Rankom Winning Eleven Division/Futsal Player In real soccer, he played for Tokyo Verdy's youth team for nine years, from elementary school to high school. Since the 2020 season, he has been active as a futsal player and dual player. He has consistently been named as a leading candidate for the national team in the PES League Japan National Team Championship (sponsored by KONAMI), and has achieved good results in both online and offline tournaments, making him one of the top five players in Japan. [Competition Achievements] PES League 2019 Season 1 Japan Best 8 / PES League 2019 Season 2 Japan Best 16 / PES League CO-OP Japanason 1 Week 1 Winner / JAPAN eSPORTS GRAND PRIX Runner-up

"I want to lead the way as a leader."

──Please tell us why you chose TOKYO VERDY and what attracted you to it.

When I joined the VERDY e-sports team, the team itself had just been founded, so there were still some things I didn't know how it would go. However, I had been playing soccer in VERDY's youth academy since I was a child, so playing for another team was not an option for me. In the beginning, I wanted to help out, so I helped out as a staff member.

The appeal of VERDY is that they manage their players better than other teams. When we go to tournaments, we have more staff than players. There aren't any other teams like that anywhere else right now, so they are very supportive of the players.

──I heard that you played for VERDY's youth team, but are you aware that you will be taking on the role of leader of the esports team based on the experience you gained there?

That's right. I played in the youth team for nine years, from the third grade of elementary school to my third year of high school, and everyone at VERDY is passionate. I still fight with that same passion, so I want to lead the team as a leader.

Some of the teammates I played with in the youth team are now working hard in the J.League. I went on to the world of esports, and they often tell me, "It's amazing that esports allows you to do that kind of thing through games."

──You originally played soccer, but why did you decide to become an e-sports player?

I'm 28 years old now, but I only played soccer until my early twenties. I originally played Winning Eleven for a long time, and when I retired from soccer, I thought, "I want to become a professional at something like this." At the time, e-sports wasn't popular, but a few years after I retired from soccer, I found out that VERDY was launching an e-sports team, and from then on I started playing games seriously.

I practice eSports every day. Some people practice for 10 hours a day, but I only practice for about 2 hours. I don't think there's any point in just slacking off, so I concentrate and practice for 1-2 hours. I also watch videos of myself and watch match footage to reflect on tournaments. If anything, I spend more time on the latter than on practicing. As for team practice, normally we would all get together and practice, but now we can't get together due to the effects of COVID-19, so we coordinate our schedules and practice online from our respective homes.

But I used to play soccer, so I also want to exercise, so I joined the VERDY futsal team and play there too.

"A completely new style of clothing"

──Earlier you mentioned that you wanted to lead the way as a leader. VERDY itself is a well-known sports club, but esports is still not considered mainstream.

I think that gamers and e-sports still don't have a very good image in society. For example, gamers are thought to stay home after dark. But instead of that image, I want to show that e-sports players can play coolly by wearing MINOTAUR INST. apparel, which I'm collaborating with.

──I heard that e-sports players wear uniforms similar to those worn by soccer players. MINOTAUR INST.'s uniforms are different from traditional uniforms, including the material.

The uniforms we normally wear are all green and look like soccer uniforms, but VERDY's uniforms are really cool. But when I first put on the new MINOTAUR INST. uniforms, I thought they were really good. It felt new somehow. Of course the design is cool, but being able to wear this new uniform that's completely different from anything we've ever worn before really boosts my motivation as a player.

Although we don't move our bodies, we do use our concentration, and we also play outdoor events in the summer, so we sweat a lot during games. The MINOTAUR INST. uniform is designed to help us concentrate, and it's also very comfortable to wear, so I really feel like it's the new uniform for esports.

This is a personal story, but I've always followed MINOTAUR INST. on Instagram and I've always liked them. So when I found out they were going to make our clothing, I was honestly very happy.

──MINOTAUR INST. has a project to turn the streets of Tokyo into gyms. VERDY is also a club with Tokyo as its hometown, so do you have any desire to make Tokyo even more exciting with esports?

The streets of Tokyo are very beautiful, with lots of neon lights. Esports also tends to use neon and fluorescent colors, so in that respect there are some overlaps, so I hope that by wearing MINOTAUR INST.'s new clothing, I can blend in well with the streets of Tokyo.

──I think one of the strengths of e-sports is that, due to the nature of the sport, matches can be played online.

This year, due to the impact of COVID-19, we have had more opportunities to do activities online. In that sense, I think we have been able to take advantage of the characteristics of esports and raise awareness of them. In fact, we now do a lot of practice online, and since we can practice as a team while connecting via voice chat, we are able to do activities just like we would offline.

However, when it comes to matches, offline is definitely more realistic, so I'd like people to come and watch the matches live. From our perspective as players, I think that offline matches allow you to feel the same excitement as real soccer, so I'd like people to come and watch the tournaments. It's not that I want to change the image of e-sports from just being about gamers, but I would like to show everyone that e-sports is cooler and that you can compete with such passion.