Koshiro Tanaka was born in 1940 in
Tagawa (Fukuoka Prefecture). He studied
karate from childhood, and then
judo,
aikido and
kendo. As an adult, Tanaka embarked on a career as a businessman, but gradually came to the idea that the business of his life was
martial arts. He graduated from
Kanagawa University Faculty of Law and Economics. The mujahideen, he said, "need help, any kind of help. They need weapons, bread, food, anything". When Koshiro Tanaka arrived in Afghanistan, he exchanged his black uniform suit for a
salwar kameez. He had no battlefield experience but nonetheless, he began to teach the mujahideen hand-to-hand combat. In February 1985, he took part in a battle against the
Soviet and
Afghan armies. Many journalists around the world reported on the so-called "Afghan samurai".
Reaction from Japan The Japanese government disapproved of his activities. The Japanese
Embassy in
Islamabad officially warned Tanaka about the inappropriateness of involvement in the Afghan conflict. Tanaka ignored this warning and began to train the Dushmans of the second largest group headed by Rabbani. He eventually viewed himself as a martyr for Japan, which had an
Island dispute with the Soviet Union. Tanaka was strongly against the government and
Constitution for denying Japanese people the chance to fight the Russians off the
Kuril Islands to which Japan had historical ties to. The islands were surrendered to the Soviets following WWII. ==Post-Afghanistan==