Satsuki Fujisawa Reflects on Identity and Pressure in Candid Sushi Restaurant Conversation

Special close-up interview in her hometown of Kitami, Hokkaido
From her work at the company, the Olympics she could not compete in, bodybuilding, to her future career

There are a lot of ways in which work and sport are connected

Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden. Even this season alone, Fujisawa Satsuki (34) of Loco Solare has traveled the world competing, but when she returns to her hometown of Kitami, Hokkaido, she also appears as an employee of the insurance company “Consult Japan.” Since joining Loco Solare and entering the company 11 years ago, she has continued working in between international competitions. She greeted the author at the company building with a smile, saying, “Welcome to Kitami!”

“First I was allowed to obtain the insurance solicitation qualification, and after that my main duties were handling phone calls and administrative procedures for insurance contracts. I had almost no knowledge of insurance at first, so learning the job was difficult. But for someone like me who had only been focused on curling, it was also a valuable time that taught me social skills.”

Since Fujisawa joined in 2015, Loco Solare has achieved numerous historic milestones in Japanese curling, including a World Championship silver medal as Japan’s national team, Olympic medals (bronze and silver), and Grand Slam victories—accomplishments that were all described as first in Japanese curling history. Curling, once a minor sport, has gained widespread recognition and became a top-rated broadcast during the Olympics.

As a result, Fujisawa now spends nearly half the year traveling for competitions, with only limited days at the office. Even so, when she is at the company, she meets clients who have become interested in curling or local customers who say, “We support Loco Solare,” carrying out roles that only she can fulfill.

“I’m always told that trust with customers is the most important thing. In curling as well, trust between teammates is extremely important, so there are many aspects where work and sport are connected.”

When she is in her hometown, she spends her days working at the company, practicing on ice, and training at the gym. Even on team days off, she often uses the time for individual practice.

After finishing practice, Fujisawa moves to her familiar sushi restaurant in the city, “Matsuzushi,” where she enjoys seafood-based dishes and again responds to the interview.

“I’m basically the type of person who wants to go out. If I stay at home doing nothing all day, I start to feel like I’ve become lazy and think, ‘I wasted a whole day,’ so I like to have plans. Home is just somewhere I go to sleep.”

This season, Loco Solare missed out on qualifying for the Olympics, which would have been their third consecutive Olympic medal. Fujisawa spent a watching-only Olympics for the first time in 12 years, since the 2014 Sochi Games. In particular, she followed all 11 matches of the Swedish team, who won the gold medal, on television.

“At the time of Sochi, JJ’s (Canadian skip Jennifer Jones) team won every game, so I became curious whether teams that win at the Olympics are consistently strong throughout the tournament or if they have fluctuations. When I was competing myself, I was too focused on my own performance to think about that.

The Swedish team that won in Milan-Cortina lost to Canada and South Korea, and they also barely won a close match against Denmark. But Anna (Hasselborg, Swedish skip) never wavered in terms of strategy. Even in difficult early ends, the whole team would think together, and there were matches where they even took timeouts. I was able to learn that kind of unwavering strength.”

At the same time, what she felt from the Swedish team was the importance of enjoying the game.

“It’s the Olympics, so of course there’s pressure. But teams like Anna’s, who have experienced that stage many times, understand that once they get there, the best thing is simply to enjoy it.

So when I watched highlight footage of past tournaments and saw my own interview, I thought, ‘I look so tense when I speak. Even though I was looking forward to the Olympics so much and had worked hard to get there, it’s such a waste!’ It became a tournament where I could view things more objectively.”

In addition to watching from home, she also appeared on Olympic-related programs. She was particularly impressed by a former figure skater who co-hosted with her.

“I was shocked by how smoothly Murakami Kanako (31) handled MC duties just like a professional announcer. In the rush of a live broadcast, she summarized comments within the time limit, and even told the staff things like, ‘I think it would be better if we adjusted this part a bit.’ Even though she has retired from competition, she is thriving in the television industry, which I found amazing—but at the same time, I realized I could never do it. I’ve only ever done curling.”

A teammate who left the team

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

Loco Solare is currently preparing with its sights set on the season finale in June—the Japan Championships (Yokohama BUNTAI). For Fujisawa, however, this will be her first Japan Championships without Yoshida since joining Loco Solare. When asked whether she feels any anxiety:

“More than loneliness or anxiety, I first feel a deep sense of gratitude.”

Eleven years ago, Fujisawa, who was then with Chubu Electric Power, was brought into Loco Solare as the team’s playmaker.

“Of course everyone welcomed me, but especially Chinami talked to me a lot.”

Curling is generally played by teams of four, and each team has its own routines both on and off the ice, including training content and team rules. However, the reason Fujisawa was able to adapt to her new environment without confusion and achieve outstanding results from her very first season with Loco Solare—winning the Japan Championships and finishing runner-up at the World Championships—was largely due to Yoshida’s consideration.

“She always thought about how to create an environment where I could throw with full confidence. I can’t thank her enough, and she also created opportunities for new challenges and helped push the team forward.”

Revising form, refreshing strategy, and scheduling focused on winning internationally—Loco Solare is a leading force in Japanese curling, and it was Yoshida who served as the switch that activated the team’s competitive drive. Regarding her teammate who moved on to the next stage in a professional league, Fujisawa said:

“I think in sports like figure skating, there’s a path where athletes turn professional after competing, but curling didn’t really have that before. Choosing a new challenge is very typical of her, and her mindset of always moving forward is something I truly respect.”

At the Japan Championships, Koana Tōri (30) will take Yoshida’s position, with Yoshida Yurika (32), Suzuki Yumi (34), and Fujisawa forming the lineup—same as at the World Championships in March, where they finished fourth.

Koana, a new addition, joined almost without preparation as she had been competing in the mixed doubles national championships until this season, but Fujisawa felt no major issues.

“Tōri-chan is the type who shows her emotions during matches, just like us, and she’s always chatting happily while playing curling. She really came to Loco with that same image intact. Off the ice, we talked a lot about behind-the-scenes curling stories (laughs), and during the World Championships I looked forward to hearing her talk at night.”

The Japan Championships in June, which she will compete in with Koana and the others, is the most high-profile domestic tournament and carries a unique tension, but she described last year’s event—the first held in a major metropolitan arena—as fun to play.

“There were so many spectators, and I felt so happy thinking, ‘Wow, we’re now able to play in front of so many people in Japan.’ I’m also happy that people say, ‘I’ll come watch you this year too.’ I want to do my best to deliver my best performance.”

On May 24, just before the Japan Championships, Fujisawa will turn 35.

“Since becoming a national team member at 20, I’ve been able to continue curling at the top level in Japan even now at 35, and I feel like, ‘I’m really grateful, I’ve been sticking with it for a long time (laughs).’

Silvana Tirinzoni, who played for a long time as the Swiss national team skip, announced her retirement this spring at 46. She stayed active for many years among strong teams and excellent players in Switzerland, won multiple World Championship gold medals, and reached the Olympic final in her final season. It’s incredibly cool, and I’ve even thought that I’d like to win Olympic gold and then say, ‘I’m retiring,’ as a kind of perfect ending.”

Body makeup is already

It is rare for Fujisawa to speak about her own career.

“It’s not that I’m hiding anything or being vague, but I also needed time to face myself, and I think it’s difficult to definitively decide the future based only on my own will. Even if I want to do it, I can’t if there are no teammates, and I can’t go on tours without sponsors.”

But—she continues.

“Watching the Olympics on TV this time, I felt nothing but frustration. On the contrary, I think that if I stop feeling frustration, that’s when I’m finished as an athlete. I love curling so much that when I think about whether I have anything else I can say this is it! about, I honestly don’t know. Without curling, I might be useless.”

Shortly after joining Loco Solare, the hobby listed on the official website was saving 500-yen coins. After that, she also mentioned aromatherapy, golf, and home gardening. She is a curious and proactive person, but none of these continued with the same intensity as curling. In 2023, she surprised the public by competing in a body-building competition.

“I had a complex about my body shape, so I thought I’d try body-building to overcome it. I received a lot of attention and gained many insights. I do enjoy being immersed in something, so I had fun while doing it, but I also realized that strict dieting and excessive weight loss affected my curling. I don’t think I’ll do it again while I’m still active.”

“I don’t stick with things for long,” she says with an unbothered laugh.

“But even so, I’ve stayed absorbed in curling without getting bored for 30 years. I really love curling. People often ask me, ‘What does curling mean to you?’ In the past, I couldn’t clearly answer that. But over the past few years, I’ve come to think that curling is a place where I can feel confident, and a place where I can express myself precisely because I love it. For me, curling has become that kind of existence.”

She admired Murakami Kanako’s behavior on television, but laughed and said, “I can’t do that.” However, it was not a self-deprecating remark. It was the expression of an answer she had reached through 30 years of competition: “I just want to do curling.”

At 35, Fujisawa is aiming for her ninth Japan Championship title. Beyond that, she still looks toward her dream of becoming world champion, and winning Olympic gold at the 2030 French Alps Games. While eating seafood from the Okhotsk region at “Matsuzushi,” she said firmly:

“I believe I can still improve.”

From “FRIDAY” May 29, 2026 issue