By SATOSHI UKAI/ Correspondent
March 12, 2021 at 07:20 JST
Tiger Jeet Singh attends a wrestling match at Saitama Super Arena in 2007. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
NEW YORK--A Canadian foundation led by professional wrestler Tiger Jeet Singh and his son is getting praise for its relief efforts in Japan following the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011.
On Feb. 25, two weeks ahead of the disaster's 10-year anniversary, the foundation won accolades from Takuya Sasayama, Consul General of Japan in Toronto, for promoting friendship with Japan through its disaster-relief efforts.
In an online commendation ceremony, including Singh himself, his son Tiger Ali Singh said they will be donating an additional CA$20,000 (roughly $16,000, or 1.7 million yen) to children affected by the disasters that struck 10 years ago.
Singh was once a popular--and much-dreaded--figure in Japan’s professional wrestling scene, where he went by the nickname of the “Crazy Tiger of India.”
He first came to Japan in 1973. Singh is remembered here for, among other things, a street fight he had with rival pro wrestler Antonio Inoki outside the Shinjuku Isetan department store in Tokyo.
Singh went on to establish star status as a villain by attacking his opponents with dangerous weapons and engaging in violent brawls outside the ring. He continued wrestling in Japanese rings for decades.
Singh, who now lives in Canada, is also known as a businessman, and has aided schools and engaged in other charity work through his foundation.
The Consulate General of Japan in Toronto said in its statement that when the earthquake and tsunami hit northeast Japan in 2011, Singh’s foundation worked with a local school board on relief work for disaster-affected children and raised CA$20,000 in donations.
At a news conference following the ceremony, Singh said he has many friends in Japan who are like his own family.
He said news of the disaster shocked him so much that he decided he had to do something.
Singh added he hopes it will not be too long before he can come back to Japan to visit and see how the children are doing in disaster-struck regions.
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