“Lovespo” welcomes athletes as guests and approaches the charm of athletes through realistic talks. Up until now, we have mostly invited guests related to baseball, but this year was a year filled with excitement for the Olympics. Natsumi Tsunoda, a judoka who has been so busy working in commercials, modeling, and appearing in the media since the Olympics, makes her first appearance on Lovespo! The event was packed with about 200 fans, including people from Hokkaido in the north and Oita, Kyushu in the south, as well as people who had actually traveled to Paris to support Japanese judo. With a male to female ratio of approximately 8:2, most of the fans were male, but there were also young female fans such as high school students and children, making her a national star among people of all ages. This time, over 80% of the participants were participating in “Love Sports” for the first time.
Yasushi Shimomura is usually in charge of reception and introductions as a staff member of “Lovespo,” but his main job is as a freelance announcer. This time, I played the important role of MC. I had been feeling nervous every day since the big role was decided, but when I watched Mr. Tsunoda’s videos on YouTube, I learned that Mr. Tsunoda himself always values preparation in everything he does. I also watched almost everything on YouTube, including videos of matches, interviews, and media appearances, so I was fully prepared.
“Mr. Tsunoda is so close!” The shutter sound keeps ringing.
The event starts exactly at 7pm. “Lovespo” generally allows photography, but does not allow video recording, but when a guest appears, it is customary to welcome them with applause rather than taking a photo. Mr. Tsunoda appeared with a slightly nervous look on his face as 200 people applauded. Nowadays, you might think he’s used to being photographed by the media every day, but in reality, after the Olympics, although he appeared in the media and at many events, he never had a full-on talk show in front of fans. It started out a little different from the expression on his face.
Mr. Tsunoda says that his life changed dramatically after returning from the Olympics. Although he is still not used to the magnitude of the response, he has been invited to many different places every day, and he has been able to meet more and more people that he had not had the chance to meet before. In particular, just the other day, after going to see the performance of Koichi Domoto of KinKi Kids, whom he had admired since he was an elementary school student, he had the opportunity to greet him in the dressing room. He was so happy when someone told him, “I saw you there and supported you.”
After that opening talk, the one-shot shooting time also started.
During this photo shoot, I wanted the fans to turn towards me, calling out their names like “Kakuda!” and “Nacchan!” and “Please show me the gold medal!” and “Please look at me!” ” and other chants. The customers were also trying their best to make their voices heard and get some attention. But when the audience sings, the excitement on stage increases. As expected, the way Tsunoda stood with the gold medal hanging around his neck was extremely cool. After that, it was time to take photos while parading in front of and beside the fans, which is customary for Lovespo. Basically, seats at Love Sports are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis from the front, but the price is the same for those in the front and last rows, so those in the back can enjoy the same experience. They parade around like that. After spending a lot of time asking everyone to take a close-up photo of Mr. Tsunoda winning the gold medal, the talk on stage finally began.
The “ZONE” I felt during that match at the Paris Olympics!
There were three main things I wanted to talk about with Mr. Tsunoda this time. Talk about the Paris Olympics, about judoka Natsumi Tsunoda, and other personal stories.
First, we talked about the Paris Olympics. As I recall, the judo competition was held at the very beginning of the Paris Olympics, the day after the opening ceremony. Also, the 48kg class in which Mr. Tsunoda will be competing is the lightest, so it was a big stage that many people expected to be the one to bring Japan’s first gold medal.
Mr. Tsunoda is said to be a late bloomer, but this is actually his first time participating in the Olympics. He has won three consecutive World Championships and five Judo Grand Slam titles, and is already the best in the world. Since the Paris Games were his first Olympics as a “champion,” he first heard from someone who had experience competing in the Olympics. Some of his seniors said, “The Olympics are more fun than the World Championships,” but Mr. Tsunoda himself sees the Olympics as something completely different, and the one year from the time he was officially confirmed to participate in the Olympics until the main competition was It seems that he was suffering from nightmares. The feeling of fatigue that remained when he woke up every morning was even worse than practice, and the pressure was considerable.
The first hurdle was a match against a player from the French national team. The event will be held in Paris, where judo is a popular sport, and before the Olympics the cheers will be so loud that you may not even be able to hear the coaches. He said he had decided to make a decision. However, Mr. Tsunoda apparently had a strange experience during this match. It was a strange situation, as the cheers that could be heard before the game stopped the moment they stepped onto the tatami mats, leaving only the voices of the players, themselves, their opponents, each other’s coaches, and the referee clearly audible. Have you ever experienced something a little strange, such as during an important match or when your concentration is at its highest level, where your opponent’s techniques appear to be in slow motion, or where you can clearly see their weak points? Apparently, this was the first time he had ever felt like there were only two people, himself and the other person, even though he was in front of a large audience.
It seems that everything about the opponent’s moves in the match was as expected based on what they had studied in advance, and they played the match calmly until the end, but in reality, they had a strange experience here as well. In this match, Tsunoda won the tomoe throw by ippon, but he had no recollection of the moment of the tomoe throw, and when he finished throwing and the referee raised his hand, he said, “Oh, it’s ippon.” , “Lucky.”
Tsunoda normally doesn’t get happy on the tatami, but he later told us that his face almost broke into a grin, and he did his best to suppress it.
After the match, when I said to those around me, “It was a quiet game,” they responded, “What are you talking about? It was a very loud game.” Looking back on it now, Mr. Tsunoda says, “I wonder if this was what was called a “ZONE.”
After that, Tsunoda smoothly advanced to the finals. Finally, in the final match against Mongolian athletes, they steadily gained points and had an advantage in the match, but “At the end, there were some come-from-behind situations with three seconds left,” he said, recalling the horrors of past Olympics. It seems that Sanan played the game calmly and aware of the situation. And at the moment of victory, it was the first Japanese gold medal at the Paris Olympics, the 500th in total at the Summer Olympics, and the first gold medal in women’s judo 48kg class since Ryoko Tamura in 2004. Winning the gold medal in his first Olympic appearance set a new record.
He adhered to the teachings of his parents, “not to express joy or emotion on the tatami mats,” and his expression did not change, but when he left the tatami area, Coach Imai came to him in tears. It was the moment he came over and hugged me passionately that he realized for the first time that he had won a gold medal. Although Tsunoda always looks calm, he burst into tears at the award ceremony. As I listened to Kimigayo from the highest point on the podium, I thought, “I’m so glad I didn’t give up, I’m so glad I didn’t run away,” and I couldn’t hold back the tears as I remembered the faces of the people I’d met during such difficult times. He said there wasn’t.
By the way, you may have been curious about this, but I asked him about it because he competed in the Olympics wearing round patches near his left and right temples. It seems that my father, who runs an orthopedic clinic, often uses this in his treatments.He usually puts it on muscles or affected areas, but he seems to put it on his temple because he thinks it will improve his mental alertness. In the past, when he forgot to put it on and went to a game, he wasn’t feeling well, but since then he has always put it on, and now it’s like a magic spell. Apparently, he has never put it on when appearing on TV, but if he appears on a quiz show next time, he said, “Maybe I’ll put it on,” so please keep an eye out for it (lol).
Was the turning point in your judo life the decision to go to university for ulterior reasons?
I started judo when I was in the second year of elementary school. Mr. Tsunoda’s life in judo began when he joined the Chibikko Judo Club at the local police station under the influence of his father, who was a judoka. At first, it was fun just jumping and bouncing on the tatami mats, but when it came to competitions, elementary school students were grouped together by grade rather than by gender or weight, so it was difficult for the larger students to compete. Apparently, she couldn’t beat kids or boys, and gradually she started to enjoy judo, which she loved. However, after talking with my parents, I decided to continue practicing judo in junior high school, saying, “I’ll try my best until I get my black belt (first degree).” However, when they entered junior high school, the classes were divided by gender and weight, and they started to be able to win and started to enjoy judo. Maybe it was your parents’ advice, anticipating this situation. Mr. Tsunoda went to high school at one of the prefecture’s most powerful judo schools, and rose to prominence nationally, taking 3rd place in the Inter Cup, but he spoke candidly about his time going to university.
“I have impure motives for going to university,” Mr. Tsunoda suddenly said. Apparently, she had had enough of judo during her high school days, so she decided to stop studying judo until high school and was aiming to become a successful female college student, but her strict parents got in her way. If the student is going to university without a purpose, then I won’t pay for the tuition. At this time, Tokyo Gakugei University, where he would later go on to study, approached him and said, “We want to strengthen our athletics club.Then, there is a recommendation spot for the judo club, so would you like to come?”
His grades at school are good and his grades meet the standards.
In addition, the condition for that slot is a score of 3rd place or higher in the national tournament.
Most of the top high school students in national competitions go on to universities that are strong in judo, and they have no rivals aiming for Gakugei University.
If the university’s judo club doesn’t use its recommendation quota this year to send someone to join the club, the judo club’s recommendation quota will be cut from next year, so the judo club is in an advantageous position.
He was well received by his parents at a national university.
He said, “Then I’ll go to Gakugei University and do judo.” (laughs) However, when he joined the club, the number of members was small, and he became friends with athletes who had never participated in national tournaments during his high school days. He started thinking a lot about what he could do to compete with this team and win against powerful universities, and he started to like judo even more. It was said that these four years were a valuable time in which he learned “thinking judo,” which involves research and analysis on his own, rather than simply practicing what he was forced to do.The foundation of “jujitsu,” which can now be said to be the true essence of Mr. Tsunoda, was also formed during this time. It seems that it was built.
A talk show with coach Yuko Imai started when the 2 shots were taken!
And then the two-shot shoot began. As the audience took their long-awaited two-shots with Tsunoda-san one by one on stage, I took the opportunity to speak with coach Yuko Imai.
When Mr. Tsunoda was a high school student, Coach Imai, who was still active, met Mr. Tsunoda for the first time on the team representing Chiba Prefecture at the national polity. At that time, due to the age difference, they only exchanged greetings, but when Tsunoda became a university student, they met again at a training camp for the prefecture’s national team players, and it was there that they first had deep communication. At that time, her impression was that she had a “younger sister’s personality that made you want to take care of her” and couldn’t leave her alone. When asked about Mr. Tsunoda’s appeal, the first thing he said was his “analytical ability.” Of course, this goes for the other person, but he also tries to understand himself better, and by understanding his own strengths, weaknesses, and personality, it becomes clearer what to practice and what points to strengthen. Coach Imai spoke modestly of himself, saying, “I was just supporting him from close quarters.”
When asked how he views his recent media appearances and popularity, he says, “I feel a little lonely because I’m so close to you but so far away, and I also wish that I could expand my career even further.” However, I have mixed feelings about it,” he said honestly.
The long-awaited question corner
From here, Coach Imai will take to the stage, and it’s finally time for questions from everyone. “How did you feel when the mixed team competition ended in a tie with 3 wins and 3 losses, and it was decided that the representative players would be determined by roulette?” “Some of the rules of judo may change, but Tsunoda Is it advantageous or disadvantageous for you?” Furthermore, a high school girl who was in the middle of her final exam said, “Today was the final exam, but I’m not sure if I got a red mark. Mr. Tsunoda, what kind of study method did you use to prepare for the exam when you were in high school?” Questions have been asked. To this, Mr. Tsunoda immediately replied, “Just memorize it.”
In addition, an office worker asked, “Mr. Tsunoda, who values his time very much, how do you control your time?” He answered, “Basically, I decide the next day’s schedule the day before.” thing. She says she thinks about things like when to wake up, when to take a shower, when to catch a train, and how fast to walk. It seems that the alarm function on the mobile phone is useful for this purpose, and Coach Imai also said, “Natsumi’s smartphone alarm often goes off” (everyone burst into laughter). According to Mr. Tsunoda, “Dinner tastes better when you can follow the schedule you prepared the day before.”
“If you had a time machine and fought across time and space with Ryoko Tamura, who is also in the 48kg class, what kind of tactics would you use?” The answer was surprising! Actually, Mr. Tsunoda and Ryoko Tamura had been studying their matches and were simulating how they would fight if it were them. It’s amazing! “First of all, my opponent moves quickly, so I’ll keep my distance.Then, I’ll look for opportunities and use my arm strength to stop him, since I think I probably have more muscle.” The venue was filled with excitement as the gold medalists played a fantasy match.
There were many other questions, and he sincerely provided answers based on his own experience. I think the fans at the venue had a very satisfying time as they were surprised and laughed. The time here is exactly 21:00. We took the customary group photo at the end and the event finally opened.
At the end, Mr. Tsunoda thanked me for today, thanked him for his support at the Paris Olympics, and gave me some powerful words, saying, “My next goal is not clear yet, but I will do my best to be active in various things.” The event ended successfully.
It seems that there are still many media appearances scheduled for this year-end and New Year holidays, including those that have already been announced and those that have not yet been released. He is determined to let as many people know about his favorite judo, and while continuing to appear in the media, he has also resumed training. Next year in 2025, let’s support Natsumi Tsunoda as she shines even more in her favorite judo! Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules at the end of the year to participate!
Photo: Norihito Amano