Vacation season has begun, and departures have been made. While the focus of our fistic talk is normally in the heart of Tokyo, we venture elsewhere this week to take a look at fighters and their upcoming travels, and what's in the works for the weekend and beyond outside of Japan's largest city.

For Hyogo native Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Pictures), the trip is not to a specific locale, but rather a new weight class, as the flamboyant veteran may look to right his ship amongst lighter vessels. For Fukuoka-born Hiromitsu Miura (Pictures), his relocation to Jupiter, Fla. has been much more work than play at The Armory. However, that work has finally paid off, as Miura makes his American debut this weekend.

While Miura is set to fight on this side of the equator, a quartet of Japanese fighters will climb into the cage Down Under. Worldwide Cage Network affiliate Warriors Realm return, fresh off of their successful March venture, with their second Australia vs. Japan card, with a crop of PRIDE, HERO'S and Shooto veterans on the bill.

But all the action isn't outside of Japan this weekend. In Hiroshima, GRAPPLINGMAN has returned with its sixth annual Mother's Day card, and the line-up is the strongest yet. Hiroshima amateur champs are set to make their awaited jumps to pro Shooto, while two of Hiroshima's best top off the bill, hoping to bounce from Class B. Meanwhile, in Toyama, Club DEEP returns with local favorites in tow, and a female fight well worthy of attention.

Finally, Shigeru Saeki has revealed that the DEEP Impact series will make the venture west for the first time in over three years. So what's up for DEEP's return to Osaka in July? As usual, Saeki has already set about teasing the card, igniting the intrigue for 30th Impact.

Career slide may mean scale slide for Mishima

After being a staple of the lightweight division for nearly a decade, Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Pictures) may be set to switch it up on the scales.

Coming off of back-to-back losses in the UFC at 155 pounds, the 35-year-old Mishima revealed that he was mulling over the possibility of cutting down to fight between 143 and 145 pounds in the future. He got his opportunity to experiment with the cut sooner than expected, after being a late addition to the 145-pound division at this past weekend's Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Submission Wrestling championships.

In his first competition at the weight, Mishima was able to knock off BJJ black belt Renato Migliaccio before being submitted by Baret Yoshida in the quarterfinals. Mishima's return to MMA competition has not been scheduled yet, though he still has a fight remaining on his three-fight deal with Zuffa.

While Mishima's management have yet to discuss a change in weight class with Zuffa brass, UFC and WEC matchmaker Joe Silva has stated that he would have no problem with Mishima competing in the WEC should he wish to compete at 145 pounds.

Miura meeting "Mayhem" in American debut

Zuffa has recently brought forth a strong crop of Japanese talent to the UFC's Octagon, and that movement toward globalization is now permeating the other Zuffa brand.

This weekend, Japan's Hiromitsu Miura (Pictures) will finally get his opportunity to fight in front of the American audience, when he takes on MMA's foremost cult hero in Jason "Mayhem" Miller on the third Zuffa-promoted WEC card at The Joint in Las Vegas. It will be by far the most high profile fight for the 26-year-old Fukuoka native, who went 3-0 in 2006, including a win over PRIDE veteran Kazuki Okubo (Pictures).

Miura was originally scheduled for action at the second Zuffa-promoted WEC card on March 24 against UFC veteran Joe Riggs (Pictures). However, as was well publicized, a bulging disc in the lower back of Riggs flared up on the day of the event, forcing him to withdraw from the bout on physician advice. With it being obviously too late to secure a replacement, the bout was canceled.

A former All Japan sambo champion in 2004, Miura also diversified his combat sport portfolio last year. In between MMA bouts, Miura competed in kickboxing promotion R.I.S.E., where he notched a 2-1 record, including a semifinal finish in the R.I.S.E. Mighty Eighty tournament before losing to K-1 veteran and eventual tournament champion Magnum Sakai.

After representing Pancrase-affiliate MEGATON-Tokin and more recently SAMURAI SWORD, Miura has spent the last few months in Jupiter, Fla. training out of The Armory with Hermes Franca (Pictures) and Kurt Pellegrino (Pictures), which led to him getting the opportunity to fight in the WEC.

Japanese off to the "Realm" Down Under

Ever increasingly becoming a hotbed of MMA, the Gold Coast of Australia will play host to the second Australia vs. Japan card promoted by WWCN affiliate Warriors Realm this Saturday.

Of the four bouts in the Japan vs. Australia series, perhaps the most intriguing is a fight between longtime Shooto veteran Katsuya Toida (Pictures) and Australian standout Adrian Pang (Pictures). Despite inconsistency over the past few years, Toida remains a viable competitor due to the fact that his losses have come largely at the hands of quality fighters, and that his highly unorthodox grappling makes him a factor in any bout.

Coming off of a very evenly matched draw with Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures) for the then-vacant 143-pound Shooto Pacific Rim title this past November, Toida is a pre-fight favorite, though Pang looked considerably improved in his bout last November, when he submitted GCM regular Taiyo Nakahara (Pictures).

In a match-up of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts and Shooto Japan veterans, Paraestra Hachioji leader "Gozo" Ayumu Shioda will make his international MMA debut against world ranked Shooto 132-pounder "Little Devil" Daniel Lima (Pictures). A replacement for "Hadairo" Tetsu Suzuki (Pictures), Shioda is coming off of a highlight reel KO loss to Yuki Shoujou (Pictures) in Shooto this past March.

"Gozo" will be in deep against the Australian-based Brazilian, as he will be making the jump up in weight, though perhaps taking solace in the fact that Lima's last bout saw him dominated from bell-to-bell by Yasuhiro Urushitani (Pictures), who made the jump up to 135 pounds for the fight after regularly competing at 123 pounds in Shooto.

Yusaku Tsukkumo also figures to be in a tough spot as he takes on PRIDE Bushido veteran Hector Lombard (Pictures). The unspectacular Tsukkumo has the unfortunate distinction of being one of GCM management's fighters large enough to square off with an opponent such as Lombard, and while he'll bring a two-fight winning streak into his second Warriors Realm appearance it figures to be broken by the Cuban-born Olympian, who has already notched two dominant victories in 2007.

Also on the card, DEEP regular Tomohiko Hori will square off with touted Aussie teen Jacob Sidic (Pictures). Hori will largely serve to gauge the ability of the 18-year-old Australian, who was succinctly victimized in only eight seconds by a far more experienced Tomonari Kanomata (Pictures) in CAGE FORCE this past Feb. Sidic, who has spent time training at Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW in Japan, is viewed as perhaps Australia's foremost prospect, and as a solid but wholly unspectacular opponent, Hori figures to serve as a valuable test for the young fighter.

Hiroshima's heavy hitters on display Mother's Day

A yearly tradition, Hiroshima-based Shooto promoter GRAPPLINGMAN will put on its sixth Mother's Day weekend card at Hiroshima Industrial Hall this Sunday, with a strong sampling of Shooto's best Hiroshimans.

The card will begin with a mixture of Class C amateur Shooto and grappling bouts, punctuated by world ranked 123-pounder Yasuhiro Akagi taking on Yoshihiro Fujita under grappling rules. The professional Shooto portion will see four Shooto rookie tournament bouts featuring Hiroshima talent, beginning with the debut of 2006 All Japan amateur Shooto champion Tatsuro Kamei. Kamei, a Hiroshima native, will take on ALIVE's Kenya Kato (Pictures), with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals of the bantamweight rookie tournament.

Hiroshima natives "C-BOY" Takaaki Ooban and Kazuhiro Ito will also see rookie action. Ooban will make his pro Shooto debut, taking on Seiji Furukawa in a 183-pound rookie tournament bout, while the heavily tattooed Ito will meet Takumi Ota with a spot in the 143-pound rookie semifinal on the line.

However, by far the most intriguing rookie bout is the 154-pound rookie quarterfinal between Paraestra Hiroshima's Kazuya Satomoto, and PUREBRED Kyoto's Yutaka Ueda.

With 154 pounds traditionally Shooto's biggest calling card, and this year's particularly large and intriguing welterweight crop, the bout figures to be of considerable importance. Ueda has crushed his last two opponents, including Shooto veteran Ken Omatsu in his pro Shooto debut, while Satomoto is one of the most accomplished Shooto amateurs in recent history. In September, Satomoto stampeded over the field at the All Japan amateur Shooto championships, submitting all four of his opponents in the 154-pound tournament, and being unanimously heralded as the best performer of the event. The winner of the bout will likely emerge as the frontrunner to be the 2007 Shooto rookie champion at 154.

The double main event features another two of Hiroshima's own. First, 2006 Shooto rookie runner-up Shinji Sasaki (Pictures) will see his first in-ring action since his brutal drubbing at the hands of Yoshihiro Koyama (Pictures) in the 154-pound rookie final last November. Sasaki will take on longtime veteran Masato Fujiwara, who recently notched his first win in over four years against Shinobu Miura last November. The bout figures to serve as a tune-up for Sasaki, who is slated to make his American debut in Stockton, Calif.-based Shooto affiliate Warriors Cup this July.

The finale will be a rematch pitting TK Esperanza leader Takeshi Okada (Pictures) against longtime Shooto veteran Takeyasu Hirono (Pictures). The two previously met in February, at GCM's CAGE FORCE card in Tottori, battling to a two-round draw. The hotly competitive match-up will now be afforded another two rounds to reach a conclusion. Also, due to both Hirono's experience and unthreatening fight style, he has become a popular hurdle for Shooto promoters to utilize to test up-and-comers on the cusp of breaking into Class A Shooto. It is likely that a promotion would be right around the corner for Okada, if the Hiroshima native notches a win on his home turf this weekend.

High stakes for Ham and MIKU in Toyama

Perhaps the most mobile of any MMA promotion in Japan, DEEP will take its show back to the Toyama prefecture this Sunday, for the sixth installment of the Barbarian Festival series.

The main event will feature local favorite and Club Barbarian standout "Barbaro44" Yoshihiro Tomioka (Pictures) making his return to the ring against R-BLOOD's Kosuto Umeda (Pictures). The bout will be a considerably softer touch for Barbaro44 than his previous bouts, where he was defeated by now-DEEP lightweight champion Kazunori Yokota (Pictures) in December, and choked out by veteran Ryan Bow (Pictures) last month.

However, the most intriguing bout on the card is a match-up between Club Barbarian's foremost female, Miku Matsumoto (Pictures), and South Korean Muay Thai champion Su Hi Ham (Pictures). Ham sent a shockwave through the female fight community in February, when she transformed from faceless foreign opposition for DEEP queen Hisae Watanabe (Pictures) to female firebrand in a mere 10 minutes.

The bout takes on a high level of intrigue, as while Ham out-struck the striker in Watanabe en route to a decision, Matsumoto is a slick ground specialist who will almost certainly not stand with the South Korean. Thus, the proverbial style clash may provide an answer as to whether or not Ham Su Hi is a flash in the pan, or set to blow up the division. Furthermore, there is a strong likelihood that the winner of the bout will be the first to challenge for Watanabe's 106-pound title in August.

Saeki starts hype for DEEP's summer Osaka return

Despite the aforementioned mobility and touring done under the DEEP banner, Osaka, the second biggest city in Japan, has largely been neglected. Perhaps due in part to DEEP sister promotion Real Rhythm periodically promoting cards in the city, the smaller scale Club DEEP shows have remained in areas such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Toyoma, while the DEEP Impact series has remained entrenched in the confines of Korakuen Hall in Tokyo (the last DEEP Impact card held in Osaka was DEEP 14th Impact in April of 2004).

However, this DEEP drought is set to end this July with DEEP boss Shigeru Saeki revealing that after a three year absence, the DEEP Impact series will return to Osaka on July 8 for DEEP 30th Impact. DEEP's corpulent commander, well known for teasing and tantalizing fans, has stated that he has already decided the main event of the card.

"Three or four years ago, it would be a dream fight," Saeki stated on his personal blog. Saeki further teased, "For these two fighters, this match will be putting it all on the line in their fighting careers. Well then, just who are these two?"

No venue has yet been announced to house the card. Given the purported stature of the card, small venues such as Azeria Taisho Hall, with a capacity of about 300, and Umeda Stella Hall, which accommodates approximately 700, may not suit the needs of DEEP. While the chic digs of Zepp Osaka are a possibility, the venue holds just under 1000 people. After routinely filling Korakuen Hall's capacity of 2200, DEEP may look to look the comparable size of venues such as the ATC Hall or Festival Hall for their return to the west.