At the age of 22, she was 3 billion yen in debt and the mother of four children…The bizarre life of the “Rikidozan widow” has been published as a book | ORICON NEWS

The book “Rikidozan Widow” (Shogakukan) by Masashi Hosoda, which won the 30th Shogakukan Nonfiction Grand Prize, will be published on May 31st. This book is a valuable memoir by Rikidozan’s wife, a professional wrestler who boasted national popularity as a “symbol of post-war reconstruction.” Behind the scenes of her husband’s sudden death, after her husband’s death, she became president of five companies at the age of 22, shouldered 3 billion yen in debt, became a mother of four children, and other things that have been told so far. The “afterlife” that never existed will be revealed.

Keiko, a widow, had the option of giving up her inheritance. But I didn’t think about it. “I thought that my husband would never want something like that.” Keiko decided to accept the position of president (from the text)

This story unravels the strange half-life of a woman who lived through the Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa eras, exposed to the gaze of curiosity as the “widow of Rikidozan,” exposed to the baptism of a male-dominated society, and at the mercy of the unique industry of professional wrestling.

■Comments from the selection committee for the 30th Shogakukan Nonfiction Award
Mr. Mitsuki Tsujimura (author) “The widow Keiko’s personality is so charming that it makes you dizzy.”

Hiromi Hoshino (nonfiction writer): “He succeeded in highlighting the depth of darkness in postwar Japan. The past and present coexisted well, and the changes in Japan were clearly visible.”

Kazuya Shiraishi (film director): “The relationship between Antonio Inoki and the people around him was something even pro wrestling fans could not bear to read about.”

■Masashi Hosoda
Born in Okayama City in 1971, raised in Tottori City. He graduated from Tottori Johoku High School. After working as a ring announcer, CS caster, and broadcast writer, she became a writer. In 2021, her work “The Man Who Made Tadashi Sawamura Fly a Vacuum” (Shinchosha) won the 43rd Kodansha Honda Yasuharu Nonfiction Award. In 2023, she won the 30th Shogakukan Nonfiction Grand Prize for “Rikidozan Widow”.