Osamu Noguchi family moved to
Shanghai in 1938 at the invitation of
Yoshio Kodama, Noguchi spent his childhood being entertained by Japanese jazz singer
Dick Mine in nightclubs run by his father
Susumu Noguchi. When the Japanese were defeated in the
Pacific War, the Noguchi family were repatriated back to Japan. After Osamu Noguchi graduated Meiji University, he became the manager of Noguchi Boxing Gym which was owned by his father
Susumu Noguchi, and worked as a boxing promoter. In 1961, Noguchi became the owner of Noguchi Gym after his father died, and also promoted his younger brother
Kyō Noguchi's boxing matches on television with NET (Nihon Educational Television Co., Ltd, now
TV Asahi). However, Noguchi was arrested for matchfixing of world title fights, and was backlisted from the boxing promotion in Japan, including being cut off from his contract with NET. In 1964 Osamu Noguchi and
Tatsuo Yamada organised a 3-on-3 competition of
Kyokushin Karate vs
Muay Thai competition with Tadashi Nakamura,
Kenji Kurosaki and
Tadashi Sawamura being the representatives for Karate and defeating their Muay Thai opponents at the
Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand. This would be the basis of what would be popularly known as the sport of Kickboxing and established the Japan Kickboxing Association. Noguchi coined the term "kickboxing" in the 1960s as a
Japanese anglicism for a
hybrid martial art combining Muay Thai and karate, which he had introduced in 1958. In 1970 under the guidance of
Yoko Yamaguchi persuaded Noguchi to sign
Hiroshi Itsuki as a singer with great success. In October 1972, Noguchi opened a Kickboxing gym on
Ratchadamri Road which sparked a backlash in Thailand. In 1976 Noguchi, founded the
World Kickboxing Association. On 9 May 2016, Noguchi died. ==Popular culture==