Genji Kamogawa

Kamogawa Genji is a deuteragonist in Hajime no Ippo. His influence on the story rivals those of Takamura Mamoru’s and Miyata Ichirou’s; all three inspire Makunouchi Ippo to continue boxing.

Kamogawa is the head coach of the Kamogawa Boxing Gym and is close friends with Nekota Ginpachi and Hama Dankichi. As a coach he is strict and holds high expectations for his trainees but is also shown to genuinely care for the well-being of his fighters (albeit in a more silenced, aloof way), forging a strong bond with each and every one of them through trust and spirit. He possesses an extremely sharp sense for boxing and a large wealth of knowledge in regards to boxing, able to give strategies to his fighters that often cause turnabouts in matches. He is shown throughout the series to be most proud of his two most prominent boxers: Takamura Mamoru and Makunouchi Ippo.

He is a retired boxer who founded the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. He acts as the trainer of both Ippo and Takamura,as well as a cornerman for the boxers under Shinoda Tomoyuki.

Kamogawa worked as a prizefighter in Japan shortly after the end of the Second World War. He has exchanged blows with former prizefighter Nekota Ginpachi multiple times. He was also friends with fellow prizefighter and future trainer Hama Dankichi. During the American occupation of Japan, Kamogawa harboured strong feelings of national pride, refusing to accept food handouts.

Sometime later, Kamogawa opened his own boxing gym, where he trained the future manager of the gym Yagi-chan, the then-OPBF Featherweight champion Miyata-san, and the budding counter specialist Miyata Ichirou. By chance, he encountered Takamura Mamoru and convinced him to enter the world of boxing under his tutorship. Takamura then scouted Aoki Masaru, Kimura Tatsuya, and Makunouchi Ippo to the gym.

Though he chose not to train Itagaki Manabu, he is present in his matches as a cornerman. He is equally as surprised at Itagaki’s speed and boxing skills as he is at the talents of his own trainees.