24 Facts About Akira Hokuto

Akira Hokuto joined the AJW dojo after quitting high school.

Akira Hokuto won the AJW's top tag team belt, the WWWA World Tag Team Championship, paired with Yumiko Hotta In 1987.

Akira Hokuto wrestled the entirety of the second and third falls, sometimes holding her head in place with her hands.

In 1990, Akira Hokuto was booked to win the Japan Grand Prix, AJW's annual tournament to determine the number one contender to the top singles belt, the WWWA World Single Championship.

Akira Hokuto tore open her knee, and was rendered unable to walk.

Akira Hokuto grew her hair longer and bleached it blonde, wore flashy attire, used stylised make-up to complement her features and called herself "Akira Hokuto", after popular wrestler Akira Maeda.

Akira Hokuto won the All Pacific Championship in 1991 and 1992, and sustained many more injuries.

Akira Hokuto feuded with Shinobu Kandori of the LLPW promotion during the inter-promotional period, where the major promotions active in women's wrestling in Japan at the time combined to run shows with dream match-ups that attracted some of the largest cards in history.

At AJW All-Star Dreamslam on April 2,1993, Akira Hokuto defeated Kandori, which was given a perfect five-star rating by Dave Meltzer and is considered by some to be the greatest women's match in history.

Later that year, having married Mexican wrestler Antonio Gomez Medina who worked as "Mascara Magica", Akira Hokuto moved to Mexico.

Akira Hokuto had one of her last great matches for AJW on September 2,1995, losing a 21-minute match against Manami Toyota.

On November 26,1995, Akira Hokuto made her US debut at the World War 3 pay-per-view event.

Akira Hokuto later defeated Madusa at WCW's The Great American Bash on June 15,1997, a match where Madusa was forced to 'retire' due to a stipulation.

Akira Hokuto was wrestling with a broken rib, but, just as she had done so many times before, she defied the pain, and scored the pin on Hamada with the Northern Lights Bomb.

Akira Hokuto even slapped a few of them, including Satomura, and Sakura Hirota.

Akira Hokuto then walked up the walkway where she was met by husband Kensuke Sasaki and their son.

Akira Hokuto served as the chief executive officer of Hawaii Championship Wrestling for a period of time during a Japan vs Hawaii feud, as well as engaged in several squash matches against comedy wrestler Stalker Ichikawa, and became the first woman in history to compete in a match in All Japan Pro Wrestling against Kendo Kashin, a match that Hokuto won in just 3 minutes with the aid of outside interference.

Akira Hokuto married Kensuke Sasaki on October 1,1995, after Sasaki proposed to her on their first date.

Akira Hokuto became pregnant in early 1998 and gave birth to her first son, Kennosuke on November 6,1998.

Akira Hokuto gave birth to her second son, Seinosuke in March 2003.

Kensuke Sasaki and Akira Hokuto were voted one of Japan's leading celebrity couples in 2006.

Akira Hokuto has assisted her husband in various publicity and charitable activities in his position as Japan's Friendship Ambassador to Fiji for the year 2007.

Akira Hokuto has made various media appearances as a "mother celebrity".

On September 23,2015, Akira Hokuto announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing surgery the following day to have her right breast removed.