Watching Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling can be startling for newcomers.
Especially if your previous wrestling viewing experience is mostly of WWE or AEW. Expect a lot more singing than you’re used to. Get ready for elevated levels of goofiness. Prepare yourself to watch a nap enthusiast, a failed pop star, and a kaiju go to battle.
TJPW boasts all the usual trappings of pro wrestling–bravado, rivalry, pomp and circumstance–but it wraps all that up in layers of joy and camp that make it a unique product.
Maybe you’ve seen photos of Mizuki leaping through the air in her frilly white skirt, ready to impale someone with a foot stomp. Perhaps you’ve watched a GIF of Miu Watanabe swinging people around like a medieval flail. Or maybe you just want to know if that clip you saw of a giant inflatable panda was a fever dream or not.
I got you. You’re in the right place. Let me be the guide for anyone curious about what TJPW is all about.
Let’s start as TJPW does with its shows, with the music.
All wrestling has a vaudevillian flare to it, but TJPW really leans into that. After the ring announcer goes over the match card for the night, wrestlers come out to a perform a song-and-dance number or two.
The UpUpGirls have been the opener for teej (as the company is affectionately called by fans) for a long time. The current incarnation of that group is Miu Watanabe, Shino Suzuki, Raku, and Uta Takami. Their music bursts with energy; the performers are all kinds of peppy.
All of them trained as both wrestlers and idols. I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of the Japanese idol culture, but essentially it’s a popular subgenre of music featuring groups of young women (some of which are so massive they need subdivisions) who sing pop music. This ties heavily into the fabric of TJPW.
Watanabe and company are both idols and grapplers. Former International Princess champ Yuki Arai was first a well-known idol before ditching music for the mat. Maki Itoh, who remains a key figure for TJPW despite how much she now wrestles outside of Japan, has built her in-ring character around her real-life experience of getting fired from her idol group. She famously sings her own entrance music as she makes her way down to the action.
Many of the wrestlers who don’t sing onscreen share some of that bubbly/smiley energy typical of idol performers.
Still, there’s variety on the roster. Yes, many of the TJPW stars bring a similar cute-but-deadly vibe, but this is an ecosystem populated by memorable, standout characters.
Yuki Kamifuku is the snobby, cool woman who thinks she’s better than everyone else. Raku is a train-loving fighter in a yellow dress who can coax her foes into sleep mid-bout with her powerful lullabies. A masked superhero, a screaming coward, a karateka, a serial apologist all make up the colorful world of TJPW.
There are some ass-kickers in this kingdom, too (namely Toga, Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Aino, etc.), but comedy is central to the show. A lot of the lower card matches aren’t great from an in-ring standpoint because there’s a lot of character work and slapstick shtick at this level.
Just about every time out, you will see a woman kneeling on her opponent and apologizing for beating her up, Three Stooges-style eye pokes, pillows used as a weapon, a can of cold spray used to blind an opponent.
And several times a year TJPW will do full-on absurdist shows or matches, from a match on a moving bullet train to a team battle at a swimming pool.
Amid the comical air, however, there is plenty of drama. Wrestlers fail to beat their rivals or come just short of winning a prized championship. Tag partners and best friends are forced to do battle. An underdog team finally breaks through and wins the big one.
TJPW’s silliness allows it to stand out, but its storytelling is what gives it its heart and depth. Yuka Sakazaki’s rivalry/friendship with Mizuki over the years has been captivating. Hyper Misao’s turn toward darkness was one of the most compelling things I’ve seen in wrestling. Fans’ hearts swelled to double their size as Arisu Endo and Suzume (collectively known as Daisy Monkey) fought their way to victory in the Max Heart tag tourney and eventually won the Princess Tag Team Championships.
As mentioned above, some of the wrestling isn’t as good from a workrate standpoint as some of teej’s competition. At its peak (often in the main events) TJPW delivers some of the best bouts around (Mizuki vs. Rika Tatsumi from Grand Princess in March, I’m looking at you), but there’s a lot of stuff that is more fun than highlight reel material.
A part of that is the heavy incorporation of comedy, and some of it is that much of the roster is raw. That’s especially true right now as the company has made an emphatic effort to build up the next generation of stars.
Yeah, that means you’ll get some missteps between the ropes and some underwhelming performances, but it offers the audience a chance to watch talent blossom over time.
Wakana Uehara was solid as a rookie, but we’ve gotten to see her develop into a more magnetic presence and believable threat, now ready for a championship run. Shino Suzuki looks to be this year’s breakout star as her confidence surges as she gains experience. Hell, the OG TJPW fans got to see a lanky teenage Miyu Yamashita develop into a stone-cold killer and absolute ace of the company.
This is a promotion that rewards and requires patience.
Wrestlers will get their chances to shine. It just may be years upon years before they are crowned champ. TJPW, famously, is slow-moving to slide folks from the undercard to title status. But boy, as Miu Watanabe fans will tell you, when your longtime favorite finally summits that mountain, it’s an amazing thing to behold.
Championships
You will occasionally see TJPW host other titles from outside companies as it did with Raku holding the SETUP All Asia Women’s Championship and Yuki Kamifuku defending the SPW Queen of Asia Championship on TJPW shows.
As for the company’s actual titles, they have three. Let’s start with the Princess Tag Team Championship. The company introduced these tag belts in 2017, and we’ve since seen 18 reigns unfold. The mischievous duo of Hyper Misao and Shoko Nakajima, known together as Kyoraku Kyomei, are the current champions.
TJPW isn’t afraid to put top stars in the mix of this championship, either. Marquee stars like Yuka Sakazaki and Miyu Yamashita have been a regular sight in this scene over the years. In part, that’s why the tag scene reliably provides good in-ring action.
The International Princess Championship, established in 2019, is the company’s secondary title. It’s often been the home of battles between core roster members and guests from overseas. Thunder Rosa, Trish Adora, Billie Starkz, and Mia Yim are among the non-Japanese stars to compete for this crown.
The speedy, likable Suzume is the current titleholder having won it from Yuki Arai to kick off this year. With her talent and potential, she could well make hers one of the more memorable reigns we’ve seen.
The International Championship, though, has a bit of an underwhelming history and has lacked a clear identity so far.
TJPW’s top prize is the Princess of Princess Championship. It’s the oldest (est. 2016) and most prestigious of the promotion’s titles.
The fights over this gold and white belt have been some of the company’s most powerful and memorable matches of all time including Yuka Sakazaki vs. Mizuki-Wrestle Princess 2020, Shoko Nakajima vs. Rika Tatsumi-Summer Sun Princess 2022, and Miyu Yamashita vs. Miu Watanabe-Grand Princess 2024.
The Princess of Princess title (POP) has been how Miyu Yamashita has shown her dominance over the years, The Pink Striker winning it a record four times and boasting the longest reign of 484 days. It’s been the trophy that established Miu Watanabe as a top-tier star. It’s been at the center of the Sakazaki-Mizuki rivalry, the cause of much heartbreak for Maki Itoh, and a symbol of redemption for Shoko Nakajima.
Mizuki is currently in her second reign with that title, winning it from Miu Watanabe in January and fending off former champs Yamashita and Tatsumi to keep it in her grasp.
Big Events
Like many a Japanese company, TJPW starts off the year with a major show on January 4.
This for a long time was their no. 1 event, but that has since changed with competition from the many shows with “princess” in their name. Still, the Jan. 4 event is dependably entertaining and has often featured big title changes. It’s also tradition for it to host some ridiculous gimmick battle between Hyper Misao and Shoko Nakajima that could include everything from slamming each other onto Godzilla toys to snake magic.
The calendar then sees TJPW deliver Grand Princess in spring, Summer Sun Princess in late summer, and Wrestle Princess in the fall. There’s not a clear top show of the group. Some years it feels like Grand Princess is the event of the year with all its pageantry. Other times, Wrestle Princess has felt like the more important one as the rivalries culminate there or TJPW brings in big special guests.
In between Summer Sun Princess and Wrestle Princess, the majority of the roster competes in the Tokyo Princess Cup, a single-elimination tournament that grants the winner a shot at the top champion. We’ve seen a lot of good matches come out of this, and it’s been a place where rising stars have broken out. Miu Watanabe captured many a fan’s attention in the 2022 edition and Yuki Aino showed herself to be a formidable force in last year’s tourney.
Earlier in the year, TJPW has a collection of tag teams compete in the Max Heart Tournament. It’s also in single-elimination format and gives the winners a shot at the tag team titles.
This event is far younger than the Princess Cup (five years running compared to 11) and hasn’t produced nearly as many standout matches. It’s shown potential but has a long way to go to feel as prestigious and must-see as the Cup.
Key Wrestlers
Mizuki
The current Princess of Princess champion is deceptively dangerous. Never mind that she fights in a frilly white skirt and has a slender frame, once the bell rings, she claws and stomps her way to victory more often than not.
Mizuki is one of the more agile members of the roster and soars gracefully in the air. She’s a top-notch storyteller, too, as evidenced by the emotion she creates in her big bouts.
Her Whirling Candy move, where she defies the hell out of gravity spinning sideways at her foe, is simply spectacular.
Rika Tatsumi
The White Dragon is TJPW’s best overall wrestler in my opinion. She can give you the epic main event or thrive in a comedy clash. She’s technically sound, quick, a powerful striker, and excels in both singles and tag action.
Opponents have to look out for her hip attack and for her propensity to choke the life out of anyone in strangling range.
Arisu Endo
A blur in the ring. A babyface you can’t help but root for. The former tag champ (alongside Suzume) is a young star who brings high-energy offense night in and night out.
It’s as hard to keep with her in the ring as it is to keep up with what color her hair is this week.
Suzume
The current International Princess champ, Suzume was long known for her tag team with Endo, the duo dubbed Daisy Monkey.
Like her sister-in-arms, The Bee is athletic, acrobatic, and wrestles at an exciting pace. Plus, she’s got some of the best ring gear in the business with her sci-fi, bee-themed getup.
Yuki Arai
Arai came to TJPW with a built-in fanbase thanks to her being in the idol group SKE-48. She has since proved to be far more than a pop singer invading the pro wrestling world. She’s a star here, too.
Arai’s facial expressions and body language are among her biggest strengths. She makes you feel her pain and fury in the ring. That helps her to have matches that stand out even if she’s not as technically skilled as TJPW’s top tier.
Pom Harajuku
Pom’s shtick is an acquired taste with her child-like mannerisms and slapstick humor.
She squeals at her opponents before the bell rings. She kicks her foe’s shins like a frustrated toddler. She’s as likely to run away from a fight as she is to jump into the fray.
Pom is the comic relief, the coward that elevates the warriors, the clown in TJPW’s varied circus.
Pom Harajuku: The Peg on Which the Circus is Hung
Raku
You’re not going to find another wrestler like Raku. Who else do you know brings a pillow to battle every night? Who else often tries to take a quick nap before the match begins? Who else possesses the ability to sing softly to her foes and lull them to sleep right there on the mat?
Nobody. The train aficionado who looks about as intimidating as a Bluey character is one of one.
Miu Watanabe
A beacon of positive energy, Watanabe bounces down to the ring in her pink attire and hams it up in front of every camera within smiling range. She’s an impressive powerhouse who can swing more than one foe at a time. She’s the epitome of TJPW, a blend of ferocity and giddiness. When she adjusts her hair tie mid-match, watch out. That’s the sign that shit is about to go down.
Yuki Aino
The former tag team champ has since established herself as a strong addition to the singles division. She’s a powerhouse and dependable wrestler. In a place of wacky characters, though, she doesn’t exactly stand out.
Burning Venus is going to give us solid wrestling every night while essentially playing the straight man to the Rakus and Poms of this world.
Wakana Uehara
You’ll soon figure out why fans howl “WAKANAAAA!” so loudly during her matches. She’s one of the most likable figures on the roster and fun to watch in the ring. A rising star working to push her way up to teej’s higher tiers. When she’s not eating enough food to feed a rugby team, she’s cartwheeling her way toward a foe with bad intentions. She and Yuki Kamifuku began teaming up as Ober Eats.
Shoko Nakajima
Like Yamashita, Shoko is a TJPW original, there from the very first show. She’s known as The Biggest Kaiju, believing herself to be a giant monster despite her small stature. She’s a versatile performer who can bring you the dramatic title match or the slapstick comedy bout. Of late, she’s been doing a lot of the latter alongside tag partner Hyper Misao.
Hyper Misao
TJPW’s resident superhero will tell you before every match that she’s a defender of peace and justice, but her actions once the bell rings say otherwise. Misao will bend and break any rule you can write down. She nails opponents in the eyes with cold spray. She ties people up. She clobbers them with her personalized bicycle. There are plenty of laughs to be had during all of it.
Yuki Kamifuku
The Casual Beauty has every right to be as cocky as she is. She’s cool, charming, and easy on the eyes. Opponents have to watch out for both her eye poke and her using those long legs as dangerous weapons.
Shino Suzuki
The green-clad member of The UpUpGirls is poised to end 2025 as TJPW’s most improved wrestler. She has started to really stand out as her confidence and technical ability grow. “She Know” (get it?) has a killer sleeper hold, a move likely to get her some big wins soon.
Toga
A tall, hard-hitting rising star from Kanegawa. She debuted in March of 2023 and has since progressed at a notable rate. Her elbow strike is absolutely nasty.
Maki Itoh
Itoh is not around consistently anymore because she works so often with GCW and other American companies, but she’s still around, especially on the big shoes. She’s a spurned idol who now curses like a coal miner and is trigger happy with her middle finger.
Miyu Yamashita
The former centerpiece of the company has moved to more of a part-time role as she’s wrestled more and more often outside of Japan. Yamashita is a cold-blooded killer who overwhelms her foes with kicks. The Pink Striker’s Skull Kick is one of the most beautifully devastating finishers around.
Where to Watch
TJPW doesn’t often post full matches on YouTube, but you can get a sampling of some of the characters and moments from their page. They do have the following bouts up for free:
- Yuki Arai vs. Suzume-Positive Chain 2022
- HIMAWARI vs. Miyu Yamashita-January 3, 2023
- MIzuki & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Shino Suzuki & Andreza Giant Panda-All Rise 2024
- Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Rika Tatsumi & Mizuki vs. Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo
To fully explore the TJPW catalogue, fans have to check out the Wrestle Universe streaming service. Most of the shows stream live, and for the major events, TJPW brings in English-language commentators.
My recommendation is to just pop in a recent Grand Princess or Wrestle Princess show and watch from start to finish. You’re sure to find a personality that calls out to you.
Then you can dig around and get to know that wrestler. Along the way, you may fall in love with the ridiculous and riveting entity that is TJPW.
RESURA 