The date is December 8, 1995. The city is Osaka, Japan. A rookie named Emi Motokawa is wrestling on the 2nd match on the card for IWA-Japan. She lost to a 4-year pro named Kiyoko Ichiki. As is customary in Japan, rookie wrestlers serve as ring crew and stagehands, doing any job that needs to be done to make sure the show goes on. This is an extremely daunting task in IWA-Japan because IWA-Japan is the wild west of professional wrestling. Anything goes. This show includes the legends such as Terry Funk, Terry Gordy, and Tiger Jett Singh. It has Cactus Jack at the peak of his deathmatch career. It includes Puerto Rico and Mexico Lucha Libre star Miguel Perez. It includes Leatherface Vs Freddie Krueger. Emi is in over her head and feels overwhelmed. Imagine being 19 years old 5’1 woman having to play crowd control as 250+ lbs horror movie monsters are chasing around a crowd of over 1,000 people with weapons.
The date is December 31, 2009 and the City is Tokyo. Emi Motokawa is now known as Emi Sakura. The business of Japanese Women’s wrestling, also known as Joshi, has changed. From AJW drawing 30,000 fans in the Tokyo Dome in 1994 to multiple companies, including AJW closing down in the mid 2000s due to financial struggles. The Joshi scene ends the 2000s decade by modestly bouncing back to stability, and Emi finds herself as one of the scene’s leaders. She has changed from being based primarily on men’s promotions like IWA-Japan and FMW to being a freelancer fully integrated into the Joshi scene. Emi was named Tokyo Sport’s Women’s Wrestler of the year a few months earlier. A prize that has been won by the likes of current WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai(2015-2017) and Wrestling Observer Hall Of Famer Lioness Asuka(1997, 1999). Emi is in charge of the Ice Ribbon promotion, which is the fastest-growing promotion in Joshi. She ends the year by winning a one on one match with one of her many successful students, Miyako Matsumoto.
The year is 2012. Emi Sakura is no longer in Ice Ribbon. She finds herself in her wrestling gear on a park bench at night in the middle of Bangkok, Thailand. There is no Women’s Wrestling in Thailand. There aren’t even pro wrestling rings. The only pro wrestling the locals may have heard of is WWE from TV, and even that is a niche product around these parts. The challenge that Emi Sakura finds in front of her is to create local professional wrestling in a country that has no pro wrestling infrastructure. She has no budget, and she doesn’t speak the local language. These are the humble beginnings of a company known as Gatoh Move and the independent wrestling scene in Thailand. From 2012 to 2019, Emi split time between Japan and Thailand. She trained local Thai wrestlers and helping them gain experience by wrestling in other countries, including Japan. She received help from friends from the Japanese wrestling scene like Masa Takahashi, Kaori Yoneyama, and others. She also received support from local friends in Thailand. People like a martial arts instructor named Nobukane sensei, who offered his dojo as Gatoh Move’s first venue. And Pumi(@pumi_gtmv on Twitter), who was Emi’s right-hand man and primary contact in Thailand. Together they build an indie wrestling scene in Thailand that is still active today, and they helped out other independent scenes in the UK, Singapore, Philippines, and more. Check out Setup Pro Wrestling Thailand: https://twitter.com/setupth
The name Gatoh Move comes from the French word for cake, gâteau. That is a hint for the type of professional wrestling Emi Sakura produces. A colorful set of wrestlers and a sweet atmosphere that is comforting and inviting to everyone. Matches range from technical mat work to manic all-age comedy matches that would fit Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and everything in-between.
Since the early 2000s, Emi has trained or mentored a truly impressive list of wrestlers. Including technical wizards like 2018 Tokyo Sport’s Women’s wrestler of the year Tsukasa Fujimoto, hard-hitting hybrid wrestlers like current AEW women’s champion Hikaru Shida, unorthodox Psycho-Idol Miyako Matsumoto, and more. Emi doesn’t know precisely how many wrestlers she has trained over the years, but estimates are in the hundreds. All of them unique individuals with a wide variety of wrestling styles and personalities. Pro Wrestling can be a lot of different things when Emi Sakura is involved. Maybe that is a little piece of IWA-Japan that she carries throughout her career?
Of all her students, the one closest to Emi’s heart is the first AEW Women’s Champion Riho. Riho was a small child when she started training with Emi Sakura. She developed into a skilled and popular professional wrestler. A 23-year-old veteran with a 14-year career and matches in the UK, Taiwan, Shanghai, Singapur, and more. A fan favorite everywhere she has wrestled. Riho became the centerpiece of the AEW Women’s division when it launched in 2019. November 9, 2019, at the first AEW Full Gear PPV, Riho beat Emi Sakura in an AEW Women’s title match that fans positively received.
You can watch Gatoh Move on Youtube. What you’ll find there will be very alien to fans that are used to mainstream professional wrestling. A crowd between 50 to 70 fans packed into a tiny space surrounding a crash mat that serves as the ring. It’s as intimate and stripped down as professional wrestling can be. Closer to mid-1800s early professional wrestling than Monday Night Raw. This can be off-putting to fans that have no frame of reference for it. They can misinterpret it as being unprofessional. This venue is known today as Ichigaya Chocolate Square. Emi Sakura has been using this venue as her wrestling home base since 2006. Hall Of Famers like Minoru Suzuki and Manami Toyota have wrestled there well after they were legendary stars. This is a sign of how respected Emi Sakura is by her peers. Gatoh Move runs wrestling shows in standard venues regularly like any other Japanese promotion.
Ichigaya Chocolate Square is where Emi’s students train and cut their teeth by wrestling most of their matches. It can be a challenging venue to wrestle in. It has very limited space, and there is no separation between the fans and the wrestlers. It’s a trial by fire, and you have to adapt very quickly if you want to stand out from the rest of the Gatoh Move roster. With enough imagination, you can do anything you can in a standard wrestling ring plus a few extra unexpected tricks. Due to its rich history, it wouldn’t surprise me if future generations look back at Ichigaya Chocolate Square as the CBGB’s of pro wrestling. It’s an unusual venue that is highly influential.
Gatoh Move currently has a relatively deep roster of up and coming talent. Sayaka Obihiro, an energetic veteran that has been by Emi Sakura’s side for many years. Mei Suruga, a 21-year-old wrestling prodigy with unlimited creativity. Yuna Mizumori, a pop idol with an active musical and acting career, is also a dynamic and charismatic wrestler. Mitsuru Konno, an athletic marvel and fierce fighter. “Otoki” Tokiko Kirihara, a 46-year-old rookie with killer martial arts skills. Lulu Pencil, a freelance writer, turned inspirational wrestling underdog. “Too Much Energy” Chie Koishikawa. She has Ultimate Warrior entrance levels of energy and unlimited potential. Sayuri, a former systems engineering following her dreams. Rin Rin, a 16-year-old rookie with many talents and skills. Sayaka, a professional model, and cosplayer. With their very diverse backgrounds and life experiences, these women represent Emi Sakura’s belief that anyone can become a professional wrestler. This philosophy is a departure from the model followed by All-Japan Women’s wrestling from the 1970s through the 1990s, which selected high-level athletes. The name of Emi’s current school is Daredemo Joshi Pro Wrestler, which roughly translates to “Whoever women’s pro wrestler.”
Besides the home roster, Gatoh Move also works with many freelance wrestlers and guest wrestlers from other promotions. Masa Takahashi, who was there at the start of Gatoh Move, has worked in DDT and the Japanese independent scene for many years. He’s a no-nonsense technical wizard on the mat who brings a world of experience, including many matches with people like Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, CIMA, and others. Masa currently serves as general manager and mentors the roster. Baliyan Akki is a 5 year pro from India with a hybrid style of wrestling. He’s a self-taught wrestler who has traveled all over Asia. In 2017 he went to Japan without speaking the language, looking for an opportunity to improve and break into the Japanese wrestling scene. He became fluent in Japanese and has worked for DDT, All-Japan Pro Wrestling, and various other groups. Currently, Akki is the backbone of Gatoh Move’s English Language content, acting as the producer and host for livestream broadcasts.
The Covid 19 pandemic changed the world, and Gatoh Move’s corner of the wrestling world is no different. You couldn’t run shows with fans in Japan for a couple of months. In general, it’s impossible for the regular crowd to social-distance in Ichigaya Chocolate Square. So Emi Sakura did what she has done many times before. She adapted to her surroundings and made the best of a difficult situation. Gatoh Move spun off into an online-only wrestling promotion called ChocoPro(Chocolate Pro Wrestling).
Anyone can rarely claim to be doing something new in professional wrestling, but ChocoPro is unlike anything else. It takes the already unusual Gatoh Move formula and filters it through a Youtube video’s rule-breaking nature. To keep the people involved to a minimum, the wrestlers serve as referees, camera people, and ring crews. There is no audience in attendance. The wrestlers wrestle towards the camera, but the camera isn’t passive. It’s a part of the action. Want to monologue like a stage play? Go for it. Want to do a sight gag based on the camera’s POV? Go for it. Want to use the camera POV as a weapon? Go for it. ChocoPro is self-aware manic energy 70% of the time. The other 30% can break your heart when one of the wrestlers you’ve been having a fun time with for months breaks down because, in the crazy world of ChocoPro, emotions matter a lot.
Being a fan of ChocoPro is a unique experience. It’s a wrestling community that is generally positive and welcoming to all. There’s a language barrier. Most of the wrestlers are native Japanese speakers, and over half the fans are English speakers. But both sides do their best to meet each other in the middle. Special thanks to Baliyan Akki for being the primary translator for both sides. The walls between wrestlers and fans feel thinner than in any other pro wrestling company. Even though fans are half a planet away and their primary means of communication is a Youtube chat, you feel like you’re a part of the show. This is a small company with a small fanbase, which adds to being a stakeholder. A direct comparison that I can give is Henry Rollins explaining why he fell in love with Punk rock. ChocoPro is a wholesome online pro wrestling Punk rock.
I’m going to close this article on a personal note. 2020 has been an awful and stressful year for everyone. The pandemic, natural disasters, and social unrest on top of whatever personal hardships life throws at us. At the top of the list for me was the senseless passing of professional wrestler Hana Kimura. A young and infectiously charismatic wrestler who was on the verge of taking over the world. May 23, 2020. “The day the music died” for my corner of fandom. I don’t know that one ever finishes processing that sort of tragedy, but you have to start processing somewhere. Hours after the news, I found myself watching the Chocopro episode 16 lifestream. I watched Mei Suruga wrestle one of Hana Kimura’s best friends ASUKA(known as Veny outside of Japan) with Emi Sakura as a referee. ASUKA was scheduled for that match days prior to Hana’s passing. She decided to move forward with a bravery that few people have. I cried, I smiled, and I enjoyed an exciting match. During the darkest moment of a dark year, Emi Sakura’s corner of professional wrestling was a bright light. Thank you to not just Emi Sakura, but everyone who has been involved in one of her shows.
Follow Gatoh Move at gatohmove.com and Emi Sakura on Twitter @EmiSakura_gtmv.