Finished translating the TJPW press conference from June 22! It wasn’t actually that much, but when you’re as slow as I am, it’s a lot 
. Here’s the transcript for the tag title match (and the video), and here’s the transcript for the Princess of Princess title match (and the video).
I’ll start with the tag match.
Saki’s… entire first comment confused me, pretty much . Here’s what she said: “後楽園で試合をした後、優希ちゃんにリング上で（耳打ちで）タッグのベルトに挑戦してみたいと告げられまして。見え方としては自分も背中を押したという。自分もTwitterで“ケツ持ってあげるから”とは言ったんですけど。自分自身、それで奮い立たせられたところもあります。頑張ればベルトを獲れる相手でもないってことは分かってます。でも、自分自身このベルトに初めて挑戦するので、荒井選手と私の覚悟をちゃんと形にして、ベルトを腰に巻きたい」とキッパリ.”
She said that after their match at Korakuen, Arai whispered in her ear and said that she wanted to challenge for the tag belts. I spent a long time trying to figure out “見え方としては自分も背中を押したという”, and my best attempt was: “From her performance, you can see that I pushed her.” Then she said that she also said on twitter, “ケツ持ってあげるから”. I spent some time on google trying to figure out how to translate ケツ持つ. I ended up going with “I’ll clean up your messes.”
My attempt at “自分自身、それで奮い立たせられたところもあります” was “I myself was encouraged by that.” Then “頑張ればベルトを獲れる相手でもないってことは分かってます” confused me. I think she’s saying: “I understand that if you work hard, it won’t be your opponent who wins the belt.”?
Putting it all together, this was what I had:
After our match at Korakuen, Arai-chan whispered in my ear in the ring and said that she wanted to challenge for the tag belts. From her performance, you can see that I pushed her. I also said on twitter, ‘I’ll clean up your messes.’ I myself was encouraged by that. I understand that if you work hard, it won’t be your opponent who wins the belt. But even so, this is my first time challenging for these belts, so I want to make sure that Arai and I are in good shape so that we can wind those belts around our waists.
Arai’s comment was a little easier. She said that she’s a 後輩 after all, and she’s surrounded by wonderful 先輩 who have made her into a professional wrestler. But this kind of environment doesn’t last forever. Even while working in SKE48, she’s felt that. In this way, she feels blessed to be able to challenge for the titles with Saki, her lovely senpai, at a time when Yuka and Mizuki are holding the belts. She’s going to seize this opportunity, surpass her strongest senpais, and take another step up to the next level. Winning the belt is not her final goal, and there is so much more she wants to do. But as just one part of the process, she hopes to win the belt with Saki.
Mizuki said that protecting the belts from 享楽共鳴 gave her confidence. She said that she’s really happy to fight Arai, who battles on in difficult circumstances, and Saki, whose 戦ってる所作とか she likes (how to translate this? I went with “fighting performance” but felt a little weird about it ). Then Mizuki said “求めていたのはこんなスラッとした方じゃないので”. I think this says: “But I wasn’t looking for opponents this slender.”?
The next line was so confusing, I’m sure the transcript has to be leaving something out. She said: “2人から守ったら、もうちょっとペちゃんとした人と戦いたいと思う.” I think this says: “If we defend against these two, I want to fight someone a little more ペ.” But I couldn’t figure out ペ at all, so I think it’s either a reference I don’t get or there’s something missing here.
Mizuki goes on to say that she has lots of dreams for the future, and in order for MagiRabbi to become even bigger, she wants to defend the belts all over the world and the universe, so she can’t lose them.
Yuka said that she thinks the tag belts are distinguished by having a wide variety of matches (I definitely agree with this!). Then she said something that made me laugh: “望んでたのは三頭身で、実際に来たのは十頭身くらいある人間で.” I think this says: “What I wanted was someone who was three heads tall, and what we actually got was a human being that was ten heads tall.”
She says, even so, she thinks they’ll be able to have matches with a lot of variety. So to start with, they’ll take down these two high profile people. (I was torn on how to translate “注目度の高い2人”, but ended up going with “high profile” because both meanings of the word (physically tall and also big in popularity) seemed to fit).
The interviewer asked them what to look out for in the opposing team, and Saki said that Yuka and Mizuki seem to be really close in their private lives. They’ve defended the belts a number of times, and have that kind of bond, whereas this next match will be the third for Saki and Arai. So she thinks they need to get to know each other better. But since they don’t really have time for that, she thinks MagiRabbi will be very formidable enemies. But then, she thinks challenging tough enemies is precisely what makes a pro wrestler.
Yuka made me laugh again with this: “見た目から分かる通り、手足の長さが私たちと特に違う点。その手足をどう攻略していくのかが、私たちの見せどころでもあります.” My translation: “As you can tell from their appearance, there is a big difference between the length of their limbs and ours.” She said that how they’re going to attack those limbs is what they’ll show, and that will be the key in terms of how this develops.
Arai’s answer was a little confusing. She said: “未知数な部分が多いと思いますし、2人でプライベートでお話ししたりとか全くないので知らないところが多いんですけど。だからこそ可能性は無限大だと思うので.”
Here was my attempt: “I think there are a lot of unknowns. The two of us don’t talk in our private lives at all, so there’s just a lot that I don’t know. I think there are infinite possibilities.”
And that’s it for the tag title match!
For the Rika vs Shoko portion, Rika starts off by saying that she was really happy when Shoko became champion at Ryogoku Kokugikan. She wondered what kind of champion road she was going to walk, and she wanted to watch the whole rote. But she also wants the belt. She’s not going to go back on her declaration that she is going to be the champion who blooms a second time, who blooms out of season.
Then she said: “せっかく夢の舞台で戦えるので、今まで見たことがないような中島翔子の顔を見たいなって思うし、気持ちにもさせたい。私も自分が見たことない自分に出会うような試合がしたいと思ってます.”
Both sentences here confused me . Here was my attempt: “Since I will be fighting on this long-awaited dream stage, I want to see a side of Shoko Nakajima that has never been seen before, and I want to make her feel the same way. I also want to have a match where I encounter a version of myself that I have never seen before.”
Shoko talked about having experienced title matches at big venues. She feels like TJPW is gaining momentum, and she is as well. There are more wrestlers challenging from overseas, and she has a strong desire to be at the forefront of this momentum. Defending the title against Yuka at CyberFight Fest was one of her goals, but what she wants more than achieving this is to become even stronger. She aims to be a champion who’s constantly progressing.
This part was a bit confusing: “積み重ねた回数が力になると思ってるので、常に新しい自分を、レベルアップしていく自分を見ていただきたい。戦っていく選手にも、常に新しい自分と戦ってほしいと思ってます。その勢いの先頭に立ちたい気持ちは、リカも一緒だと思ってます.”
Here was my attempt:
I think my strength is in everything I’ve accumulated, so I hope you will always see me becoming someone new and rising to the next level. I also want the wrestlers who I’m fighting to always be facing a new me. I think Rika is the same in that she also wants to be at the forefront of this momentum.
Shoko finishes by saying that she believes they’re going to fight with that same feeling of wanting to make TJPW bigger, so she’s really looking forward to it.
The interviewer asks them about their impressions of their opponent. I really liked Rika’s answer, haha. She said that she thinks Shoko wrestles in a model way, or rather, she wrestles beautifully. From the perspective of both a wrestler and the audience, Rika thinks that Shoko has become a very good wrestler.
The paragraph leaves us with this line that I especially enjoyed: “そのきれいなプロレスをする中島翔子を崩してやるって気持ちです」とニヤリ.” My translation: “‘I am going to destroy Shoko Nakajima, who does such beautiful wrestling,’ she said with a grin.”
Shoko started off by saying that she likes Kamen Rider Hibiki (at which point, I immediately braced myself for having to go down another google hole. But thankfully, she took pity on me this time ). Shoko said that when you hit a wall, the only solution is your own strength and discipline. She likes that kind of style, and she thinks that’s how she sees it.
She used to think that Rika had a really reliable style, or rather her style was to steadily run down her opponent and get the victory. But these days, Shoko doesn’t know what she’s thinking. But Shoko thinks that’s Rika’s strength.
Then Shoko said: “思いつかないことをしてくるところ。私は教科書通りが好きだったりするので。リカはそれをぶち破ってくるというか、そこが一番の脅威であり、理解しがたいところでもあります.”
Lots of small things I was unsure on. Here was my translation:
She does things that I would never have thought of. I benefit from following a textbook. Rika is going to smash right through that, so I should say that is the biggest threat, and that’s what I find hard to understand.
The next question concerns the fact that this will be the first time the two of them have fought for the title. Rika said that she wanted to fight Shoko with the belt on the line, of course, so she has continued with her pro wrestling career until now. It surely means a lot for them to clash in their ninth year. She thinks this is the moment for her to surpass Shoko and hold the belt in her hand.
Shoko said: “ベルトが懸かっていてもいなくても、リカとの試合は楽しめてたと思うんです.” This one was a little hard for me, but according to DeepL, she said: “I think I would have enjoyed this match with Rika whether or not the belt was on the line.” Shoko says that’s because Rika is strong. This time, there is a feeling of anticipation as well.
The rest of her comment was very tricky . She said: “同い年で同じくらいの時期にプロレスと出会って、東京女子に入って。人生の中で青春みたいなのを、同じ時間プロレスに対して向いてきたみたいなところはあると思うんです。このタイミングで自分がチャンピオンなのは、これを守っていく上で、防衛ロードの先にリカとも絶対戦いたいと思っていたので。いずれ来るだろうと思っていた試合です.”
The first three sentences all gave me trouble. Here was my attempt:
We discovered pro wrestling around the same time when we were about the same age, and we joined TJPW. We were facing the springtime of our youth, and were wrestling at the same time. I am champion at this time, and I am going to defend this, because I definitely wanted a match with Rika ahead of my road of defenses. I knew this match would come eventually.”
And that’s the end of the press conference! At least, that’s the end of the transcripts. I’m going to get started immediately on the (much shorter) translations for the VOD shows, but I’m not confident I’ll get them done before the big show on the 9th.