New faces at All Japan Championships for women

At the first day of the All Japan Championships on Saturday Hibiki Shiraishi won the 52kg weight class for the second year in a row. She had been injured at last year’s Kodokan Cup and had a blank, but was in good condition.

In the first round, Shiraishi eliminated the stubborn Chishima Maeda in 4:45 with a “Shido 3”, and in the semifinals, she defeated the top seed Ai Shishime. She silenced Shishime with a right Seoi-nage, right Kouchi-gari, and right Osoto-otoshi from a unique process of swinging her right leg wide, and took the third “Guidance”.

In the final, Shiraishi had her own Tsuri-te fixed by Kodokan Cup champion Kisumi Omori, and she lost the two Shido by failing to prevent Ashi-guruma attacks by Omori. However, when she changed her kumite pattern and began to access opponent’s sleeves with Hiki-te, she regained the flow. He attacked with a right Seoi-nage and right Kouchi-gari, and at 2:15 of the GS overtime, he decided the match with an Osoto-otoshi “Waza-ari” connected from a right Seoi-nage.

Tomoka Arakawa, who had just graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University in March and had not yet won a national championship, won the 48kg division, which was filled with fresh faces. It was a surprise result that no one expected. In the final, Arakawa had a tough time against last year’s World Junior champion Hikari Yoshioka, and lost “Shido 2” point. However, Arakawa came to life in the GS overtime when Yoshioka was given a false attack penalty to tie the score. She continued to press forward, then Yoshioka, impatient to win quickly, dove head first into the Sode-tsurikomi-goshi to create a gyration. This “head dive” action made Yoshioka being declared the loser by “direct foul” and the match ended, and Arakawa won the big title in a surprising way. Arakawa said, “This was my first time to participate in this top-level tournament. I was surrounded by great fighters. I fought with the intention of simply challenging them, so I wasn’t nervous,” she said with a big smile on her face.

She was focused on judo itself, not nervous, and , not worrying about what kind of honor she would get. This attitude brought her luck.

The -57kg division was also won by a Tokyo Gakugei University graduate, 25-year-old Ayami Takano. In the difficult first round, he beat second-seeded Momo Tamaki by “Kyodo 3” in 3:57 of the GS overtime, and in the semifinals, he defeated Akari Omori by Sumi-otoshi “Waza-ari” in the GS overtime marked by the semi-final. In the final, he won with a “Shido 3” after 7 minutes and 29 seconds against Tsukasa Yoshida. She defeated the gold and silver medalists of the World Championships one after the other. It was a great result and deserved to win the championship.