Post by Ishikawa Rini on May 8, 2024 17:50:40 GMT
To the Japanese Professional Wrestling fans, and the Professional Wrestling Community,
In 2016, just after finishing High School, I joined Hachimangū Dojo. I was not suited for academics and barely managed to graduate. I was fit and athletic though, and that gave me a good start as a wrestler. The few girls in the class with me were not dedicated to wrestling, and were only there for an alternate path to fame and fortune. They thought I was a teacher’s pet with how focused I was to learn all I could. The boys would not take me seriously because I was so much smaller than them. It was only when another girl joined the class, that I truly found my feet in the ring, even as she found her wings.
Una was a foreigner who was trying to connect with her Japanese heritage but was cast aside by those relatives she knew of because of her mixed heritage. To me, however, she was a kindred spirit, someone else who did not fit the mold of what society wanted her to be. Together, we were unstoppable, forging our own path and creating a new mold for others to try and fail to be.
A year later, after the Sapporo Sakura Festival show, I was approached by a recruiter for Neo-Honshu Professional Wrestling and offered a contract to wrestle for them. I was initially thrilled, but that only lasted until I found out that my partner was not even considered for a contract.
There are those who still do not understand why I would put my future at risk for a friend, but Una was so much more than that to me. She is the sister I never had, that I never knew I wanted until I had her in my life. I could not imagine moving on in my career without my partner at my side. So I took the risk. I told the recruiter that if Neo-Honshu wanted me, they had to offer a contract to Una as well.
To my surprise, and I am sure to the surprise of anyone reading this, they agreed. I was ecstatic. Una and I could continue to be a team and we would ascend the ranks of Japanese Professional Wrestling together!
Unfortunately, as it is well established now, that is not what happened.
The next six years were not the misery most assume they were, or at least not for the reasons assumed. For six years, I watched as Neo-Honshu destroyed Una’s self-confidence and identity. We tried to get them to let us team together, even if it meant making us both villains. We were given excuse after excuse, always delayed for one reason or another.
Some reasons were valid. I was not initially very good with the moves that come as naturally as breathing to Una, and I was not good at speaking to a camera. Other reasons were flimsy, but still accepted. I stayed back as one girl after another was launched into the main roster; usually only after defeating Una, but not always. I was told that they were more acceptable than me. Though never stated explicitly, the reason they were more acceptable was because they were not friends with Una, and did not want Una with them in the spotlight.
Almost a year ago, I was told that I was ‘ready’ to move up to the main roster, and my breakout match was scheduled for 20 August. It was against Una. That in itself was not the issue. Una and I are professionals. Our friendship could be set aside for a match. We had done so before in some of our first matches at the Dojo, creating a story that showed how deep our friendship was even at its nascence. However, they were done playing nice and wanted to force me to drop my friendship with Una. Since they had not succeeded with me, they turned their attention to Una.
I believe they knew they were close to forcing her out or breaking her. Una had become mechanical in her matches, a puppet going through the motions. I could see that the light was almost gone from her eyes; the light that had first drawn me to her back at Sapporo Hachimangū. Again, Neo-Honshu showed their ignorance of Una’s heritage, and wanted her to use a prop that made no sense for her to use beyond the fact that they wanted her to use it. This was the final blow to do so.
I did not find out about this until after she had walked out, and after Natasha Walker took her place as my opponent. I felt I deserved every hit I was given that match. After all, I had put Una through six years of misery and misrepresentation for the sake of a dream I would not give up; a dream that even my parents wanted me to cast aside. I can only imagine what could have happened if I had listened to all those who wanted me to forsake my friendship for the sake of my career. Now, knowing what I know, I am grateful that I never did.
I did not know about anything that was happening to the wrestlers that were put forward as the stars of Neo-Honshu. I did not know about the abuse they suffered at the hands of Neo-Honshu’s management. I was never forced to work out more, nor forced to forgo meals, nor had to submit to the whims of perverts to get favorable matches. I was only ever working dark shows, and if I was ever shown, it was a match where a more senior wrestler would put me down within ten minutes. All I knew was that the management of Neo-Honshu wanted me to abandon my best friend, my soul-sister, and she was suffering. After six years, they wanted me to succeed at Una’s expense.
She was presented as “Charlie Clearwater” or the Gaijin Priestess, but her name is Shimizu Charlotte Una. She is an accredited Shinto priestess, and a Yonsei Japanese-American. All Neo-Honshu cared about was the fact that she is also Cherokee. They wanted to erase everything but that, making her use the name Clearwater instead of her proper family name. They never bothered with more than horrific stereotypes for her, putting her in a costume that did not even represent her true heritage.
I did not leave because of how my first real match went and Natasha Walker is not the villain you believe her to be. I did not leave because some old man wanted my body, or thought I was getting too fat. I left Neo-Honshu to finally achieve the dream I thought I had gotten nearly seven years ago; to be in a major wrestling promotion with my best friend and to be her tag team partner.
I thank you all for reading this. Please be assured that I am well, and more importantly, I am Imperial.
石川りに (Ishikawa Rini)
In 2016, just after finishing High School, I joined Hachimangū Dojo. I was not suited for academics and barely managed to graduate. I was fit and athletic though, and that gave me a good start as a wrestler. The few girls in the class with me were not dedicated to wrestling, and were only there for an alternate path to fame and fortune. They thought I was a teacher’s pet with how focused I was to learn all I could. The boys would not take me seriously because I was so much smaller than them. It was only when another girl joined the class, that I truly found my feet in the ring, even as she found her wings.
Una was a foreigner who was trying to connect with her Japanese heritage but was cast aside by those relatives she knew of because of her mixed heritage. To me, however, she was a kindred spirit, someone else who did not fit the mold of what society wanted her to be. Together, we were unstoppable, forging our own path and creating a new mold for others to try and fail to be.
A year later, after the Sapporo Sakura Festival show, I was approached by a recruiter for Neo-Honshu Professional Wrestling and offered a contract to wrestle for them. I was initially thrilled, but that only lasted until I found out that my partner was not even considered for a contract.
There are those who still do not understand why I would put my future at risk for a friend, but Una was so much more than that to me. She is the sister I never had, that I never knew I wanted until I had her in my life. I could not imagine moving on in my career without my partner at my side. So I took the risk. I told the recruiter that if Neo-Honshu wanted me, they had to offer a contract to Una as well.
To my surprise, and I am sure to the surprise of anyone reading this, they agreed. I was ecstatic. Una and I could continue to be a team and we would ascend the ranks of Japanese Professional Wrestling together!
Unfortunately, as it is well established now, that is not what happened.
The next six years were not the misery most assume they were, or at least not for the reasons assumed. For six years, I watched as Neo-Honshu destroyed Una’s self-confidence and identity. We tried to get them to let us team together, even if it meant making us both villains. We were given excuse after excuse, always delayed for one reason or another.
Some reasons were valid. I was not initially very good with the moves that come as naturally as breathing to Una, and I was not good at speaking to a camera. Other reasons were flimsy, but still accepted. I stayed back as one girl after another was launched into the main roster; usually only after defeating Una, but not always. I was told that they were more acceptable than me. Though never stated explicitly, the reason they were more acceptable was because they were not friends with Una, and did not want Una with them in the spotlight.
Almost a year ago, I was told that I was ‘ready’ to move up to the main roster, and my breakout match was scheduled for 20 August. It was against Una. That in itself was not the issue. Una and I are professionals. Our friendship could be set aside for a match. We had done so before in some of our first matches at the Dojo, creating a story that showed how deep our friendship was even at its nascence. However, they were done playing nice and wanted to force me to drop my friendship with Una. Since they had not succeeded with me, they turned their attention to Una.
I believe they knew they were close to forcing her out or breaking her. Una had become mechanical in her matches, a puppet going through the motions. I could see that the light was almost gone from her eyes; the light that had first drawn me to her back at Sapporo Hachimangū. Again, Neo-Honshu showed their ignorance of Una’s heritage, and wanted her to use a prop that made no sense for her to use beyond the fact that they wanted her to use it. This was the final blow to do so.
I did not find out about this until after she had walked out, and after Natasha Walker took her place as my opponent. I felt I deserved every hit I was given that match. After all, I had put Una through six years of misery and misrepresentation for the sake of a dream I would not give up; a dream that even my parents wanted me to cast aside. I can only imagine what could have happened if I had listened to all those who wanted me to forsake my friendship for the sake of my career. Now, knowing what I know, I am grateful that I never did.
I did not know about anything that was happening to the wrestlers that were put forward as the stars of Neo-Honshu. I did not know about the abuse they suffered at the hands of Neo-Honshu’s management. I was never forced to work out more, nor forced to forgo meals, nor had to submit to the whims of perverts to get favorable matches. I was only ever working dark shows, and if I was ever shown, it was a match where a more senior wrestler would put me down within ten minutes. All I knew was that the management of Neo-Honshu wanted me to abandon my best friend, my soul-sister, and she was suffering. After six years, they wanted me to succeed at Una’s expense.
She was presented as “Charlie Clearwater” or the Gaijin Priestess, but her name is Shimizu Charlotte Una. She is an accredited Shinto priestess, and a Yonsei Japanese-American. All Neo-Honshu cared about was the fact that she is also Cherokee. They wanted to erase everything but that, making her use the name Clearwater instead of her proper family name. They never bothered with more than horrific stereotypes for her, putting her in a costume that did not even represent her true heritage.
I did not leave because of how my first real match went and Natasha Walker is not the villain you believe her to be. I did not leave because some old man wanted my body, or thought I was getting too fat. I left Neo-Honshu to finally achieve the dream I thought I had gotten nearly seven years ago; to be in a major wrestling promotion with my best friend and to be her tag team partner.
I thank you all for reading this. Please be assured that I am well, and more importantly, I am Imperial.
石川りに (Ishikawa Rini)
Well howdy there pardner.