He had appeared in TV dramas under the stage name "Tetsuya Shiro", but due to the bankruptcy of Shintoho, he was forced to suspend his career in the entertainment industry.

[8] Subsequently, he graduated from Hosei University Junior and Senior High School and joined Daiei Film Company.

[10] On the other hand, he had also joined the Goju-ryu Karate Club at university and won the All Japan Student Championship while he was still in school.

[6][5] Shiraha eventually left Daiei Film Company at the same time as graduating from college and started training at the Noguchi Gym.

In June 1966, he fought against Muay Thai fighter Samarn Sor Adisorn, who was ranked #8 at Lumpinee's featherweight division, at the Riki Palace.

[5] After his retirement, he broke all ties with his martial arts world[18] and focused on managing his automobile repair company in Tokyo.

[1][2][3][5] Sawamura is domestically regarded as the sport's great champions and helped increase Kickboxing's international profile, retiring with over 200 knockouts.

For comparison, in heavyweight boxing the two highest knockout percentages are 87.76% by Rocky Marciano and 87.23% by Vitali Klitschko.

[19][20][21][22][23] His exploits were the basis of a manga series called Kick no Oni, written by Ikki Kajiwara and published in Shōnen Gahōsha.

"Uta ikasu machida ze" (いかす街だぜ - "It's a cool city") in 1969[5] and the theme song for the 1970 Kick no Oni.

Japanese professional wrestler Jumbo Tsuruta used a jumping knee strike in tribute to Sawamura.