, better known as Akino, (born October 24, 1973 in Tokyo, Japan) is a female

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

''joshi wrestler'', signed to

Oz Academy is a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling promotion founded by Mayumi Ozaki. The promotion's full official name is . In addition to the contracted members of the roster, Oz Academy has also employed some of the top freel ...

. Billed from

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

, she started late in the sport and didn't debut until the age of 24. Trained by

Mariko Yoshida is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . She is best known for her work with the ARSION professional wrestling promotion, where she was also head trainer. Professional wrestling career Yoshida debuted for All Japan ...

, she proved to have an innate ring presence and excelled at the sport.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Akino debuted in the newly formed federation

Arison The Arison family is a Romanian-Israeli-American business family. Moshe and Sarah Arison immigrated to Ottoman Palestine from Romania in 1882, and were among the founders of the town of Zikhron Ya'akov. Their eldest son was Meir Arison, who was th ...

(then run by

Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestling promotion and has won several championships in both singles and tag team divisions throughout her career, prima ...

) as Mika Akino. In her first months she floated around and tagged with fellow rookie

Ayako Hamada is a Mexican professional wrestler. During her 20-year career, Hamada wrestled for various promotions, including All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, Gaea Japan and Pro Wrestling Wave in Japan, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Lucha Lib ...

now and again. Her most notable match was for the

Queen of Arsion Championship The Queen of Arsion Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion promotion. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title was won as a result of a scripted match. The cham ...

, against her mentor, Yoshida. This match is considered by some to be the quintessential rookie versus veteran match of the 1990s, and both women were praised for their performance. It wasn't long before Akino was repackaged as Akino, and placed in the

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

called "Cazai", or Girls with Attitude. Fellow members included tag team partner Hamada, Ai Fujita, and

Candy Okutsu , (born January 16, 1975), is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, best known under the ring name . She is also known for her brief stint as , the female version of Tiger Mask. Career Candy Okutsu made her professional wrestling debut on ...

. The heel stable gain notoriety and popularity within Arison. Hamada and Akino eventually won the

Twin Star of Arsion Championship The Twin Star of Arsion Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion promotion. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title was won as a result of a scripted match. ...

, which set the stage for possibly both women's biggest match in 1999. Wrestling as "HamaKINO", the two champions entered a storyline with popular tag team "LCO" (Las Cachorrus Orientales), made up of

Mima Shimoda is a Japanese female professional wrestling, professional wrestler, who is working for the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Japanese promotion World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana. She is most well kno ...

and Estuko Mita. The story culminated in a bloody brawl that was later considered one of the matches of the year. Held at the Carnival '99 show, the match skyrocketed the popularity of HamaKINO, and cemented the two women as draws for the promotion. The group split up later, and Akino went on to win the

Sky High of Arsion Championship The Sky High of Arsion Championship was a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion promotion. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title was won as a result of a scripted match. The c ...

from Chaparita ASARI. Kong left ARSION after disputes with Rossy Ogawa, and ''joshi'' legend

Lioness Asuka is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by her ring name . Along with long-time tag team partner Chigusa Nagayo she formed Crush Gals, known for their mainstream popularity in the 1980s, and for being one of the most successful ...

took her place. Hamada left not long after, and AKINO stayed. While she never won the Queen of Arsion Championship, she was involved in several spotlight storylines and matches, including tagging with Asuka and competing against Michiko Ohmukai.

Leaving Arison

After Asuka left, wrestler

Yumiko Hotta is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Hotta was trained by and started her career in the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion in June 1985. She worked for the promotion until 2003, becoming a three-time WWWA ...

took over and renamed Arison AtoZ. In 2003, Akino parted ways with the promotion, and declared herself a freelancer. Her mentor and friend Yoshida left AtoZ as well, as did wrestler Baby-M (at that time billed as Baby-A). Akino began performing with other promotions, like Jd' and JWP. She also began training in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

(MMA), and competed at the ''LoveImpact'' show, on February 8, 2004. She KO'd her opponent, a middle cup tournament winner, less than a minute into the match. She also competed at the ''SmackGirl'' show, on August 5, 2004, and went all three rounds against her opponent, winning by split decision. During this time Akino wrestled primarily in Jd', JWP, and

Gaea In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes partheno ...

Forming M's Style

After leaving AtoZ, Akino joined with three other ''joshi'' wrestlers to form a new promotion. Her longtime friend Mariko Yoshida and fellow Arison wrestler Michiko Ohmukai joined her, and rising star

Momoe Nakanishi , née , born July 7, 1980 is a Japanese people, Japanese retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by her Married and maiden names, maiden name, . Nakanishi made her debut for the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) in ...

also jumped on board. The name of their promotion, M's Style, stemmed from the fact that all four women's first names started with the letter "M". M's Style held its first show in April 2004. At the time, the promotion was thought to be the future of ''joshi puroresu'', and had been rumored to be working with ''puroresu'' powerhouse

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

. Nothing came of the partnership, and the promotion suffered another blow. Momoe Nakanishi announced her retirement the same year, with nagging injuries being among the top reasons. Many in the ''joshi'' fan community considered this a death knell for M's Style, and expected the promotion to go under. It has stayed open. Running a show once a month, AKINO and Ohmukai still remain, with Yoshida occasionally wrestling, though she left to open Ibuki to train up the next generation of ''joshi'' wrestlers.

Present

M's Style closed in the Fall of 2006. After the final show, Akino announced she would be taking some time off from wrestling to let a lingering neck injury heal up. While still teaching classes at U-FILE, she has scaled her wrestling appearances back dramatically, appearing in an

show in January 2007 and in the

Jaguar Yokota (born July 25, 1961) is a Japanese professional wrestler and later wrestling trainer, who wrestled under the name . She is widely considered one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time, and, during her heyday in the early 1980s, was consid ...

show on March 11, 2007. In the meantime, she has taken up golfing and currently travels with a female golfer, Sakura, acting as her caddy while competing in tournaments herself. One of her most notable students, who was also trained by Yoshida, is

Ayumi Kurihara (born July 13, 1984) is a retired '' joshi puroresu '' wrestler. Professional wrestling career Kurihara entered training with the women's pro wrestling promotion AtoZ and then transferred to M's Style, where she learned the craft from well-kn ...

, who has tagged with Akino several times and also wrestled in M's Style. Akino has held tag championships with Ranmaru and

Tsubasa Kuragaki is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . For most of her career, Kuragaki has worked for JWP Joshi Puroresu, becoming a one-time JWP Junior and two-time JWP Openweight Champion as a singles wrestler. As a tag team ...

, and has held many singles titles as both Akino and her heel alter-ego noki-A. Akino returned in mid-2007, working primarily with Oz Academy while freelancing with Pro Wrestling WAVE and performing in special shows held by

Fuka Fuka, Fūka or Fuuka may refer to: * Fūka (given name), a feminine Japanese given name * ''Fuuka'' (manga), a Japanese manga series * Fukah, a village in northern Egypt, referred to as Fuka in a World War II context **Sidi Haneish Airfield Si ...

. She is currently a member of Aja Kong's Jungle Jack 21 stable along with

Hiroyo Matsumoto (born November 6, 1985) is Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. Emi Sakura gave her the nickname of because Matsumoto broke a wall in the Ichigaya arena during her Ice Ribbon debut. She is best known with other w ...

and

Tomoka Nakagawa is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. After being trained by Taka Michinoku, she started her career in his Kaientai Dojo promotion in September 2004. After leaving Kaientai Dojo in 2007, Nakagawa briefly joined Ibuki, where she underwent ...

. On April 24, 2013, Akino defeated

Chikayo Nagashima is a Japanese professional wrestler. She started her career in 1995, working for the Gaea Japan promotion, where she became a one-time AAAW Single Champion and a record five-time AAAW Tag Team Champion. She was also notably one of the four fou ...

to win the

Oz Academy Openweight Championship The Oz Academy Openweight Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Oz Academy promotion. The reigning champion is referred to as the " Wizard of Oz". The championship, which is situated at the top of Oz Academy's ...

for the first time. After a record-breaking eighteen-month reign, she lost the title to Tsubasa Kuragaki on October 13, 2014. She regained the title on May 17, 2015, only to lose it to

Mio Shirai is a Japanese former professional wrestler and current professional wrestling referee. She started her career in March 2007, working alongside her sister Io Shirai on the Japanese independent circuit for promotions such as Ice Ribbon, JWP Jo ...

on June 7. On December 11, 2016, following

Dynamite Kansai is a retired Japanese female professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . Career Chieko Suzuki was born on December 4, 1969, and was raised in Kyoto, Japan. In 1986 she auditioned for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW), but wa ...

's retirement, Akino officially signed with Oz Academy, ending her days as a freelancer.

Championships and accomplishments

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held th ...

All Pacific Championship The All Pacific Championship was the secondary singles women's professional wrestling title in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling or AJW. The belt was started as the Hawaiian Pacific Championship in 1977 and was renamed the All Pacific Championship ...

( 1 time) *

Arsion Arsion (full official name Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion; frequently styled as ARSION) was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1997 by Aja Kong. The first event took place on February 18, 1998 and was ca ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) **

( 1 time) - with

JWP Joshi Puroresu , also known as or simply JWP, was a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion, founded in 1992 as a splinter promotion of Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. Celebrating its 25th anniversary at the time of its folding in 2 ...

JWP Tag Team Championship The JWP Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. The championship was introduced on August 9, 1992, when Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki defeated Dynamite Kansai and Sumiko ...

( 1 time) - with

(

) **

Oz Academy Tag Team Championship The Oz Academy Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Oz Academy professional wrestling promotion. The championship was introduced on July 13, 2008, when Carlos Amano and Dynamite Kansai defeated Chik ...

( 5 times) - with

(1),

Kaho Kobayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer. Kobayashi was trained by Yoshihiro Tajiri and Makoto, making her debut in June 2013 for Wrestling New Classic. Since debuting, she has worked extensively for Pro Wrestling ...

(1),

Ran Yu-Yu Ran, RaN and ran may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa * "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea * '' Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) * ...

(2) and

Sonoko Kato is a Japanese professional wrestler. She made her debut in April 1995, working for Gaea Japan, where she became one half of the inaugural AAAW Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. After becoming a two-time winner of the High Spurt 600 Tourn ...

(1) ** Best Bout Award (2014) vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki on October 13 ** Best Tag Team Match Award (2012) with Ayumi Kurihara vs.

and

on August 19 ** MVP Award (2013)

References

External links

Sky Perfect
AKINO's official website, includes blog. In Japanese

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akino, Mika 1973 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers Japanese female professional wrestlers Living people People from Adachi, Tokyo People from Tokyo People from Tokyo Metropolis Sportspeople from Tokyo Sportspeople from Tokyo Metropolis Oz Academy Openweight Champions Oz Academy Tag Team Champions