Ikki Sawamura

Early life

Kōzo Nomura was born in Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, in 1967, as the eldest of two siblings. He grew up impoverished, with his family living in an old apartment with two rooms, with one room in 6 tatami mats (approximately 106 square feet) in size and the other in 4.5 tatami mats (approximately 80 square feet) without a bathroom. When he was twelve years old, Sawamura's father suddenly disappeared without notice as to why. Days later, debt collectors showed up at their apartment to inform them that his father had accrued a substantial amount of debt, presumably from gambling. To pay off those debts, his mother worked at a snack bar at night and in cosmetics sales during the day to raise him and his younger sister. His parents remained legally married until their divorce when he was in junior high school, although his father now occasionally visited their home. During that time, while they were in contact with their father again, Sawamura got into a heated argument with his father due to the belittling of his mother, which led to a physical altercation. After that confrontation, he and his father became estranged again.