[Full text] Mayuki Fujisawa talked it all out at a sushi restaurant! ‘I might be a clunker if I’m not curling’

Special Close Interview in Kitami City, Hokkaido, Japan
From work at his company, the Olympics he was unable to compete in, bodybuilding, and his future career

There is a great connection between work and competition.

He has competed in Canada, the U.S., Great Britain, and Sweden ……. This season alone, Loco Solare’s Mayuki Fujisawa, 34, has competed all over the world, but while back home in her hometown of Kitami, Hokkaido, she is also an employee of the insurance company Consult Japan. He has been working for the company for 11 years since he joined when he joined Loco Solare, taking time off from his expeditions. He greeted me at the company building with a smile and said, “Welcome to Kitami! He greeted me with a smile.

I was first certified as an insurance solicitor, and since then my main job has been to answer the phone and take care of the paperwork for insurance policies. Still, it was also a great time for me to learn social skills, as I had been curling all my life.

Since Fujisawa joined the Loco Solare team in 2003, the team has won a silver medal at the World Championships, medals (bronze and silver) at the Olympics, and a Grand Slam title as a representative of Japan, all of which were firsts in Japanese curling history. Curling, which had been a minor sport, became widely recognized and turned into a top-rated content in viewer ratings for the live broadcast of the Olympics.

As a result, Fujisawa spends nearly half of the year on tour, and the days when he can come to work are limited. When she is at the office, she meets with clients who have taken an interest in curling and with local customers who tell her, “I’m rooting for you, Rocco Solare.

She says, “I’ve always been taught that the most important thing is to have a relationship of trust with the customer. In curling, trust with teammates is also very important, so there is a strong connection between work and competition.

During the time he is in his hometown, he spends his days working at the company, practicing on the ice, and training at the gym. Even when he has time off as part of the team schedule, he often devotes it to individual practice.

After practice, Fujisawa moved to his favorite sushi restaurant, Matsuzushi, in the city, where he enjoyed seafood and other drinks and snacks before answering this writer’s questions.

Basically, I’m the type of person who likes to go out. If I stay at home all day without doing anything, I feel like I’ve fallen into a state of debauchery, and I think, ‘I’ve wasted the whole day. I just want to go home to sleep.”

Rocco Solare, which had a chance to win a medal at its third consecutive Olympics this season, missed out, and Fujisawa spent the first time in 12 years since the Sochi Olympics in 2002 watching the “Olympics. He watched all 11 games of the gold-medal-winning Swedish national team on TV.

I was curious to see if the teams that win at the Olympics are in good shape or have fluctuations throughout the competition,” said Fujisawa. I didn’t have time to think about that because I was so full of myself when I competed.

The Swedish team that won the Milan Cortina Olympics had lost to Canada and Korea, and they also managed to win a last-minute game against Denmark. But Anna (Hasselborg/Sweden’s skip) never wavered in terms of strategy. Even in the beginning of the game, when things were difficult, the whole team thought together and took a timeout. I was able to learn from that kind of unwavering strength.

At the same time, the Swedish national team taught me the importance of having fun.

Because it is the Olympics, there is inevitably a lot of pressure,” she said. But teams like Anna’s team, who have been on that stage many times, understand that the best thing to do once there is to have fun. I got that impression.

That’s why when I saw the video of my interview in the highlights of past competitions, I thought, ‘You’re talking like you’re in pain. …… It’s such a waste of a stage that they were looking forward to the Olympics so much and wanted to be there themselves! I thought. It was a competition that I was able to look at objectively.

In addition to watching the games on TV at home, he also appeared in programs related to the Olympics. The professional figure skaters he performed with left a strong impression on him.

Kanako Murakami, 31, was able to handle her MC duties as efficiently as an announcer, and I was shocked. In the rush of the live broadcast, she put together her comments within the time frame and even gave her own opinions to the staff, saying, ‘I think this part could be done a little better. On the one hand, I was impressed that she was still active in the TV industry even after retiring from competition, but on the other hand, I realized that it was impossible for me to be active in the TV industry. I have only done curling. ……

A comrade-in-arms who left the team

Chinami Yoshida (34), who had been Fujisawa’s partner for 11 seasons since joining Rocco Solare, left the team this spring. She is now a player in the newly established professional league “Rock League.

Loco Solare is now adjusting its sights on the Japan Championships (Yokohama BUNTAI) in June, the final event of the season, but this will be Fujisawa’s first Japan Championships without Yoshida at Loco Solare. I asked him if he was anxious.

I asked him if he was anxious. “More than loneliness or anxiety, I am really thankful,” he said.

Eleven years ago, Fujisawa, then a member of Chubu Electric Power Co.

Of course, everyone was very welcoming, but especially China called me a lot,” she said.

Curling is basically a four-person team, so each team has its own routine, both on and off the ice, in terms of training and team commitments. However, Fujisawa did not feel at a loss in her new environment, and her outstanding performance in her first season with Loco Solare, winning the Japanese championship and finishing second in the World Championships, was due in large part to Yoshida’s concern.

She always thought about how to create an environment where I could throw as hard as I could, and I can never thank her enough for that.

The team’s form was reviewed, strategies were revamped, and scheduling was focused on winning overseas. Rocco Solare is the driving force behind Japanese curling, but it was Yoshida’s role to flip the switch within the team. Fujisawa described his teammate, who headed to the next stage of the professional league with that driving force, as follows.

I think there is a trend in figure skating, for example, to become a professional skater after having made a break from the sport, but there has never been a trend like that in curling. It is typical of her that she chose to take on a new challenge, and I respect the way of thinking and attitude that she always keeps moving forward.

At the Japanese Championships, Momori Koana (30) will take Yoshida’s place in the lineup of Yurika Yoshida (32), Yumi Suzuki (34), and Fujisawa, as at the World Championships in March, where they placed 4th.

The newcomer Koana had to play in the Japan Mixed Doubles Championships, her main competition until this season, so she joined the team almost on the spur of the moment, but Fujisawa did not feel any major discrepancies.

Momori-chan is the type of person who shows emotion during games, just like us,” she said. She came to Rococo with that image. Off the ice, we had a lot of fun talking about behind-the-scenes stories in the curling world (laughs), and I looked forward to listening to Momori’s stories at night during the World Championships.

The Japan Championships in June, which she will be competing in with Koana and her teammates, is the most high-profile event in Japan, and is filled with a unique sense of tension.

I was happy that I was able to play in front of so many people in Japan, and I was also happy that everyone said ‘I’m going to watch the tournament’ last year and this year as well. I will do my best to give my best performance.

On May 24, before the Japan Nationals, Fujisawa will celebrate his 35th birthday.

I am grateful that I have been able to play curling at the top level in Japan for so long since I first made the Japanese national team at age 20,” she said.

Silvana Tirinzoni, who played as a skip for the Swiss national team for a long time, announced her retirement this spring at the age of 46. She has been active for a long time among many strong teams and good skaters in Switzerland, won many gold medals at the World Championships, and reached the final of the Olympics in her retirement season. It’s the coolest thing, and I have thought about winning an Olympic gold medal and saying ‘I’m quitting’ as a way to say goodbye.

Body makeup is already …….”

It is rare for Fujisawa to talk about her career.

It’s not that I’m hiding or muddying the waters. I needed time to face myself, and I also think it’s difficult to make decisions about the future based solely on one’s own will. Even if I wanted to do it, I couldn’t do it without the members, and I couldn’t go on expeditions without sponsors.”

But–” Fujisawa continues, “this time, I was able to watch the Olympics on TV.

I watched the Olympics on TV and felt a sense of frustration. Conversely, if I no longer felt frustration, I would be finished as an athlete.
I love curling so much that I don’t know if there is anything else I love besides curling that I can say, ‘This is it! I’m not sure if there is anything else I love besides curling that I can say, “This is it! If I wasn’t curling, I’d probably be a clunker.

Immediately after joining Rocco Solare, she listed “saving 500 yen coins” as one of her hobbies on the official website. Since then, he has been exposed to aromatherapy, golf, and vegetable gardening. He is a curious and dynamic type of person, but none of them could be continued with the same enthusiasm as curling.’ In 2011, he surprised the public by challenging himself to a body makeover competition.

I had a complex about my body shape, so I decided to try body make-up to get rid of it. I received a great response and gained a lot of insight. I like the time I can devote to something, so I enjoyed it when I was doing it, but I also realized that restricting my diet and excessive weight loss in order to squeeze in my body would affect my curling. I don’t think I’ll do it again while I’m still active.”

I don’t last very long,” she says with a carefree laugh.

But even I’ve never gotten tired of it, and I’ve been passionate about curling for 30 years this year. I love curling. People often ask me, ‘What does curling mean to you, Fujisawa? I used to not be able to answer that question clearly. I used to be unable to answer that question clearly. But because I love curling, it is a place where I can be confident and where I can express myself. In the past few years, I have come to realize that curling is that kind of existence for me.

Fujisawa laughed at Kanako Murakami’s words and actions at the TV station, saying, “I can’t do that,” while admiring her. However, this was by no means a self-deprecating lament, but rather an expression of his answer to the question, “I want to do curling,” which he had gained during his 30 years of competition.

At 35 years of age, Fujisawa will attempt to win her ninth Japanese championship. Beyond that, he still dreams of becoming the world’s number one and winning a gold medal at the Olympics in Alps, France, in 1948. While enjoying the delicacies of Okhotsk at Matsusubushi, he said it plainly: “I still believe I can do better.

I believe I can still get better.

From “FRIDAY” May 29, 2026 issue