High schooler Yoshida completes historic Japan national title double

Thursday, December 19, 2024 - 15:00 By Ken Marantz

Taizo YOSHIDA, left, battles Yuya OKAJIMA in the Greco 82kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

TOKYO (December 19) -- As the wrestling world still buzzes about those four gold medals won by Japanese men at the Paris Olympics, a rising star is emerging who looks capable of showing that there will more of that ahead.

Teenager Taizo YOSHIDA, already a senior Asian champion, became just the fourth high schooler in history to win a men's title at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships when he triumphed at Greco 82kg on Thursday in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Ami ISHII and Miwa MORIKAWA, who both medaled at the Non-Olympic Weight Category World Championships after failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics, regained the women's 68kg and 65kg titles, respectively.

The 18-year-old Yoshida recorded three straight technical falls before defeating veteran Yuya OKAJIMA 5-0 in the final on the opening day of the four-day tournament at Tokyo's Yoyogi No. 2 Gym that is serving as the first of two domestic qualifiers for next year's World Championships.

The other world qualifier is the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships, which will be held in June next year. Having won that tournament this year, Yoshida's victory on Thursday made him the only male high schooler to achieve the Emperor's-Meiji double.

"To win both the Meiji Cup and Emperor's Cup as a high schooler is quite a feat, and I achieved it," said Yoshida, who lost a close match in the final at last year's Emperor's Cup. "To be able to say I was the first makes me really happy."

Yoshida made his first mark on the global stage by winning the world U17 gold at 80kg in 2023. That was just a prelude for what was to come in 2024, as he won the gold at the Asian Championships, then took a bronze at the world U20 and finished fifth at the senior worlds.

He said that working on his par terre wrestling has made a difference. "Up to the Meiji Cup, I was at a level where I couldn't get a roll even once. But I worked on improving my ground wrestling, and I think this was the payoff."

Yoshida is from the same rural high school in western Japan that produced Paris Olympic champion Nao KUSAKA, and he will follow in Kusaka's footsteps and enroll at powerhouse Nippon Sports Science University (known informally as Nittaidai) in the spring as he begins his quest for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"Takamatsu Kita High School is really out in the country, and we had few members on the [wrestling] team and not a good practice environment," Yoshida said. "But out of that an Olympic champion emerged, and that makes me believe that it is possible for me.

"I will be in my senior year of college at the time of the Los Angeles Olympics. The training situation will be at a much higher level at Nittaidai, and as a culmination of my four years, I want to win an Olympic title along with Nao."

While victory laps are not standard procedure at the Emperor's Cup, Yoshida made an exception by taking one that was more a tribute to Kusaka -- instead of a Japanese flag, he ran a quick lap with one of the towels that Kusaka's supporters brandished in Paris.

"It wasn't very exciting, but it made him happy. Maybe he'll buy me something," Yoshida joked.

JPN1 Ami ISHII scores a takedown on Mahiro YOSHITAKE in the women's 68kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Ishii captures 7th straight major tournament title

Ishii, coming off winning her first world title with a victory at 72kg in Tirana -- which she preceded the week before by capturing the world U23 gold at 68kg -- easily plowed through a thin field to regain the 68kg Emperor's Cup crown that she won in 2023.

Ishii, who still feels the sting of a crushing, last-second loss to Nonoka OZAKI in a playoff for the Paris Olympic 68kg berth, won both of her round-robin group matches 10-0, then repeated that score in routing Asian 65kg champion Mahiro YOSHITAKE in the final.

"I lost in the qualifying for Paris, and I have set a goal of going to the Los Angeles Olympics and winning the gold," Ishii said. "My main objective is getting to Los Angeles and it started by winning today at the Emperor's Cup by focusing on each and every match."

The pain of missing out on Paris was so sharp that Ishii revealed that she did not even watch the wrestling competition, with the exception of her Ikuei University teammates Tsugumi SAKURAI and Sakura MOTOKI, who both went on to win gold medals.

"Half of me didn't want to, but I had worked so hard with Sakura and Tsugumi to make us all better, so of course I had to support them. But I didn't watch anyone else," she said, adding that she did watch other Olympic sports.

Since the playoff in January, Ishii has been among the busiest of Japan's top wrestlers. While the Olympic medalists have been barely seen outside of television appearances and hometown events -- only Ozaki is entered in this year's Emperor's Cup -- Ishii entered seven high-level tournaments, as well as a few small regional events, and won them all.

"There was no pressure that if I lost, I wouldn't qualify for something else. I was really happy to take part. And it was half-joking, half-serious, but after my first win after the playoff, I would say I was on my way to beating Akari FUJINAMI's winning streak, which was 127 at the time. Right now I am at 27 in a row."

JPN2 Miwa MORIKAWA, right, holds off Momoko KITADE in the women's 65kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Morikawa, the 2022 world champion at 65kg, had also tried to make the Olympic team at 68kg, a quest that ended with a loss in last year's Emperor's Cup final to Ozaki. She then won a playoff to get to the non-Olympic worlds at 65kg, where she took a bronze home from Tirana.

On Thursday, Morikawa was not overly dominating. In the final, she scored four stepouts -- one with a fleeing point tacked on -- in a 5-0 victory over Momoko KITADE.

"I had aimed for winning by technical superiority, but this whole tournament, nothing went right for me," Morikawa said. "But I think I have some clear issues to work on in the future."

Morikawa has twice been foiled in a bid to make it to the Olympics, and is determined to not have to endure a third time. The domestic qualifying for Los Angeles will start with the 2026 Emperor's Cup, so for now, she will stay at 65kg and work on sharpening her game and rebuilding confidence.

"To be honest, there are strong wrestlers in every weight class. I want to dominate this weight class and, with the qualifying for Los Angeles starting [in two years], I am only thinking about improving."

jpg Yoshinosuke AOYAGI works to turn Toki OGAWA in the freestyle 70kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Aoyagi cruises to 3rd straight freestyle 70kg crown

Another medalist from the non-Olympic worlds who made it to the top of the podium was Yoshinosuke AOYAGI, who won a third straight crown at 70kg by defeating Toki OGAWA by 10-0 technical fall in the final.

For Aoyagi, it capped a productive year in which he won a silver medal at the Asian Championships, won the title at the Meiji Cup, finished third at the world U23 (a year after placing second), then took a silver at the non-Olympic worlds in Tirana.

"I feel like I won because the flow of my matches went really well," Aoyagi said.

Acknowledging that his overseas success this year has boosted his confidence, he added that he feels pressure from within the training group at Yamanashi Gakuin University, from which he graduated last spring. That includes Kaito MORITA, who he faced and defeated 5-0 in the semifinals.

"There are guys coming up from within my own team that are steadily turning up the heat," Aoyagi said. "The semifinal was tough; to be honest, it scared me. In the final, you never know what will happen."

At freestyle 65kg, Kaisei TANABE, whose father Chikara was a bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, defeated world U23 silver medalist Kaiji OGINO 2-0 in the final to add that title to the one he won last year at 61kg.

In the semifinals, Tanabe scored a 7-2 victory over two-time world U20 champion Yuto NISHIUCHI, who had beaten him at the collegiate championships in August.

The 61kg title went to Takara SUDA in the absence of world champion and Yamanashi Gakuin teammate Masanosuke ONO, who is still recovering from a broken foot suffered en route to winning the gold in Tirana.

Day 1 Results

Freestyle

61kg (16 entries)
GOLD -- Takara SUDA df. Hiroyuki ISHIHARA, 5-2
BRONZE -- Akito MUKAIDA df. Toshihiro HASEGAWA, 6-3
BRONZE -- Takeru OIKAWA df. Haruto OURA, 4-0

65kg (17 entries)
GOLD -- Kaisei TANABE df. Kaiji OGINO, 2-0
BRONZE -- Yuto NISHIUCHI df. Reiji UCHIDA by TF, 10-0, 3:15
BRONZE -- Ryuto SAKAKI df. Yuta MIYAZAKI, 7-0

70kg (20 entries)
GOLD -- Yoshinosuke AOYAGI df. Toki OGAWA by TF, 10-0, 1:14
BRONZE -- Kanata YAMAGUCHI df. Kaito MORITA by TF, 11-0, 2:21
BRONZE -- Yuma TOMIYAMA df. Yuto MIWA, 9-6

Greco-Roman

82kg (17 entries)
GOLD -- Taizo YOSHIDA df. Yuya OKAJIMA, 5-0
BRONZE -- Konosuke TANIZAKI df. Yuto SAWADA by TF, 8-0, 1:35
BRONZE -- Reon KAKEGAWA df. Yudai KOBORI by TF, 9-0, 1:46

87kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- So SAKABE df. Daisei ISOE by TF, 8-0, 1:27
BRONZE -- Isshin ONITSUKA df. Kou FUKUSHIMA by TF, 9-1, 4:13
BRONZE -- Akira YOSHIZAWA df. Sora SATO by TF, 8-0, 3:50

97kg (12 entries)
GOLD -- Yuri NAKAZATO df. Takahiro TSURUTA, 2-1
BRONZE -- Kanta SHIOKAWA df. Hikaru ISOTANI by TF, 9-0, 1:11
BRONZE -- Riku NAKAHARA df. Sorato KANAZAWA, 11-5

Women's Wrestling

65kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- Miwa MORIKAWA df. Momoko KITADE, 5-0
BRONZE -- Nana IKEHATA df. Miyu YOSHIKAWA, 4-4
BRONZE -- Rin TERAMOTO df. Horu SATO by TF, 11-0, 4:41

68kg (6 entries)
GOLD -- Ami ISHII df. Mahiro YOSHITAKE by TF, 10-0, 2:24
BRONZE -- Seia MOCHINAGA df. Kaede MATSUYAMA, 3-1

#JapanWrestling

Tanabe moves halfway to historic double victory with Greco 63kg gold

Thursday, December 18, 2025 - 14:47 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (December 18) -- Kaisei TANABE didn't have to deal with one Olympic champion in moving halfway to his goal of achieving a historic double of national titles in both Greco-Roman and Freestyle. He likely won't be able to avoid another to complete the mission.

Tanabe powered his way to his first national crown in Greco with a victory at 63kg at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships on Thursday, the opening day of the four-day tournament at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

"While I feel relieved, I have my 'real job' of freestyle 65kg the day after tomorrow, so I have to get my mind ready and do the best I can," said Tanabe, the defending champion at freestyle 65kg who will face a potential major hurdle this year in Paris Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA.

In other action, another potential future star with Iranian roots emerged on the scene after Waseda University's Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI captured the freestyle 79kg gold, while a clash of reigning world champions between Ami ISHII and Miwa MORIKAWA was set up for the women's 68kg title.

The Emperor's Cup is also serving as the domestic qualifier for next year's Asian Championships, and the first of two qualifiers for the World Championships and Asian Games.

Olympic weight classes are being contested over two days, while non-Olympic divisions are completed in a single day.

Kaisei TANABE, left, works to get behind Ryota KOSHIBA in the Greco 63kg final. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Tanabe acknowledged that he dodged a bullet when Paris 60kg gold medalist Kenichiro FUMITA withdrew on the eve of the tournament due to injury. Fumita was entered at 63kg in what would have been his first competition since his triumph in Paris.

As both are Nippon Sports Science University alumni and still train at the campus, Tanabe said he has spent some time sparring with Fumita.

"Part of me wanted to face him [today]. But in practice, I've never scored a point," he admitted. "It was a crummy feeling. But if we faced each other in an actual match, I would never give up and try my best to win. Without him here, this became my tournament and I felt I had to take the title."

On Thursday, Tanabe showed he was clearly the best of the rest, sailing through the field with three straight technical falls. He capped his day with 4-point throw that finished off an 8-0 victory in the final in just under two minutes over Ryota KOSHIBA, another NSSU alum who happens to also dabble in freestyle.

Tanabe, whose father Chikara TANABE was a freestyle 55kg bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics and is a current NSSU coach, said he likes to integrate techniques from the two styles into each other.

"To put it as simply as I can, Greco is mostly about throws and often has big 4-point moves, while freestyle is mainly precise techniques," Tanabe said. "Amid that, I want to add the fine, small moves to Greco and, amid the small moves in freestyle, aim for the big move that gives me a point spread."

Kaisei TANABE finishes up his victory over Ryota KOSHIBA with a four-point throw in the Greco 63kg final. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

This fall, Tanabe was among a number of Japanese wrestlers who participated in the German Bundesliga, where he said he sometimes worked on Greco with his teammates. And at times for fun, the Greco wrestlers and him would do freestyle.

Tanabe won his first national title at freestyle 61kg in 2024, then moved up to 65kg last year and won the gold in the absence of Kiyooka, who like other Olympic medalists was on an extended post-Olympics hiatus. He just missed out on the two-style double that year when he lost in the Greco 67kg final to Katsuaki ENDO.

Tanabe won the freestyle 65kg gold at the Asian Championships in March, then finally clashed with Kiyooka -- also an NSSU alum -- two months later at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships, which is the second of the two domestic qualifiers for major international tournaments.

Tanabe held his own in a close 4-3 loss in the final, but Kiyooka dominated a playoff for the team to the World Championships with a one-sided 13-2 victory. Kiyooka went on to take the silver medal in Zagreb.

Should Tanabe manage to capture the gold on Sunday, it would make him the first wrestler to complete the Greco-freestyle double at the same tournament since Mitsuo YOSHIDA did it back in 1973 with victories in the 100kg weight classes.

As it is, Tanabe's victory on Thursday made him the first to achieve a career double since Atsushi MATSUMOTO switched to Greco and won at 85kg in 2016 after winning the first three of four national freestyle titles at 84/86kg between 2011 and 2014. He returned to freestyle and won again at 92kg in 2018.

Ironically, another wrestler could beat Tanabe to the punch. Taishi NARIKUNI, the 2022 world champion at freestyle 70kg, is entered in that weight class as well as Greco 72kg. Both divisions will be completed before Sunday, when the freestyle 65kg final will be held.

Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI, right, spins behind Kanata YAMAGUCHI in the freestyle 79kg final. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

At freestyle 79kg, Gharehdaghi used effective counters to score an 8-0 victory in the final over Kanata YAMAGUCHI, a world U20 bronze medalist at 74kg who had beaten him in two previous encounters.

That followed up on Gharehdaghi's victory at the Meiji Cup in May, which was tempered by a loss in the world team playoff to last year's Emperor's Cup champion Ryonosuke KAMIYA, who has moved up to 86kg.

"Losing the playoff was devastating, and I was determined to work hard so that I wouldn't lose again," said the 19-year-old Gharehdaghi, a product of the JOC Elite Academy.

Gharehdaghi was born and raised in Japan to an Iranian father and Japanese mother. Through the influence of his father, who works in the automobile industry, he started wrestling at age 3.

Although he shares a compassion for the sport with his ancestral homeland, he has only been there on visits and cannot speak Persian.

His background is similar to that of one of Japan's top rising stars, world 97kg bronze medalist Arash YOSHIDA, one of six siblings in the sport who use their mother's family name. They all started the sport at a kids wrestling club outside of Tokyo run by their father.

"I'm well aware of them," Gharehdaghi said. "I really respect them. Every one of them is strong. Their father was here today and gave me some advice."

In other finals on the opening day, Asian bronze medalist Takashi ISHIGURO went on the offensive in the second period to notch a 6-3 victory at freestyle 92kg over Daisuke MASUDA to defend his crown and claim a fifth career national title.

Kenta OGUSU won the Greco 55kg gold by completing a 9-1 technical fall with one second left over Mizuki ARAKI, who had knocked off Asian champion Kohei YAMAGIWA in the semifinals.

At women's 65kg, 2024 world U20 champion Nana IKEHATA defeated Haruka KOBARA 6-0 for her first national title, while Mahiro YOSHITAKE defeated Chisato YOSHIDA 7-2 for her third national crown and first at 72kg.

World champion Ami ISHII scores a takedown in the women's 68kg semifinal against Kaede MATSUYAMA. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Ishii, Morikawa set up clash; Kagami sharp in return

In Olympic weight classes that were competed through the semifinals, a blockbuster final was set up at women's 68kg when Ishii, the reigning world champion, advanced to a showdown with Morikawa, the winner at 65kg in Zagreb.

Ishii won both of her matches by one-sided technical falls -- giving up a lone takedown in her opening match when she lost her balance.

"I didn't think my matches went very well," Ishii said. "Especially in the first match, I rushed it too much. I want to be the aggressor and have crushing victories."

Morikawa met some stiff resistance in her semifinal with world U20 champion Ray HOSHINO, scoring two first-period takedowns before holding on for a 6-2 victory. Hoshino had knocked off three-time world medalist Masako FURUICHI 8-6 in the quarterfinals.

Ishii and Morikawa have met three times, with Ishii holding a 2-1 advantage. She won their first meeting 5-2 in the 2022 Emperor's Cup final. They clashed again in the semifinals at the 2023 Meiji Cup, with Morikawa winning 8-5. That set up a world team playoff between the two, which Ishii won 2-1.

Olympic champion Yuka KAGAMI, left, competes for the first time since her victory in Paris. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Meanwhile, Olympic 76kg champion Yuka KAGAMI looked sharp in her first competition since her victory in Paris, scoring a technical fall before beating defending champion and Asian bronze medalist Nodoka YAMAMOTO 13-4 to advance to the final.

Kagami, who was limited to an activity point in the first period by Yamamoto, was being pressured at the edge early in the second when she neatly reversed the tide and dumped her opponent for a 4-point takedown.

Kagami padded the lead and, despite giving up a takedown and roll, she was never in danger. In Friday's final, she will face veteran Yasuha MATSUYUKI.

At Greco 87kg, rising teen star Taizo YOSHIDA, a world senior and U20 bronze medalist at 82kg, posted two technical falls, each inside of two minutes, to advance to the final. Two-time defending champion So SAKABE was a late withdrawal.

Day 1 Results

Freestyle

57kg (18 entries)
SF 1: Yamato OGAWA df. Kento YUMIYA, 6-4
SF 2: Fuga SASAKI df. Yamato FURUSAWA, 3-1

79kg (19 entries)
GOLD: Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI df. Kanata YAMAGUCHI, 8-0
BRONZE: Kaiyo IMAI df. Hirotaka ABE, 7-0
BRONZE: Subaru TAKAHARA df. Kojiro SHIGA, 5-2

SF 1: Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI df. Hirotaka ABE by TF, 10-0, 2:06
SF 2: Kanata YAMAGUCHI df. Subaru TAKAHARA by TF, 12-2, 3:45

92kg (25 entries)
GOLD: Takashi ISHIGURO df. Daisuke MASUDA, 6-3
BRONZE: Satoshi MIURA df. Sorato KANAZAWA,6-2
BRONZE: Ryogo ASANO df. Takato UCHIDA by Inj. Def.

SF 1: Takashi ISHIGURO df. Sorato KANAZAWA, 7-5
SF 2: Daisuke MASUDA df. Takato UCHIDA, 4-1

125kg (10 entries)
SF 1: Taiki YAMAMOTO df. Akinari ORIYAMA by TF, 10-0, :50
SF 2: Taira SONODA df. Hibiki ITO, 3-2

Greco-Roman

55kg (17 entries)
GOLD: Kenta OGUSU df. Mizuki ARAKI by TF, 9-1, 5:59
BRONZE: Kohei YAMAGIWA df. Daisuke MORISHITA, 5-0
BRONZE: Sanshiro TAKAHASHI vs Taketo NINOMIYA by TF, 9-0, 2:00

SF 1: Mizuki ARAKI df. Kohei YAMAGIWA, 6-5
SF 2: Kenta OGUSU df. Sanshiro TAKAHASHI by TF, 9-1, 4:04

63kg (19 entries)
GOLD: Kaisei TANABE df. Ryota KOSHIBA by TF, 8-0, 1:54
BRONZE: Kazuki YABE df. Shoya ITO, 7-0
BRONZE: Toya MINAMI df. Miruto TOKUHIGA, 7-5

SF 1: Kaisei TANABE df. Kazuki YABE by TF, 8-0, 1:12
SF 2: Ryota KOSHIBA df. Miruto TOKUHIGA by TF, 9-0, 3:56

87kg (9 entries)
SF 1: Taizo YOSHIDA df. Genki YAHAGI by TF, 9-0, 1:59
SF 2: Daisei ISOE df. Chihiro MOTOHASHI, 10-5

97kg (16 entries)
SF 1: Yuri NAKAZATO df. Koki MATSUMOTO by TF, 9-0, 4:12
SF 2: Takahiro TSURUTA df. Kanta SHIOKAWA, 5-0

Women's Wrestling

65kg (9 entries)
GOLD: Nana IKEHATA df. Haruka KOBARA, 6-0
BRONZE: Suzu SASAKI df. Chika AKASHI by TF, 14-4, 2:59
BRONZE: Nanoha YASHIMA df. Rin MIYAJI, by Inj. Def.

SF 1: Nana IKEHATA df. Suzu SASAKI, 10-2
SF 2: Haruka KOBARA df. Nanoha YASHIMA, 6-4

68kg (8 entries)
SF 1: Ami ISHII df. Kaede MATSUYAMA by TF, 10-0, 3:41
SF 2: Miwa MORIKAWA df. Ray HOSHINO, 6-2

72kg (9 entries)
GOLD: Mahiro YOSHITAKE df. Chisato YOSHIDA, 7-2
BRONZE: Ai SAKAI df. Miyu TAKAYAMA, 5-5
BRONZE: Yuka FUJIKURA df. Asahi NAKAMURA, 8-0

SF 1: Chisato YOSHIDA df. Miyu TAKAYAMA by TF, 10-0, 4:56
SF 2: Mahiro YOSHITAKE df. Yuka FUJIKURA, 4-0

76kg (8 entries)
SF 1: Yuka KAGAMI df. Nodoka YAMAMOTO, 13-4
SF 2: Yasuha MATSUYUKI df. Makoto KOMADA, 7-0

High schooler Yoshida completes historic Japan national title double

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Tanabe moves halfway to historic double victory with Greco 63kg gold