Japan's Golden Age

[tystates]

The Great Togo,

George Kazuo Okamura (October 11, 1911 – December 19, 1973) was a Japanese-American professional wrestler. He was one of the first wrestling heels of Japanese descent in America after World War II.

Okamura was born to Japanese parents in United States. He studied philosophy at Oregon University before starting his wrestling career.

Okamura debuted in professional wrestling in 1949. Like many other wrestlers of Japanese descent at the time, he adopted a foreign heel gimmick and an Asian-sounding ring name, in this case "The Great Togo." He hailed himself as a martial artist with karate skills, prayed in a small Buddhist altar before his matches, and was assisted by a fellow Japanese valet named Hata who burned incense. A burly character who has a 22-inch neck, Togo stalks into the ring in an oriental kimono and wooden sandals. Togo carries a rich wardrobe of beautiful and expensive kimonos cut from bolts of pure silk – hand woven – that represent a small fortune.

Togo and servant perform a ceremony, supposedly to the memory of the teachings of Buddha. A piece of white cardboard is folded four ways in the shape of a tombstone. This, says Togo, is in case he is killed during the match. After the ceremony, Togo says he is freed from restraint because he has satisfied his ancestors.

Togo became one of the most hated villains of the ring, as well as one of the most feared wrestlers. Despite his technical skill and wrestling bare foot, his matches often ended in disqualifications in order for his opponents to save face.

During the 1950s, he started a long and heated feud with Argentina Rocca. He later introduced his kayfabe brother Tosh Togo, who became his usual tag team partner. Their team would expand with more Japanese family members, Mas Togo (Kyokushin karate founder Mas Oyama) and Ko Endo (judoka Kokichi Endo).

Togo wrestled many other Legends including Johnny Valentine, Killer Kowalski, Ilio DiPaolo, Joe Blancahrd, Nick Bockwinkel, Dick Hutton, Wild Red Berry, Rikidozan, Larry Hennig, Fred Blassie, Lou Thesz and the Destroyer. From the 50s to the 60s he played as Rikidozan's manager in the Pacific Coast area.

After his retirement, he moved along with his wife to Los Angeles, where he died in 1973 due to a gastric carcinoma.

Championships and accomplishments
Maple Leaf Wrestling
NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tosh Togo
NWA Hollywood Wrestling
NWA International Television Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tosh Togo

Career Record: 269-208-106

Film Credits
The Delicate Delinquent as The Great Togo

GREAT TOGO	5'6"; 219 lbs; Tokyo, Japan
Level 1 Offense	Level 1 Defense
1. wristlock - 1 2. leg takedown - 1 3. test of strength - 2 (pw) 4. quick kick - 2 (ag) 5. eye rake - 2 6. bear hug - 3 (ch D)	1. GREAT TOGO - 1 2. dazed - 1 (tag) 3. GREAT TOGO - 1 4. hurt - 2 5. GREAT TOGO - 2 6. dazed - 1
Level 2 Offense	Level 2 Defense
1. front facelock - 2 2. knee across throat - 2 3. into the ropes (c) 4. into the turnbuckle (c) 5. choke on ropes - 3 6. head butt - 3	1. hurt - 2 2. GREAT TOGO - 1 3. dazed - 1 4. hurt - 2 (tag) 5. down - 3 6. GREAT TOGO - 2
Level 3 Offense	Level 3 Defense
1. chicken wing - 1 (ch C) 2. out of the ring 3. neck jabs - 3 4. nerve hold - 3 5. judo chops - 3 6. SLEEP HOLD (Roll)*	1. hurt - 2 2. down - 3** 3. hurt - 2 4. down - 3 (tag) (lv) 5. hurt - 2 6. PIN 6 (3)
Ropes C Turnbuckle B Ring A Deathjump C Disqualification 6	Agility +2 Power -2 Cage -4
* The finisher rating increases each time Togo uses the move. The minimum rating is (0) and the maximum rating is (+3). ** Once per match Togo may, rub salt in the eyes of his opponent – 3 Add 1 dis.

[tystates]

Michiharu Sadano (定野 道春, Sadano Michiharu, March 21, 1931 – July 1, 1998), known in sumo and professional wrestling as Michiharu Toyonobori or simply

Toyonobori was a sumo wrestler from Japan. After retiring as a rikishi from sumo, he became a professional wrestler.

On December 12, 1954, Toyonobori became a professional wrestler, joining the Japanese Wrestling Association, which was the top wrestling promotion in Japan from 1953 until 1972 and the only male significant Japanese wrestling promotion from 1953 until 1966, when its predominance began to be challenged by International Pro Wrestling.

The top wrestler of the JWA was Rikidozan, the founder of the promotion; he dominated the Japanese wrestling scene. As a result, few Japanese wrestlers were able to get into the spotlight. The more recognizable among them was Toyonobori himself, who dominated the tag team scene in Japan, forming a successful tag team with Rikidozan, with whom he became a four-time winner of the All Asia Tag Team Championship, which was the top tag title in Japan and which is now contested in All Japan Pro Wrestling.

After Rikidozan's death on December 15, 1963, Toyonobori, along with Yoshinosato, Koukichi Endo and Michiaki Yoshimura announced their intention to continue the JWA on January 10, 1964. Therefore, he became the president of the JWA and its top wrestler, as he had been the second most important wrestler of the promotion during the Rikidozan era.

He formed two successful tag teams with Michiaki Yoshimura and then Giant Baba, with whom he won the All Asia Tag Team Championship three more times. Yoshimura and Baba were among the young wrestlers the JWA was trying to push to the top, so they were paired with the top wrestler of the JWA, a strategy the promotion followed before pairing Toyonobori himself with the popular Rikidozan.

On December 12, 1964, Toyonobori won the World Heavyweight Championship of Worldwide Wrestling Associates from The Destroyer at the Tokyo Gym; the title was universally recognized as a world title back then and had been held by Rikidozan himself (it has been the first world title to be held by an Asian wrestler). Toyonobori was therefore the first Japanese wrestler to win a world title in Professional Wrestling as Rikidozan was Korean (although the true ethnicity of Rikidozan emerged only long after his death). WWA did not recognise the title change, while the JWA recognized it. Because of this, there were two WWA world heavyweight champions, defending their titles respectively in Japan and in the United States of America.

On September 20, 1965 Toyonobori was defeated by disqualification by Luke Graham at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium to end the dispute over the WWA World Heavyweight title.

Toyonobori began losing power in the JWA, which then started pushing Giant Baba to the top of the promotion, leading him to win its top single title, the NWA International Heavyweight Championship (which had been held up after Rikidozan's death), in 1965. After Rikidozan's death, the JWA did not have one single title; the Japanese Heavyweight Championship, the All Asia Heavyweight Championship and the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, which were held by Rikidozan himself, were all recognized and only the last two titles were later revived (respectively in 1968 and in 1965).

On January 5, 1966, the JWA announced the resignation and departure of Toyonobori as the company president; he was later expelled from the JWA along with Antonio Inoki on March 21, 1966. On April 23, 1966, Toyonobori announced the formation of Tokyo Pro Wrestling; on the same day Inoki announced his intention to join the company, as Toyonobori has privately promised Inoki to make him the promotion's top star.

On October 12, 1966, Tokyo Pro had its first card at the Sumo Hall with Inoki in the main event. However, on April 6, 1967, the JWA announced the return of Antonio Inoki to the promotion. Therefore, Tokyo Pro folded, having lost its top star. Along with most of the former Tokyo Pro wrestlers, Toyonobori joined International Pro Wrestling, which had been founded in the meantime on October 21, 1966 by Isao Yoshiwara and Hiro Matsuda and which had its first card in Osaka on May 5, 1967 in conjunction with Tokyo Pro. IPW then started surpassing the dominance of the JWA in Japanese wrestling.

On December 19, 1968, Toyonobori was defeated by Billy Robinson in a round-robin tournament to become the first IWA World Heavyweight Champion, the first Japanese-based world heavyweight championship in professional wrestling history.

On May 18, 1969, Toyonobori and Shozo Kobayashi, nicknamed Strong Kobayashi, defeated Michael Nador and Ivan Strogoff in Paris, France to become the first IWA World Tag Team Champions.

On February 11, 1970 Toyonobori announced his retirement at an IPW event. However, in March 1972, when Inoki left JWA to form New Japan Pro Wrestling, Toyonobori came out of retirement for a few matches to help give the promotion name value. His last match was on February 20, 1973, a win over Bruno Bekkar in Yokohama, more than three years after his original retirement ceremony.

Toyonobori died on July 1, 1998 due to heart failure.

Among the many Legends Toyonobori wrestled are Lou Thesz, Johnny Valentine, Ox Baker, Larry Hennig, and Fred Blassie.

Championships and accomplishments
Japanese Wrestling Association
All Asia Tag Team Championship (7 times) - with Rikidozan (4), Michiaki Yoshimura (1) and Giant Baba (2)
JWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Rikidozan
World Big League (1964, 1965)
International Wrestling Enterprise
TWWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Koji Thunder Sugiyama
IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Shozo Strong Kobayashi
Worldwide Wrestling Associates
WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) (recognized by Japanese Wrestling Association, disputed by WWA)

Career Record: 512-46-33

TOYONOBORI	5'9"; 250 lbs; Fukuoka, Japan
Level 1 Offense	Level 1 Defense
1. double arm lock - 1 2. arm bar - 1 3. test of strength - 2 (pw) 4. shoulder tackle - 2 (ag) 5. into the ropes 6. airplane spin - 3 (ch E)	1. dazed - 1 (tag) 2. hurt - 2 dazed - 1 (tag) 3. TOYONOBORI - 1 4. TOYONOBORI - 2 5. dazed - 1 (tag) 6. TOYONOBORI - 1
Level 2 Offense	Level 2 Defense
1. hip toss - 2 2. leg twist - 2 3. back body drop - 2 4. into the turnbuckle (c) 5. body slam - 3 6. European upper cuts - 3	1. hurt - 2 (tag) 2. dazed - 1 3. TOYONOBORI - 2 4. down - 3 hurt - 2 (tag) 5. TOYONOBORI - 1 6. hurt - 2 (tag)
Level 3 Offense	Level 3 Defense
1. power slam - 3 2. out of the ring (c) 3. full nelson - 3 4. bear hug - 3 5. Argentine backbreaker - 3 6. CRAB HOLD (+1)	1. PIN 6 (3) PIN 5 (2) 2. hurt - 2 3. down - 3 4. hurt - 2 5. hurt - 2 6. down - 3 (tag) (lv)
Ropes B Turnbuckle B Ring C Deathjump B Disqualification 4	Agility +1 Power -2 Cage 4
Use bold instructions in tag team matches

[Sam Fain]

tystates - these are great! Thanks for sharing. Love the biographical write-ups you've done as well. Plans for more?

[tystates]

I do plan to do a few more. It's just a matter of time.

Others I've thought of doing:

Kokichi Endo
Masahiko Kimura
Strong Kobayashi
Mr. Moto

[Sam Fain]

Nice! I was going to ask about Kimura. Would love to be able to roll out a series with Rikidozan and see what might have happened had their only singles match not turned into a shoot.

[tystates]

I have the word file for these if anyone wants that to work on pdfing or printing.

[chargersfan1]

Thanks tystates! These are awesome! I appreciate the detailed histories too.

[tystates]

Most of the bios you can tell are from wiki or elsewhere. I may have added something in there somewhere and wrote who else in LOW they faced in their career. I just put all that together as a start and you can look up more information on these stars yourself.

[tystates]

Strong Kobayashi
Real Name - Shozo Kobayashi
Birthdate - 1/15/44
6'2" 276 lbs. - Tokyo, Japan
Athletic Background - Weightlifting, Bodybuilding
Professional Background - IWE(`66-`74), Europe(`67), AWA(`70-`71), New Japan(`74-`84)
Aliases - Shozo Kobayashi, Korean Assassin, Fukumen Taro
Groups - none
Peak Years - `68-`74
Career Record: 1,383-470-178
Championships:
IWA World Heavyweight Championship (2x)
IWA World Tag Team Championship (3x)
NWA North American Tag Team Championship (2x)


Place in History - One of the big stars of puroresu in the post-Rikidozan years, who interestingly disappeared from the sport while many of his peers did not. While not much of a worker, Strong Kobayashi had a certain charm as a muscular bodybuilder type. While sumo had produced most of the early stars due to the crossover appeal, Kobayashi was something different and was pushed well.

He had been a bodybuilder with some TV exposure and was scouted by the IWE upon its formation. He was made the number two star under Toyonobori, who had long been the number two heavyweight under Rikidozan. However, Toyonobori had financial problems and IWE had to cut him loose and Kobayashi and others shared the top spot.

Strong Kobayashi was able to work with every star the AWA, with whom IWE had an alliance, had to offer and that helped cement his place. There was still great emphasis placed on vanquishing foreigners and Kobayashi was able to battle Verne Gagne, Bill Miller, Wahoo McDaniel and others, beating enough of them to become a major star. However, the IWE was never going to rise above Giant Baba’s All Japan or Antonio Inoki’s New Japan. So, the aging Kobayashi made a business move and jumped to New Japan.

Placed in the main event seat immediately opposite Inoki, Strong Kobayashi was able to have one last hurrah and helped propel New Japan to a higher level. He remained with company for several years, but his body was broken down and he called it quits in 1984.

The heroes of the IWE are not remembered as fondly as those of New Japan, All Japan and other groups, but their contributions are notable in the evolution of puroresu. Strong Kobayashi was a key star for the group in the 1970s and innovated the role of a Japanese powerhouse that fans loved after years of seeing smaller Japanese battle bigger foreigners.

STRONG KOBAYASHI	Height 6-2; Weight 275; Tokyo, Japan
Level 1 Offense	Level 1 Defense
1. arm drag - 1 2. arm bar - 1 3. monkey flip - 2 (ag) 4. ankle lock - 2 5. crucifix - 2 (pw) 6. bouncing leg scissors - 2 (ch F)	1. dazed - 1 (tag) 2. STRONG KOBAYASHI - 1 3. dazed - 1 (tag) 4. hurt - 2 5. STRONG KOBAYASHI - 2 6. dazed - 1
Level 2 Offense	Level 2 Defense
1. snap mare - 2 2. knee drop - 2 3. into the ropes 4. into the turnbuckle (c) 5. body slam - 3 6. vertical suplex - 3	1. hurt - 2 2. hurt - 2 (tag) 3. STRONG KOBAYASHI - 2 4. hurt - 2 (tag) 5. STRONG KOBAYASHI - 1 6. down - 3
Level 3 Offense	Level 3 Defense
1. back suplex - 3 2. Boston crab - 3 (ch H) 3. out of the ring (c) 4. bear hug - 3 5. Canadian backbreaker - 3 6. ATOMIC DROP (+1)	1. down - 3 2. hurt - 2 3. hurt - 2 4. down - 3 (tag) (lv) 5. hurt - 2 6. PIN 6 (3)
Ropes B Turnbuckle A Ring B Deathjump C Disqualification 5	Agility +1 Power -3 Cage 3

Sam Fain

[TTX]

very nice work on Strong.