Sakura Emi interview

Sakura Emi

Yesterday Ice Ribbon owner Emi Motokawa AKA Sakura Emi did a comprehensive interview to promote the release of the Resident Evil Afterlife video game in Japan. She talks about her start in the joshi business, how she quit and then returned by accident. Of course this eventually turned into Ice Ribbon which has grown to a point but does she want to go to the next level? She seems unsure. I doubt that she wants to make the necessary changes to facilitate growth. And there's new competition on the horizon. Emi was born Apr. 10, 1976 in Chiba. She made her ring debut in 1995. But by 1999, she suffered a serious neck injury that forced her to quit wrestling. Like a lot of joshi wrestlers, she also wasn't making any money. So after six months rest, she still wanted to quit because of the money. She couldn't afford to pay her rent. She was a popular wrestler. But Emi says that if you're listed in the wrestling magazines and you can't afford to buy the magazine, what is the point? So she quietly quit the joshi business and took a regular job. While looking for volunteer work, she decided she could teach wrestling to children. She did not intend to return to pro wrestling. It started as an after school program with 200 kids enrolled. Then she started demonstrating pro wrestling moves and enough of the children were interested in learning that she thought she could put on small shows. She called it GTKN. But it was never intended to be a real pro wrestling company. The kids were wrestling on mats in front of 50 people. So it started as a hobby. But after three years when some of the real joshi wrestlers expressed interest in working there for fun, Emi realized that she had to change the company and that's when Ice Ribbon was born. While the company continues to grow, Emi still clings to her original after school concept. She still doesn't own a ring and does small shows on mats though she has a new location. She also continues to wrestle for other companies herself. She's very popular with them and she's reliable. But she admits she is nervous about the growth of Ice Ribbon. The biggest problem is a lot of the kids lose interest and quit. It's a bit of a revolving door. And with STARDOM hiring an eight year old, they're looking to cut into Ice Ribbon's fanbase. Sakura Emi knows she needs to change to grow but may not want to change. Time will tell. But she seems a little sad when she talks about growth.