To be the first Japanese to reach the summit

Wrestling Women’s Freestyle 76kg class Yuka Kagami

A third-year student of the Department of Media and Communications, Faculty of Sociology, Yuka Kagami belongs to the university’s Wrestling Club. She entered the JOC Elite Academy when she was a third-year junior high school student. Throughout her junior and senior high school years, she achieved brilliant results at both domestic and international competitions. Following her admission to Toyo University, she won the 76kg Women’s Freestyle title twice, back to back, at the All Japan Wrestling Championships. In April 2022, she became the 76kg Women’s Freestyle silver medalist at the Asian Games held in Mongolia.

I used to come to Toyo University often to practice when I was in high school. I loved the enthusiastic atmosphere that wrestlers created together, regardless of their ages and ranks. It’s still the same today. After I entered the university, the coronavirus crisis broke out, and many competitions were cancelled. So the joy I felt when I won the All Japan Championships in December 2021 was particularly great. It is still the most unforgettable match of all for me.

At present, I am training focusing on my stance, a fundamental technique in wrestling, which I try to keep low. I am also trying to improve my “weapon” of tackles. At Toyo University, I have the great advantage of being able to practice against male wrestlers. I believe I can overcome my weaknesses by practicing with guys who are far more powerful and speedy.

My immediate goal is to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games, which will be held two years from now. Of course I’m aiming at the gold medal. In the women’s heaviest class (76kg), there has never been a Japanese gold medalist. This is a wide ranging class consisting of many wrestlers, including many who are internationally recognized, but I’d love to be the first Japanese gold medalist, drawing on my tackling and speed. I’d also love to make the name of Toyo University famous throughout the world. Please root for me!

I want to communicate what’s great about women’s boxing

Boxing Women’s 48kg class Hikaru Kato

A second-year student of the Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Business Administration, Hikaru Kato began boxing in the first year of junior high school before attending Nara Prefectural Oji Technical High School, famous in the region for its boxing club. Her boxing talent blossomed under the wings of Hiroaki Takami, who leads the Japanese amateur boxing world. As a first-year Toyo University student, she won the Kanto University Women’s Boxing Tournament and the All Japan Boxing Championships in the women’s light flyweight division.

I joined the prestigious Boxing Club of Toyo University to achieve my goal of becoming one of Japan’s top boxers. The Club’s women’s division has just been established this year. In an environment that’s different from high school, I can practice with older and higher-ranking students, including male boxers. This has helped me greatly to improve myself technically.

In high school, I was not able to win all-Japan titles. But with my victory at last year’s All Japan Boxing Championships, I believe I was able to repay a little bit of my debt to my coaches and teachers at my high school.

My next goal is competing on the world stage. Today, I’m in the 48-kg division, which will not exist at the Olympic Games in Paris, so I will have to enter the 50-kg weight class. This difference of 2 kilograms can have a huge impact on a boxer. So I’m now working out with a conscious effort to build up my physical strength.

Women’s boxing began attracting a lot of attention from the time of the Tokyo Olympic Games, but I guess there are still many people with prejudice against the sport. So I want to communicate what is interesting and attractive about boxing itself first. To do that, I am determined to do my best to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. I would love to see the number of women in competitive boxing increase because of my matches. I will do my best so that more girls will want to enter Toyo University and join the Boxing Club.

Alpine Sky Asa Ando

Graduated from the Department of Business Law, Faculty of Law, in 2019, Asa Ando now works for Nissin Healthcare Food Service Co., Ltd. She competed in the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018 while a student at Toyo University and, for the second consecutive time, in Beijing in 2022, where her 24th place in Women’s Giant Slalom became the second best ever for Japanese skiers in this event.

I skied at the Olympic Games twice in a row, in Pyeongchang while I was a university student, and in Beijing this year (2022).

I first became conscious of competing internationally when I was in the third year of junior high school. I was shocked by the overwhelmingly superior performances of other skiers at the World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships. Feeling the power of those excellent skiers firsthand, I wanted to reach the same level as them.

At present, my immediate goal is to get up to top speed much earlier in the course and improve my skiing on milder slopes, which I perceive to be my main weakness. I work out every day to improve myself in these areas so that I can improve my overall performance and try for my third Olympic Games.