All-Japan Championships: World Champ Fujinami Aims for 2nd National Title as Olympic Medalists Sit Out

Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - 10:00 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO, Japan (December 13) -- It was a year ago that highly touted teenager Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) made her senior debut at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships. She lived up to the hype by winning that tournament, which became the launching pad for her to rocket to stardom.

Fujinami, who turned 18 last month, is back to defend her women's 53kg title, this time as the reigning senior world champion.

"After the World Championships, I had to quarantine for two weeks," Fujinami said in a telephone interview. "During those two weeks, I took another look at my wrestling. I am prepared to perform at a higher level at the Emperor's Cup."

Unfortunately, a highly anticipated match-up between Fujinami and Olympic champion Mayu MUKAIDA has been put off indefinitely, as none of Japan's five gold medalists from the Tokyo Games are entered in the tournament to be held Dec. 16-19 at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

Still, all but one of Japan's 12 medalists from October's World Championships in Oslo are entered, and two women's weight classes have potential clashes between a world champion and a world medalist as wrestlers begin the shift in divisions to start the new Olympic cycle.

Among the men, record-setting world Greco-Roman champion Ken MATSUI faces a possible showdown with another history-maker at 55kg, while veteran Sohsuke TAKATANI will attempt to become the third wrestler in Japan history to win an 11th consecutive national title when he defends the freestyle 92kg crown.

The Emperor's Cup is the first of two domestic qualifiers, along with the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in the spring, for next year's World Championships in Belgrade. It is also a qualifier for the 2022 Asian Games in China, which may actually complicate matters as that event starts just three days after the World Championships.

Although Tokyo has gone more than a month with under 30 new daily cases of coronavirus, strict protocols are in place, including the banning of family, friends and general spectators.

Entries were limited to a maximum of 12 per weight class, each of which will begin and finish on the same day.

While Fujinami, currently a senior at Inabe Gakuin High School in Mie Prefecture, won't have to contend yet with Mukaida, there is no lack of top-notch competition for her. At last year's Emperor's Cup and this year's Meiji Cup, Fujinami defeated both two-time former world champion Haruna OKUNO and former world silver medalist Nanami IRIE, and both are entered and looking for revenge.

"I'm sure both of them, or everyone for that matter, have been studying me," Fujinami said. "Instead of regarding myself as the champion, I will approach this tournament the same as always, without forgetting the feeling of being the challenger."

But anyone looking to dethrone Fujinami will have to be at the very top of their game. With her four victories in Oslo -- all by technical fall, and without surrendering a point -- she is currently on an 83-match win streak that dates back to her junior high school days in 2017.

Asked what progress she feels she has made over the past year, Fujinami replied, "I feel like I've raised my level physically."

As for being deprived of the desired showdown with Mukaida, Fujinami took the news in stride. "It was a situation where I didn't know, is she going to enter or she not going to enter," she said. "In the end, she won't be there.

"I don't know the next time she will appear, but I know she is someone I will have to ultimately beat. Right now, the Emperor's Cup is right in front of me and winning is the only thing I am thinking of. I want to win this and go to the World Championships."

Is she disappointed? "I wouldn't say disappointed, I just really want to face her," she replied with confidence and maturity belying her years.

To the not-so-serious suggestion that Mukaida might be avoiding her, Fujinami replied, "I understand that after the Olympics, she is still on kind of a high. I think she will enter next year."

Fujinami said she is undecided, if she qualifies, on whether she would attempt to complete a world and Asian Games double in September next year.

"If I can enter both, I'd like to do that. When the time comes, we'll see how it works out. At any rate, my objective now is to win the Emperor's Cup."

The Japan federation has not released information on why all of Japan's Olympic medalists, who also include gold medalists Yui SUSAKI, Risako KAWAI, Yukako KAWAI and Takuto OTOGURO, are skipping the tournament. In fact, of the 12 wrestlers who took part in the Tokyo Olympics, only Takatani will be taking the mat at Komazawa Gym.

Possibly they have not had time to properly prepare. Like all of Japan's Olympic champions, the wrestlers were in high demand on Japanese TV variety shows, particularly the Kawai sisters (on one show, they were taken shopping to a major electrical appliance store, where the host, a famous Japanese comedian, footed the bill.) Also, Risako Kawai and Mukaida both got married soon after the Games, and have been busy setting up their new households.

Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN) is the world champion at 50kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

But even without them, a Japanese national championship is never lacking for star power. Along with Fujinami and Matsui, newly minted world champions Remina YOSHIMOTO, Tsugumi SAKURAI and Masako FURUICHI all won their first national titles last year and will be in action this week.

Shigakkan University's Yoshimoto will be defending her title at women's 50kg, and will be the favorite in the absence of Susaki, while Sakurai and Furuichi have changed weight classes and might have to contend with a fellow world medalist.

Sakurai, the world champ at 55kg and the first-ever national champion for recently founded Ikuei University, has moved up to 57kg, which puts her on a possible collision course with two-time defending champion Sae NANJO, the bronze medalist at that weight in Oslo.

Furuichi, who completed a "grand slam" of world titles when she added the senior 72kg crown in Oslo to her previous world titles at the cadet, junior and U23 levels, has dropped down to the Olympic weight of 68kg. That could mean a clash with Rin MIYAJI, the world silver medalist who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Oslo when she knocked off Olympic champion Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) with a 21-second fall in the semifinals.

At 62kg, world bronze medalist Nonoka OZAKI will be looking to make history as she aims for a second straight title. The 18-year-old won her first title last year as a high schooler and, after graduating last March, she opted to take the academic route and passed the difficult entrance exams for prestigious Keio University. A victory on Saturday would make her the first current student or alumni of Keio to become a national champion in 62 years.

World silver medalist Miwa MORIKAWA will look to win a third straight title as the defending champion at 65kg. In her path is 2018 world bronze medalist Ayana GEMPEI, who returned from a long layoff due to knee surgery at this year's Meiji Cup and finished third at 68kg.

In freestyle, the spotlight will be on Takatani. The 2014 world silver medalist at 74kg, he won his 10th straight national title last year at 92kg in his fourth different weight class. He later dropped down to 86kg and qualified for his third Olympics in Tokyo, but suffered a heartbreaking 2-2 loss in the first round.

If successful, he will become the fifth wrestler in Japan history to capture 11 national crowns and the third to do it in consecutive years. Two-time Olympic bronze medalist Kyoko HAMAGUCHI holds the record with 16 titles won between 1996 and 2013. His main competition is likely to come from the 2020 Asian silver medalist Takuma OTSU.

Japan's lone freestyle medalist in Oslo, Toshihiro HASEGAWA, who won a silver at 61kg, has dropped down to 57kg in his quest for a first national title. Also entered is Toshiya ABE, who finished seventh in that weight class in Oslo.

Moving the opposite direction is Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI. After an unsuccessful bid to make Japan's Olympic team at 57kg -- he lost in a playoff to Yuki TAKAHASHI -- and struggling mightily to make that weight, he has moved back up to 61kg as he seeks a fourth career national title.

Also entered at 61kg is Kazuya KOYANAGI, the 2018 Asian silver medalist who finished seventh that year at the World Championships, and bronze medalists from the past two Asian Championships, Ryuto SAKAKI and Shoya SHIMAE.

In Greco-Roman, Matsui faces a possibly intriguing match-up at 55kg. When he won the gold in Oslo, Matsui was 20 years 8 months, making him Japan's youngest-ever world Greco champion. Five months earlier, Yu SHIOTANI made history by becoming, at age 19 years 5 months, the nation's youngest-ever Asian champion in that style. Both are aiming for a first national title.

Another weight to watch is 72kg, where four-time champion Shogo TAKAHASHI could end up facing his high school coach in defense of his title. Takahashi competed almost exclusively at 67kg in his career, but the 2019 Asian bronze medalist moved up to 72kg last year as beefed-up preparation for the Olympic qualifying tournament.

The 27-year-old Takahashi missed out on Tokyo, and this year decided to enter at 72kg again. That could set up a match with Tomohiro INOUE, his coach at Ikuei High School in Hyogo Prefecture. Inoue, 34, won the last of his four national titles in 2018. He was a 2016 Olympian and was a member of his third world team in Oslo.

The two met in the 66kg final in 2015, with Inoue winning by technical fall. After that, they went their separate ways and into different weight classes, and have not clashed since. On the final day Sunday, they may have to contend with Asian bronze medalist Taishi HORIE and newly crowned collegiate champion Eito NISHIDA, a freshman at Senshu University.

Schedule
Day 1 (December 16)
FS - 70kg, 97kg, 125kg; GR - 77kg, 82kg, 87kg; WW - 59kg, 76kg

Day 2 (December 17)
FS - 65kg, 79kg; GR - 60kg, 67kg, 130kg,; WW - 55kg, 65kg, 72kg

Day 3 (December 18)
FS - 61kg, 74kg, 86kg; GR - 63kg, 97kg; WW - 57kg, 62kg, 68kg

Day 4 (December 19)
FS - 57kg, 92kg; GR - 55kg, 72kg; WW - 50kg, 53kg

The competition starts each day at 10 a.m. Each weight class starts and finishes on the same day. Entries are limited to 12 per weight class, with no repechage and only one bronze-medal match.

Emperor's Cup

Tanabe joins Olympic medalist dad as national champion

Thursday, December 21, 2023 - 17:16 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (December 21)--Almost 27 years to the day after his father won his first national championship in the same arena, Kaisei TANABE made his first trip to the top of the podium. Next up will be trying to equal, or better, that Olympic medal.

Tanabe scored a pair of second-period takedowns to defeat Nippon Sport Science University teammate Yuto NISHIUCHI 6-2 in the final of freestyle 61kg on the opening day of the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships on Thursday in Tokyo.

With the victory, Tanabe and his father and coach Chikara, a bronze medalist at 55kg at the 2004 Athens Olympics, became the sixth father-son tandem of national champions in the tournament's 90-year history .

"My father has a bronze medal from the Athens Olympics, I want to do better than that," the 21-year-old Tanabe said.

Naturally, it was a proud moment for dad, too. "I'm more happy than if I won," Chikara said. "When I was also in my third year of college, I won my first All-Japan title. My son now won in his third year of college, so he has caught up to me. Next it will be great if he can get an Olympic medal."

While Kaisei will have to wait for the 2028 Los Angeles Games at the earliest to realize his Olympic dream, for others the tournament is also a qualifier for the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in April in Bishkek in weight classes in which Japan has not already secured a berth at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In the non-Olympic weights, a title earns a ticket to the Asian Championships to be held a week earlier in the Kyrgyzstan capital. As in recent years, the competition in non-Olympic weights is being completed in a single day, while the Olympic divisions are over two days.

JPN1 Kaisei TANABE scores a late takedown in the freestyle 61kg final against Yuto NISHIUCHI. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / Japan Wrestling Federation)

In the 61kg final at Yoyogi Gym No. 2, Tanabe sandwiched a pair of stepouts around a takedown by Nishiuchi to trail 2-2 on criteria going into the second period. But he gained a go-behind takedown to go ahead, then added another in the final seconds to secure the title in his third appearance.

"In the final the opponent was strong, so I wasn't so concerned with how I did it, I just wanted to win," Tanabe said. "But I want to fix those points for my next competition. We practice every day so we both know each other well. I think the difference between us is I have more power, and I wanted to take advantage of that."

Although two years Tanabe's junior, Nishiuchi has already had more international success. This year he dropped down to 57kg and won his second straight world U20 gold and finished second at the Zagreb Open. Tanabe was a world cadet (U17) bronze medalist in 2017, but did little else until this year, when he took third at the Dan Kolov-Nikolai Petrov Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, which included a win over Olympic bronze medalist and former world champion Thomas GILMAN (USA).

"In the lighter weights, Japan has many strong wrestlers and there are good ones overseas as well," Tanabe said. "I want to get to their level and, if possible, pass them."

Japan has already qualified for the Paris Olympics in freestyle at 57kg, which meant Tanabe could have made a challenge for the open spot at 65kg, where Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO is favored. That's what his main college rival Masanosuke ONO of Yamanashi Gakuin University opted to do, but Tanabe thought the timing was wrong.

"Up to now I've never really done anything at the All-Japan, and I was determined to win a championship so I entered at 61kg," he said.

To get to an Olympics, he knows he will eventually either have to go up or down a weight class. Asked which way he was leaning, "I'm not very good at controlling my weight, so I want to bulk up and become a competitive wrestler at 65kg," he said, adding he has not decided when he will make such a move.

The Tokyo-born Tanabe started wrestling at age 4, and he described his father as "a nice father and a tough coach." Growing up, Tanabe did not gain inspiration from Chikara's Olympic medal--in fact, he never really saw it. "He didn't win [the gold], so the medal was never on display," he said.

Tanabe's older sister, Yumeka, is also an accomplished wrestler who was a two-time world cadet champion. But four third-place finishes at the All-Japan kept the home from having a father-daughter pairing of national champions, like that of the great Saori YOSHIDA and her late father Eikatsu.

Chikara, who won the last of his five national titles in 2003, sees potential in Kaisei. "I wrestle with him and I can feel his power," he said. "From here, he'll keep improving going toward the Olympics. I want him to set a high goal."

JPN3 Shingo HARADA flips over Tomohiro INOUE to finish up a title-winning victory at Greco 72kg. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / Japan Wrestling Federation)

Harada follows up strong showing in Belgrade

In other finals, Shogo HARADA followed up his eye-catching performance at the World Championships with a title at Greco 72kg in his All-Japan debut, thumping veteran Tomohiro INOUE 9-0 in the final.

After scoring a takedown and 2-point tilt to go ahead 4-0, Harada slammed down Inoue to finish off the match with six seconds left in the first period.

The 23-year-old Harada, who switched from judo to wrestling in high school, made his international debut at last year's worlds in Belgrade and turned heads by placing fifth. While still an amazing feat, it left him rueing that he could have done more.

"At the World Championships, I didn't put out all of my power and I lost in the semifinals," Harada said. "I took that back home and reflected on what happened. I found I was too impatient. I think I've improved on that little by little."

At the moment, Harada says he is not yet at the level of domestic competition in the Olympic weight classes both above and below him. "I won this title, but deep down, I'm not yet at the top level in Japan looking at the weight classes around me." he said.

The 36-year-old Inoue said the loss likely marks the end of a career that featured five national titles dating back to 2012, with the most recent in 2021. It also included a silver medal at this year's World Veterans Championships.

While the loss was one-sided, it only makes a difficult decision a little easier. "If it was a closer match, it might have been tougher to take," he said.

JPN5 Ayano MORO gets behind in the women's 72kg final against Sumire NIIKURA. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / Japan Wrestling Federation)

In a battle of a pair of 2022 women's champions, teenager Ayano MORO dropped down to 72kg and dethroned two-time reigning titlist Sumire NIIKURA 6-0.

The 18-year-old Moro twice gained 2-point exposures on counters to add to the title she won at 76kg last year. "I wasn't able to get in on my tackle, which is my strong point, so honestly speaking I'm not so happy," she said.

Moro's chances of making the Paris Olympics ended when the 2020 world U20 champion lost a world team playoff to Yuka KAGAMI, who then clinched her ticket to Paris by winning the gold at the World Championships.

"In December last year at the Emperor's Cup, I entered at 76kg with the goal of the Olympics," she said. "At that time I won the title which was good, but I hurt my shoulder. But I had won, so I had no choice but to keep aiming for the Olympics, although I later lost.

"Now the Olympics is no longer an objective. I had a lot of time to think. Looking at my height and other things, I thought it would be best to drop down, which would allow me to do my tackles. I thought I would give going down a weight class a try."

Moro said that neck problems followed her shoulder injury, keeping her from being in top condition for the tournament. She said she will work to get ready for her senior Asian debut.

"The wrestlers from other countries are strong and I've been to enough international tournaments to know I can't take it lightly," Moro said. "My first priority will be getting healthy. You can't win if you don't practice, but first I need to get my body back in shape."

In the other final, Kagetora OKAMOTO became a first-time champion by beating Kohei YAMAGIWA 6-4 at Greco 55kg. Okamoto made the final by knocking off 2022 world U20 bronze medalist and 2023 world team member Taiga ONISHI.

JPN4 Takahiro TSURUTA works to turn Yuta NARA in the Greco 97kg semifinals. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / Japan Wrestling Federation)

The three upper Olympic weights in Greco got the process started to see who will be going to the Asian Olympic qualifier, with the lone surprise coming at 97kg when Takahiro TSURUTA knocked off six-time champion Yuta NARA 3-1 in the semifinals.

"Since I moved up to this weight class, I've been in three tournaments with him, but we never faced each other," Tsuruta said. "Even if I win the title, if I didn't face him I would have felt like something was missing."

Tsuruta, an Asian Games bronze medalist this year, will take on world U23 bronze medalist Yuri NAKAZATO on Friday for the gold and a chance to make the Olympics.

Tsuruta and Nakazato are familiar with each other. When Tsuruta moved up from 87kg in 2021, he promptly won his first and only title with a victory in the final over Nakazato, who knocked off Nara in the semifinals. Nakazato avenged the loss in the final at the Meiji Cup in June 2022, only to see Tsuruta come back and beat him in a playoff for the world team that year.

Meanwhile, world U23 champion Yuzuku INAGAKI, who lost out to Paris-bound Sakura MOTOKI for a place on the Japan team to the World Championships at women's 62kg, will have to get by another Motoki to add to the lone title she won in 2018.

Inagaki overwhelmed Suzu SASAKI by 10-0 technical fall to set up a clash in the final with Motoki's younger sister Hiyori, who is still looking for her first career title at any level. The two met in the first round at the national collegiate championships in August, with Inagaki scoring a first-period fall en route to a third straight title.

It could be said that the de facto final came in the quarterfinals, when Inagaki was trailing on criteria when she scored two late takedowns to defeat 2020 Asian champion Naomi RUIKE 6-2.

Day 1 Results

Freestyle

61kg
GOLD--Kaisei TANABE df. Yuto NISHIUCHI, 6-2

BRONZE--Kodai OGAWA df. Takumi YOSHIMURA, 3-0
BRONZE--Kosei IDE df. Takara SUDA, 6-5

Semifinal--Yuto NISHIUCHI df. Kodai OGAWA, 6-1
Semifinal--Kaisei TANABE df. Takara SUDA by TF, 11-1. 5:24

74kg
Semifinal--Kojiro SHIGA df. Daiju SUZUKI, 14-6
Semifinal--Kota TAKAHASHI df. Shoto KANEKO by TF, 10-0, 2:56

125kg
Semifinal--Taiki YAMAMOTO df. Ryusei FUJITA by TF, 10-0, :46
Semifinal--Koki YAMAMOTO df. Yuji FUKUI, 5-0

Greco-Roman

55kg
GOLD--Kagetora OKAMOTO df. Kohei YAMAGIWA,. 6-4

BRONZE--Taiga ONISHI df. Kenta OGUSU, 9-4
BRONZE--Soken MASUDA df. Seima TOKUHARA, 7-3

Semifinal--Kagetora OKAMOTO df. Taiga ONISHI, 5-2
Semifinal--Kohei YAMAGIWA df. Soken MASUDA, 11-9

72kg
GOLD--Shingo HARADA df. Tomohiro INOUE by TF, 9-0, 1:54

BRONZE--Daigo KOBAYASHI df. Sanshiro ISHIHARA by Fall, 2:34 (5-0)
BRONZE--Akira MITAMI df. Ryoma TOYOTA, 3-2

Semifinal--Shingo HARADA df. Sanshiro ISHIHARA by TF, 11-0, 2:45
Semifinal--Tomohiro INOUE df. Akira MITAMI, 5-3

87kg
Semifinal--So SAKUBE df. Minto MAEDA, 3-1
Semifinal--Masato SUMI df. Tatsuya FUJII, 5-1

97kg
Semifinal--Takahiro TSURUTA df. Yuta NARA, 3-1
Semifinal--Yuri NAKAZATO df. Masayuki AMANO by TF, 11-0, 1:34

130kg
Semifinal--Sota OKAMURA df. Kyo KITAWAKI by TF, 9-0, 1:55
Semifinal--Shion OBATA df. Yuma MIYAUCHI, 7-1

Women's Wrestling

53kg
Semifinal--Rino KATAOKA df. Mako ONO, 1-1
Semifinal--Mihoko TAKEUCHI df. Chiaki KAWAI, 6-4

62kg
Semifinal--Yuzuka INAGAKI df. Suzu SASAKI by TF, 10-0, 1:57
Semifinal--Hiyori MOTOKI df. Kiwa IWASAWA by Fall, 1:37 (4-0)

72kg
GOLD--Ayano MORO df. Sumire NIIKURA, 6-0

BRONZE--Chisato YOSHIDA df. Kokona TAKADA by Fall, 6:00 (9-2)
BRONZE--Yuka FUJIKURA df. Asahi NAKAMURA, 6-2

Semifinal--Sumire NIIKURA df. Kokona TAKADA by TF, 11-0, 5:57
Semifinal--Ayano MORO df. Yuka FUJIKURA by Fall, 2:37 (8-0)

All-Japan Championships: World Champ Fujinami Aims for 2nd National Title as Olympic Medalists Sit Out

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Tanabe joins Olympic medalist dad as national champion