I'd say the awareness of it's grown more than anything else. Around 6 years ago Youtube was a small site and streaming was a major issue, now a days we can stream Japanese TV at will and watch any number of fights from youtube.
RE womens boxing, the Japanese females are fantastic (only the Argentinians are better at the moment). Miyao is cute as and Etsuko Tada is one mean fucker.
In terms of female Japanese fighters, as an MMA fan I liked Smackgirl a lot and was a big fan of fighters like Hisae Watanabe and Satoko Shinashi... good to see boxing is going strong there too
Fighting Harada comes to mind first and foremost. And 2012 Gold Medalist Ryota Murata is turning pro so maybe Japan will have a future legend in the making.
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