The 58th All-Japan Women’s Student Kendo Championships, an individual competition to determine the best university kendo player in Japan, will be held on the 29th at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo. When asked about the highlights of the women’s team at the World Championships to be held in Milan, Italy from July 4th, coach Takenaka Kentaro (professor at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, kendo instructor 8th dan), he mentioned the keywords “fourth-year students” and “first-year students.”[Written by Asatsuma Hiroyuki]
Hosei University’s Mizukawa: “Good to go, good to pull back”
Of the 10 female athletes selected to represent Japan in the World Championships, two are university students. One of them is Haruna Mizukawa (4th year student at Hosei University). She became the fifth athlete in history to win the All-Japan Women’s Student Championships twice in a row when she was a freshman and sophomore, and this year she is aiming for her third championship in two years.
“Mizukawa has strong offensive power and a wide variety of techniques, so I think she excels among student kendo practitioners. She can attack, retreat, attack, and respond. She doesn’t defend and look for gaps or mistakes in her opponent, but rather seeks out opportunities to strike, so she is very interesting to watch. I feel she has a lot of potential. I can see that she has been training well, so she is a favorite to win. However, she will be under pressure, so it will be difficult to keep up with her. From the perspective of the head coach of the World Championships, there is a big match coming up, so I expect her to ‘win the All Japan Championships and then head to Italy with momentum’.”
Last year, Mizukawa was aiming to become the first player in history to win three consecutive championships, but was surprisingly defeated in the second round.
“Because she can perform a variety of techniques, there is also the possibility that she will be hit. Athletes who are strong in individual matches will endure and keep fighting until they get the technique they want, even if they don’t have a wide variety of techniques, but Mizukawa is the type who will forcefully break through someone’s defense and strike. This creates openings, making her more susceptible to being countered. When I lost to Takagi (Chisa) from Pacific Rim University last year, it looked like she was going too hard and got beaten. In boxing, you don’t have to go down even if you get countered, but in kendo it comes down to ‘ippon’. The more aggressive the athlete, the more they want to get a point within the time limit.”
“University-based strength” – Talented fourth-year students
Many of the current fourth-year students have been producing results since their first year. This generation is said to have stood out for their high level.
“Their level is certainly high, but looking back on their high school days, I don’t think this year was particularly strong. This was the year that produced results in university kendo. This is true for Mizukawa, and Ryu and Hinako Kasa from Tsukuba University have both placed third in the All Japan Championships for three consecutive years. This is the generation in which the Inter-High School Championships (National High School Athletic Meet) were cancelled due to the coronavirus when they were in their third year of high school, so they may not have had a chance to show off their skills and their abilities may have gone unnoticed. If there were no tournaments like the Inter-High School Championships, they wouldn’t have been able to improve, but I think they made up for this by training hard when they entered university and building up their fundamental strength.”
In particular, the fourth-year students at Tsukuba University are among the best in high school.
“The three players from Tsukuba University, Iwamoto (Koko), Furukawa (Kanka), and Saito (Tomo), were top-class players in their high school days. Chuo University’s Ogawa (Mae) is also strong. Ogawa and Mizukawa are in the same league in the tournament, so it will be interesting if they advance to face each other. Kanoya University of Technology’s Minematsu (Kana) has also been active in team matches since she was a junior student, so she is strong.”
There are many talented underclassmen who have the potential to break into the top ranks.
“Beppu University’s Konakahara (Eika) was the runner-up in last year’s Inter-High School Championships, and it was Meiji University’s Monden (Rika) who beat her to win. Tsukuba University has Igarashi (Wakana) who made it to the quarterfinals of the Kanto Women’s Student Championships in May, and I’m also keeping an eye on Chuo University’s Murata (Yui). Although she’s only a first-year student, I think she has the potential to advance.”
Defending champion misses out, sets sights on World Championships
Kawai (Yona), a member of the World Championship team and the previous champion, was highly expected to win back-to-back titles, but she failed to advance in the Kanto Women’s Student Tournament and missed out on the right to participate.
“It’s a little sad, but it’s common in kendo for the All Japan champion to lose in a regional tournament, regardless of gender. However, I was surprised because I thought Kawai, along with Mizukawa, was the best in student kendo. I wondered if he would be okay mentally, but I saw him in a completely relaxed state during the training session for the World Championships in June, so I’m not worried. I’ve always told Kawai, ‘Don’t forget that this is a match that’s even more important than the Student Championships.’ Once you’ve been selected for the national team, it’s your absolute mission to make the World Championships a peak. He himself said, ‘I’ll do my best.'”
It will be interesting to see how the newcomers fare against the talented fourth-year students.
“The tournament will be dominated by talented fourth-year students, led by Mizukawa. I’m looking forward to seeing new talent emerge that can beat these fourth-year students.”