Tokiko Kirihara: The Most Interesting Woman In The World

We are always learning something new about Otoki. And it's always fascinating.

The 2019 Gatoh Move rookie class that played a fundamental role in establishing ChocoPro as we now know it—and kept the lights on for Emi Sakura’s promotion and my soul during the early years of the pandemic—was packed with big personalities and instantly catchy gimmicks. Chie Koishikawa’s irrepressible “too much” energy. Rin Rin’s youthful enthusiasm, far-ranging interests, and technical prowess. Sayaka’s modelesque cool. Sayuri’s quest to finally execute a bodyslam and somewhat random but delightful adoption of ninjitsu. Lulu Pencil’s immaculate physical comedy, timing, and all-around Lulu Pencil-ness.

I won’t go so far as to say that Tokiko Kirihara was outshone by her cohorts, but it can take a little longer for an enigma to connect with an audience in that milieu. Luckily for Otoki (and all of us who love her), there appears to be no one on the planet with more fuel to sustain a slow burn.

I’ve been following Kirihara, aka Otoki, since her debut. I’ve been an ardent fan for at least five of those years. And I’m still amazed by her on a regular basis. Whether it’s a new edition to her wrestling arsenal, a new quirk to her persona, a new adventure she’s posting about on Twitter, or a new random revelation about her past, there is always another layer to this woman. And I am fascinated.

The first thing about Otoki that caught my attention was her age. She was 44 when she made her pro wrestling debut. Although she could have passed for much younger quite easily, she never made any attempt to obfuscate it. In fact, she embraced it to the point of including it in her signature on portraits. When she turned 48, she briefly embraced a pop idol gimmick, OTK 48, in reference to the AKB48 Group.

As someone who was first told that she was too old to be relevant as a culture writer at 27, I loved seeing a woman do her thing in a field were some might consider her past her expiry date. And as someone who still dreams of either taking pro wrestling lessons or reviving the Pillow Fight League and resuming my duties there, I was delighted to have such excellent proof that it could still be a possibility for me. (Even though I am not nearly as cool and talented as Otoki.)

I was also intrigued, because any 44 year old who finds themselves drawn to Emi Sakura’s Darejyo program has stories to tell—and that goes double for anyone who keeps going and joins her promotion as a pro.

Then I started to recognize her martial arts backgrounds. Plural.

Her now trademark throw very clearly comes from Judo.

Her ground game is undeniably Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in nature.

Her roundhouse kicks hint at some kind of kickboxing or Muay Thai training, and her stance suggests there was depth to it. Look at how she keeps that lead leg light, which allows her to quickly check any attacks and maintain distance between her and her opponent. That’s classic Muay Thai technique at work.

More hints of her personality and humour started creeping into her wrestling, too.

She started leaping off of one of Ichigaya Chocolate Square’s window ledges and grinding her foot into her opponent’s torso.

Occasionally she’ll go straight for the face.

This is called the Showa Twist.

She also started making taunts while gesturing to her crotch. No, not like DX. Like this:

It can be adapted into a submission hold.

This is called the Comaneci. It’s inspired by a bit that Japanese comedian Takeshi Kitano did in reference to legendary Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci and her infamously tight uniform. (I can’t find the sources that I used to learn all about Kitano’s Comaneci back in the day, so don’t take this as gospel. But if I recall and understand correctly, the original joke bombed, but it was so bad that it eventually became funny.)

Sometimes she teams up with Antonio Honda to look fabulous and commit dastardly deeds.

They’re called Black Comaneci (or Shin Black Comaneci, or White Comaneci, or Neon Comaneci, because sometimes they get banned from ChocoPro and have to rebrand in an effort to return and wreak more havoc.)

There are all entertaining details on their own, but they’re really something else when you start piecing them together. A clever, gorgeous woman with a six pack, a background in at least three martial arts, a familiarity with 60s dance trends, a taste for anti-comedy, and a high tolerance for hijinks who became a professional wrestler in her mid-40s. And it gets even better when you factor in the random glimpses into her life that she drops on Twitter. Like the time she attended a metal festival. Or the fact that she attended her first wrestling show when she was 26, complete with a photo of her with Hiroshi Tanahashi and KENSO aka Kenzo Suzuki in which she looks almost exactly the same as she does now. Or that she had her first kickboxing match when she was 37.

Remember those commercials for Dos Equis about the most interesting man in the world?

Otoki is the real life version.

Anyway, the world’s most interesting woman turned 50 on November 4, and she celebrated by challenging Mei Suruga, a woman literally half her age, for the Super Asia Championship. And having what might be her best match yet.

It’s a mostly serious affair. There’s nothing as cheeky as a Showa Twist or Comaneci going on here, although there is a certain playful give and take between Kirihara and Suruga. Mei has known Otoki for her entire career and Otoki has known Mei for a quarter of her entire life at this point. There’s a deep familiarity and an amiable but intense sense of competition born of that familiarity that runs throughout the match. There’s some mind games, some playing to their own strengths and signature styles, and some attempts to beat each other at their own games.

And quite a lot of Otoki gaining the upper hand in terms of both physical and mental strength.

Otoki’s game plan involves beating the shit out of Suruga’s hamstrings to slow her down, ground her, and leave her more vulnerable to mat-based attacks.

It’s a great story for these two particular wrestlers at this particular juncture: youthful exuberance and seemingly limitless potential vs hard-earned skill and methodology.

And it’s a great excuse to let Otoki show off her jiu-jitsu skills.

She even manages to use Mei’s brattiness against her.

In the end, Suruga prevails, but with surprisingly few classic Mei flourishes. This isn’t a case of youth winning over experience or a new generation taking over. Both make a solid case for being powerful fighters in the now. Suruga wins and retains the belt because she’s Mei Suruga, a prodigy with once in a lifetime genius for the art, and she was able to survive long enough to finally apply some of it. But Oktoki also wins something here because all Mei could do was survive until she finally found that moment and eke out a victory.

Early on in my Otoki fandom, I would sometimes wonder what could have been if she’d found wrestling earlier. I don’t think that way anymore. As this match—and her entire career—have proven, it takes a lifetime to become the kind of person who can become this kind of wrestler. And I’m grateful for every single step and misstep that brought her here.

And then she topped it all off by putting out her birthday candles with her bare hands. Seriously, who is this woman? What life experiences contributed to this action?

Here’s to a half century of Tokiko Kirihara. Long may she continue to astound me.