He is the leader out of a small yakuza group that we see at the start of the series.

__Pilot__: We see him with his yakuza group trying to get their money back from Sachi when Joe then beats them all up and takes Hirata down with a body blow. 
__Anime__: We see him appear with a bunch of yakuza members at a playground after Joe had beaten up some of his men. Joe then fights them all. 
__Manga__: He appears in the group of 3 yakuza members that we see at the very start of the manga.

He looks a bit different in each version:
- In the pilot, he appears with a hat, a jacket over his shoulders, and some kind of ''beating'' stick. 
- In the anime, he's wearing a very yellow jacket, a hat, glasses, and a cigarette in his mouth. 
- In the manga, he appears as a medium-sized guy with sunglasses and something in his mouth.


Joe Yabuki is a troubled young man who runs away from an orphanage. Wandering through the Tokyo slums, he meets former boxing trainer Danpei. Joe is later arrested and goes to a temporary jail where he fights Nishi, his future best friend, ​and leader of a group of hooligans. He and Nishi then go to a juvenile prison miles away from Tokyo. There Joe meets Rikiishi, a former boxing prodigy, and a rivalry develops between them. They face each other in a match in which Rikiishi dominates Joe until the latter hits him with a cross-counter, resulting in both being knocked out. This inspires the other prison inmates to take up boxing. Joe and Rikiishi vow to fight again. 
(Source: Wikipedia)

Joe, a teenage orphan in the slums of the Doya streets, meets Danpei, a homeless, alcoholic ex-boxing coach. Danpei, seeing Joe's boxing talent, decides to train him. When Joe is sent to a terrible juvenile home for petty crimes, he meets Rikiishi who becomes his boxing rival. Danpei arrives at the home to help Joe to train in order to defeat Rikiishi. When Joe decides to seriously pursue boxing, Danpei cannot get a coaching license because of his reputation as a drunk. 
(Source: AnimeNfo)

[Wiki (jp)](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/渡部猛)

**Non-anime roles:**
- Inazuma Ginga - Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan (TV Series)
- Baku Mozoo - Dai Sentai Goggle-V (TV Series)

Pilot films for Ashita no Joe, released as bonus material on the series' DVD box. 
 
- Aoyama-hen (prod. 1969/11/06) 
- Rikiishi-hen (prod. 1969/12/22)