さくらえみ
In December 2009, Tsukushi, then only twelve years old, and nine-year-old Kurumi began training professional wrestling under Emi Sakura at her promotion Ice Ribbon's dojo in Saitama. Tsukushi's training sessions with Sakura mainly took place on weekends, while on weekdays she remained in her hometown of Kamisu, training amateur wrestling with a local male junior high school wrestling team. In January 2010, Tsukushi and Kurumi were entered into a trial series, which saw them both compete in three-minute time limit matches at Ice Ribbon events with those in attendance being given the right to vote on which one should be made a permanent member of the roster; the first to reach 500 votes would win the series. Tsukushi made her professional wrestling debut on January 16, when she wrestled Chii Tomiya to a three-minute time limit draw. During the next two months, Tsukushi also wrestled Emi Sakura twice, Mai Ichii three times, and Chii Tomiya and Hamuko Hoshi both once to a time limit draw, before suffering her first loss on March 6, against Miyako Matsumoto. On March 13, Tsukushi and Kurumi were defeated in a tag team match by Chii Tomiya and Riho. After the match it was announced that Tsukushi had won the trial series 506 fan votes to 379 and had as a result earned the right to become a member of Ice Ribbon's roster. The following day, she was defeated by Chii Tomiya in her official debut match. Tsukushi earned her first win on April 29, when she pinned Tomiya in a tag team match, debuting her finishing maneuver, "Harukaze" ("Spring Breeze"), in the process. On May 22, Tsukushi broke the record for the fastest win in Ice Ribbon history, when she pinned Emi Sakura in just five seconds. The win earned her a shot at Sakura's ICE×60 Championship, Ice Ribbon's top title, however, she was defeated in the title match on June 5. On July 11, Tsukushi made her debut for the NEO Japan Ladies Pro Wrestling promotion, losing to fellow Ice Ribbon worker Makoto. Tsukushi's first year in professional wrestling ended with her biggest match yet, when she teamed with Natsuki☆Taiyo and Sayaka Obihiro on December 29 in a 24-minute main event, where they were defeated by Emi Sakura, Nanae Takahashi and Yoshiko Tamura.