is a retired

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 ...

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sport ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...

in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

(national legislature). A native of

Yokohama, Kanagawa is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, she ran unsuccessfully for House of Councillors in 2004 but was allowed to join the house in 2006 when Heizo Takenaka, a member of the house, resigned. As a professional wrestler she worked for several women's promotions from the 1980s to the 2000s, including Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and its offshoot, Ladies' Legend Pro-Wrestling (LLPW), of which she became the president in 2002. She held several championships, including the LLPW Singles Championship in 1993 and 1997, and the

WWWA World Single Championship The was the top singles women's professional wrestling championship in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) from 1970 until it closed in 2005. It was also known in ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' and other London Publishing wrestling magazines as ...

in 1998. During her career, Kandori also had some hardcore matches. On March 14, 1997, Kandori had a bloody deathmatch, where the ring ropes were replaced with

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

, against

Megumi Kudo is a Japanese entertainment personality and former professional wrestler. She wrestled under her maiden name for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling, where she became the top star of the Women's Division. Kudo is primarily known for competing in bru ...

FMW Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...

Judo

Kandori captured the bronze medal at the 1984 World Judo Championships. She later planned to compete at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, but halfway to the Olympics she lost motivation for judo competition. Kandori considered becoming a trainer, but she became interested on

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, and eventually retired from judo in order to pursue a wrestling career.

Professional wrestling career

Japan Women's Pro Wrestling (1986-1987)

Kandori joined the recently established Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling in 1986. Riding on her background as a judo medalist, she adopted the gimmick of an arrogant martial artist, stating in an interview that she hated professional wrestling and that she could defeat

Dump Matsumoto , better known by her ring name , is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler. She came to prominence as one of the leading female wrestlers in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling during the 1980s. The longtime leader of the stable Gokuaku Domei ...

in ten seconds.Futabasha Super Mook, ''Our Wrestling Vol.6'' Before the time of her debut, she trained under

Kotetsu Yamamoto , known by his ring name was a Japanese professional wrestler, referee, and color commentator for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He was named "''Kotetsu''" ("Little Iron") by former Japanese pro wrestler Toyonobori after the famous knight, Aizu-No-K ...

and

Yoshiaki Fujiwara is a Japanese Professional Wrestler and trainer. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style promotion Universal Wr ...

in the

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 ...

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...

, where she got to

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

with male wrestlers thanks to her athleticism and skill. Kandori ultimately debuted in JWP debut show on August 17, 1986 against

Jackie Sato , better known as was a professional wrestler from Yokohama, Japan. In the 1970s, while wrestling for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW), she formed the tag team, the Beauty Pair, with Maki Ueda. Following in the steps of Mach Fumiake, the Bea ...

. With her popularity quickly rising, Kandori came to be considered one of JWP's shitenno along with Sato, Rumi Kazama and Nancy Kumi. Her real life relationship with Sato, however, would sour after Sato gave Kandori a real eye injury during a match. In a match on July 6, 1987, Sato went off script and legitimately attacked Kandori, hitting repeatedly her still healing eye, without being warned or punished by the promotion afterwards. The situation finally exploded in an infamous incident on July 18, 1987, when Kandori attacked Sato in revenge and beat her on the ring for several minutes, inflicting injuries that led to Sato's retirement. Kandori left the company after the incident and tried to join

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held their first card on June 4 of that y ...

, having contacted with its main star

Chigusa Nagayo is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for her mainstream popularity in the 1980s as a member of the tag team ''Crush Gals'' with long-time partner Lioness Asuka. She was the founder of the GAEA Women's Professional Wrestling organizatio ...

, but was unable to do so due to contractual reasons.

Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling (1993–present)

Kandori made her debut for Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling on January 15, 1993 by teaming up with

Mikiko Futagami better known by her ring name (often stylized in capital letters as GAMI) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler best known for her tenure with the Japanese promotions Pro Wrestling Wave, Arsion and JWP Joshi Puroresu. Professional wrestl ...

and losing to Eagle Sawai and

Harley Saito Sayori Saito (斉藤さより) (December 21, 1967 – December 15, 2016) was a Japanese professional wrestler, who performed under the name of Harley Saito (ハーレー斉藤). She spent much of her career for Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling. Ca ...

. For the first couple of months, Kandori would mostly compete in tag team matches with

Rumi Kazama was a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter. Along with Shinobu Kandori, she co-founded the promotion Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling. Personal life and career Born Rumie Saito (斉藤ルミエ), Rumi Kazama was a kickboxer in high school. I ...

, Miki Handa and

. On August 29, Kandori defeated Harley Saito in the semi final of the LLPW Singles Championship Tournament and went on to defeat Eagle Sawai in the finals to become the LLPW Singles Champion. Kandori defended the championship twice against Eagle Sawai and eventually lost it to

Noriyo Tateno (born December 1, 1965) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who is best known as one half of the tag team Jumping Bomb Angels with Itsuki Yamazaki. She worked in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, WWF and has been working in Ladies Le ...

on September 23, 1994. Kandori continued to wrestle for LLPW for the next few years with nothing of any note happening until June 20, 1996, when she teamed up with Karula and Rumi Kazama to lose to Carol Midori,

and Yasha Kurenai for the vacant LLPW Tag Team Championship. On November 8, 1997, Kandori defeated Eagle Sawai for her second LLPW Single Championship. On March 21, 1998, Kandori defeated

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 ...

to become the WWWA World Single Champion and held the title for almost a year before losing it back to Hotta on March 10, 1999. Later in the year, Kandori lost the LLPW Single Championship to Harley Saito. In 2002, Kandori became the president of Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling. On January 25, 2004, Kandori and

Takako Inoue is a Japanese professional wrestler. She wrestled primarily for the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling promotion, and held several championships, primarily in tag team wrestling. She was well known as one-half of the tag team Double Inoue, which ...

defeated

Amazing Kong Kia Stevens (born September 4, 1977) is an American actress and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)/Impact Wrestling under the ring name Awesome Kong. She also worked with Ring ...

and Eagle Sawai to become the LLPW Tag Team Champions and lost the titles on May 30 to Eiger and Sayuri Okino.

Mixed martial arts career

Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling

As a former judo medalist, Kandori made her debut in the

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 ...

as part of the ''Ultimate L-1 Tournament'' promoted by LLPW in 1995. She first faced kickboxer Liz Africano in the first round and defeated her with ease, taking her down and locking a

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keiko ...

on her overwhelmed opponent. Kandori then advanced to the second round, where she fought wrestler Fieni Klee. Although Klee sprawled to a takedown attempt and locked a

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compare to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

, Shinobu was able to escape and take her back, winning by rear naked choke again. At the finals, Kandori's last opponent would be multiple judo medalist Svetlana Goundarenko, who outweighed Kandori by 100 lbs. Goundarenko pressed Shinobu against the fence to avoid her striking and attempted a hip throw, but Kandori blocked it. After a brief punch combo by Kandori, however, Svetlana finally took Shinobu down and overpowered her, locking a

neck crank In combat sports, a spinal lock is a multiple joint lock applied to the spinal column, which is performed by forcing the spine beyond its normal ranges of motion. This is typically done by bending or twisting the head or upper body into abnormal po ...

and making Kandori tap out. In 1998, Kandori fought a rematch against Goundarenko, again in a LLPW event. Cornered by former

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

champion

Koji Kitao Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: *Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 *Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 *Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...

, Shinobu showed an improved submission defense, while her opponent fought more cautiously. Goundarenko threw Shinobu with ura nage and tried to smother her from the back, but the pro wrestler escaped. Then, blocking a hip throw and a

kata guruma is one of the traditional forty throws of judo as developed by Kano Jigoro. Kata guruma belongs to the third group of the traditional throwing list in the ''Gokyo no waza'' of the Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kod ...

attempt, Kandori took her back and closed a guillotine choke, forcing Goundarenko into submission for the win.

Rizin

Kandori was expected to face

Gabi Garcia Gabrielle "Gabi" Lemos Garcia is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, 9x Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) World Champion, 11x Pan Jiu-Jitsu Champion and 4 X ADCC Submission Fighting World champion. One of the most successful competitors of all time in th ...

on December 31, 2016, at Rizin Fighting Federation's year-end show in

Saitama, Japan is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. Being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lying ...

. However, a rib injury forced her to pull out of the fight. She was replaced by Yumiko Hotta. Kandori was set to face Garcia again on December 31, 2017, but this time the fight was canceled due to Garcia missing weight by .

Championships and accomplishments

(1 time) * Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling ** Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Rumi Kazama ** UWA World Women's Championship * Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling ** LLPW Singles Championship (2 times) ** LLPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with

* ''

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...

'' **

Joshi Puroresu Grand Prize The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' magazine annually since 1974. The most publicized awards in Japanese professional wrestling, they are recognized by all the major pr ...

(1995, 1998)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 4-1 ,

, Submission (armbar) , LLPW - L-1 2000: The Strongest Lady , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 7:50 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3-1 , Svetlana Goundarenko , Submission (guillotine choke) , LLPW - Ultimate L-1 Challenge , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:08 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 2-1 , Svetlana Goundarenko , Submission (neck crank) , LLPW - Ultimate L-1 Tournament , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:55 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2-0 , Fieni Klee , Submission (rear naked choke) , LLPW - Ultimate L-1 Tournament , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:56 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1-0 , Liz Africano , Submission (rear naked choke) , LLPW - Ultimate L-1 Tournament , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:42 ,

, Japan ,

Notes

References

External links

Official website
in Japanese. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kandori, Shinobu Female members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Japanese female professional wrestlers Japanese female judoka Japanese female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Japanese sportsperson-politicians People from Yokohama Sportspeople from Yokohama 1964 births Living people Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Politicians from Kanagawa Prefecture