Another One Team″ of Shiro Tanaka, former national rugby team member: “If it weren’t for my wife, I would have quit much earlier”.

At the ’15 World Cup, he won three games, including one against South Africa. Tanaka’s triumphant return to Japan was marked by a rugby fever in Japan, and he first apologized to Tomomi, saying, “I’m sorry.

I challenged Super Rugby with the sole intention of doing something about Japanese rugby’s inability to win in the world.” I felt sorry to my wife who was swept away by my selfish behavior, although the results of the 15-year tournament ″was an atonement″ for my sins. ……

Tomomi, on the other hand, understood Tanaka’s pain better than anyone.

She said, “After the win over South Africa, he said, ‘I’m burnt out. …… From there, the four years until ’19 seemed to be really tough, both physically and mentally. My husband said he liked the way I played badminton, so I resumed playing badminton, hoping that it would ‘inspire him.'”

The hard work that supported Japan Rugby’s success in the ’15 and ’19 tournaments was so much greater than that of other countries, that when Tanaka was in his mid-30s, his body began to scream and he could not get up in the morning. Whenever he returned home after the national team training camp, he told his wife, “I can’t take it anymore.

I can’t tell you how many times I asked her, ‘Can I quit now? I can’t tell you how many times I said to my wife, “Can I quit now? Each time, my wife encouraged me, saying, ‘Let’s work a little harder. And there was a part of me that wanted those words. It was only because my wife kept patting me on the back that I was able to make it this far.

While speaking softly, Tomomi said she thought, “There is no such thing as ‘I want to quit’ when you are needed by the representative. She continued to encourage her husband through actions, such as running together.

When Tanaka decided to retire, Tomomi apologized to him, saying, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that you could quit.

Japan’s team slogan “One Team,” which became the new word of the year when the national team made it to the last eight of the World Cup for the first time in 1919, became the new word of the year and a buzzword of the year. Tanaka and Tomomi’s “Another One Team” was the driving force behind Japan’s breakthrough.

From “FRIDAY” August 9, 2024 issue