Michael Noakes wrote:
As for the poster scene (and I still don't think that Ranma would've had
posters on his wall; the kid was so confident in himself it's hard to
believe he'd look up at anyone as an idol figure), a suggestion: right now,
there's an amazingly popular woman within the world of Judo tearing up the
Japanese ranks. Can't remember her name, but it shouldn't be hard to find.
She'd make a good poster. And if AKane and Nabiki are purposefully avoiding
giving Ranma any kind of martial arts female role models - well, that's
interesting (and rather eerie), and ought to be explored within the
narrative (in my opinion.)
Are you referring to Ryoko Tamura? Or perhaps her predecessor (now retired
from competition) Yuko Emoto, first Japanese woman to win an Olympic gold in
judo (and married to Kim Hyuk, the 1997 Paris World Championship winner for his
weight class). Neither would have been known at the time when Ranma was first
published in Japan .
Notable female martial artists are not unknown in Japan. I'm sure that Ranma
(and Akane) would both be aware of the first female judo practitioner, Sueko
Ashiya (who started training with Jigoro Kano in 1893) and of Keiko Fukuda
(born 1913), who was one of the last students of Jigoro Kano and who is 8th
dan.
whimsy