Life to live with an incurable disease
I never thought much about it, but it was my destiny
From childhood, I was slower than other children.
I could walk on my own, but I was not agile like everyone else, and I had a peculiar way of walking.
He had a tendency to fall down because of his inner thighs, which was a common occurrence.
I still vividly remember the sight of my classmates cheering for me to do my best when I was far behind them in the 50-meter run at an athletic meet.
It was nothing but humiliation for me.
Even so, I was able to ride a bicycle and go anywhere I wanted to go of my own free will until I was in the fifth grade of elementary school.
Because of my lack of physical confidence, I was not very good at being proactive.
But I was born with a rebellious spirit that would never let me be defeated.
I never forgot that I would someday look back at my opponents when they mounted me.
But I can't help but feel that my muscles are slowly and surely deteriorating, and my body is heavy.
Being cooped up at home during spring break proved fatal.
I lost myself at the entrance ceremony of junior high school, when I walked a few meters on my own strength, and lost the ability to walk completely after that
Worries that were cut off
All that was left was the patience to endure an unbearable situation
The moment he got into his wheelchair, he became very aware of his disability, and it took him more than a year to come to terms with it.
I lost touch with my friends from elementary school, and from there I went into a shell of myself until high school
I was in a very difficult situation, unable to go anywhere on my own without the help of others.
The turning point came when he started using an electric wheelchair at the age of 17.
Discovering electric wheelchair soccer gave him a new start in life.
Recalling the feeling of being able to move at will, he regained his sense of self
Taking a deep breath of the free wind as he stepped onto American soil for the first time
Feeling with all my being that I am alive
The liberated mind is free to flap its wings and regain lost time all at once
Greedily devouring whatever comes your way, you reel in the meaning of life
America is a climate where it is unthinkable not to assert oneself just because one has a disability. The society that values diversity, as we know it today, has been in place long before Japan, and I was taught to enjoy life in a strong, positive manner.
From player to manager, the world changes
There were moments when I flinched before the life-like existence of the team.
Firmly determined to fulfill the role assigned to me
A sense of sensitivity being refined and perspective being broadened through continuity
I was just breathing like a cripple, but I am hungry and alive today
There is no limit to human potential.
The only limit is when we lose the ability to imagine the future.
Accumulated experiences strengthen our mentality and fill us with vitality
I want to live out my one and only life as myself
That is why I want to share what I have cultivated in my own words with you, who are living in this chaotic era
Human beings are strong precisely because they are weak.
Words that only I, who have felt this firsthand, can convey.
Yes, even at this moment, my soul is crying out.
