The House that Hidehiko Yoshida Built

In his five MMA bouts, Nagakura has spent just over eight minutes in the ring, and, yet, that rugby ruggedness clearly shines through; he’s fearless, taking as many shots as he delivers. The blows have not fazed him or marked him up; rugby has apparently served him well. It did not take the 25-year-old brawler long to realize he craved this physicality. Two months into working for the Japan Travel Bureau -- Japan’s leading travel agency -- Nagakura abruptly quit the mundane life.

“When I was working in the office, I looked at my boss and colleagues and decided that that world wasn’t for me,” he says. “I didn’t want to become like them. I gave returning to rugby some thought, but I wanted to do individual sports instead.”

He was recruited into the Yoshida Dojo six months later with the help of his college rugby manager. He had less than a year of training when he stormed Deep’s lightweight Future King tournament in December 2008. He blew away the bracket, winning all three of his bouts via knockout in a combined three minutes and 19 seconds.

Nagakura clearly enjoys his new profession but stays refreshingly even-keeled about his progress and potential.

“I haven’t really decided on a target or goal for the future,” he says. “Like they say, there’s always going to be someone out there that’s better than me, so I don’t feel particularly special now.”

Nakamura’s Responsibility

It was our original hope to interview all the Yoshida Dojo’s main carders for this feature. However, it proved impossible to speak to Kazuhiro Nakamura or Yoshida, though not for lack of trying. Since it was announced that Yoshida would face his top pupil, Nakamura, he has taken up training with Tsuyoshi Kosaka and his “over 40s” crew at Kosaka’s gym, Alliance-Square. Nakamura remained behind and continued to train at Yoshida Dojo but was too focused -- or perhaps nervous -- to grant an interview.

As our photographer, Joshua Lieberman, began shooting Nakamura working the focus mitts with boxing coach Katsuhisa Tashiro, Nakamura pushed a gloved hand out to block his camera. Though he had a friendly smile at the time, Nakamura making an “X” shape with his arms clearly meant “no photos, please.”

“Actually, he’s usually like that before a major fight,” Nagakura says. “He’s just the kind of person who goes into tunnel vision before the fight. It’s not just for Astra or because he’s fighting Yoshida, in particular.”

It has been difficult to quell suspicions that this fight might be weighing heavily on Nakamura. At the Astra press conference to announce the bout, an emotional Nakamura was suddenly saddled with the prospect of facing his mentor in his last fight. More still, Nakamura was not only tasked with giving Yoshida a fitting farewell but will be expected to take over as the dojo’s marquee fighter thereafter.

“It’s complicated. To be honest, I didn’t want them to fight,” Omigawa says. “It’s been difficult for me, too. On the one hand, [Yoshida] is like my big brother, but, on the other, he’s a superstar, a hero, all at the same time. Kaz and I went to the same school, and though I was older than him, he taught me so many things in MMA”

Kaz, as Omigawa refers to him, is a friend and teammate dating back to their days on the Kokusai Budo University judo team.

“We were bunked in the same huge dorm for the judo club,” Omigawa says. “In Kaz’s room, he had
turntables and we used to do a little DJing, listening to
music like Tupac, lots of hip-hop, reggae and R&B.”

“We’re pretty close outside the gym, as well,” says Nagakura, who calls Nakamura his number one supporter. “Kaz has a wife and daughter, and while I’m not married yet, my girlfriend and I often get together with him and his family for dinner. I also babysit his daughter sometimes.”

Nagakura is also employed part-time at Nakamuraya, Nakamura’s oden restaurant. It may be a far cry from the work of an everyman, financially-speaking, but, as Nagakura points out, it’s rare that a professional fighter has a part-time job that’s so closely related to his or her sporting pursuits and social circles.

“Kaz pays me a monthly salary that’s enough to cover my living expenses. It doesn’t feel like work since we’re so close,” Nagakura says. “I do a bit of everything. I greet customers, take orders, cook and serve. When we’re at the restaurant, it’s just like we’re in the gym --chatting, laughing and working together. Nakamuraya and Yoshida Dojo compliment one another.”

Yoshida’s Legacy

While everyone in the gym seems clearly invested in each other’s affairs, neither Omigawa nor Nagakura are wringing their hands over their teammates fighting. As much as they owe it to Yoshida’s legacy to succeed, they owe it to their own fighting futures, as well.

“Having fought in the UFC, I’ve experienced what fighting at the world standard is like. I’d love to return to fight there again -- in WEC. I want to show all the things that I know I’m capable of but just couldn’t do when I was in the Octagon,” says Omigawa, who sees fighting abroad as an integral part of setting an example that will contribute to Yoshida’s legacy. “The most important thing that [Yoshida] taught me was that I must always win. It’s not important to look cool or anything else. Victory is the most important thing; otherwise, no one will remember you.”

Nakagura agrees.

“As far as Yoshida’s legacy and my responsibility, I think it’s basically that I’ll just pick up another win, improve and move forward,” he says. “That’s it.”

On the surface, these comments seem plain enough, but given the trite declarations that “winning isn’t everything in Japanese MMA,” which fans in the West endlessly reiterate, it’s fascinating to hear two Japanese fighters say exactly the opposite.

Yoshida’s larger-than-life celebrity is seeming proof of sensationalism and the appeal of spectacle in Japanese MMA. Casual television watchers in Japan tuned in to see the Barcelona Olympic Games champion simply because he was an established athlete trying his hand at a new and exciting sport. However, while many crossover Japanese stars hail from a deep history of professional wrestling -- an idiom where losing is ultimately irrelevant -- Yoshida comes from a competitive sporting culture. Indifference about winning does not create an Olympic gold medal.

Yoshida’s legacy will not be one of aimless spectacle. The house that he built was based upon achievement, and it’s evident in Omigawa, Nagakura and Nakamura.