His Japanese improves day by day
Therefore it is not surprising at all that now he is a good Japanese speaker. He brings Japanese textbook to velodromes and studies it during the free time. He seemed to finish one book in July and studied new one in the following month. He noted down the useful phrases he learned and speak out every time before sleep. My job started with translation but teaching Japanese was added to my role later in the season. By the way his notebook is a bit too brown since it has lots of stains of spoiled coffee. I said, “you spoil coffee too much.” “Should I study less?”, he replied.
“Keirin rider is the best job in the world.”
This is what he would often mention in the interviews. Internationally Keirin is a sport, not a gambling. One victory in the big competition will get you fame, but not fortune. The point he mention is he does what he loves to do and makes money at the same time.
When he introduces himself, he often says in Japanese that “my dream is to become a true Keirin rider in Japan, not temporarily. ”
To conclude this article
5 months were long enough for me to understand why he has been able to stay the top athlete for such a long time and why everyone in Japan likes him. He always tries to be the best and outdo himself, fight against pressure but always enjoy riding a bike! He is not always a hottie shiny guy all the time as the media tells. Of course he gets nervous, emotional like everyone else when he doesn’t do well in the races.
I am truly hoping that he will come back to Japan and entertain not only Keirin fans but people who loves cycling again in the following year.
