Clashes of Titans on Tap as Japanese Stars Stack Olympic Weights

Tuesday, December 18, 2018 - 02:07 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (Dec. 17)---Japanese wrestlers have never lacked for motivation when it comes to the quest to make the Olympics. But with Tokyo to host the next Games in 2020, drive and desire are at fever pitch as everyone wants to get in on the act.

So while it seemed inevitable that the upcoming All-Japan Championships, by serving as the first stage for qualifying for Japan's team to Tokyo 2020, would produce a number high-level match-ups. But just how meteoric the competition will be is nothing short of mind-boggling.

There will be competition in all 10 weight classes, but the scramble to fill the six Olympic weight classes has funneled the cream of the crop into those divisions, setting up possible pairings---particularly among the women---that can be seen as exceeding the caliber of the recent world championships.

55kg world champion Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) after winning the gold medal in Budapest. (Photo: Martin Gabor)

Someone making a movie about the tournament, which runs Dec. 20-23 at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym, could title it, "When World Champions Collide." That could happen at the Olympic weight class of women's 53kg, where 55kg world gold medalist Mayu MUKAIDA has dropped down to challenge the Budapest 2019 champion at 53kg, Haruna OKUNO.

"This tournament has links to the Olympics and is extremely important," Japan women's national team coach Hideo SASAYAMA said at a recent press conference to announce the final entries. "The Olympic weight classes have many entries, and we have medalists from the world championships against each other. It's going to be a very high-level tournament."

Under the JWF criteria, winners of both the All-Japan Championships, also called the Emperor's Cup, and the All-Japan Invitational Championships (the Meiji Cup, held in May or June) automatically qualify for the next world championships. If the winners are different, there will be a playoff for the spot.

But the 2019 world championships in Astana have further ramifications---a wrestler who wins a medal there not only earns an Olympic spot for Japan, but automatically fills it themselves. That's why the competition is so fierce to get onto that team, even with Tokyo 2020 nearly two years away.

Should Mukaida and Okuno meet in the 53kg final as expected, it would be just the 11th time in Japanese wrestling history that two current world champions faced each other in a domestic tournament, according to the Japan Wrestling Federation.

Mukaida, two years older at 21, holds an overwhelming advantage over her Shigakkan University teammate Okuno, having won all eight of their previous encounters dating back to 2012. Most recently, Mukaida posted a 5-0 win in the 2017 Junior Queen's Cup.

As enticing as that match-up might be, it might have to play second fiddle to a real Clash of the Titans---the potential battle at 57kg between reigning Rio 2016 Olympic champions Kaori ICHO and Risako KAWAI.

Icho, whose gold in 2016 made her the first woman in history to win four consecutive Olympic titles in one event, went on hiatus after her triumph in Rio, returning to competition this past autumn in a bid for a historic five-peat.

The 34-year-old Icho might not be a reigning world champion at the moment, but it would be hard to discount the 10 gold medals in her collection, the most recent coming at 58kg in 2015. Kawai followed up her gold medal performance at 63kg at Rio 2016 with back-to-back world titles, claiming the 59kg gold in Budapest.

Icho passed the first test of her return by winning the second-tier Japan Women’s Open in September. To prepare for the stiffer competition at the Emperor’s Cup, she was invited to the national team training camp in November, where she had a chance to work out with Kawai.

Japan officials would not say who had the advantage in their sparring, but national team technical director Shigeki NISHIGUCHI said of Icho, “Her concentration is amazing. I saw her sparring with Kawai, and she just doesn't give up a takedown. It's really going to be a good match.”

Sasayama was equally impressed. “I thought that she might have lost more power than she had. But when I actually watched her, her defense, it seems she hasn't lost much. She might not have the stamina to keep up with the younger wrestlers who can go all out all of the time.”

Icho and Kawai, 24, have faced each other in the past, although it was before Kawai had emerged as a world-class wrestler. Battling once in 2013 and twice in 2014, Icho won all three matches without surrendering a point.

Three-time world and Olympic champion, Risako KAWAI (JPN) is likely to face Icho at the Emperor's Cup. She's moved down to the Olympic weight category to make room for her sister Yukako at 62kg. (Photo: Martin Gabor)

Kawai’s decision to drop down to 57kg was likely due to avoid having to clash with younger sister Yukako KAWAI, the Budapest 2018 silver medalist at 62kg. Yukako will compete at that Olympic weight class, where she will be challenged by 65kg bronze medalist Ayana GEMPEI. Both Kawai and Gempei recently won U23 world titles, and Kawai was named the UWW’s U23 female wrestler of the year.

Sparks are also sure to be flying in the women’s 50kg division, where the trio of world champion Yui SUSAKI, Rio 2016 gold medalist Eri TOSAKA and Asian silver medalist Yuki IRIE---who beat both of the other two last year---will battle it out.

One new development that could be a factor is that Susaki, coming off a dominant performance in Budapest where she stormed to a second straight world gold, suffered an elbow injury at the national camp, according to Sasayama.

“Susuki fought wonderfully at the world championships and won her second straight title, and was at absolute strength,” Sasayama said. “At the recent national camp, she injured her left elbow. There are concerns whether she will be ready in time for the tournament.

“With that in mind, it will be a point of interest to see what Irie, Tosaka and [U23 world champion] Miho IGARASHI bring to the fight.”

Reigning Olympic champion, Sara DOSHO (JPN). (Photo: Martin Gabor)

The women’s 68kg division will see the return of Rio 2018 champion Sara DOSHO, who underwent surgery after injuring her shoulder at the Women’s World Cup in March. Blocking her path to victory will likely be Rio WATARI and Chiaki SEKI.

It was her inability to beat Dosho that caused Watari to move up two weight classes to 75kg in a successful quest to make the Japan team to Rio 2016. The story took an even more dramatic twist when she developed life-threatening Hodgkin lymphoma, from which she battled back over the next two years to remarkably earn a spot on the squad to Budapest 2018.

With the top wrestlers packed into the Olympic weight classes, the non-Olympic weights have drawn just four or five entries. Most notable is Saki IGARASHI, the world junior and U23 champion who will aim for her first senior national title at 55kg.

“This is the first step of the selection process for the Olympics and the entries have been concentrated into the Olympic weight classes,” Nishiguchi said. “So it's a bit lonely in the non-Olympic weights with few entries, but that can't be helped.”

Takuto OTOGURO (JPN), reigning 65kg world champion. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Rivalries renewed in men’s competitions
While there are not as many world medalists among the men’s styles, there will be no lack of intense competition.

Takuto OTOGURO, who at 19 years 10 months became Japan’s youngest-ever male world champion when he captured the 65kg freestyle gold in Budapest, will be aiming for his first Emperor’s Cup title, but will find Rei HIGUCHI and Daichi TAKATANI more than ready to exact revenge for losses earlier this year to the Yamanashi Gakuin University star.

Higuchi, the 57kg silver medalist at Rio 2016, has had some difficulty handling the taller opponents as he moves up in weight, but gained a boost of confidence with a victory at last month’s U23 world championships in Bucharest. His hopes of making it to Budapest two months earlier had ended with a loss to Ishiguro in the Meiji Cup final last June.

That victory by Otoguro put him into a playoff with Emperor’s Cup winner Takatani, which Otoguro won handily. Takatani won the silver medal at the Asian Games this summer and can never be disregarded as a threat.

Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN), 2017 world champion. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

The 57kg freestyle division could see a clash of reigning national champions. Former world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI, who had to settle for a bronze at Budapest 2018, will aim for his third straight national crown, but can expect competition from Kazuya KOYANAGI, who won the 61kg last year and finished seventh in Budapest.

Also expected to be in the mix is U23 world champion Toshihiro HASEGAWA, while interest is high to see how high school triple-crown champion Kaito MORIKAWA will fare on the senior level.

Sosuke TAKATANI, the older brother of Daichi, will get his first test at the Olympic weight of 86kg. The 2014 world silver medalist and a six-time national champion at 74kg, he competed at 79kg over the past year---winning another national title---as a stepping stone to 86kg.

Defending champion Shota SHIRAI and runner-up Masao MATSUSAKA will be sure to provide a less-than-warm welcome to the weight class, which has also drawn world junior 79kg champion Hayato ISHIGURO.

Atsushi MATSUMOTO, a Budapest 2018 bronze medalist at 92kg, has opted to compete in the non-Olympic class and will aim for his first national freestyle title since 2014 and fourth overall (he won a gold in Greco in 2016 before switching back to freestyle).

Kenichiro FUMITA, 2017 world champion. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

The Greco competition should see the latest installment of the 60kg battle between Rio 2016 silver medalist Shinobu OTA and Paris 2017 world champion Kenichiro FUMITA.

Ota has had the upper hand recently, winning their most recent encounter at last year’s Emperor’s Cup to tie their head-to-head series at 4-4 dating back to 2014. Ota took the gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta in August, but suffered a heartbreaking second-round loss at Budapest 2018.

Fumita, who missed much of the season due to an injury, showed he is back in form by capturing the gold at the U23 world championships.

Schedule
Thursday, Dec. 20
9:30-18:00 - 1st Round through Semifinals; Repechage: FS 86, 92, 97, 125; GR 63, 72, 87, 97, 130; WW 55, 59, 62, 72
18:00-19:00 - Medal Matches: FS 92

Friday, Dec. 21
9:30 - 16:10 - 1st Round through Semifinals; Repechage: FS 57, 61, 74; GR 67, 77; WW 65, 76
16:10 - 20:40 - Medal Matches: FS 86, 97, 125; GR 63, 72, 87, 97, 130; WW 55, 59, 62, 72

Saturday, Dec. 22
9:30 - 15:00 - 1st Round through Semifinals, Repechage: FS 65, 70; GR 55, 60; WW 50, 53, 57, 68
15:00 - 19:30 - Medal Matches: FS 57, 61, 70, 74; GR 55, 67, 77; WW 65, 76

Sunday, Dec. 23
9:30 - 13:00 - 1st Round through Semifinals, Repechage: FS 79; GR 82
13:00 - 14:00 - Award ceremony for top individuals, clubs of year
14:00 - 14:15 - Return of Emperor's Cup trophy
14:15 - 17:00 - Medal Matches: FS 65, 79; GR 60, 82; WW 50, 53, 57, 68

#WrestleZagreb

Ex-Japan champ Shimoyamada trying to put Australia on wrestling map

Friday, September 5, 2025 - 05:49 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (Sept. 3) -- When Tsuchiku SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) decided to relocate from his native Japan to Australia, he wasn't showered with gifts from a grateful federation looking for an established wrestler to give the country a global boost.

He was more interested in golden beaches than bringing his new homeland gold medals.

"I was in Cairns, and I was feeling like, 'I want to move to Australia,'" Shimoyamada said during a trip back to Japan in July for a tournament. "I like this place. It's good for me. The lifestyle is easy."

Four years after announcing his retirement and three years after making the bold move to Land Down Under, the 31-year-old is back in the game, hoping to put a country more known for its swimmers and rugby players onto the world wrestling map.

While a longshot at best, Shimoyamada, a two-time Japan national champion and two-time Asian medalist, will get a chance to become Australia's first-ever world medalist when he takes the mat at Greco 67kg next week in Zagreb.

It will be the third World Championships of his career and first since 2021, when he nearly knocked off the Olympic champion and symbolically left his shoes on the mat after a repechage-round loss as a sign of his retirement. He finished ninth in his only other appearance in 2018.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) had left his shoes on the mat during the 2021 World Championships to mark his retirement. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Success breeds success, and Australian wrestling officials are hoping that Shimoyamada, in addition to helping cultivate a new generation of wrestlers, can produce results that will spark more interest in the sport. Getting through the rounds, even if he falls short of a medal, would have a positive effect, says one official.

"That would be a very good achievement for us," says Aryan Negahdari, president of New South Wales Wrestling Federation, who accompanied him and several wrestlers to Japan. "For many, many years, we haven't a wrestler making it into the semifinals, or even the quarterfinals of the World Championships. Even that itself would be a good achievement."

While Australia has never won a world medal, it may be surprising to learn that the country has actually brought home three Olympic medals -- although it has been nearly eight decades since the most recent one.

Eddie SCARF broke the ice with a bronze medal at freestyle 87kg at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Australia then got two at the 1948 London Games, a silver from Richard GARRARD at freestyle 73kg and a bronze from Joseph ARMSTRONG at freestyle over-87kg. The closest the country has come since then was a fourth place at Freestyle 62kg by Cris BROWN at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

On the world stage, the highest finishes by Australians were fifth places by Jackie BRYDON at women's 50kg in 1993 at Stavern, Norway, and Macedonian-born Lila RISTEVSKA at women's 47kg at Moscow 1995. There have been three men who have placed sixth, all in freestyle, with the most recent being Uzbekistan-born Talgat ILYASOV at 74kg at New York 2003.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMA (JPN) Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA advances to the semifinals at the All-Japan Non-Student Championships in July with a 52-second win over Kokoro GOTO. (Photo: Koji Fuse / wrestling-spirits.jp)

As a Greco wrestler, Shimoyamada will be trying to beat even longer odds. Up to now, Australia has never placed higher than 18th at a World Championships.

Following his graduation from Nippon Sports Science University, which also produced Paris Olympic champions Kenichiro FUMITA and Nao KUSAKA as well as Tokyo bronze medalist Shohei YABIKU, Shimoyamada joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department team. He stayed on the force after ending his wrestling career, but found it wasn't for him.

"When I was back in Japan, I started working for the police," he says. "To be honest, it was stressful. It was not for me."

A trip to Australia opened his eyes to a place where he could start a new life. At first, he planned to only go into coaching, but a practical reason arose that led him to decide to return to the mat -- it helped him get the visa he needed to live in the country.

"I didn't think about wrestling by myself, I thought I could help as a coach," he says. "But for the visa condition, it's better to keep active."

In 2023, he received a residence visa as a "global talent," and in January 2024, United World Wrestling approved his switch of national affiliation to Australia.

Unfortunately, the approval did not come in time for him to try to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He is still working on gaining citizenship. His need to find a way to make a living proved harder than he expected as he settled in Sydney.

"I'm teaching wrestling, and I'm working as a lifeguard at a swimming pool," he said. "Life is not easy. It's expensive, everything, rent, bills, car."

Shimoyamada's need for gainful employment produced a symbiotic relationship with his hosts, who suddenly found themselves blessed with a world-class competitor to help raise the level of the sport.

"I really think we're super lucky to have him because not only is he a high-level athlete, but he has been helping us a lot as a coach, especially Greco-Roman coach," Negahdari says. "So because of him, we have a lot more athletes doing Greco-Roman, training under Tsuchika."

Shimoyamada's arrival also gave Australia a bonus of sorts -- a connection with an established power in the sport. Through Shimoyamada's ties with his alma mater NSSU, there have been numerous exchanges of wrestlers between the two countries.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) Tsuchika SHIMOYAMA faces Keitaro ONO in his opening match at the All-Japan Non-Student Championships in July. (Photo: Koji Fuse / wrestling-spirits.jp)

In the early summer, Paris Olympic silver medalist Daichi TAKATANI and former women's U23 world champion Yu SAKAMOTO went to Australia to put on clinic. In July, Shimoyamada led a contingent of Australian wrestlers who participated in the All-Japan Non-Student Championships (a second-tier national tournament) before training at NSSU.

"He's also been very good for us to build connections with Japan," Nagahdari says. "We've been coming [to Japan] for four years now, like twice a year, training with the Japanese teams. We've had a lot of Japanese athletes coming over to Australia to do seminars for us, to do training with us...It has been very, very beneficial for us in many different ways."

Shimoyamada entered the Non-Student meet at 72kg to give him the high-level competition he needed as preparation for the World Championships, and which is sorely lacking back in Australia. Aside from the low-level Oceania Championships and tournaments in Australia, it was his first outing since the 2021 World Championships.

He held his own, although he lost in the semifinals to Yamato HAGIWARA before winning his bronze-medal match over Rintaro SOGABE, the younger brother of Paris Olympian Kyotaro SOGABE, a fellow NSSU alum who will be Japan's entry at 67kg and a potential opponent of Shimoyamada in Zagreb.

Shimoyamada made his international debut at the 2016 Asian Championships in Bangkok, placing eighth. He won his first All-Japan title in December 2017, earning a return to the continental meet in 2018 in Bishkek, where he took home the silver medal after losing in the final to Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ).

Just when it looked like he had lost his edge after losing back-to-back All-Japan finals to Shogo TAKAHASHI in 2018 and 2019, Shimoyamada rebounded to claim his second title in 2020 with a victory over rising NSSU star Katsuaki ENDO. After Shimoyamada left the scene, Endo and Kyotaro Sogabe would battle ruthlessly for supremacy at 67kg.

His final year wrestling for Japan may have been his most productive. At the 2021 Asian Championships in Almaty, he avenged his loss to Kebispayev from three years before to capture the elusive gold. He followed that with a victory at the All-Japan Invitational Championships, known as the Meiji Cup, to clinch his ticket to the World Championships in Oslo.

Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS) was dominating Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) in their match at the 2021 World Championships before being pinned. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

In the second round, Shimoyamada encountered Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI), one of the few gold medalists from the Tokyo Olympics two months earlier who were entered at the worlds. It would probably be the most impressive loss of his career.

Shimoyamada was dominating the Iranian, scoring with a 4-point arm throw to build up a 6-1 lead. But disaster struck with just over a minute to go. Geraei caught Shimoyamada in a lapse and bear-hugged him backward directly to his back for a shocking victory by fall.

Shimoyamada then lost his repechage match to teenager Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), and the last we saw of him was him walking off the mat, leaving his shoes behind.

Fast forward four years, and Shimoyamada is now competing for himself and his adopted homeland. While he would like to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, age and opportunity might be too big hurdles to get over.

"I think that's a last challenge, for the Olympics, because I'm not young," Shimoyamada said. "If I can make it for Australia, that's good. Everyone will get interested in wrestling. That's what I should do."

Looking long range, Australian officials are hoping to develop talent to make a good showing when the country hosts the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032. They are hoping that Shimoyamada can spark enough interest and help raise the level in time.

"I think we're in the very early stages, compared to international standards," Nagahdari says. "But I think we can definitely see a very huge improvement, like in the last few years. We have a lot more members now, the number of our wrestlers. For example, compared to only three or four years ago, it has doubled. It's growing slowly, but at a good pace.

"It's a very slow progress, because you know that wrestling is super hard. It takes like a decade to build an athlete to that level. And we're really focusing our efforts toward the Brisbane Olympics in 2032."

Shimoyamada is determined to do whatever he can to make it happen.

"It's hard to get a gold medal at the World Championships and the Olympics, to be honest," he says. "If I make the Olympics, the next generation can become interested in getting to the Olympics or World Championships and they will practice hard."

Clashes of Titans on Tap as Japanese Stars Stack Olympic Weights

Three-time world and Olympic champion, Risako KAWAI (JPN) is likely to face Icho at the Emperor's Cup. She's moved down to the Olympic weight category to make room for her sister Yukako at 62kg. (Photo: Martin Gabor)

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Ex-Japan champ Shimoyamada trying to put Australia on wrestling map