Japan's Freestyle Wrestling: A Historical Perspective
Japan's Freestyle Wrestling: A Historical Perspective
Japan is bringing a team of their all-stars to the 2017 Beat the Streets event in Times Square. We recap the history of their freestyle wrestling prowess, all the way back to the 1950s.
Japan is sending a squad of all-stars to entertain the crowds in Times Square and around the world for this year's edition of Beat the Streets on Wednesday, May 17.
The lineup arriving in Manhattan to do battle with a roster of America's best includes three women's wrestlers and seven men's freestylers. The event will also feature a couple of exhibition matches to complement the matchup of East versus West.
The full slate of matches can be found in the table below.
While international wrestling fans may not be as familiar with the Japanese program as say Iran or Russia, the Land of the Rising Sun has a long and storied history of excellence with the world's oldest and greatest sport.
Japan only has one Olympic gold medal in men's freestyle wrestling in the past six Olympic Games; however, between the years of 1952 and 1976, only the USSR could rival Japan in gold medals.
Japan scored 13 gold medals during the '50s, '60s, and '70s. By comparison, during that time period the USA only managed eight gold medals. Legends such as Shozo Sasahara, Osamu Watabama, Yojiro Uetake, Shigeo Nakata, Masaaki Kaneka, Hideaki Yanagida, and Yuji Takada all won multiple world titles along with their Olympic gold medals for Japan.
While establishing himself as a force on the international circuit, Yojiro Uetake also famously wrestled for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, winning three three NCAA titles in 1964, 1965, and 1966, going undefeated in the process.
Japan has traditionally done the best at the lower weights. None of its Olympic gold medals came at a weight class heavier than 74kg.
Following World War II, Japanese society has been relatively calm, with little in the way of cultural upheaval that would necessarily cause a nationwide decline in sporting achievement.
In contrast, events like the Iran-Iraq War and the collapse of the Soviet Union were incredibly disruptive to the day-to-day life of the citizens of those nations. It is not by coincidence that Iran only emerges as a dominant force on the world scene after the their war with Iraq came to an end in 1988. Similarly, it is only after the wars on the periphery of the ex-Soviet Union ended in the 1990s, specifically in the Caucasus Mountains, that we see the ex-Soviet Republics, including Russia, truly begin to dominate.
Despite the increased competition, Japan has performed admirably on the global stage, pulling in a dozen medals of various color since the boycotted Olympics of 1984. Chief among those credentialed wrestlers of more recent pedigree is Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu, who's won a bronze and silver medal at the world championships to go with his Olympic gold from the 2012 London Games, all at 66kg.
But the story of Japanese wrestling would not be complete without discussing one of the most dominant programs in any sport in the world, the Japanese women's wrestling team.
Since debuting at the Athen Summer Games of 2004, Japan won 11 of 18 possible Olympic gold medals in women's wrestling. As a team, it has won multiple gold medals at every quadrennial.
It seems the only thing keeping Japan from winning more medals is the limited number of weight classes in the women's division. Women competed in six weight classes for the first time at the Rio Games last year, up from four weight classes in 2012. Japan won four of those gold, an Olympic record, and nabbed a silver to boot.
The two greatest women's wrestlers of all time are both Japanese: Saori Yoshida, who has 13 world and three Olympic gold medals, and Kaori Icho, who has 10 world and four Olympic gold medals.
So while Russia and Iran may hog most of the attention when it comes to international wrestling, the sport in Japan is still in rude health. There is perhaps no better venue to celebrate that country's rich history of success than in New York's Times Square in front of a global audience.
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The lineup arriving in Manhattan to do battle with a roster of America's best includes three women's wrestlers and seven men's freestylers. The event will also feature a couple of exhibition matches to complement the matchup of East versus West.
The full slate of matches can be found in the table below.
| WT | Matchup |
|---|---|
| EX | Daton Fix (USA) vs. Julian Chlebove (USA) |
| 48kg | Victoria Anthony (USA) vs. Yuki Irie (Japan) |
| 69kg | Tamyra Mensah (USA) vs. Miwa Morikawa (Japan) |
| 58kg | Helen Maroulis (USA) vs. Yuzuru Kumano (Japan) |
| 65kg | Jordan Oliver (USA) vs. Frank Chamizo (Italy) |
| 57kg | Anthony Ramos (USA) vs. Steven Takahashi (Canada) |
| 61kg | Logan Stieber (USA) vs. Shingo Arimoto (Japan) |
| 65kg | Zain Retherford (USA) vs. Daichi Takatani (Japan) |
| 70kg | James Green (USA) vs. Nobuyoshi Takojima (Japan) |
| 86kg | David Taylor (USA) vs. Takahiro Murayama (Japan) |
| 97kg | Kyle Snyder (USA) vs. Koki Yamamoto (Japan) |
| 125kg | Nick Gwiazdowski (USA) vs. Katsutoshi Kanazawa (Japan) |
| 74kg | Jordan Burroughs (USA) vs. Sohsuke Takatani (Japan) |
Olympic Success
Japan only has one Olympic gold medal in men's freestyle wrestling in the past six Olympic Games; however, between the years of 1952 and 1976, only the USSR could rival Japan in gold medals. Japan scored 13 gold medals during the '50s, '60s, and '70s. By comparison, during that time period the USA only managed eight gold medals. Legends such as Shozo Sasahara, Osamu Watabama, Yojiro Uetake, Shigeo Nakata, Masaaki Kaneka, Hideaki Yanagida, and Yuji Takada all won multiple world titles along with their Olympic gold medals for Japan.
While establishing himself as a force on the international circuit, Yojiro Uetake also famously wrestled for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, winning three three NCAA titles in 1964, 1965, and 1966, going undefeated in the process.
Japan has traditionally done the best at the lower weights. None of its Olympic gold medals came at a weight class heavier than 74kg.
Relative Decline
The simple question following Japan's fall from the ranks of the wrestling world's elite would be to ask what went wrong. But a better question to ask would be how did the rest of the world catch up.Following World War II, Japanese society has been relatively calm, with little in the way of cultural upheaval that would necessarily cause a nationwide decline in sporting achievement.
In contrast, events like the Iran-Iraq War and the collapse of the Soviet Union were incredibly disruptive to the day-to-day life of the citizens of those nations. It is not by coincidence that Iran only emerges as a dominant force on the world scene after the their war with Iraq came to an end in 1988. Similarly, it is only after the wars on the periphery of the ex-Soviet Union ended in the 1990s, specifically in the Caucasus Mountains, that we see the ex-Soviet Republics, including Russia, truly begin to dominate.
Despite the increased competition, Japan has performed admirably on the global stage, pulling in a dozen medals of various color since the boycotted Olympics of 1984. Chief among those credentialed wrestlers of more recent pedigree is Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu, who's won a bronze and silver medal at the world championships to go with his Olympic gold from the 2012 London Games, all at 66kg.
Women's Wrestling Dominance
But the story of Japanese wrestling would not be complete without discussing one of the most dominant programs in any sport in the world, the Japanese women's wrestling team. Since debuting at the Athen Summer Games of 2004, Japan won 11 of 18 possible Olympic gold medals in women's wrestling. As a team, it has won multiple gold medals at every quadrennial.
It seems the only thing keeping Japan from winning more medals is the limited number of weight classes in the women's division. Women competed in six weight classes for the first time at the Rio Games last year, up from four weight classes in 2012. Japan won four of those gold, an Olympic record, and nabbed a silver to boot.
The two greatest women's wrestlers of all time are both Japanese: Saori Yoshida, who has 13 world and three Olympic gold medals, and Kaori Icho, who has 10 world and four Olympic gold medals.
So while Russia and Iran may hog most of the attention when it comes to international wrestling, the sport in Japan is still in rude health. There is perhaps no better venue to celebrate that country's rich history of success than in New York's Times Square in front of a global audience.
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