Finished translating the TJPW Inspiration show from September 11! I am approaching being caught up! Then it looks like there’ll be a break before Wrestle Princess, though I’m expecting a press conference to happen at some point haha.
This might be my favorite Inspiration yet? I feel like it was just a lot of fun.
At the beginning of the show, Namba briefly interviewed Suzume in the ring, which I actually have a transcript of, so I figured I’d translate it, too.
Suzume said, “この夏のトーナメントとかであらためて応援してくれるみんなの存在を大きく感じて、もっとかっこいい姿を見せたいって思ったし。他団体参戦とか女性限定興行とかで東京女子を知らなった人たちとの出会いもあって、そういう意味でも、もっと世界中に東京女子を届けたいなと思って。今回はめちゃくちゃチャンスだと思ってます！”
I think I figured it out, but was just unsure enough, I thought I’d give the transcript for it in case I’m off-base somehow 
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(Looking ahead to the number one contender match for the International Princess Championship on September 16 in Shinjuku)
Suzume: “I really felt the presence of everyone who supported me in the tournament this summer, and I want people to think that I’m even cooler. Participating in other companies and the all-women show and things like that, it introduced me to people who had never seen TJPW before, and in that sense, I want to bring TJPW to the world. I think this is an incredible opportunity for me!”
The first match was Pom vs Neko. They’re both in the same class of wrestlers, and are both, well, constant pin-eaters, so the match actually had a lot of tension because this was a rare chance for them to win. Pom managed to pull off the victory.
After the match, she said, “勝ったぞぉーーー！ はい、というわけで同期にはるにゃんと、たぶん久しぶりにシングルで闘いました。お互いに初勝利の相手なので、やっぱり絶対に勝ちたいなって思ったんですけど。ホントに、はるにゃんも闘ってないうちにメキメキと大きな猫に成長していって、手こずったりもしましたが勝ちました。でもやっぱ、ぽむもおにゃんぽしたかったんですよ。（トップロープに）上ってやるやつ。でも高いところ怖かった！ 無理でしたー。今度は高いところを克服したいと思います。ばいばーい！”
The parts I were a little unsure about were “お互いに初勝利の相手なので” (is she saying that they were each other’s first win?) and “（トップロープに）上ってやるやつ”.
Pom: “I won! Yeah, so I fought my classmate Haru-nyan in our first singles match in what feels like ages. We both got our first wins against each other, so of course I absolutely had to win. Truly, in the meantime while we weren’t fighting, Haru-nyan had grown to be a great big cat, so I did NOT know how to handle her, even though I did win. But I wanted to do the Onyanpo, too! I want to be a top rope guy, too. But I’m scared of heights! I couldn’t do it. I want to conquer heights next time. Bye-bye!”
Haruna’s seemed straightforward enough?
Neko: “I lost to Pom… and I lost to Mahiro at the last Inspiration. I lost to two of my peers. Pom had a summer of trials this year, and Mahiro is challenging for the tag belts, so I’ve watched both of them grow. From now on, I’m going to grow some more, too.”
The next match was a really fun one because it featured Dalys and Stephanie Vaquer, visiting luchadoras from CMLL, vs Shoko and Moka. Shoko had done a very brief excursion to CMLL in 2019, so she and Dalys got to reconnect here.
It was also my most interesting translation experience thus far because Dalys and Stephanie did their comments in Spanish! So I had Spanish audio and a written Japanese translation of that audio, and I had to get it into English somehow haha.
I ended up transcribing the Spanish and translating directly from there, because I wanted my translations to be most accurate. As it turns out, I don’t think the Japanese translators actually did a very good job with it?
I actually got my transcription and then translation double-checked by a friend who's fluent in Spanish, so I feel pretty confident about it, but just for fun, I'm going to include the Japanese translation from shupro and my own transcription of the Spanish under a cut so that we can compare all three languages:
ダリス「東京女子に戻ってこれてよかったと思います」
バッケル「特に今回はタッグパートナーと同じようなコスチュームを着られて、すごい楽しく試合ができました。（東京女子初参戦でした）初めてでしたけど、東京女子の中島選手のことはメキシコで知っているので。楽しく試合ができたと思います」
Dalys: “Pues, estoy muy contenta de haber regresado a Tokyo Joshi, encontrarme con una vieja rival como Shoko Nakajima, y que más que ahora vengo con mi pareja Stephanie Vaquer, y pues salimos victoriosa.”
Vaquer: “Asi es yo muy felíz la verdad de estar aquí, y hoy nos toco enfrentar a grandes luchadoras, pero este equipo es el mejor así que, vamos con todo!”
(This is your first time wrestling at TJPW)
“Si, es la primera vez. Shoko Nakajima había ido a México, pero no la había enfrentado. Es primera vez que vengo acá.”
Dalys: “Well, I’m very happy to be back at TJPW, to meet with an old rival like Shoko Nakajima, and I’m especially happy that I’m here now with my partner Stephanie Vaquer, and, well, we were victorious.”
Vaquer: Yes, I’m truly happy to be here, and today we had to face great wrestlers, but this team is the best, so let’s go all out!”
(This is your first time wrestling at TJPW)
“Yes, it’s the first time. Shoko Nakajima had been to Mexico, but I hadn’t faced her. It’s the first time that I’ve come here.”
Shoko’s comments were harder. She said, “ダリスとはコロナ前にメヒコで対戦して以来で。私がＣＭＬＬに出させていただいてた時期の後にステファニーさんがＣＭＬＬでルチャドーラになったので、ステファニーさんとは初めてで。メヒコで数試合やった時にずーっとダリスと試合をしてたので、やっぱり久々の対戦は燃えるものがあったので最初から熱くなれたなという気持ちがあります。２人はタッグチームなのでまた対戦したいし、私はやっぱりルチャが好きだなって言うのを思い出しましたので。もし機会があれば、またメヒコにも行きたいなと強く思いました。もかも、初めてで.”
The last half of her comments were a bit tricky for me. Here’s what I had for her comments (and then Moka’s, which were nice and easy in comparison):
Nakajima: “This was my first time facing Dalys since I fought her in Mexico before the coronavirus. Stephanie-san became a CMLL luchadora after my time in CMLL, so this was my first time facing her. I’d had matches with Dalys all throughout my time there, but it had been a long time since we fought, so I was fired up and it felt like the match was hot from the beginning. They’re a tag team, so I’d like to fight them again, and I remembered that I still like lucha, so… If I have the opportunity, I really want to go back to Mexico. Moka, it was also your first time.”
Miyamoto: “Yes. It was my first time facing foreign wrestlers. When I watched them fight, I felt that pro wrestling was truly universal, and the two of them are so strong. I would like to fight again if we get another chance.”
The third match was Mizuki and Yuka vs Demonio Uno and Pokotan (Yuka got the wish she’d expressed earlier in the year, which was that she wanted MagiRabbi to fight Pokotan!). A wonderful match full of pure nonsense in the best possible way. I love it when we get a taste of DDT in TJPW like this.
MagiRabbi managed to get the victory! Their comments afterward were predictably pretty entertaining.
We started off easy enough:
Sakazaki: “Three heads tall…”
Both: “We won!”
All of these lines had something I was unsure about .
坂崎「やばつよだったんだけど」
Sakazaki: “It was a bad situation.”
瑞希「見かけ通り強い人と、見かけによらず強いやつ」
Mizuki: “One of them was as strong as he appears, and the other one was not as strong as he appears.”
坂崎「よくあんな三頭身で動くよな」
Sakazaki: “I don’t know how he could move so well, being three heads tall like that.”
瑞希「だってさ、足飛んでくる大きさがこれくらいでさ、この瞬間にうわぁーってなる」
Mizuki: “You mean, the foot flying through the air is about this big, and in the moment, it’s like, wow!”
I think I did okay on this part:
Sakazaki: “Uh-huh. But it was a great experience.”
Mizuki: “With this, we’re invincible.”
Sakazaki: “Mascots all over the country, feel free to take on the challenge!”
Mizuki: “We’ve come all the way to Shinkiba, so we can get to Maihama in just a few more stops, right?”
Sakazaki: “Hey. It’s just a few more. We’re almost there!”
(The next part of their comments are in this video. I’m pretty sure the part that gets bleeped is the interviewer asking (according to shupro): “「ディズニー」コールをしてから”)
(You called out Disney before)
“Yes.”
(Do you want to invite characters from the land of dreams to come here and fight?)
“No, I want to do it over there. After all, the setting is also important.”
Mizuki: “I want to jump off the top of the castle!”
Sakazaki: “That’s a suicidal person” (laughs).
Then Mizuki said, “じゃあ、お城の上から飛んでもらう…？” and I was a bit confused over the もらう .
Mizuki: “So, you don’t want me to fly from the top of the castle?”
Sakazaki: “You’re just going to die!”
Mizuki: “Okay. I’ll rethink it.”
The interviewer then asked, “ゆるキャラたちの強みはどう感じた？” This took me a bit to wrap my brain around it, but I think this is essentially the question being asked?
(In your experience, what makes mascots tough?)
Sakazaki: “You don’t know what they’re going to do in the first place.”
Mizuki: “But their power is way too strong, and as soon as you realize it, up is down and down is up. When I realized it, I was flying through the air.”
Then Yuka said, “途中なんか、どつかれて…あれ？みたいなのとか.” I think maybe she’s referring to Pokotan’s head coming partially off during the match (this is a running gag in Pokotan matches)? But I wasn’t quite sure.
Sakazaki: “Part of the way through it, he got hit, and it was like… what?”
Mizuki: “He also has a hard head.”
Sakazaki: “The mystery just deepens. But he was strong.”
(Was it a useful experience going into your title match?)
“Hahaha” (laughs)
Mizuki: “I think it’s very useful!”
Sakazaki: “It’s a bit difficult to say, but unlike Pokotan and Demonio, I’m familiar with Shoko Nakajima. We were brought up as wrestlers together, and I think we’re able to communicate our intentions to each other a bit more. So I think our title match is going to be great!”
The main event was Arisu vs Miyu! It was Arisu’s first singles main event. She, uh, does not win, lol, but she puts up a good effort.
Afterward, Miyu starts by saying,“ありがとうございました。有栖、一緒に締めよう。大丈夫？ ひどい？ ひどくないよ、闘いだから。一緒に締めよう。頑張ったからね.” The part that tripped me up was what exactly to do with “ひどい？”
Here’s how I translated the first chunk of her comment:
Yamashita: “Thank you so much. Arisu, let’s close the show together. Are you okay? Do you feel terrible? It’s not awful; it’s a fight. Let’s close together. You did your best. Today is Arisu’s first time in a (singles) main event. This is my first time doing this with Arisu in the ring, but she’s actually the junior who has caught my attention the most, so I was really glad to face her in a singles match today… But she still has a long way to go."
Then Miyu says, “でも、すごい伸びしろを感じたし、気持ちがすごく強い子だから、闘っててあらためて自分ももっともっと頑張らなきゃっていけないなって言う風に思いました。みなさんも思いましたよね？ 伸びしろを感じましたよね？（遠藤に）なんか喋ることありますか？ せっかくなんで.”
The first sentence there was the hard one for me. Here’s what I had:
"However, I felt her amazing potential, and she has a strong spirit, so as we fought, again and again, I felt like I had to work harder and harder. You all felt that, too, didn’t you? You can see her potential, right? (To Arisu) do you have anything to say? You’ve made it this far.”
Endo: “My head is spinning, it’s hard to speak…”
Then Miyu said, “そうだよね。でも負けて悔しいでしょ？ でも、ホントに有栖の気持ちだったり強さだったりって言うのは、見てて自分も強くならなきゃって奮い立たされるものがあるから、あらためて今日闘えてうれしかったです。ありがとう.”
Once again, it was the long sentence that threw me off (though I do think I’m getting a lot better with these!) . I felt decently confident about the rest, though.
Yamashita: “Okay. But you must be frustrated to lose, right? But, truly, seeing Arisu’s strength and her spirit encouraged me because I also had to be strong, so I was really happy to fight her today. Thank you. Today was a special show, with MagiRabbi fighting some strange foes, and some wrestlers from CMLL facing Nakajima and Moka, and Pom and Neko were also there. I think it was a different kind of show from normal TJPW. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I hope we can keep holding different types of shows in the future, and thank you for your continued support as we all work to make our regular shows exciting, too. (To Arisu) Can I ask you to join me for the last part?”
Yamashita: “Limits…?”
Endo: “Don’t set them!”
(I did laugh at the “ぽむと猫もいたりとか” tacked on at the end of Miyu’s list of special things that had happened at this show, haha)
Backstage, Miyu said, “通常興行とは違う珍しい興行で。私は有栖とシングルということで、リングでシングルするのは初めてで。若手の中でもけっこう勢いを感じるというか、強くなろうという気持ちを感じる子なので、闘ってみたいなと言う風には思ってて。でも今回シングルやってみて、やっぱり気持ちの強い子だと思うし、何より進化を求めてるというか。強くなりたい、強くなろうという気持ちがすごくあって。試合の中で倒してやるぞっていう気持ちもありましたし、そういうのが技からも伝わってきて。ホントこれからどんどん強くなっていくだろうなって思うし、そこでパーンと弾けたらけっこうすぐ上に行っちゃうんじゃないかなと私は思いました。なので今日は闘えてすごく良かったですし、もっと強くなってほしいなと思いました.”
I wasn’t sure about the third sentence, or the “パーンと弾けたら” part. I think I understood the metaphor in Japanese, but wasn’t sure what to do with it in English . Here’s my attempt:
Yamashita: “This was an unusual event, different from our normal shows. This singles match with Arisu was our first singles match in the ring. Out of all of the young wrestlers, I feel like she has a lot of momentum, or rather she’s someone who’s determined to become stronger, so I wanted to fight her. But after this singles match, I still think she’s someone with strong feelings, but above all else, she wants to grow and evolve. I really felt her desire to get stronger and stronger. In the match, she was determined to beat me, and I could feel that in her moves. I think she’s going to get steadily stronger from here, and if she could just burst out of her potential, she would move up the ranks quite swiftly. I was really happy to fight her today, and I hope she gets even stronger.”
Then the interviewer asks “今日の厳しさは期待感のあらわれ？”, and Miyu’s answer is… more confusing to me than not! Lots of 自分s that I assume were referring to Arisu, but maybe I’m wrong?
She said, “そうですね。跳ね返してくれるんじゃないかなと思ってたので。そこも有栖自身が…分かんないですけど、私から見て自分自身の強さにまだ気付いてないんじゃないかなって思ってて。自分が思ってる以上に自分は強いんだよって言うのを、闘いで、技で引き出すっていったらあれですけど。自分が仕掛けた上で出るか出ないか…実際は本人次第なんですけど、そういうところはちょっと意識しましたね。そういう面で厳しい攻撃になったのかなと思います。（そこに気付いたらシングル初勝利も近い？）それも不思議で。練習をどれだけしてても、勝ちにつなげるっていうのは難しいと思うので。だから、ホントに弾けた時、初勝利できた時、その後がすごく私は楽しみです.”
(Was your intensity today an indication of your high expectations?)
“Yes, it was. I expected her to bounce back. Arisu… doesn’t know this herself, but from my point of view, I don’t think she has realized her own strength yet. I would say that she’s stronger than she thinks she is, and that she can bring that out in her matches and techniques. Whether or not she moves up after that… well, it’s up to her, but I think she’s becoming aware of it. I think that aspect made it a hard-hitting fight.”
(If you noticed that in this match, do you think her first singles victory is also near?)
“That’s still up in the air. No matter how much you practice, securing a victory is difficult. So when she truly bursts out, when she gets that first victory, I’m really looking forward to what comes after that.”
Arisu’s comments were easy! The only thing that really gave me pause was “山下さんの蹴りは頭にくるので、ちょっとヤバいです…” because 頭にくる apparently means to get mad, but I’m pretty sure she’s talking about Miyu literally kicking her head with the Skull Kick, haha.
Endo: (sitting down) “This was my first main event singles match… And my opponent was Yamashita-san, whom I fought right after my debut last year. I think I was able to show that I’ve grown a bit since then. Yamashita-san’s kicks come at your head, so they’re really scary…”
(Yamashita said that you are the young wrestler who has caught her interest the most?)
“To live up to her expectations… I still have a long way to go, but I’m going to keep working hard!”
And that’s it for that show!
Wikipedia says she debuted as an idol in August of 2017, and debuted as a pro wrestler in January of 2018. So it’s now her sixth year as an idol but still her fifth as a wrestler.
)
)
. I was a little late to start kanji after learning hiragana and katakana, because I hadn’t yet committed to properly learning the language (and it took me a couple months after starting kanji to truly commit and start actually learning grammar 
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. I hope we’re able to see them together in the ring somewhere in the near future.
. But alas, it was not to be…
