“Is that even allowed?” Red belt champion Utami Hayashishita’s challenge is to become even stronger.

Welcome to the 4th in Mugiko Ozaki’s (on Twitter @ozaki_mugiko) excellent interview series for Sportiva! I was really surprised at how genuinely shy Utami seems, but it was very endearing, and I enjoyed learning more about her. Idk what to say but I figure people probably aren’t really here for my editorializing anyway. Once again big thanks as well to @1222DragonMoon on Twitter for double checking my translation and helping to clarify a few things.

Part 1: Utami Hayashishita on the troubles of being known as “Big Daddy’s 3rd Daughter”: “People didn’t see the real me.”

It’s July 2018, and a news story is lighting up the sports pages.

“Big Daddy’s 3rd daughter makes her pro wrestling debut next month”

From TV Asahi’s documentary series “Whoa, Big Daddy!”, following an extremely large family, the well-known “Big Daddy” Kiyoshi Hayashishita’s third daughter, Utami Hayashishita, has passed the pro test for the women’s wrestling organization Stardom. She battles in her debut match at Korakuen Hall on August 12th.

This news was huge all over the internet and became a mainstream talking point before you knew it. The third daughter, which one was that? If I remember correctly, didn’t those sisters make their gravure debut together? Can she wrestle? As people spouted all sorts of opinions, wrestling fans seemed rather cold. “It’s just a publicity stunt anyway.”

Virtually no one could have predicted how quickly she would rise.

Utami Hayashishita was born in Kosai City, Shizuoka Prefecture, but moved around the country frequently and by the time she was in second grade was living on Amami Oshima island. [Note: Amami Oshima is a relatively small island well South of the Japanese mainland, just a little North of Okinawa. According to my google search it’s very pretty, but this would have been a very rural childhood.] Around this same time, filming began for the TV show, and thus began a strange life of spending roughly 350 days of the year with directors and production crew.

“There were always at least three people from the TV station in the house with us, but everyone got along pretty well. I never really felt uncomfortable being filmed, y’know? They were really just like part of the family.”

The Hayashishita family didn’t actually have a TV of their own, so it never really sank in for Utami that she was on TV. When she went to school the day after the broadcast, the other kids gathered around her desk, but she says everyone was excited, they didn’t tease her or anything like that. However after finishing elementary school, the situation changed dramatically as Utami moved over and over, first to Toyota City in Aichi, then Shodoshima Island in Kagawa, and then to Morioka City, Iwate. Her classmates began to see her as special.

“I would think that we were friends, but from their point of view, we weren’t. It was more just like, “I’m friends with Big Daddy’s daughter!” Sometimes I’d hear them say mean things behind my back. School was not fun. I became pretty shy.”

But there was another reason why she became shy. She loved her family, but.

“I felt like the other kids in my family were smarter or more charming than me, I started to feel like I didn’t have anything to offer and I started struggling to talk to people. I loved my family so much, but I was also developing a complex around my family, you know? We were compared to each other so often.”

It was pro wrestling that saved that girl. When she was in the second year of middle school, her sister, who was a big fan of Tajiri in WWE, recommended she watch Tajiri’s comeback match on youtube.

“Pretty much everyone in my family liked wrestling, but I had no interest at all, I thought it seemed like just a bunch of old guys getting in fist fights. But when I saw Tajiri-san cheating and using poison mist I was like, “Oh wrestling is really enjoyable, I’m so sucked in” and then I was immediately hooked.”

Her dad did judo and had made her join the judo club at her school, but once she fell in love with wrestling, she started to really enjoy practise. She would pretend to wrestle with her judo friends all the time, and in her 3rd year of middle school, a desire to actually become a wrestler began to grow. It all started with an Io Shirai match.

“She somehow just had this way of shining. I thought, that’s the kind of person I want to become. That’s why I chose Stardom (when she started training), it was because I wanted to fight Io-san.”

She wanted to start training to be a pro-wrestler as soon as she finished middle school. But she couldn’t even bring it up with her dad because for some time he’d already been telling her, “You’d better finish high school.” She finished high school back on Amami Oshima Island, then moved to Tokyo and worked in a restaurant to help pay for her three younger sisters’ school.

“It’s the tradition in the Hayashishita family for the older kids to help take care of our younger siblings, so it was me and my other siblings who were around my age all working together to help them out. I had a large family and we were pretty poor, so I didn’t want my sisters to have any money problems.”

She worked for a year to help her siblings pay for their tuition, and then the day she finished she immediately told her manager she was quitting to become a pro wrestler. To Hayashishita, wrestlers felt like wizards. She had never thought it was something she could actually realistically be, but now she started to feel like, “Maybe now I finally have a chance to do it.” On her way home she bought a resume template, filled it out and sent it to Stardom, and when she told her family because they were all wrestling fans, everyone was excited for her. Her Dad was the only person who seemed concerned, worried about his shy daughter’s decision he said to her, “You know wrestling involves performing in front of a lot of people, are you gonna be okay with that?”

She began training in Stardom in March of 2018. She began her training with the person she so admired, Io Shirai.

“She was strict with herself as well as everyone, and really passionate about pro wrestling. She would practise as much as she could until she got something right. So my practise was the same, she’d be right there with me watching me practise the whole time until I’d get it right. Yeah, it made me really happy.”

But shortly after, Io left Stardom to join WWE.

“Ultimately we only got to have 2 training sessions together. The last time, I did get to tell her, “I came to Stardom to have a match against you,” and she said “Yeah, I had a feeling that might be the case.” Then my dream became having a match against Io.”

She passed her pro test in July, and it was decided that she would make her debut on August 12th at Korakuen Hall. Her debut opponent was Jungle Kyona. As Hayashishita was strong and wanted to be a power fighter, she would have to defeat Kyona one day.

The day of her debut match came. Hayashishita, a judo black belt, showed power and technique that made it hard to believe she had been a trainee until the day before. It seemed like she was already used to being watched, since she’d been on TV since she was so young. Her imposing demeanor was impressive as well. In an incredible effort, they went to a 15 minute draw. It was clear that she would quickly become a major contender. After the match, everyone was sure of that.

“I wasn’t really feeling tense, I was just thinking, “Oh my god, I’m finally going to get to be a pro wrestler like I’ve always wanted!” and I had a lot of fun. Of course it’s painful, and in the moment sometimes I was thinking, “Ah, shit!” but after the match I looked out at the audience from the ring and I got really emotional, I felt like I was finally a wrestler.”

In September, she was the runner up in that year’s 5 Star GP tournament, in November, alongside Momo Watanabe, she won the Goddesses of Stardom Tag Tournament as well as the Goddess of Stardom Tag Team Championship, and in December was crowned Rookie of Stardom [Rookie of the Year]. She also won the Rookie of the Year award in that year’s Tokyo Sports awards.

She was on the fast track as an absolutely picture perfect star. But gradually, complex conflicts began to grow.

“No matter how hard I worked, people weren’t seeing my true strength, they only saw me as ‘Big Daddy’s third daughter’. I’m not saying that the “Big Daddy” name was a hindrance, but I was definitely frustrated that people didn’t see the real me. I didn’t want to fail to live up to my name either, so I practised more than anybody else.”

In January 2019, Utami also became Future of Stardom Champion, SWA Champion, and EVE International Champion, making her a quadruple champion a short 5 months after her debut. But that year she would suffer two fractures, once in April and once in September.

“It was frustrating the whole time, I could still be there seconding but I wasn’t able to wrestle and I was so impatient to come back. And then after me Saya Iida and Saya Kamitani debuted, and I could see them progressing very quickly, and I was really worried everyone would forget about me.”

Last time, Mayu Iwatani nominated Hayashishita as the strongest wrestler, saying she’s “the kind of person who doesn’t show when she’s under pressure.” When I talked to her that day, I felt like that may be the case. She would say she was “stressed” or “impatient”, but I still felt like there was something about her she was holding back, and I couldn’t really tell what she was feeling. 

There was one more thing Iwatani had said about Hayashishita. “I thought she was going to be like Takumi Iroha.” With short hair and a tomboyish look, many fans also thought Utami would be like Iroha. Even Hayashishita herself said “I was aiming for a masculine coolness.”

But over time, she started to grow out her hair. At the same time, she began to refine her attitude. Why?

“It was after I saw Ryouta Miyadate from (the Johnny’s group) Snow Man. Before that, I had this image that Queen’s Quest (the unit Hayashishita had joined) was cooler and more stylish than the others, but I hadn’t figured out how to change my image to express that myself. But when I saw Miyadate-san, I was just totally shocked, I was like “Oh I get it, that guy has the Queen’s Quest look!””

Miyadate is known as “Date-sama” and performs with themes like “sexiness”, “royalty”, and “beauty.” Fascinated by his graceful movements and demeanor, Hayashishita felt that this was how she wanted to express herself in Queen’s Quest. From then on she pursued her own themes of “Cool, royal, beauty”, and not only trying to be handsome, but trying to express a more feminine beauty as well.

It’s interesting that it was a man who made her aware of how to tap into feminine beauty. Now Hayashishita has a cool beauty that transcends gender. That probably goes to show she really found her individuality herself.

When I told her “Wow, your nails are really beautifully done,” she bashfully talked to me about beauty products.

“Back when I used to be more tomboyish, I never thought I would really bother to worry about stuff like my nails. Now I’m even like eyelash extensions and everything, like from my fingernails all the way up to my eyelashes it’s all completely different. I see it as all part of my costume. Some other wrestlers are always changing up their nails, like to match the season or with anime characters [AZM specifically does this a lot lol], but I pretty much just always have them done to match with my costume.”

Aah, as she tells me this, I finally spot a smile….. In the ring, she’s only able to show how strong and cool she is. Maybe she had felt like she had to be like that in this interview as well. But when she started happily talking about nail care and eyelash extensions, I realized she’s just a 22 year old girl.

It’s certainly nice when she’s cool and handsome, but I thought it was even more enjoyable to talk to her as she began to blush and become really expressive. That’s why I felt like I had a lot more digging to do, as I felt like the true strength of “pro wrestler Utami Hayashishita” hadn’t been revealed yet.

Part 2: “Is that even allowed?” Red belt champion Utami Hayashishita’s challenge is to become even stronger.

Almost immediately following her debut, Hayashishita began winning championships. On November 15th 2020, she achieved a dream and beat Mayu Iwatani to win the World of Stardom Championship, popularly known as the Red Belt.

“I was really happy, but because I won Stardom’s highest belt from Mayu Iwatani, I felt like, “Okay, from now on I need to create a new era for Stardom. I need to be the person who leads now.” I really had to channel all of my fighting spirit towards that.”

When I interviewed Tam Nakano, the current White Belt (Wonder of Stardom) champion, for this series, she said this about the red belt: “The red belt is the belt of technique, the white belt is the belt of emotion.” The appeal of women’s wrestling is how they let out their emotions in a match. If that’s the case, then it follows that, as Nakano said, “The white belt is the pinnacle of Stardom.”

“Absolutely not, the red belt is at the top. This is the belt you can only win if you’re the strongest in the company. But, when she said “The white belt is the belt of emotion”, I do understand what she means by that, and I don’t disagree. People like Tam Nakano or Giulia, compared to me, we’re very different kinds of people and wrestlers, and it seems like only that kind of wrestler who is very different from me is able to win that belt. The red belt is about putting your everything into that match, for your desire for the belt, but the white belt is about going to war with your opponent, and showing the emotions and the drama between those two specific fighters.”

In January 2019, Hayashishita vacated the Future of Stardom Championship. Her reason was that she was “aiming for the red and white belts.” Since then, now that she’s won the red belt, she’s won almost every championship in Stardom, and the last one that she wants to win at any cost is the white belt. But she herself doesn’t think that her ordinary methods will suffice for that.

“I’m just a different kind of wrestler, I’m the kind of person who struggles to let out my emotions, you know. Someone like Tam Nakano is able to let out all of her emotions no matter who her opponent is, and I think I need to learn how to let my emotions out like that if I want to be able to win the white belt. The way I am, I still only have a limited number of opponents I can fight with my full strength and all of my emotions.”

One of those opponents is Jungle Kyona. “We’re the same kind of power fighter, so we can both give it our all and trust the other person to give it her all as well.”

On the other hand, what kind of wrestler is it particularly difficult to do that with?

“I’d say it’s about technique, there are lots of wrestlers that use submission holds or lots of kicks and I’m just a totally different type of fighter, so I really struggle to get a read on that. And like I said when we were talking about the white belt, I think I struggle just a little with wrestlers who are able to really let their emotions out into a match.”

Submissions and kicks, Hayashishita is perfectly describing the exact strengths of Syuri, who is currently aiming to take the red belt from her.

“I need to overcome my weaknesses. If my opponent’s a power fighter and they’re going to try and hit me with a lariat, I can read that movement and predict it, but when I just suddenly get kicked it feels like it’s out of nowhere, you know, I’m not exactly great at handling that…. I get kicked in the head and I’m just like, “oh man, is that even allowed?” (she laughs)

Letting out her emotions. Improving her submissions and strikes. While Hayashishita may seem like a complete wrestler, she herself feels like she still has so much work to do.

But people can make drastic changes at any time, for any reason. Stardom wrestlers saw that when Milano Collection A.T. became a coach for them in December 2019.

“Milano-san knows so much about wrestling, and he shares all of it with us, he taught me the basics all over again and I think totally fixed my foundation. He just looks at every single wrestler and can so precisely point out, “This person is good like this”, I think everyone’s levelled up since he started coaching.”

She says that Milano’s coaching is extremely logical. Pro wrestling practise seems like something that would just be very intuitive, you need to do it to pick it up, but from start to finish Milano can explain everything just in words. He can show an example and say “This is why you do it like this, so do it this way now” and it makes sense. And if a wrestler can’t do something, he can explain it so they understand why they can’t do it. He keeps track of every wrestler’s every match, and doesn’t favour anyone, so everyone is able to develop equally.

Since Milano became coach, Stardom’s wrestlers have dramatically improved. Hayashishita has been no exception, not only brushing up on her regular power techniques, but adding a delicate expressiveness as well. She’s coming to grips with how to unleash her emotions and fight with her full power, regardless of her opponent.

This year on April 4th, Utami fought Bea Priestley, who is known as the Top Gaijin. After a fierce fight, she retained the red belt.

“Bea is big, she’s strong, powerful, her way of thinking during a match is great. The first time I challenged for the red belt it was against Bea, and I got absolutely crushed, the next time we fought she was still so strong and attacked so hard I got the crap beat out of me. But we were also in the same unit for a while, we had fun together and have lots of memories together. So I could use my full strength against her, it was a lot of fun.”

Before the match, Bea kept saying Hayashishita “sucks”, how did she feel about that?

“I was simply annoyed, I thought Bea is a really good wrestler, so she could have just seemed strong and cool, instead of opening her mouth and sounding so boring. I was thinking, ‘When she says this kind of thing over and over, Bea is the one who sucks here.’” 

After the match, Bea suddenly got on the mic and said “This was my last match in Stardom.” In a beautiful moment she invited Momo Watanabe into the ring, cried, and said “I love you, Utami. I love you, Momo.” You could hear audience members crying throughout the arena.

“I had thought, from that match on, we would be able to improve ourselves against each other even though we’re in different units, but then she suddenly said that was her last match……. I was really sad that it was her last match. I’m really proud I was her last opponent, and I think part of why I need to keep working hard as the red belt champion now is for Bea.”

By defeating Bea, the strongest foreign wrestler, the value of the red belt was increased even more. She said she became more aware that she is “Worldwide Utami Hayashishita”, but I wonder if she has also felt extra pressure?

“I know people say about me “She always looks so relaxed”, but I absolutely feel the pressure. When I step down from the ring I always have a lot on my mind. But I’m not just worrying about myself thinking “What do I do,” I think if I were a fan, I wouldn’t want to support a wrestler who doesn’t think they can become stronger. But in the ring I’m just thinking “I’m the best in the world. I’m strong and cool!” I don’t want to look weak in front of the fans.”

As long as you’re wearing the red belt, you’re the top of Stardom. Of course she wants to keep winning matches, but she also wants lots of people to know about Stardom and Utami Hayashishita. She said, “My job now is to do my best so that more people will find out about it.”

She wants to spread pro wrestling, especially to women and children.

“Just like I didn’t have a good image of pro wrestling at first, I’m sure there are still lots of people who see it that way. I want to show people the beauty of pro wrestling, ‘There are such fun and energetic, strong and cool women wrestlers,’ I want to teach that to women and children especially.”

In this interview series, we explore the question of “what is strength?” So I wonder, what is strength to Utami Hayashishita?

“It’s achieving results with your power, but also being able to shine brighter than anyone else  in the ring. I think people with a lot of presence are strong. When I was just a fan, living my boring regular life, it was the wrestlers with presence who made me happy, gave me something to believe in. I want to be that kind of wrestler as well.”

Hayashishita nominates Giulia as the next strongest wrestler.

“When she’s in the ring she shines and shines, she has so much presence, and she really knows how to attract media attention. She came to Stardom not that long ago (she was in Ice Ribbon until October 2019) and she got booed a lot, but she doesn’t get that kind of response from anyone any more. She’s a wrestler who just has charisma. She can let out all of her emotions in a match, I’m actually really jealous. She has the things I don’t have.”

As we wrapped up the interview, I suddenly noticed Hayashishita hadn’t touched the iced royal milk tea she had ordered. Confused, I quickly told her she should have her drink, and she said “Ah, sorry…. Is it okay if I grabbed some gomme syrup?” and she nervously grabbed 3 packets. With a shy smile she said, “I thought about just grabbing one, but honestly my usual is 3, so I figured I’d just go for it.”  It’s moments like this where it really feels like I get to see her real smiling face. As she drank her tasty-looking and now very sweet iced royal milk tea, I idly wondered, “maybe she’d be able to let out all of her emotions if she was allowed to bring gomme syrup into the ring.”

Her career is only 2 years and 10 months long. Utami Hayashishita is still going to get stronger.

The next person interviewed will be Giulia.