All Japan Championships

Rio Silver Medalists Ota, Higuchi Take Drastic Measures in Quest to Make Tokyo 2020

Monday, December 2, 2019 - 13:13 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (Dec. 2) --- A pair of Japanese silver medalists from the Rio 2016 Olympics, denied during their preferred routes to Tokyo 2020, will be trying desperate measures in last-ditch efforts to make Games in their host country---which presents a weighty problem for both.

Shinobu OTA, the Rio 2016 silver medalist at Greco-Roman 60kg, has moved up to two divisions to 67kg for the upcoming All Japan Championships, which will serve as the final qualifier for either filling an Olympic berth that Japan has already secured, or earning the chance to win a spot at the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in March.

Conversely, Rei HIGUCHI, who failed to gain an Olympic ticket at freestyle 65kg, has gone the other way, dropping two weight classes down to 57kg, the division in which he won the silver in Rio, according to the list of entries recently released by the Japan federation for the tournament to be held Dec. 19-22 in Tokyo.

At the World Championships in Nur-Sultan in September, Japan clinched eight Olympic berths in the 18 weight classes --- two in freestyle, one in Greco-Roman and five in women's wrestling. As incentive, the Japan federation decreed that any wrestler who won a medal in the Kazakh capital would automatically fill the Olympic spot themselves.

That resulted in five wrestlers clinching Olympic spots: Mayu MUKAIDA (53kg), Risako KAWAI (57kg), Yukako KAWAI (62kg) and Hiroe MINAGAWA (76kg) among the women, and Kenichiro FUMITA (60kg) in Greco-Roman. None of the five are entered in the All Japan tournament.

When Fumita won the gold to regain the world title he had won in 2017, it also closed the door on Ota in that weight class. Having been beaten by Fumita for the 60kg place on the team to Nur-Sultan, Ota moved up to 63kg --- and won his first world title. But that being a non-Olympic weight class, he knew he had to take drastic measures to get to Tokyo 2020.

Shinobu OTA, the reigning 63kg world champion, will be moving up to 67kg with hopes of improving his silver medal from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

So he has moved up further to 67kg, where he will challenge defending national champion Shogo TAKAHASHI. Takahashi was eliminated in the third round in Nur-Sultan, leaving Japan without an Olympic spot at this point.  Others who Ota might have to deal with are Katsuaki ENDO, the 2018 world U-23 champion at 63kg, and Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA, a former world team member who was second to Takahashi last year.

Ota, who won two international tournaments in Hungary and Belarus this year at 63kg, had planned to get a test run at 67kg at the World Cup in Iran, but the tournament was postponed due to unrest in that country.

After winning a silver in Rio, Higuchi moved up to 61kg, where he won the 2016 All Japan title and a bronze medal at the Asian Championships. But with eyes on Tokyo 2020, in late 2017 he made the jump up to 65kg, but, at just 1.62 meters, found the size difference difficult to overcome.

Still, he won the world U-23 gold in 2018, then pulled off a surprising victory over world champion Takuto OTOGURO at the All Japan Invitational Championships, the second of the two qualifiers for the world team. That set up a playoff between the two, but Otoguro, having recovered from a recent knee injury, totally dominated the encounter.

Assuming he can successfully get down to 57kg, Higuchi will challenge former world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI, who has had a domestic stranglehold on the lightest division for the past three years. Takahashi kept the door open to the Olympics when he fell in the fourth round in Nur-Sultan. Also in the mix will be a pair of world junior champions, Toshiya ABE and Kaiki YAMAGUCHI, the latter dropping from 61kg.

Otoguro still has some unfinished business himself. He secured the 65kg berth for Japan in Nur-Sultan, but by losing in the bronze-medal match, left himself needing a win at the All Japan (also referred to as the Emperor's Cup) to seal the deal. His biggest concern looks to make sure he is healthy for the competition.

Rio Olympic champion Sara DOSHO will be challenged by U23 world champions Masako FURUICHI and Yuka KAGAMI at 68kg. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Rio Olympic champion Sara DOSHO is in the same boat at Otoguro. Her fifth-place finish at 68kg left her short of the Olympics and raised doubts about whether she had fully recovered from the shoulder surgery she underwent earlier in the year. She will have some tough company in her bid to secure the Tokyo ticket.

World U-23 champion Masako FURUICHI gave Dosho a run for her money in the final at the All Japan Invitational last June, losing 4-3 on a last-second takedown. After that loss, Furuichi moved up to 72kg for the senior World Championships, where she took home a bronze medal.

Another notable entry at 68kg is high schooler Yuka KAGAMI, who this year added world junior and U-23 titles to the two cadet golds she had previously won. While she mostly competed at 72kg, the weight in which she won the junior title, she also moved up to 76kg to challenge Minagawa for the world team spot, but was unsuccessful (her U-23 title came in that division). Dropping to 68kg will mark her first competition under 72kg since she won the Klippan Lady cadet at 65kg in February 2018.

The Olympic spot at freestyle 74kg that was secured by Mao OKUI's fifth-place in Nur-Sultan will also be up for grabs, and there is no shortage of scavengers looking to come away with the spoils.  Yuhi FUJINAMI, a 2017 world bronze medalist at 70kg who was not at 100 percent when he lost a world team playoff to Okui, will be looking for revenge, and will be joined in the hunt by world junior silver medalist Jintaro MOTOYAMA and Asian silver medalist Kojiro SHIGA, who placed seventh at 70kg in Nur-Sultan.

Kaori ICHO did not enter the All Japan Championships, which ends her quest for a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

End of the road for Icho
Meanwhile, living legend Kaori ICHO officially ended her quest for an unprecedented fifth straight Olympic gold when she decided not to enter the tournament.

Icho had lost out for the women's 57kg spot to fellow Rio Olympic champion Risako Kawai, who punched her ticket to Tokyo 2020 with a gold in Nur-Sultan. When Mukaida and Yukako Kawai also secured their spots at the weight classes immediately above and below, the only avenues left were at 50kg and 68kg --- and Icho didn't see much hope in either choice.

It was at women's 50kg that Japan suffered one of its bigger shocks in Nur-Sultan, as Yuki IRIE suffered a heartbreaking 13-12 quarterfinal loss to SUN Yanan (CHN) and failed to clinch an Olympic berth.

That opened the door for two-time world champion Yui SUSAKI, who had lost a world team playoff to Irie. Those two will be joined at the Emperor's Cup by Rio 2016 champion Eri TOSAKA in the latest round of the trio's battle royale.

There was speculation that former world champion Haruna OKUNO, who lost out to Mukaida for the 53kg spot, might drop down to 50kg in a bid to keep her Olympic dream alive. But that ended when she was entered at 53kg.

That could result in an intriguing rematch with Nanami IRIE, Yuki's younger sister. When Okuno failed to knock off Mukaida, she entered the world team playoff at 55kg, only to lose to Irie, who went on to win the silver medal in Nur-Sultan.

#JapanWrestling

Olympic Champs Fumita, Higuchi Emerge Unscathed on Return Since Paris 2024

Thursday, May 21, 2026 - 15:09 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (May 21) -- They both were returning to the mat for the first time since winning gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and both moved up a weight class, for now, with the next Olympic qualifiers still far off.

And each was watched and cheered on for the first time by their most precious fan.

Kenichiro FUMITA and Rei HIGUCHI shook off the rust and emerged unscathed on Thursday to advance to their respective finals at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

Fumita, the Paris gold medalist at Greco 60kg, handily won two matches to secure a spot in the 63kg final on Friday, where he will face 2025 world team member Manato NAKAMURA in a bid for his first Meiji Cup title since 2022 and fifth overall.

Higuchi, who struck gold in Paris at freestyle 57kg, needed three wins to set up a showdown in the 61kg final with defending champion and former world bronze medalist Toshihiro HASEGAWA.

Arash YOSHIDA, coming off winning a second straight freestyle 97kg gold at the Asian Championships, also advanced to the finals on the opening day of the four-day Meiji Cup, which is serving as the second of two domestic qualifiers for both this year's World Championships and, in the Olympic weight classes, the Asian Games that will be hosted by Japan.

Winners from the first qualifier, the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships held in December, can clinch a spot with a victory at the Meiji Cup; if the two champions are different, a playoff will be held at the end of the day.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN)Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) hits a four-point throw in his round one bout. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

Fumita, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion, had planned to return to competition at the Emperor's Cup, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.

As for the move up to 63kg, he said, "Looking at the competitions and my own personal objectives, and my current physical ability, I decided to enter at 63kg. I've really on been on edge up to this point leading up to the competition. It's quite a few years since I've had a match at Komazawa. But I feel great, and was able to enjoy myself."

The return from a long layoff can be as testing mentally as it is physically, and Fumita used the experiences of others to guide him through it.

"I thought I would feel more pressure," said Fumita, who advanced to the final with a 7-1 victory over Kensho NATAMI in the semifinals. "After Paris, I watched [fellow gold medalists] Kotaro [KIYOOKA] and Nao [KUSAKA] up close before their [comeback] matches, and both said they were very nervous.

"Having seen that, it gave me an image of what to expect. I stayed calm and, staying aware of what was going on around me, I felt I was able to control the matches."

Helping calm his nerves was the lilty voice of a child clearly heard amid the sparse crowd on the opening day as she yelled, "Papa, ganbatte (fight hard)!" For the first time, the oldest of his two
daughters, now 3, was old enough to see him compete and understand what he was doing.

Fumita related the emotions he went through seeing fellow Nippon Sport Science University alumnus Shota TANOKURA being inspired by his son loudly yelling that set phrase as he ended his career at the Meiji Cup two years ago.

"I was very moved seeing how he responded," Fumita said. "To continue my career and win with my children with me is really a special feeling. Here, I am wholeheartedly determined to perform for them."

Fumita said there are still aspects of his job about which his daughter is blissfully oblivious.

"Sometimes I take [my daughter] to practice. For her, it is really a fun place. So she thinks I go to a fun place every day and I'm just someone who plays all the time," he said with a laugh.

Fumita already has a memento from his first competition in over two years -- a gash over his left eye that was treated with tape wrapped around his head.

"It happens a lot in practice and in matches," Fumita said. "I have many photos of me in the past with my head taped. It gave me a feeling of going back to my roots, which I thought was great."

Higuchi, who like Fumita is 30, an alumnus of NSSU and is sponsored by children's clothing giant Miki House, was wrestling for the first time in front of his 2-year-old daughter (and like Fumita, he has a second infant daughter).

"She kind of knows what's going on," said Higuchi, who defeated world U23 bronze medalist Akito MUKAIDA 12-1 in the semifinals.

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN)Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) reached the 61kg final at the Meiji Cup. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

For Higuchi, a battle with weight loss proved more daunting than any opponent he faced on the mat on Friday. He normally should have had no trouble making weight at 61kg, but said he didn't manage it correctly.

"It was my first competition in awhile, and my preparation did not go so well," he said. "There are parts that I have to work on. All went well in practice, but I need to do better at conditioning and cutting weight or I won't be able to win out in December [at the Emperor's Cup]."

A notoriously slow starter, Higuchi said he gradually began to find his groove, culminating in his one-sided win over Mukaida.

"My first match, my movement was not very good," he said. "The water loss as a I cut weight didn't go so well either, so the first and second matches were touch and go.

"During the second match, I was able to get in gear. In the third match in the semifinals, my opponent was third at the world U23, which normally should have been a close match. But I was able to put on a fairly good performance, which I give a grade of 80 [out of 100]."

Higuchi is looking forward to mixing it up with another high-level opponent, one he knows quite well. Hasegawa is yet another NSSU alumnus who still trains at the facility.

"From an emotional viewpoint, I was really excited about facing tough opponents," Higuchi said. "Tomorrow, Hasegawa is world-class wrestler. I don't know if I will win or lose, but I'm really happy to be able to have such a showdown on this big stage."

Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)Asian champion Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) returned to the final of Meiji Cup at 97kg. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi) 

At 97kg, defending champion Yoshida stormed to a pair of 10-0 victories, defeating Satoshi MIURA, a 2025 world U23 bronze medalist at 86kg, in the semifinals to advance to the final against teenager Noah LEIBOWITZ.

The final will be a repeat of the gold-medal match at the Emperor's Cup, which Yoshida won 11-0.

Leibowitz is now a freshman at Nihon University, from which Yoshida just graduated in March. Since then, he began living on his own for the first time.

"I have to prepare my own meals," Yoshida said on how his life has changed. "Instead of always being with a group, I am living a life on my own. My father brings over dinner every Friday, but other than that, I prepare it myself. My specialty is pork kimchi; actually that's all I can make."

Meanwhile, Taishi NARIKUNI, who attempted a rare freestyle-Greco double at the Asian Championships in Bishkek, advanced to the freestyle 70kg final, where he will face collegiate champion Yuma TOMIYAMA.

In women's action, world U20 bronze medalist Shirin TAKEMOTO pulled an upset of sorts at 72kg, knocking off Asian silver medalist Mahiro YOSHITAKE 11-6 in the semifinals. She will face Chisato YOSHIDA in the final.

At 65kg, Asian silver medalist Nana IKEHATA scored a takedown and stepout in the final 1:10 to edge Misuzu ENAMOTO 4-3 and set up a gold-medal clash with Hiyori MOTOKI, the younger sister of Paris Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI.