Shimakawa [1] (島川, Shimakawa) is a semi-recurring character in Hajime no Ippo. He is one of the referees at the Kōrakuen Hall who has appeared the most of the matches of the series.
History[]
Part I[]
Early Days Arc[]
Shimakawa is first seen at the hall's main event stopping the fight in the first round and declaring the winner via knockout.
Debut Arc[]
He later oversaw the sparring matches at the pro-license tests where he desperately tried to stop a viscous Mashiba from injuring his opponent and later declared Ippo the winner of his own spar.
He was also in charge of Ippo's debut fight against Oda Yūsuke, where in the second round, he momentarily stopped the fight and called the doctor over to examine Ippo's eye. Once the second round began, he separated a clinching Oda who was targeting Ippo's eye. In the third round, Ippo landed a series of devastating right Jabs, causing Shimakawa to stop the fight (seemingly for the cut) declaring Oda could no longer continue.
Rookie King Tournament: First Rounder Arc[]
In the first event of the East Japan Rookie King Tournament, he supervised the match between Ippo and Ozuma. He stopped the fight three times for counts (two for Ippo and one for Ozuma), but ultimately stopped the fight when Ozuma received a devastating combo from his opponent, declaring Ippo the winner.
Shimakawa can also be briefly seen ending the Miyata's and Takada's match.
During Ippo's second fight at the tournament, the referee decided not to count for a second time, but instead declare Kobashi Kenta "not able to continue", thus making Ippo the winner.
Part II[]
Appearance[]
Shimakawa is a man with short black hair with bangs going close to his eyes and black coloured eyes.
While refereeing, he wears a blue referee shirt with a black bow tie.
Etymology[]
- The surname Shimakawa means "island" (島) (shima) and "river, stream" (川) (kawa).