Yumiko Sakaguchi’s Journey: From Soccer Star to Business Leader

In soccer, it is often the case that your efforts are not rewarded. For example, let’s say you practice for an hour every day in detention. But when it comes time to play a game, will you be able to live with that?　There are enemies and allies, there are the conditions of the day, and the weather is also a factor. You really don’t know if that effort will pay off. But with studying, the more you do it, the more results you get.”

Nadeshiko Japan won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2011, and Mizuho Sakaguchi, 37, was a steadfast volleyball player for the team at that time. After retiring from professional soccer, Sakaguchi has begun her second career as a female businesswoman. She has acquired eight different qualifications. These include highly difficult national qualifications such as administrative scriveners and certified real estate transaction agents, for which the pass rate is approximately 12%.

After leaving “Omiya Ardija Ventus” in June ’22, Sakaguchi became a director of “Yusei Unyu Co. Since last October, he has served as representative director in place of his own brother. When asked how he began acquiring qualifications, he said that he started by succeeding to the family business.

After quitting soccer, I thought it would be a little different if I said, ‘I will be an executive in the family business,’ so I gathered up weapons to prove my determination. So I gathered up my weapons to prove my determination: a large automobile license, a towing license, and a Class B Class 4 Hazardous Materials License.

In fact, after leaving Omiya, Sakaguchi received offers from several teams, but he did not make his departure clear. In April last year, he mentioned his sudden retirement on X, which he had just opened, causing much consternation among those in the soccer industry.

He said, “When you retire, people around you become a bit noisy, don’t they? So I was thinking that I didn’t have to say anything about it. But when I was asked what I was doing on talk shows, I thought the title would be difficult. I started playing soccer when I was six years old, and I’ve been playing ever since.

He started playing soccer at the age of six and was selected for the Japan national team in 2006 at the young age of 18. She made her national team debut against Vietnam in July of the same year, scoring two goals and playing a very active role. In 2011, she won the Women’s World Cup in Germany and contributed to winning the silver medal at the London Olympics the following year. In the Nadeshiko League, she won the Best Player Award for three consecutive years starting in 2003. As a member of the Japanese national team, she played 124 games, ranking her seventh on the all-time list. Although he is a legend in the world of Japanese soccer, he says he never considered a second career as a coach.

I have various qualifications, but I don’t have a soccer coaching license. The other day, I went to Gifu for an event with Sawa (Honoki Sawa, 46), but the purpose of the event was to promote soccer rather than to teach it. Whenever I get an offer for an event, I tell them, ‘I’m not good at teaching, so if you can get another instructor, I can liven things up. I can play with the kids (laughs).”

He passed Gyoseishoshi Lawyer and Building Construction in one shot!

For the family business, he found the joy of learning and new vitality when he obtained his license. That was the challenge of becoming a professional. In November 2010, he passed the administrative scrivener exam on his first try, and the next year, in October 2011, he passed the real estate transaction exam again on his first try. In October 2011, he took the exam for certified real estate agent, and again passed it in a single attempt.

I think my teachers (at the time) would have been very surprised (laughs).

(Laughs.)” X’s DMs frequently receive questions about how to study. The ability to memorize things in a short period of time may be the result of the overwhelming power of concentration possessed by top athletes.

I studied in my spare time. I was a short-term concentrator, so I probably didn’t spend more than two hours every day. In extreme cases, there were days when I would study for a quick 15 minutes and call it a day. So I usually went out for dinner with friends, and I even went out to eat my favorite Japanese sweets, anko (sweet bean paste).

Even after retiring from active duty, she still keeps in touch with the members of the team that tasted victory at the World Cup. In addition to Sawa, Keirina Maruyama (41), and Aya Miyama (39), she continues to keep in touch with Aya Samejima (37), who recently announced her retirement. The image of a female businesswoman with numerous qualifications has taken root in Nadeshiko Japan.

Recently, I have been called an intellectual character,” she says. Everyone is fooled by me, but they don’t know it yet (laughs). People say I’m great, but I just haven’t done it yet. I think everyone can do it if they study hard.

In the national team, there were many occasions when he faced tough opponents. If he felt that he was no match for them physically, he would not challenge them alone. In order not to be easily dislodged, “it was important for me to work with my friends and not challenge them head-on,” he said.

When I looked for a way to make the most of myself, I found it was to be next to Sawa-san in soccer (laughs). Sawa-san would say, ‘I was being utilized,’ but I would say, ‘I was being utilized more than you,’ every time I saw him.

In July of this year, through former chairman Mitsuru Murai (65), Sakaguchi signed a personal outsourcing contract with the real estate company “Phil Company. Sakaguchi is in charge of public relations, sales assistance, and human resources. He is expected to play an active role in various departments because of his character of being bored.

Even now that Sakaguchi has become a businessperson, he continues to send sharp vertical passes, taking up positions where he can make the most of his skills.

From theNovember1-8, 2024 issue of FRIDAY