be certain they documented Lethwei. The villagers saw nothing remarkable in them.
When he returned to Yangon and contacted archaeological experts, the person he spoke to acknowledged knowing of one mural but said it had never been connected to Lethwei. When Takamori pressed the point, asking how they could overlook a connection to Myanmar’s national sport, he was asked if he was talking about Chinlone.
Takamori was stunned. He explained his position with as much care and urgency as he could, and eventually obtained the formal view that those Bagan murals could indeed be considered depicting the roots of Lethwei.
Takamori recalled,
“I immediately contacted Win and showed him the photos of the murals I had taken. When I went to his house, it seemed Win had called a Lethwei journalist as well. Win was incredibly surprised when he saw the photos projected on the TV, and he looked at them while repeatedly adjusting his glasses. The journalist had tears in his eyes and was moved. I thought that anyone involved in Lethwei would understand that this might be the original form of the sport, but seeing Win’s look of surprise, I was convinced: “I found it!””
The murals were later estimated to have been painted between 800 and 950 years ago. The phrase “1,000 years of Lethwei history” entered common usage from that moment. The broader sports and Lethwei world had not known of these murals before Takamori’s report.
“There were likely people, such as the Bagan villagers, who saw these murals before me,” he concurred. “However, it is acknowledged that I am the one who obtained confirmation that these murals were the roots of Lethwei, ensured there was no mistake from an archaeological perspective, and conveyed it to the Lethwei industry.”
When asked if that was his only expedition to search for Lethwei’s history, he stated:
“If I had the money, I would love to travel all over Myanmar to trace the history of Lethwei. What I can say is that it’s more accurate to say Lethwei has “more than 1,000 years of history” rather than just “1,000 years.” I imagine there is definitely more proof of those “1,000+ years” out there. After all, I found “1,000 years” in just one search; I believe that if one did this 100 times, the probability of discovering even older evidence is high. I wonder if there is anyone who will carry on this work after me.”
The First Myanmar VS Japan Lethwei Fight in Japan
Myanmar VS Japan 2005
The 2004 Myanmar vs. Japan tournament in Yangon was not the end of a journey; it was the beginning of a new chapter. The event had proven that Japanese fighters were willing to step into the unknown world of Lethwei, and it had revealed the skill and toughness of Myanmar’s fighters to a Japanese audience.
For Mr. Yoshinori Nishi of Wajutsu Keishukai, the experience was particularly influential. After his two fighters suffered defeats in Yangon, the result became a catalyst for him to bring Lethwei to Japanese soil by inviting Myanmar fighters to compete in Japan.
Once again, Takuya Takamori took on the role he had played throughout the previous seven years, not as a promoter or businessman, but as the bridge connecting the two countries. He acted as the coordinator and liaison between the Japanese and Myanmar sides, continuing his collaboration with Win Zin Oo and Mr. Nishi to make the exchange possible.
On September 11, 2005, at Nagasaki Peace Hall in Nagasaki Prefecture, the first Lethwei matches involving Myanmar fighters were held in Japan as part of the International Martial Arts Tournament, Kushima’s Fight 10. For many Japanese spectators, it was their first opportunity to witness authentic Myanmar Lethwei fighters competing live.
The Myanmar team was represented by two fighters: Saw Zwe Lay and Lone Chaw. Both of them would become recognized figures in the early internationalization of Lethwei. Their opponents came from Wajutsu Keishukai, the very organization that had participated in the 2004 exchange in Yangon.
The first contest saw Saw Zwe Lay face Seiji Wakasugi of Wajutsu Keishukai Fukuoka. The bout ended in a draw, showcasing the competitiveness of the Myanmar and Japanese fighters.
The second match left an even stronger impression. Lone Chaw fought Hiroshi Imamura of Wajutsu Keishukai Headquarters and secured a dramatic victory by first-round knockout. It was a powerful demonstration of the intensity that had made Lethwei famous in Myanmar, and it further established the reputation of Myanmar fighters in Japan.
The Nagasaki event became the first step in a continuing series of Myanmar–Japan Lethwei exchanges. It was followed by further tournaments in Tokyo in 2006 and 2007, additional international team competitions in Myanmar in 2009, 2011, and 2013, and later events in both countries. Through all of these efforts, Takamori continued to work behind the scenes as the person connecting fighters, organizations, and cultures.
What began as the defeat in Yangon transformed into a lasting relationship between Japanese combat sports practitioners and Myanmar Lethwei fighters.
For Takamori, it was another realization of the dream he had carried since first witnessing Lethwei in Hinthada in 1997: to allow the beauty and spirit of this Myanmar’s traditional martial art to be seen beyond its borders.
Subsequent Years
A Decade of Exchange: 2004–2017
Takamori continued to serve as coordinator and liaison throughout a remarkable sequence of tournaments spanning more than a decade:
July 10 & 11, 2004: Myanmar Traditional Martial Arts Lethwei — Myanmar vs. Japan Match
Venue: Thuwunna National Indoor Stadium, Myanmar
[Japanese Delegation]
- Seiji Wakasugi (Fighter / Wajutsu Keishukai Fukuoka Dojo) Loss by KO
- Takeharu Yamamoto (Fighter / Power Nine Gym) Loss by KO
- Akitoshi Tamura (Fighter / Martial Arts Society Tanaka-juku) Win by KO
- Kichitaro Niimi (Fighter / Martial Arts Society Tanaka-juku) Draw
- Toshio Fujiwara (Team Leader / Representative of Fujiwara Gym / First foreign Muay Thai Champion, former Rajadamnern Lightweight Champion)
- Yoshinori Nishi (Director / Representative of Wajutsu Keishukai Headquarters / Nicknamed the “Supreme Ruler of Hokuto,” one of the strongest fighters of the 80s who fought Rob Kaman and Rickson Gracie)
- Kenichi Tanaka (Director / Representative of Martial Arts Society Tanaka-juku / First Shooto Lightweight Champion)
- Mitsuru Miyata (Manager / All Japan Kickboxing Federation, Event Promotion Manager)
[Special Participants]
- Hisae Watanabe (AJ Gym / International Women’s Muay Thai Light Flyweight Champion)
- Masami Ozaki (President of Mixed Martial Arts “Pancrase”)
[Tournament Coordinators]
- Takuya Takamori (Representative of Children’s NGO “Futokoro”)
- Win Zin Oo
September 11, 2005: Nagasaki Peace Hall, Nagasaki Prefecture International Martial Arts Tournament: Kushima’s Fight 10
- Saw Zwe Lay vs. Seiji Wakasugi (Wajutsu Keishukai Fukuoka) = Draw
- Lone Chaw vs. Hiroshi Imamura (Wajutsu Keishukai HQ) = Lone Chaw won by 1R KO
March 17, 2006: Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo International Martial Arts Tournament: Kushima’s Fight 12
- Saw Zwe Lay vs. Masayuki Sato (FSA Kenshinkan) = Saw Zaw Lay won by 1R KO
- Kyaw Nyein vs. Tatsuya Ishiguro (Former NJKF Welterweight Champion) = Draw
- Lone Chaw vs. Tetsuya Yamauchi (Former J-NET Middleweight Champion) = Lone Chaw won by 3R KO
August 19, 2007: Differ Ariake, Tokyo International Martial Arts Tournament =Lethwei=
- Min Win (2006 Golden Belt Tournament Lightweight Top 8) vs. Yuya Takeuchi (Wajutsu Keishukai HQ / UN-JK Lightweight #1) = Min Win won by Decision
- Tar Toe Wah (2006 Golden Belt Tournament Welterweight Top 8) vs. Masayuki Sato (FSA Kenshinkan / Kenshinkan All Japan Light-Middleweight Champion) = Tar Toe Wah won by 3R TKO
- Saw Zwe Lay (2006 Golden Belt Tournament Lightweight Top 4) vs. Yoshiharu Murai (Rishinjuku / Former MA Kick Featherweight #1) = Saw Zwe Lay won by 3R TKO
- Soe Paing (2006 Golden Belt Tournament Light Middleweight Champion) vs. Naoki Samukawa (Bungeling Bay / J-NET Middleweight Champion) = Naoki Samukawa won by 1R Chokehold
- Lone Chaw (2006 Golden Belt Tournament Openweight Champion) vs. Nick Fiordo (Wajutsu Keishukai HQ / UN-JK Middleweight Champion) = Lone Chaw won by 3R TKO
May 2 & 3, 2009: Thuwunna National Indoor Stadium, Myanmar
Myanmar vs Japan 4-on-4 International Tournament
- Crazy Hill (Bungeling Bay) vs. Tway Ma Shaung (2007 Gold Flag Tournament Champion) = 2R Tway Ma Shaung won by KO
- Toshiya Kurenai (Axe Kick / PK.1 World Muay Thai Super Welterweight Champion) vs. Kyal Lin Aung (2006 Golden Belt Tournament Champion) = 5R Draw
- Hiroaki Jinkawa (Wajutsu Keishukai) vs. Saw Nga Man (2009 Gold Flag Tournament Champion) = 1R Saw Nga Man won by KO
- Naoki Samukawa (Bungeling Bay / First M-1 Light Heavyweight Champion, former J-NET Middleweight Champion) vs. Lone Chaw (2006 & 2007 Golden Belt Tournament Champion) = 5R Draw
August 13 & 14, 2011: Thein Phyu Lethwei Stadium, Myanmar
Myanmar 4-on-4 Japan – International Tournament
- Motohiro Shinohara (Bungeling Bay) vs. Soe Lin Oo (2-time Golden Belt Champion, 2-time Dagon Flag Champion) = 5R Soe Lin Oo won by KO
- Toshiya Kurenai (Freelance / PK.1 World Muay Thai S-Welterweight Champion) vs. Kyal Lin Aung (Golden Belt Champion) = 5R Draw
- CRAZY 884 (Bungeling Bay) vs. Phoe Kay (Myanmar National Tournament Gold Medalist) = 5R Draw
- Naoki Samukawa (Bungeling Bay / First M-1 Light Heavyweight Champion, former J-NET Middleweight Champion) vs. Saw Nga Man (Myanmar National Openweight Champion, Dagon Flag Champion) = 5R Draw
September 21, 2013: International Event: Myanmar vs. Japan, 4-on-4 (Venue: Thein Phyu Stadium)
- Arashi Fujihara (Bungeling Bay / 23rd All Japan Kickboxing Federation Bantamweight Champion) vs. Nyan Lin Aung = 5R Draw
- Naoki Samukawa (Bungeling Bay / First M-1 Light Heavyweight Champion, former J-NET Middleweight Champion) vs. Tun Tun Min = 5R Draw
February 14, 2016: Myanmar
International Event: Myanmar vs. Japan, 2-on-2 (Venue: Thein Phyu Stadium)
- Daiki Kaneko (Reversal Gym Kawaguchi “REDIPS”) vs. Tha Pyay Nyo (Golden Belt Champion) = 2R Tha Pyay Nyo won by KO
- NAOKI (TEAM REPEL) vs. Saw Gaw Mu Doe (Golden Belt Tournament Champion) = 1R Saw Gaw Mu Doe won by KO
May 1, 2016: Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium
ZONE 4
- Daiki Kaneko (Reversal Gym Kawaguchi “REDIPS”) vs. Nyan Lin Aung (2015 Golden Belt Runner-up) = 2R Nyan Lin Aung won by KO
- Ploytaksin Nor Naksin (Thailand) vs. Saw Gaw Mu Doe = 1R Saw Gaw Mu Doe won by KO
May 21, 2017: Tokyo Tower Media Center
- Saw Gaw Mu Doe vs. Worawut Sitkanpan (Thailand) – Saw Gaw Mu Doe won by KO
- Daiki Kaneko vs. Daryl Lokoku (Congo) – Daryl Lokoku won by KO
During this period, Takamori also served as advisor for “Nonfiction W: Lethwei, the World’s Most Dangerous Martial Art — Souls in Fists Shaken by Myanmar’s New Era”, a 2013 documentary broadcast on WOWOW television, planned by Mr. Masami Ozaki and produced in close consultation with Win Zin Oo.
What He Saw in the Eyes of the Fighters
Takamori has been careful, always, to distinguish Lethwei from mere violence. The answer he offers is the one Win Zin Oo gave him during their very first meeting:
“Myanmar also has issues with juvenile delinquency. Lethwei serves as an aid in rehabilitating these young people.”
Looking closely at the young men training in Win’s gym, Takamori saw something he felt was disappearing in Japan: “a sincere, strong desire for self-improvement and a thirst for learning.”
He saw concentration, effort, gratitude toward teachers, and care for those who would come after. He saw the same foundations that underlie education itself.
“Martial arts and education may seem like different things,” he has said, “but they share the same underlying foundations.”
He never practiced Lethwei himself. He was 37 when he first saw it in Hinthada, and he briefly considered taking it up. In the end, he decided against it. The sport gave him something different to do.
Stepping Away
Starting around 2011, as Myanmar began its path toward globalization, as Thein Pyu Stadium was completed, as matches begin to be live streamed online, Takamori noticed his feelings beginning to change.
Lethwei was no longer a hidden frontier. Others were arriving now, with capital and industry connections he did not have. The art he had devoted years to was becoming entertainment and thriving.
“I felt a sense of joy mixed with a certain loneliness,” he has reflected. “A feeling that Lethwei was no longer something that belonged only to me.”
As years went by, he slowly stepped away from active involvement, praying for the sport’s continued growth, and eventually returned to teaching children in his coastal town in Hyogo.
What He Leaves Behind
Of everything Takamori wishes to pass on to history, there is one thing above all others – it is for others to recognize the name Win Zin Oo who walked the path of hardships on elevating Lethwei for years with him.
This path that Takamori walked is monumentous. Without riches, fame, and reward, he spent his life pioneering a relationship between Japan and Myanmar. With only gratitude and sincerity, and a friend for support, he found ancient murals in overlooked temples that etched the proof of historicity. He helped forge bonds between nations, and gave all towards a sport that gave only personal satisfaction.
And his belief is that Lethwei, which had endured for a thousand years before he found it, will endure long after him, because it is not merely violent or harsh, but beautiful.
“It could not have lasted for 1,000 years if it were merely violent and harsh. It is because there is beauty there that there are people who wish to inherit it and pass it on.”
– Takuya Takamori
