If Japanese women’s wrestling ever had its own version of “Looney Tunes,” Tanny Mouse would’ve been Bugs Bunny with a brainbuster. A tornado of comedy timing, chaos, and shoulder tackles, Tanny was the class clown of the joshi scene who still left a wake of broken ribs and rattled eardrums wherever she went.
She wasn’t built like a powerhouse. She didn’t move like a high-flier. And she didn’t care. Tanny Mouse—real name Mina Taniyama—broke every mold and still walked off with the hardware. What she lacked in size, she made up for in timing, grit, and the ability to weaponize weirdness.
All Japan Women’s: Baptism by Fire
Tanny debuted in 1994 with All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling—the Church of Pain, where rookies were beaten like rugs and only the strong, or the sadomasochistically stubborn, survived. She got her teeth kicked in by the likes of Manami Toyota, Etsuko Mita, and Mima Shimoda in the 1997 Japan Grand Prix. But Tanny was never supposed to be a golden ace. She was a grinder, a chaos merchant in baggy pants and a big grin.
She found her rhythm tagging with Yuki Miyazaki, forming the irreverent, unstoppable tandem known as the Neo Machine Guns. They were loud, ridiculous, and genuinely good, like if The Bushwhackers learned how to work a match. Together they grabbed the AJW Tag Titles, flipping off convention and running circles around the legacy act tag teams with their blend of slapstick and submission.
Ice Ribbon & The Birth of Hardcore Whimsy
By the time she landed in Ice Ribbon in 2007, Tanny was a seasoned clown-assassin. She wrestled dudes, goofballs, and deathmatch maniacs without ever losing that rascal energy. Her debut was pure Tanny: an intergender loss to Choun Shiryu, a man who wrestles like a drunken kung-fu movie extra. It made no sense, so naturally, she fit in perfectly.
She and Miyazaki again made history by winning the inaugural International Ribbon Tag Team Championship, proving their comedy didn’t come at the expense of their credibility. They made you laugh—then choked you out. Classic bait-and-switch.
The JWP Years: Pay Your Dues, Pop the Crowd
In JWP Joshi Puroresu, Tanny wasn’t the focus, but she was the glue. A utility player who could play it straight or blow the roof off with nonsense. She danced through thirteen years of undercards, battle royals, and tag team turmoil, surviving alongside icons like Kaori Yoneyama, Hikaru Shida, and Mima Shimoda.
By the time she reached 2010’s Climax, she was practically a holiday ornament—familiar, essential, and never quite the star, but always part of the magic. When Hailey Hatred won the Christmas battle royal, it was Tanny who made sure the match had pulse, color, and a punchline.
NEO: The Home of the Loud and the Loyal
Tanny’s true stage, her warped Broadway, was NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling. From 1998 to 2010, she lived in that ring. Bled for it. Cried in it. Made sure it never stopped being a funhouse ride of glitter and stunners.
She debuted in NEO with a three-way match in 1998 and immediately carved out a niche as the woman who could actually do everything—comedy, brawling, storytelling, fan connection. She was that glue wrestler every locker room prays for: funny enough to open a show, skilled enough to close one.
And then, boom, 2010. The end of NEO. She and Miyazaki had one last dance at Stage Door, defeating Haruyama and Toshie Uematsu in a bittersweet final bow. It wasn’t just her retirement—it was the death rattle of a promotion she’d help build from the mat up.
Mouse, But Not Meek
Tanny Mouse wasn’t a headline act. She wasn’t a technical wizard or a belt-chasing egomaniac. What she was, was necessary. A performer who never phoned it in, who made her partners shine, who made her enemies look dangerous and her friends look hilarious.
She was the screwball heartbeat of an era that took itself way too seriously. She could turn a headlock into theater and a pratfall into pathos. She was joshi wrestling’s court jester—and every kingdom needs one.
In the end, Mina Taniyama might’ve wrestled her final match under confetti and nostalgia, but the echo of her antics still ripples through every joshi ring that remembers how to smile.
Long live the Mouse.