見出し画像

Kakuta Nao: The Physical Embodiment of Perseverance

UP UP BOYS | KAI

It goes without saying, that we often feel overwhelmed by the daily tasks of everyday life. Waking up, going to work, arriving home late from work, only one or two days off a week, then do it all over again. No time for hanging out, some of us have kids, and some of us were thrown into this world with little to no opportunities or room for freedom to do what we want. Most of us i'd say feel trapped where we are currently in life, and sometimes choose to do nothing to make it better sadly. I personally work 2 jobs and go to school full time, so it's easy to fall into that cycle of never ending work and exhaustion. However, if I want something, I will make the time and dedicate time to it. I want to touch up on someone who I related to a lot more than I initially thought. Someone who could've easily fell into that perpetual hole of despair and monotomy of everyday life. However… she did not succumb to such things, and not only did she overcome them, she fought a hard battle to get there. For that, I will forever admire her. 

In my last article, I wrote about my favorite wrestler of all time, Hikari Noa. However, no one truly ever rides the waves of life alone, so who was she paired with? 

ENTER NAO KAKUTA: THE RATCHASER 

When I first got into TJPW, I remember skipping a lot of undercard and midcard matches. I mostly skipped to watch Kamiyu's, Maki Itoh's, and especially Hikari Noa's matches. I can't exactly remember what match it was, but I remember it was an event at KFC Hall, and she was paired with Hikari at the time. I do however, remember she was wearing this specific gear:

The first ring gear i've witnessed Kakuta-San wearing

I remember seeing her make her entrace to Hikari's song [ROCK BOTTOM] but seeing her ring gear, her pose at the turnbuckle, and even her smile was enough to get me interested in her. I remember seeing her and saying to myself, "Wow, I love her ring gear, and she's cute! Why haven't I taken notice of her earlier?" I remember seeing her first outfit and thinking, "This looks like something my grandfather would've wore while he served in the US military, but with her own style".  I completely started watching full on TJPW events because of Kakuta-san, because I wanted to not only see her matches, but I wanted to discover what other players TJPW had to offer.

I eventually met Kakuta-san at Wrestlecon 2023, she is a very sweet lady, and even joked around with me a tiny bit. Here is the one photo I took with her: 

UP UP BOY + THE RATCHASER
Kakuta-san saying hello to me! (TJPW LOS ANGELES)

To be honest, I don't remember much of the conversations that we had, but I still remember how I was instructed to type my name on my notepad in English so that she could properly write my name. I used my real name, and I showed her so that she could sign the portrait I bought of her. I still remember the font size on my phone being too small and her pretending to tap my head as if she were scolding me, and giving me a funny look a disapproval as a joke. I felt comfortable with her, that she was able to make a joking gesture with me despite it being the very first time I met her. It was cute! I will never forget it. 

Even though I was a pretty casual fan of hers, what really changed my mind for me completly was her match with Mizuki for the POP Title. It was physical, it became brutal at times, and it was a beautiful story of Nao finally getting her shot to become the champion. It was also quite a telling story of her and Mizuki's rivarly in the promotion.

The match that completely made Nao one of my favorite wrestlers

I won't dive in too much with every single interaction i've ever had with Kakuta-san, but I will tell you this much:

We are more similar then I had initially thought. 

The 3 main aspects I wanted to touch up on that make me such a big fan of Kakuta-san are:

  • Our mutual background in working with kids

  • Our mutual background in stageplay 

  • Her response to challenges in life

Born in Togane, Chiba Prefecture Kakuta-san originally had a career as nursery school/ kindergarten educator (Something to that nature). To my understanding, her first major job was as a former civil servant as her past job title. According to the articles where I had been gathering information, she was also the youngest in her workplace. What really hit home for me was that she was bullied and ridiculed at work as well for being young. It got so hard for her that she was hospitalized from the stress, and she had eventually quit altogether. Something we also shared in common was our background in stageplay. I won't dive into this too much, but it certainly is something that isn't as common with wrestlers. There are some that do both, but it's such a small number in comparison to the large majority that do not participate in stageplay. Also, yes, they are technically on a stage and it is a performance, but stageplay by itself, and pro wrestling are two completely different things. When I was in private school for a brief period of time, it was apart of our cirriculum to participate in plays. Which means, it was MANDATORY. WE had to do it for a grade. I played minor roles, but eventually worked my way up to larger roles as I got better at memorizing lines and being able to break my nervousness from performing in front of people. We would spend HOURS AND HOURS practicing as a classroom, and my time on stage would rack up to anymore between 10 seconds or hours at a time once a year in front of a few hundred people. It was a lot of preparation and work for something that could potentially be so short, but the payoff was beautiful with family and friends gathering to watch you perform. It was very shortlived, but after seeing some of Kakuta-san's stageplays, it was very apparent to me that we shared something in common in terms of being actors.  

I didn't know about any of this when I initially became a fan… but allow me to explain why this hits home for me. There is a much deeper meaning to this. This was the first time I had saw myself in Kakuta-San. 

When I was in my early 20's I worked in various childcare centers, and volunteered countless hours. I loved working in childcares and as a teacher. I wanted to make the difference and impact in my students lives, the same way my favorite teachers did. I even eventually received proper classes to teach overseas and was granted my TEFL to teach ESL (English as a second language) overseas pretty much anywhere in the world. I remember studying so hard in America, practicing how to become an educator overseas, learning all the various methods and lesson plans, and eventually chose Thailand. I would even find my way towards Vietnam, Mayalsia, and my second home, Japan. The job, my students, and even the location was everything I wanted and more. I was able to live independently, had a lot of friends, own a few vehicles, and lived with my girlfriend at the time. However, even after all the successes, victories, and job titles I had received, I eventually quit due to stress and politics of work. I was also made fun of for being the youngest in my job, and I was constantly under the pressure of performing up to par compared to the veteran teachers. Like Kakuta-san I was pushed to my mental and physical limits causing me to get ill from work. Plenty of others in the office also dismissed me simply because I was younger amongst the other teachers. I believe to this day, I am, and will probably ever be their youngest teacher to teach in their facility. Despite this, I take that achievement with pride. Besides, if I was riduculed and put under tremendous stress, I may as well accept the fruits of labor that I have earned.

Sometimes in life, there are just too many external sources you can't control and politics that aren't in your favor that no amount of training or schooling can prepare you for.  If you've ever worked extremely hard for something you are passionate about, or at least working towards something you thought you were passionate about,  It is extremely disheartening, discouraging, and it completely warps your perception about your future and to us, your identity. You go to school for years and years and years, and dump countless hours and money into a career that you think about day in and day out, but it just doesn't go to plan despite your hardest efforts. If you understand what i'm feeling, then you know what the feeling of being depleted of joy and effort feels like. Everything feels like no matter what you did, or how you did it, it just simply went to waste. It may sound dramatic to some, however, most of us do not even take that leap to do what we dream of. Even when we do, sometimes it just doesn't work out, but at least we can wear that badge of honor saying we put in the work and that we truly tried our hardest. Besides, if you've ever been the in same situation we've been in, then you understand that sometimes that's the kind of push you need to take yourself to the next chapter of life to make yourself stronger. Kakuta-san, to an extent I understand you, and it is a big reason why I look up to you, you understand this pain we share. 

Despite this, she never truly gave up. The details are a bit foggy, when translated to English, but she worked various jobs in between the civil servant position and eventually her becoming a pro wrestler. Which brings me to the last and final thing that I truly love about Kakuta-San…

She has such an admirable and unforgettable way of adapting to the challenges of life. 

Although I do know Kakuta-san personally, going from someone who works with children, then eventually working as a pro wrestler is an impressive way to turn the tides of your own life. Imagine if I had quit my government paid job with insurance, contracted salary, with promised vacation, and benefits to become a pro wrestler? It sounds UNREAL, almost like a fantasy, but saying that out loud to yourself sounds like such a change of pace to your life and an interesting shift in careers. 

This is what I love about Kakuta-san. She didn't give up, she kept fighting and found her way.

Although it may sound elementary and so basic to a lot of you reading this, but how many of you personally know became a civil servant then a wrestler? I'm not talking about having the knowledge about knowing someone that has done that before, i'm talking about someone in your everyday life or have met that has done that before. I'm willing to bet you about 99% of you would say you don't know anyone, and that's fine, I would never expect you to, but it truly shows how truly unique Kakuta-san is and her path to becoming authentic self. I understand why most people would see her character and see her as ordinary, but the journey itself was anything but ordinary, and even moreso why I admire her as a person. 

There is a clear line between fiction and reality in the world of pro wrestling, her having no belt for the longest time, but then eventually having one tells a beautiful story of perserverance and very telling message to me personally: "Once a door harshly closes on you, sometimes it will snap shut with a lock with no key, however another one will open for you and shine even brighter, you just have to find it." Although it sounds very cliche, it's truly beautiful once you experience these things for yourself. So many people want to talk and judge you for your experiences, but in the end, all we have is the friends, sometimes family, and the scars we accumulate overtime to tell our own beautiful stories that the ones we love will understand and appreciate it for what is truly is. 

Of course, I should include my last few interactions with Kakuta-san, I saw her in Los Angeles again, Chiba (the prefecture she's from), and eventually Minato. 

As previously mentioned in my Hikari Noa article, I designed t-shirts and banners of Free Wi-fi to really make them feel love and appreciated while in America. I'd say I did a pretty good job, I expressed Hikari's joys about her seeing the t-shirts and flowers, but how did Nao feel? Well, I'll let the photos speak for themselve:

Kakuta-san receiving her flowers from me!
Kakuta-san signing the banner I designed for Her and Hikari
The signed banner + Checkis of Free Wi-Fi!
T-shirt design of Free Wi-fi that I had prepared for Combat Princess.
Selfie with Kakuta-San! Congratulations on your [V3]!

If you've read my last article on Hikari… well, you know how I felt about that situation when I came to Japan. Luckily, a lot of my friends, family, and even the players in TJPW cheered me up, and gave me lots of courage. Kakuta-san gave me a lot of energy to keep enjoying my time in Japan despite what had happened:

2-Shot with Kakuta-San. I'm always a fan of the heart hand signs, thank you for doing this with me!
1-shot, taken shortly after the 2-shot!
The last time I ever saw Kakuta-san! I told her I had written a letter to Cyberfight so that she could read it one day…. I hope she received it! : )

As if previously mentioned, I had a pretty rough start during my Japan trip, but despite that… I still made so many beautiful memories. Thank you to everyone for turning a potentially sad trip into one of the best vacations i've ever had! Lastly, before I left, I even sent Hikari-san and Kakuta-san letters: 

Letters to Free Wi-fi, sent from a local post office in Ikebukuro during my stay in Japan.

To conclude everything, here are a few projects that i've dedicated solely to Kakuta-san. I've made T-shirts, videos, and even this article itself. 

The first of which is a MV I made. I mixed it with a popular classic song: Misery Business (by Paramore), but in Japanese (This version would be performed by Sunrise Skater Kids). I wanted to connect with my dear friends overseas, while simultaneously relating with my friends in America. It's a very popular song in America, but I wanted to put a twist on it by adding Japanese subtitles.  I hope you enjoyed in Kakuta-san, I worked pretty hard on it :)

And of course… the t-shirts i've made of Kakuta-san:

If you've made it this far in my article, I just wanted to say thank you so much for sticking around. Kakuta-san really is a beloved player amongst the roster, with such an incredible backstory. It's such a great underdog story that has a  lot of pain, perserverance, losses, victories, heartbreak, and a resolute end. Luckily… she was able to finish up on her own terms with a smile on her face. I will forever admire you Kakuta-san! Please enjoy retirement, and I will continue to support you if you ever decide to come back to the public again. Until then, thank you for everything you've done for me personally, I hope we cross paths one day even for a moment, and I hope you have a wonderful life life post-retirement!

YOUR FAN FROM AMERICA,
-UP UP BOYS | KAI

Nao Kakuta Forever <3


この記事が気に入ったらサポートをしてみませんか？