IWA Japan President Tatsukuni ‘Kinroku’ Asano passes away at 72

Photo Courtesy: @ProWresIWA on X

Condolences poured in from those who knew him.

At the age of 72 years old, IWA Japan co-founder and President Tatsukuni ‘Kinroku’ Asano passed away. Asano passed on November 12th. A wake and funeral service was held on 11/15 with only immediate family members in attendance. 

His cause of death is unknown as of this writing.

Asano began promoting wrestling events in 1990. One of those was the Atsushi Onita-led FMW. He did promotion for All Japan as well.

Alongside Victor Quiñones, he launched IWA Japan. 

In 2014, Asano suffered a ischemic stroke. That was the last year of IWA Japan’s existence as an active promotion. Since the stroke in 2014, Asano had been recovering from it. His last public appearance was on October 5th when he did a talk show in Shinjuku. 

The likes of Naomichi Marufuji, Jun Akiyama, TAJIRI, Yuji Nagata and Saki Akai all tweeted about Asano’s passing. SETUP Thailand Pro Wrestling paid tribute to Asano as well. In July 2024, SETUP and Asano’s promotion collaborated on a joint show. It was the first IWA Japan-branded event since 2014.

POST Wrestling would like to send our condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Tatsukuni ‘Kinroku’ Asano.

About Andrew Thompson 9776 Articles
A Washington D.C. native and graduate of Norfolk State University, Andrew Thompson has been covering wrestling since 2017.