Full Details

Title: VISUALIST Women’s Pro Wrestling Mook
Release: May 19th, 2021
Pages: 98
Size: A4
Cost: ¥1,500
Where to Buy: Amazon Japan and Third Party Vendors

For many months leading up to its release, every week in Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine there was a featured picture of a Joshi wrestler under the “VISUALIST” heading. This led to the release of this mook (magazine + book = mook, basically its a thicker magazine), which is almost 100 pages of modeling-style pictures of some of the most popular Joshi wrestlers. Many different promotions are represented as wrestlers from Stardom, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ice Ribbon, Actwres girl’Z, and more are featured.  The complete list of wrestlers in the mook is:

• Giulia (Stardom)
• Yuka Sakazaki (Tokyo Joshi Pro)
• Saori Anou (Freelancer)
• Maya Yukihi (Ice Ribbon)
• Tam Nakano (Stardom)
• Mizuki (Tokyo Joshi Pro)
• Nagisa Nozaki (WAVE)
• Saki Akai (DDT)
• Himeka (Stardom)
• Risa Sera (Ice Ribbon)
• Miku Aono (Actwres girl’Z)
• Yuki Kamifuku (Tokyo Joshi Pro)

For fans of the visual, as the name implies, this mook certainly delivers. Each wrestler gets one page of text, but all the other pages are purely pictures, giving fans a lot of bang for their buck. Many of the photos do veer towards the PG-13 side, but there is no nudity or implied nudity. Some of the wrestlers here are very familar with this style of photoshoot (Tam Nakano, Maya Yukihi, Yuki Kamifuku, etc.) but for others its a more rare look at a different side of them. Every wrestler has at least a couple different outfits/settings, giving the photos for each individual wrestler some variety. All in all, this is a very thorough mook and the best print media for professional modeling-style photos of Joshi wrestlers in recent memory just based on the length and variety of wrestlers. Here is a sample of pictures from the mook:

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Full Details

Title: MagiRabi in WONDERLAND
Release: November 2020
Pages: 80
Size: A4
Cost: ¥4,000
Where to Buy: Tokyo Joshi Pro Online Shop

Tokyo Joshi Pro doesn’t put out as many photobooks as Stardom, but when they do, they are always quality. This photobook is no exception, with a great spread featuring the team of Yuka Sakazaki and Mizuki, often referred to by their tag team name – MagiRabi.

There are several things that make this photobook unique and memorable, but my favorite is that they really went “all in” with the Alice in Wonderland inspired photoshoot. This was not some half-ass shoot using items from the local thrift shop. They had multiple outfits, a full set with props, and everything needed to really recreate the scenes. As far as wrestling photoshoots that take inspiration from something else, I can’t think of any examples that went as far into it as Tokyo Joshi Pro did and it made for an amazing set of pictures.

If Alice in Wonderland isn’t your vibe, that’s fine as Tokyo Joshi Pro didn’t forget about you either. In addition to the cosplay photo set, they also photographed Mizuki and Yuka Sakazaki in casual clothing and yes – lingerie as well just to make sure every fan went home happy. This includes both pictures together and separately. One of the advantages of the photobook being 80 pages is they had plenty of room to ensure there is something in the photobook for everyone. For myself, I really enjoy the variety. It would have been fine if they put out a lingerie photobook, or a more casual photobook, or a cosplay photobook, but instead they went all out and did all three in one large presentation. In a lot of ways its the perfect photobook, and the chemistry that Yuka and Mizuki have helps everything appear authentic and not forced.

Overall, an A+ photobook and one I can easily recommend. Here is a sample of pictures from the photobook:

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Tae Honma in Mexico Photobook Details:

Official Title: Tae en Mexico Official Photobook
Release: October 31st, 2019
Pages: ~50
Cost: ¥2,000
Where to Buy: Champion Shop

Joshi wrestlers having photobooks is far from a novel concept, but I do enjoy when we get a surprise or unexpected photobook from a more “under the radar” wrestler. This photobook certainly qualifies, as Tae Honma is not as well known to most fans even though at the time this was released she had been wrestling for over four years. She is a member of Actwres girl’Z and for the first several years was not highlighted in the promotion, but recently has gotten a chance to shine in other promotions and her stock is rising in Actwres girl’Z as well. In 2019 she traveled to Mexico and took part in some CMLL events, which is what this photobook features.

If you are only a fan of ‘sexy’ photobooks, this isn’t the photobook for you. While Tae Honma is an attractive woman, this photobook focuses on her sightseeing in Mexico and training in CMLL. Her attire ranges from casual to her in-ring gear, with nothing more scandalous than that. As a change of pace, I enjoyed it, as not every photobook has to feature bikinis and skin to be worthwhile. Still, its worth noting since it is a departure from the norm and from what some fans may be expecting. The photobook is full size and all in color, and provides plenty of content for the relatively low price. Here is a sample of pictures from the photobook:

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Full Photobook Details

Title: Shoko Nakajima “Piñata”
Release: January 2020
Pages: 38
Cost: ¥2,500
Where to Buy: Tokyo Joshi Pro Online Shop

Whenever a Joshi wrestler goes to a different country (whether it be to wrestle/train like in Mexico or for the specific reason to do a photoshoot like in Guam), it isn’t unusual for a photobook to be released very soon thereafter. Shoko went to Mexico in November and had a handful of matches for the Lucha promotion CMLL, as well as trained there. Naturally she also found time for sightseeing during her stay, and along the way she had a photographer to capture her adventures.

The best thing about excursion photobooks is they tend to have a nice variety of pictures, and Piñata is no exception. It really felt like she just took the camera wherever she went and didn’t have a set Photoshoot Day, making the pictures feel more authentic. Shoko has pictures of her around the town during the day, at night, and visiting historical sites – normal vacation activities. There are also photos of her in training while at CMLL so its not strictly a “personal” photobook, in addition to pictures of her in her ring attire. The only section that felt like a typical photoshoot were the six or so bikini pictures, which came across more like planned posed shots than natural, however that aspect wasn’t the focus of the photobook and just presents a different side of Shoko. For the ground that it covers and the price, certainly a must-buy for fans of Shoko Nakajima. Here is a sample of photos from the photobook:

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Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine Erokawa VII Photobook Details:

Title: Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine Erokawa VII
Release: May 31st, 2017
Pages: Unknown
Cost: ¥1,250
Where to Buy: Currently sold out, can be found on Ebay

For the 7th edition of Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine Erokawa, the following wrestlers were featured:

• Io Shirai
• Toni Storm
• Hana Kimura
• Natsu Sumire
• Saori Anou
• Natsumi Maki
• Konami

All seven wrestlers had their own separate spreads, as there were not any dual or group shot pictures since I assume they all took their pictures separately. Each wrestler received a fair number of pages, however Io Shirai, Toni Storm, and Hana Kimura received more coverage than the other four. Since most Western fans will be purchasing these magazines for the pictures, I’ll focus my review on that portion. Approximately 45 pages from the magazine are modeling/gravure pictures for the wrestlers featured. It is a solid variety of wrestlers, as since the magazine is not affiliated with any promotions in particular every wrestler came from a different promotion or area (as of the date of this review, three of the wrestlers are members of/regularly wrestle in Stardom but that was not the case at the time of release).

The majority of the pictures are bikini/lingerie attire but it does not dip into more risqué territory than that. The Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine Erokawa series is one of the best available due to the wrestler variety and the quality of the pictures, and I always recommend checking them out if they can be found at a reasonable price. Here is a sample of pictures from the magazine:

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Full Photobook Details

Title: Hazuki “Wild Heart” Retirement Commemorative Photobook
Release: December 24th, 2019
Pages: 42
Cost: ¥2,500
Where to Buy: At live Stardom events

When Hazuki announced her pending retirement in November of 2019, it may have shocked wrestling fans but Stardom was clearly ready as a new photobook was released on the day of her retirement show. The Hazuki retirement photobook is full sized (A4) and all pages are in color. It has an added perk that all were signed on the cover by Hazuki, which we have seen before with Yoko Bito and Act Yasukawa as Stardom likes to have retirement photobooks with an autograph on the front. At 42 pages, it is not the biggest photobook but is almost twice as long as those released in the Stardom MyStar series.

As for the pictures, a few pages at the start of the book are new photos taken just for this release, while the rest are pictures are from throughout Hazuki’s career and from the various photobooks she has been in. This includes a wide variety of photo types, ranging from Oedo Tai pictures, modeling pictures, in-ring wrestling pictures, and pictures of Hazuki posing with titles she has won. They also included pictures from Hazuki’s first run in Stardom, when she wrestled as Reo Hazuki. Stardom didn’t break any new ground with this photobook but they really didn’t need to, as fans of her will enjoy the walk down memory lane as they cover different periods of Hazuki’s career in picture form. Clearly a must-have for any fans of Hazuki, if you can find it. Here is a sample of pictures from the photobook:

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Full Photobook Details

Title: Riho “Prologue”
Release: July 2019
Pages: 22
Cost: ¥2,000
Where to Buy: Gatoh Move Online Shop

Riho announced in the summer of 2019 that she was leaving Gatoh Move, her wrestling home from 2012 to 2019. At her final Gatoh Move event, a special photobook was released to commemorate the occasion. The photobook was titled “Prologue” as her training and experience gained in Gatoh Move acted as a prologue to where the rest of her career would take her. Unlike some wrestler departures, Riho leaving Gatoh Move was fully supported by her trainer and promotion owner, Emi Sakura, as they continued to wrestle together later on when Riho joined AEW. This is one of the smaller photobooks ever released, but still provides a window into Riho’s career while in Gatoh Move.

One benefit of the photobook is that all were signed on the front cover, as seen in the picture above. To many, the autograph alone would justify the price of the photobook, which was a reasonable ¥2,000 (about $20). The photobook is not full sized, as it is sized at A5 (approximately 8 inches by 6 inches). It is also only 22 pages, and a lot of those pages include text instead of pictures. The pictures are very tasteful and show Riho in a variety of poses, with Riho wearing either formal wear or her ring attire. All in all, the contents of the photobook itself may be a bit lacking due to its size, however the front being signed by Riho adds a lot to the value and its still a fitting way to remember her exit from Gatoh Move. Here is a sample of pages from the photobook:

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