(NOAH) HOW TO WATCH PRO-WRESTLING NOAH

A lot has changed since I wrote my original guide in 2018, and its gone from being very difficult to watch Noah, to now being very easy with access to Noah on usually one of three places. That being said it can be daunting for people just getting into Noah, or for those who have been following it for a while, to know exactly where to look to be able to join the voyage, and so I hope you will find this guide useful. 

Please note that Noah do not have an English subtitled streaming service (yet), neither do they have a DVD\BluRay distribution service, but I'm not sure in this digital age that anywhere really does anymore. 

WRESTLE UNIVERSE

Pro Wrestling Noah primarily stream their shows through WRESTLE UNIVERSE which is a paid for subscription, although the odd free show does come along, but don't count on it being a certainty and therefore I do urge you to subscribe to the service. It is 900 yen per month, with the first month free. Please make sure that you subscribe on the first day of the month else you will end up getting charged twice. Subscribing to the service is very easy, so please do not be put off by the thought of a language barrier. You do not get a receipt of payment unless you pay through Paypal. The service is streamed through the site, so you do not need to download anything. The site is user friendly, and easy to navigate for those who are not familiar with Japanese, and you can bookmark your favorite shows which will remain up in perpetuity. 

While primarily new shows are being uploaded to the service, it is possible to see Noah's first shows from 2000, and it is hoped that more vintage shows from Noah's "Golden Era" will be added. In addition to Noah, a subscription will also give you the option to check out other promotions such as DDT, BASARA (archival shows, they are no longer with the service), Tokyo Joshi, Rojo (Street) Pro Wrestling and Ganbare. Even if you are not a fan of the indies or DDT, searching for your favorite wrestler can bring up some surprises.   

ABEMA

ABEMA is an internet TV channel, which is streamed in Japan. When the Coronavirus locked down Tokyo, we were lucky that ABEMA streamed the shows free and worldwide. When they do stream shows for free they leave them up for seven days should you not be able to catch the show live, before transferring them to WRESTLE UNIVERSE. I am unsure as to how long they will continue to be showing Noah for free now that (at the time of writing) Noah are back to holding live shows. 

A subscription to ABEMA is not easy unless you live in Japan as recently they updated their servers so a lot of VPN were blocked; it still works for some people, and not at all for others. It is up to you as to whether or not you want to take the gamble on this, but personally I would not recommend it due to the difficulty surrounding the VPN, unless you have one that you know works. 

FORJOYTV & ISakura 

FORJOYTV & iSakura stream Japanese TV, which often includes Noah either live, roster making appearances on Battlemen\footage on Battlemen from recent shows, or shows like "PRO WRESTLING SUSUME" or the Samurai TV Archives. Chances also are is that if it is not on the official YouTube (admittedly not happened for a while), ABEMA or WRESTLE UNIVERSE, it may be on NTV (Nippon TV). Both platforms are worth the purchase if you want to watch Japanese TV or else just the famous Samurai TV (a channel which broadcasts mainly Japanese wrestling and MMA), with ISakura having more channels out of the two. However, your choice comes down your budget. With ForJoyTv you can subscribe for a month (or longer such as  a year), while iSakura will give you the option of a trial subscription for three days, which is perfect if you only want it for a specific show that is being broadcast live on either Samurai or G+ (who also show vintage Noah and "Shitenno" era All Japan).  You will also be able to download shows\TV programs. However, with iSakura you will need to wait for a confirmation e-mail, so this is not the best option as a last minute solution. 

I would recommend that you buy an Amazon FireStick to watch FORJOYTV through your television, with the app being downloaded from the app store, otherwise you can watch it through your computer or other devices (you can download an app for your phone).  

Please note that both services are in Japanese only, but the channels are numbered, so as long as you know which channel you are looking for, it makes things easier. At the time of writing, those channels are: 

Samurai: 80 (Battlemen, MMA, some kickboxing, Puro, Occupation of the Indies, Pro Wrestling Susume, Samurai TV archives, the VS series, and some old Noah and the occasional live Noah) 

G+: 47 (More general sports channel other than just concentrating on fighting sports, the occasional live Noah, lots of vintage Mitsuharu Misawa collections, plus classic All Japan "Shitenno" era).  

Noah GHC official YouTube

Although the official YouTube has not streamed a live show for a while now as of the time this guide was made, a free subscription is worth it. The channel has changed a lot over the years from running the "Noah Digest" during the dismal years of the Suzuki-Army, to the occasional live shows and produces, and then the current era of the Internet merchandise signing sessions, and full match uploads from past recent shows, plus talk shows and the post match promos. 

INSTAGRAM & TWITTER

Lesser sources of how to watch Noah are through the official Noah Twitter, who post gifs of the current live shows as they happen. Kaito Kiyomiya has been known to stream via Periscope, and Noah in the  past have used this to stream some matches, although it is rare these days. 

The official Noah Instagram often will have sudden interviews before a big event, to get someone's views on a match, or else just to film people walking to the dojo or speaking in the streets about something upcoming. Other than that it's mainly used by the wrestlers themselves - Naomichi Marufuji likes to talk to fans late at night when he's bored, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Go Shiozaki often talk together, Hitoshi Kumano sets his phone up on his dinner table late at night and streams. And Tadasuke gets infamously drunk, and passes out leaving the stream running (or with his legs against the wall). The streams usually have other Noah wrestlers turning up either on the streams, or to troll their colleagues. 

Good Twitter accounts to follow if you want an English service are;

Metal Noah (live tweets from Korakuen Hall shows, and tweets translations of the funny moments during live streams of merchandise signings etc, and tidbits from Noah TV appearances). 

Miriam (she goes to all of the Noah shows when she visits Japan and she doesn't just stay in Tokyo, she will go all over the country. She also goes to a lot Indie shows too).

Pro-Wrestling Noah Eng (Hisame, 冰雨\) Unofficial Noah in English news account - news, translations of articles and interviews, card rundowns, post match promos, and for those of you who have missed a show, an event recap. Newsletter of the roundup of news from the past week in Noah comes out each Sunday.