Episode 63: The "Room for Growth" Realm

April 23, 2026

If someone asked me, "Can professional wrestling really expand any further?" I would answer with a confident "NO." That is because New Japan Pro-Wrestling still has an enormous amount of untapped "Room for Growth" (Nobishiro) just waiting to be awakened.

In a business context, this boils down to two main pillars: "Global Expansion" and "Integration into Lifestyle."

Our overseas strategy is steadily progressing, but there is still so much frontier to explore in terms of providing content optimized for local needs. We can definitely expand our data utilization through "NJPW WORLD," and of course, there’s the hosting of events within the Asian region. Currently, wrestlers from a Taiwanese promotion are training at the NJPW Dojo. These are the athletes I personally reached out to during the recent Taiwan event. Good job, me!

It’s also crucial that we don’t let pro-wrestling end as just a "live performance." We’ve had collaborations with local governments and held events at boat racing arenas, but I feel like something new could be born by taking the intangible assets—the "strength" and "never-give-up spirit"—of our wrestlers and crossing them with different industries like apparel, health, and education.

NJPW has over 50 years of history, but instead of letting that become a relic of the past, let’s use it as a "scaffold" (foothold) for new challenges. And what a sturdy scaffold it is! After all, basic training at the Dojo starts with squats. The stronger the scaffold—and the lower body—the better.

I want to balance this overseas expansion with making pro-wrestling something that people find right by their side before they even realize it. An aggressive stance that knows no boundaries. Domain Expansion! (Ryoiki Tenkai!)

Anyway, this "margin of expectation" is NJPW’s greatest asset. And... as President, perhaps my own personal growth is the biggest "Room for Growth" of all (No pressure!).