(NOAH) "DONMAI DONMAI" ~ Mitsuharu Misawa's diary ~ 25TH JANUARY 2008

25th January 2008

Cheers, it's gotten cold all of a sudden. I hope you haven't caught a cold. I think it's nice that it's that cold, it feels like winter. This is Misawa. 

 The first Navigation of 2008 has ended without any problems. Thank you to everyone who came to support us. 

 Well, this time I'll start with a sports topic that's caught my attention recently. It's an Olympic year, so I feel like sports have been getting more attention since last year, and it's a shame that most of the news are not very positive. Once again, I was concerned by Saori Yoshida's loss in wrestling, by decision. It seems that the rules and judging standards have changed a lot since I was wrestling*, but it is painful to see a wrestler who has given it her all and lost in an unfortunate way. I think I may be biased because I'm Japanese (I'm not sure if that's the right word), and athletes from other countries may have had similar experiences. If I had been the opponent and hadn't thought deeply about the sport, I might have just been happy with the result. I can't stop thinking about it, but in any case, I think it can't be called a sport unless both sides compete equally under the same conditions. Even if you're not that interested in sports, I think some people will feel annoyed by the backlash that follows on from judo, Hamaguchi's daughter*, handball, and now Yoshida. This was a bit of a serious topic, but speaking of handball, I've always thought it was tough, and when I heard from a former handball player that "running + jumping + throwing is really hard," I thought, "I knew it." With that in mind, I'll replay a conversation I had one day: 

ME: Handball is tough, but I wonder how tough it would be to play water polo.

IPPEI: Huh? What's water polo? 

.....

 Can you believe it?

 Ippei didn't know about water polo. Maybe little kids would know (by the way, this conversation takes place only a few days ago, rather than just a day ago), but he didn't know about water polo until just a few days ago. Well, according to him, "I knew there was a sport called water polo, but I just didn't think about what it was". I mean, I don't understand the details of the rules either, but I think I know more about it than Ippei. But are there women who play water polo as well...? I wonder how they get on? 

 Oh, by the way, Leo and Astra* aren't from the M78 Nebula. Don't get me wrong, I might be thought of as an otaku like Kotaro again, but I'm not an anime otaku, as I'm just passionate about the revival of Ultrman and the release of the live-action version, and I think it's inevitable. To be honest, in our generation, when we think of Tatsunoko, we think of the original Time Bokan, Casshan, Gatchaman, and, although it's a little different, Hatch, so we're not that into Ultraman. If I have a chance, I would like to see the new Ultraman. 

 Here's a question for Ippei, the next person in charge. What did you do during the New Year holidays? Enlighten me *raises eyebrows* 

 Finally, it has been officially decided that I will be taking on Morishima at the final match of the next tour on March 2nd at the Budokan. Every time I fight Morishima, I am reminded of his steady growth. There is still a little time until the start, but I will treasure each and every day, and face Morishima at the Budokan. 

 A small amount of snow has accumulated in Tokyo, and the next few days will be the coldest of the year, so everyone, please be careful not to catch a cold. This is Misawa. See you the week after next. 

Notes

Amateur wrestling: Misawa did not enjoy it (see interview from 1984), and saw it as a stepping stone to pro wrestling.

Hamaguchi's daughter: Animal Hamaguchi. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoko_Hamaguchi for Kyoko's outburst. 

Leo & Astra: Ultraman Leo, Ultraman's younger brother.  

Tatsunoko: Animation company