As the match continues, Yawara discovers that Yuki Tohdoh is actually very weak despite her heft, and she has trouble faking the loss. Meanwhile, the ignorant reporters present at the match vacillate between thinking that Yawara is faking a loss or covering up her own weakness, despite "expert" opinions from Hanazono, Shinnosuke, and Gohzoh Yuutenji, the Saikai College judo coach, that Yawara for some reason is not showing her true strength. As Yawara continues to fake her way through the match, Jigoro becomes suspicious and finally realizes that Yawara is trying to lose; Matsuda for his part is unable to continue watching the fake defeat and decides to leave, meeting an unknown woman on the outside asking about the match. As Yawara is about to "lose" the match, she spots her mother (the unknown woman) peeking through the windows and reflexively throws Yuki Tohdoh in a split second for an ippon win. After the match, Shinnosuke cannot stop his womanizing ways and invite Yawara's three friends for more discussion about judo over coffee. Yawara and mother flee from the reporters after the victory, which was not known to Matsuda until the reporters confront him about helping them flee (Matsuda up until then had been intending to resign and go back to work for his family hostel at Yamagata). Yawara and her mother, Tamao, return home for dinner, and Tamao tells Yawara that it does not matter whether she does judo or not, and that there are other ways to be strong. Jigoro joins them, and Tamao bribes him with his favorite foods whenever he argues with Yawara about judo or food (Jigoro derisively calls beef stroganoff "strong combo"); Tamao also shares alleged pictures of her husband, who might have been spotted in the northern country near Hida Takayama. (Source: Wikipedia)

Aired on: 12/17/1989