Support for the Para-curling team

According to Kannane Net, word came from the Asahikawa Cute para-curling team. The Asahigawa team said they sent a support flag (with messages from a bunch of fans) to the national Wheelchair Curling Team in Vancouver.


They also sent another message. Four years from now, Asahigawa Cute women plan to represent Japan at the next Paralympics!

Photo from kannane.net

Elementary school with Mami

Paralympic long jumper Mami Sato often speaks at elementary schools. I will join her tomorrow (March 1) at an elementary school in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward to see exactly what she does.



These are photos from her blog, Mami's Diary. She said I could borrow them for this blog, whenever. This young woman is a bundle of energy and I've never seen her without a smile on her face. If she has a gloomy side, she doesn't show it in public. In fact, the para-athletes I'm personally met have all been bright, optimistic people who have a firm grip on their lives. They're inspirational.

Busy day on Friday

Yama-chan of Manatees Diving and I met with the CEO of Nozomi Securities for lunch. CEO Itsuki Toyama is also a para-diver. His company does a great deal to boost the community and to help preserve Japanese culture. Specifically, Nozomi provides a venue for young rakugo traditional comics so they will be able to perform before live audiences and hone their skills.






Nozomi Securities has a history of very nearly a century, and is one of Japan's conservative yet profitable securities companies. CEO Toyama began as a trader and recently celebrated his 60th birthday. It was a pleasure to meet him. Thanks Yama-chan.







Five in the evening saw Yama-chan and I at the Roppongi Midtown complex. Underwater photographer Ikuo Nakamura's photos are on display for a month there and are well worth a trip to Roppongi to view. Photos were forbidden, but what do we have cellphone cameras for anyway. Although I did not count, I imagine upwards to 100 people were at the kickoff, including many from the media and a number of well-known personalities.






Author Makoto Shina toasts photographer Ikuo Nakamura.

Mami Sato contributes to new sports book

Iwanami Junior just launched a new book (in Japanese) called Introduction to Sports Development. Several high-ranking athletes contributed to the book, which was edited by Shu Takamine. Mami wrote the chapter on Paralympics and the process of becoming a top-level para-athlete. She says she was somewhat reticent about doing the chapter, especially in a book for kids, but with encouragement from the publisher, feels she did a decent job. The book shows young athlete wanabes what kind of dedication and effort is needed to become a top-level player, whatever sport they choose to compete in.

This is Mami's second "book." Her first one details her life from her cheerleading days at Waseda University through losing her leg below the knee to bone cancer to discovering para-athletics to long jumping to a Japan record and competing in two paralympics so far. This inspiring tale should really be put into English, but at the moment, it's only at the idea stage.

Strong athletes like Mami Sato are an inspiration to us all.

Masahiro Honma readies for the New Zealand Wheelchair Tennis Open

I went to the Tennis Training Center in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, about 32km from my home. Masahiro Honma, one of the athletes on Japan’s national wheelchair tennis team, had scheduled four hours of workouts with the team’s coaches and physical trainers.

Leaving at 6:30 a.m., I thought I’d have plenty of time to reach the center before Masa started his workout at 8. About eight kilos out, the morning rush hit, and it took me nearly as long to drive those eight kilos as it did the first 24. At any rate, I arrived at the Tennis Training Center about 10 minutes late. Story of my life.


Masa was already on the center indoor court with his instructor. The two hour workout concentrated on one aspect of Masa’s game at a time. Serving. Volleys. Pinpoint returns. Backhands. Forehands. The works.

At 10, he switched from his tennis chair to his “life” chair and we went into the lounge to wait for the physical trainer.

Masa told me that the Tennis Training Center teaches about a dozen and a half wheelchair tennis players, including the top four on Japan’s national team. Shingo Kunieda, the No.1 wheelchair tennis player in the world, trains at TTC.

The New Zealand Wheelchair Tennis Open will be held in Hamilton, NZ, March 5-7, and Masa is the fourth seed. “I need to make the semifinals,” he said. “Especially as I’m seeded fourth.”


He put in a hard day on the courts. When the physical trainer arrived, the two of them headed outside for “wheelchair training.” No use of tennis racket involved. It’s all starting and stopping, turning and whirling, speeding through a multiple slalom of pylons, working to whittle down the time.


Tomorrow, Masa’s daughter finds out if she passed the entrance exam to the high school of her choice; one where she can be in a high-caliber hip-hop dance organization. Masa spoils his only child, but she loves her Dad.

Today, Masa put in a thorough workout. He bundles his tennis chair into the back of his Daihatsu Move van and stashes his racket case alongside the chair. You can tell he’s totally in control. No doubt he’ll do well in New Zealand.


Masahiro Honma with Paralympic long jumper Mami Sato and a wheelchair tennis teammate.


Masahiro and teammate with NPO STAND officer Kazuko Ito and sportswriter Seijun Ninomiya

Yama-chan is back

SCUBA Diving Club Manatees was named for the mammals that inhabit the warm waters around Florida and the Caribbean. The club went to Crystal River in Florida to swim with the endangered manatees.



This year the weather has been very cold in the American south. Manatees die if the water gets too cold. Crystal River is fed by a hot spring so the waters are always much warmer than the ocean, so manatees came from all around. One count put the mammals in Crystal River at 3,000, which is one-third of the entire manatee population of Florida.



No trouble sighting manatees on this trip, says Yama-chan.

News from Asahikawa, Hokkaido

I got an email from a Mr. Konno, who has a site that supports "adapted sports." Here's one of his posts, which is really great.

Without thinking about it, we became friends through adapted sports . . .

Then we find ourselves cheering our friends on as they compete . . .

That's how we want it to be, we here at KANNANEKONNE.

Especially with winter adapted sports -- ski, skate, and sports like these are only possible when nature cooperates. And when the community gets involved. But the community can only be involved if people are involved, people who care for other people, people who love their community.

We want to promote adapted sports. We want to thank our community, right? And we want our children to watch what's happening in Vancouver. We adults should be aware of what our children think and feel.



(Konno)