Renshi CHOKAI

I’ve talked about this a lot in other interviews too, but one of the things that had the biggest impact on me was being at Nanohana Nursery. The building looked like it was carved out of the side of a mountain, and as a kid, it looked like a castle to me. It felt like it was in the middle of the mountain, in the middle of nature. Some of the stairs were slides, there was a play area on the slope of a mountain, and I think the environment as a whole was a lot more active, in terms of play, than in other day cares.
My parents and my teachers communicated really well in terms of how they wanted me to grow up, and a part of that—a kind of rule or policy that they made—was that they’d let me do anything I wanted, and that if I couldn’t for some reason, they’d find a way for me to do it. I think that had a huge impact on the way I think, even now.

I’m not really sure, but there were a few other kids at the day care who had impairments as well, and I think the environment as a whole was about letting us all do what we wanted. I mean, the day care had a set system to accept everyone regardless of impairment, and of course, my own parents were very firm in the idea that they’d let me do whatever I wanted. So them coming across [that day care] was just a very happy thing. Looking back now, I see that that was the reason I was able to be so relaxed and carefree back then.

Yes, when I was a kid. Sure, I was in an environment where they’d let me do anything I wanted, but there were still things I’d try and wouldn’t be able to do. And even as a kid, I knew I had to think things through on my own if I wanted to do these things. I wasn’t particularly frustrated or worried about it, but I did understand that I was different from other people.

I started playing sports competitively as a first-year in junior high school, when I joined the school’s tennis team. I say competitively, but I quit in June to start playing wheelchair basketball, so I guess in reality it was just me having fun. I mean, in my six years of elementary school I played all kinds of sports—soccer, baseball, badminton, volleyball… And I learned all of them through play. We were a basketball family as well and my brother, who’s a year older than me, played mini basketball, so we’d go see his games, and I would always play basketball with my dad as well. So playing basketball really seemed like the natural thing to do. And of course, it was also just the fun of riding a wheelchair. When I first started playing I couldn’t maneuver the sports wheelchair very well, like I’d try to turn and fall over, but I guess there was a part of me that saw it as a toy, something to play around with. And then, over time, I got more and more into it.

Right after Rio, when everyone was setting their sights on the Tokyo Paralympics, I went through a period where I actually thought of quitting wheelchair basketball. I went to these training camps for Rio, came home and trained even more, rinse and repeat, and I personally felt I’d given it all I had—but then, when it came down to it, we ended up 9th place in the world. It just made me think, we’re no match for the world. I felt like I’d failed, like I’d hit a massive wall. I thought, maybe I should just quit wheelchair basketball and go do something completely different. I was actually thinking of studying abroad after graduating, so I was going around collecting pamphlets for that.

Somehow, my parents managed to convince me to go to Nippon Sport Science University, which would mean moving to the Kanto area. I narrowed my search down to a few teams in the area, and one of them was Para Kanagawa. The biggest thing for me was that Furusawa, who I’d known and played with since my junior days, was already on that team. The team had more older, experienced players than in other teams, and I guess I just wanted to see how well Furusawa and I could play, as younger team members, in an environment like that. It also felt like they would let me have more responsibilities, like they’d let me come up with and direct game plans and strategies. So I decided to really get into wheelchair basketball again, here in this environment.

My feelings have been all over the place since I’ve moved here. I ended up quitting university, and I’ve set up an environment for myself where I can concentrate on wheelchair basketball. I also have a job now, and I think I’ve really gotten to the point where I’m ready to work towards Tokyo. Of course, I’m also thinking in concrete terms about what I’ll do after Tokyo as well, which is to play in an overseas league.

Well, I won’t know anything until I get there, of course… But there are two reasons why I want to go abroad. The first is that I want to study another language, and learn more about other cultures. The second is just sports-related, in the sense that I want to learn more about wheelchair basketball in other countries. I just want to see what it’d be like to play with really good players every week. For example, there’s a wheelchair basketball league in Germany. Able-bodied people play as well, and a lot of people come to watch the games because it’s a major sport in Germany. It’d be nice, as a wheelchair basketball player, to be able to play in an environment like that.

Germany for sure, but also Italy, Spain… Although to be honest, I think I care more about who I’d get to play with than what league I’d be in. Sometimes I’ll get offers from players abroad who are about my age, saying they want to play with me, so it’d be nice if I could play on the same team as one of them.

When it comes to the Japan national team, it’s fairly simple. We know from experience that if we play the kind of basketball that we want to play—our ideal basketball—that we can beat most teams, even the kind that win medals. This also means, however, that if we can’t, we lose. For the past year, we’ve focused on playing basketball the way we want to play it, and making sure these plays are reproducible. So in that sense as well, it really does feel like we’re ramping up to the Paralympics. Being able to reproduce good plays is just as much about the individual players as it is about the team, so I think the issue moving forward will be how we’ll think about that, and translate it into action.

It’s now been about three years since Rio, and three years since I’ve started working towards the Tokyo Paralympics. But the reality is that we were 9th in the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships last year, and we weren’t able to hit our goal in the Asian Para Games either. So to be honest, there’s a part of me that wonders whether it’s okay for a team like us to talk about winning a gold medal. But I also think that each of us saying these things could help strengthen our resolve, and be a sort of message to each other that we’re aiming for the gold for real. So in that sense as well, we’ve all spoken to each other about how we should say things like this on purpose. Another thing is that winning a medal at the Paralympics has always been a goal of mine, ever since I started wheelchair basketball. That’s what I’ve been training for all this time, playing on the Japan national team and living this whole wheelchair basketball-centered life. But it’s occurred to me in the past two, three years especially that this isn’t just my dream anymore, it’s everyone’s dream—my family, who’ve supported me over the years, and my friends, who always cheer me on, and my sponsors and staff. For me, the thought that it isn’t just my goal anymore really gives me the drive to work hard, to devote myself to this sport. So I really do want to do everything I can to make it a reality.