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Who Are the Up Up Girls?

11 months ago

Who Are the Up Up Girls?

By: Jeff Brown

The Up Up Girls is a dynamic sister wrestling group that currently competes under the Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW). This group is unique since they perform as an idol group within the world of wrestling. The Up Up Girls play an important role in marketing Tokyo Joshi because of their flamboyant nature, beauty and popularity among wrestling fans.

Origins of the Up Up Girls

The Up Up Girls came about through a partnership between Kari Kakko and DDT Pro-Wrestling in May 2017. The intention was to create a sister wrestling group that could entertain fans in other ways, such as singing and dancing, providing a complete entertainment experience. The group was introduced to the wrestling public on August 12, 2017, and included Raku, Hikari Noa, Hinano, and Miu Watanabe as the original members. They made their eagerly anticipated stage debut on August 27, 2017, performing their debut single, “Upper Kick.” The performance was interspersed with exciting and spontaneous wrestling between team members.

The Growth of the Up Up Girls

The Up Up Girls were well received and continued to perform as an idol group until they made their pro-wrestling debut on January 4, 2023. The group’s song “Uppercut” was released as a limited event single and was available for sale at the venue. The Up Up girls continued to make waves with their theatrics and performances for the rest of 2018. Hinano, who had now changed her name to Pinano Pipipipi, retired from the group and puroresu in general on April 5th, 2019. There was a massive send-off event for Pinano; she wrestled with all the female members of Tokyo Joshi, and each wrestler said their goodbyes in an emotionally charged event.

The Up Up Girls by now was extremely popular and known by everyone associated with wrestling in Japan. The Up Up Girls released their smash single “Uppercut” and another single, “Upper Chop,” digitally in 2020. They also released “Maketakuna” and “All Along The Way” later in 2020, and to finish the year in grand style, each group member released a single on Christmas Day, December 25, 2020. Raku’s song was titled “Marshmallow Cacao Station,” Hikari Noa released “Rock Bottom,” and Miu Watanabe released “Chokotto Love Me Do.” In April of 2023, newest member Shino Suzuki released “My Theory,” and Miu Watanabe released her new single “Seriously Muscle,” and at Grand Princess 23, they debuted their first group single in 2 and 1/2 years with “Shining Mark.” TJPW’s Stick Out ’23 saw the debut of their new single “Babyface”.

The Up Up Girls Legacy and Future

In March of 2022, the Up Up Girls initiated a recruiting drive, intending to add as many as thirty members. However, they could only locate one member that fit into what they were trying to do: Shino Suzuki. Shino officially became a group member on August 14, 2022; she took part in her first wrestling match on March 6, 2023. Shino is a former tour bus guide, as is reflected by the uniform she is wearing on her single artwork. Shino is regularly on the Showroom app, a streaming service that is popular in Japan for idols and entertainers. Also, she did a marathon live stream on the UUG Youtube channel, performing Upper Kick 61 times in a display of endurance and performance art. During TJPW’s Stick Out ’23 in June, the UUGs introduced their newest member, Uta. She is a 16-year-old who is still attending high school. Courtesy of Dramatic DDT, the audience was informed “that her favorite wrestler and idol is Miu Watanabe. Her hobbies include watching pro-wrestling, drinking all-you-can-drink juice and tea, and watching cute idols on TikTok. Her special skills are reviewing ice cream, playing badminton and table tennis, and also talking at a machine gun-like speed.”

The Up Up Girls have been responsible to a large extent for popularizing the concept of idol wrestling, which is a mixture of entertainment and wrestling. This type of wrestling is now an accepted segment in mainstream wrestling in Japan and the wider wrestling world and has a large and growing fan base. The Up Up Girls will continue to lead the charge in idol wrestling this year and will surely be an inspiration to the next generation of wrestlers.

Their Journey to Joshi

Every wrestler’s path to the ring is different, and each of the Up Up Girls has taken her own unique path to TJPW. During the TJPW-produced YouTube documentary about Yuki Arai, “Why She Wrestle?” Each roster member was asked how they became part of TJPW. English subtitles courtesy of @kaleid_SKE.

Miu’s enthusiasm is apparent from the moment she steps through the curtain, but even for her, she had moments of doubt and struggled. Her entrance theme mentioning her love of idol music was a reference to the spark that led her to puroresu. She has been able to retain that enthusiasm for Idol while becoming an in-ring force of nature.

Miu Watanabe: Originally, I wanted to become an idol. But I was able to come in contact with pro wrestling at the Up Up Girls audition. And as I continued doing it… At first, I felt a little dissatisfied and felt like I wasn’t going anywhere, but I fell in love with it more and more. Now, I can say from the bottom of my heart that I am glad that I was able to come in contact with professional wrestling. I have fun doing it and I’m glad that I found it.

Noa may be the first Joshi to use idol as a path to the violent world of death matches. She has a special entrance song, “I’m Alive,” that is just for her hardcore and deathmatches. The artwork has an image of Noa covered in blood.

Hikari Noa: I’ve always liked deathmatch wrestling. Deathmatch wrestling changed my life. I wanted to become a pro wrestler and that’s why I became an idol. I want to be an idol who sheds blood.

Raku and her more playful shenanigans-based in-ring style may be informed by an anime character. Tsukishima Kirari is a manga-turned-anime character. Koharu Kusumi of the J-pop group Morning Musume voiced her for the anime. According to Wikipedia, “Kirari is a beautiful 14-year-old girl who strives to be an idol to become closer to Seiji. She has a huge appetite for food. Despite her shortcomings and lack of talents, she manages to persevere as a result of the help she receives from her friends and her unwavering resilience. As time passes and she spends time with Hiroto, she begins to fall in love with him instead.”

If one were to replace eating food with enjoying sleep and trains, the enigmatic Raku would make a bit more sense. The majority of the roster enjoys teaming with Raku, especially Pom Harajuku and Yuki Aino, and Raku’s character is always persistent and, on rare occasions, wrestles in a more serious style.

Raku: Ever since I was small, I admired Tsukishima Kirari-san and I wanted to become an idol. I auditioned for Up Up Girls and the next thing I knew I was a professional wrestler.

A standard for pop and idol groups is that each member has a designated color. It is part of branding, with fans buying glow sticks to show their support during concerts, and the majority of merchandise will be based around their color. The Up Up Girls are no different with Miu (Pink), Raku (Yellow), Hikari Noa (Sky Blue), Shino (Green), and former member Pinano Pipipipi (Pastel Purple). Since they are also Joshis, it informs the fans on the color of tape or streamers to throw for ring entrances.

The Up Up Girls are counted on to open TJPW events with at least one musical number, but as they have gained experience, they have also been closing more shows in main events and title matches. It is not out of the question that one, if not more, of the quartet will reach the pinnacle of the company and be the complete embodiment of TJPW as a singing, dancing, and fighting Princess of Princess Champion.

By
Features, Tokyo Joshi

Written by:

I mainly focus on making music, while writing on the side. After graduating high school, I studied guitar in the Seattle area. Music reviews really got me started with blogging and journalism. Meantime, I watched ‘90s AJW and Gaea throughout the 2000s & parachuted in for Ice Ribbon, Stardom, Actwres Girl’Z. I live in Edgewood, WA and am a proud member of the Duwamish tribe.