The stories of Shoko Nakajima and Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling are as intertwined as a redwood’s roots. You cannot go more than a few pages through TJPW’s history without seeing Nakajima’s name several times over.

And now as the joshi company enters its second decade of existence, evolving, growing and marching toward a promising future, so does Shoko.

Shoko, like Miyu Yamashita, has been with TJPW from day one. Well, almost. The Tsunan native appeared on their fourth show, aptly named “The Fourth Meeting” where she wrestled KANNA to a three-minute draw.

TJPW in 2013 was a tiny, little-known promotion with but two matches on their cards, their battles fought on a gym mat with just over 100 in the audience. Nakajima was a rookie, just like the company itself; energetic, unpolished, full of promise. She hadn’t yet adopted the Big Kaiju gimmick, so instead of her now trademark furry gear, she donned red and white gear that looked like something a member of The New Mutants might wear.

10 years later, TJPW is the number 2 joshi company in Japan. It pulled in 1,500-plus fans at Ariake Coliseum and brought its unique, wacky take on wrestling to a packed house at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles during WrestleMania weekend. Shoko, meanwhile, is now a multi-time champ with the company and one of its most recognizable faces. She landed the number 29 spot on Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Women’s 150 in 2022.

How did TJPW get here? “I think the most important thing was that each player worked hard to achieve what she wanted to become, but also that there were many people who supported us,” Nakajima told Wrestle Inn via translation from TJPW officials.

That “what she wanted to become” part is key. TJPW’s strength has long been its one-of-a-kind nature. Wrestlers like Nakajima find a character, a shtick, an angle, and fully, wholeheartedly dive into it.

Nakajima embraced her love of kaiju and played on the fact that she’s only 4’10”. She presents herself as The Biggest Kaiju, complete with a wolf-like outfit and confidence the size of Godzilla.  

Much like TJPW itself, Shoko exudes a vibrant multiplicity.

She sits on the company’s upper tier, a two-time Princess of Princess Champion who has impressively beaten TJPW’s end boss Miyu Yamashita four times in one-on-one action. But Shoko is also knee-deep in TJPW’s comedy antics.

She and the zany, masked Hyper Misao have built a tradition of wrestling some ridiculous gimmick match on TJPW’s big January 4 show.

In 2020, they fought in a match where the loser had to change their name. Two years later, they battled in a “New Year Tiger Child Rescue Match” where you won by retrieving a stuffed tiger from above the ring. Their clashes have featured all manner of shenanigans from throwing Poké Balls at each other to flipping their bodies onto a pile of kaiju toys.

About Misao, Nakajima said: “I think she is a crazy creative and smart wrestler.”

Shoko and Misao are tag team partners as well as rivals, having now teamed up dozens of times since they fought side by side on DDT’s Delicious Sacas show, back in 2016. It’s a partnership that has created some wild moments and allowed Nakajima to flex her comedy muscles.

She’s thrived as the bombastic underdog flush with fighting spirit as much as she has a participant in goofy antics.

Recently, she has gone the route of fellow TJPW pillars Yamashita and Yuka Sakazaki and started wrestling more outside of Japan. This year, she traveled to both coasts of the United States where she faced VENY, Trish Adora and Shazza McKenzie.

When asked what other non-Japanese wrestlers she’d like to face, Nakajima gave us two names: “Stephanie Vaquer from CMLL and Willow Nightingale from AEW.”

Both have been to TJPW. Both are good fits with the company. So we may well see Nakajima against those women at some point.

Nakajima is likely to do more globetrotting in the future. That’s been the recent pattern for TJPW’s big names.

Maki Itoh has essentially made the American indies her home away from home. Yuka said goodbye to the company just this month as she looks to wrestle elsewhere more. Yamashita trekked up and down the US, stepping into the ring for everyone from New Texas Pro to MLW.

TJPW now has all kinds of young, fresh talent on its roster. For so long, it has depended on Shoko, Yuka and Miyu, sometimes to the company’s detriment, because in part of a lack of options. That’s not true anymore, though. TJPW can roll with women like Miu Watanabe or Suzume as the next faces of the company. Nakajima, meanwhile, could go wrestle aboard more often, in part to serve as an ambassador for the company.

But Shoko isn’t done chasing championships.

After twice winning the Princess of Princess Championship, claiming the Princess Tag Team Championship alongside Yuka Sakazaki and winning both the Princess Cup and tag tournament, Nakajima still has gold on her mind. When asked what would define a successful 2024 for her, Nakajima simply said, “To wear a championship belt”.

She’s had every role and worn every hat for TJPW, from underdog to champion, from young, promising star to reliable veteran.  

Now she enters an intriguing chapter of her career. Does she settle into a comedy role, stay atop TJPW as one of its top stars, or start stomping around in other countries more? TJPW is changing. Shoko will have to, as well.

Whatever route she takes in the years ahead, though, we can bet on her staying true to herself.

When asked who she is today and where she fits into TJPW’s future, she offered only four words in response: “I AM BIG KAIJU.”