PROFILE

After the Rio Olympics, in search of ways to refine his fencing technique further, he came across the “magic hand” reacher. In fencing, what matters is controlling the blade with the fingertips and directing the point — the part that scores — about one metre beyond the hand (the blade is no longer than 110 cm). The reacher matches exactly that combination of fine hand control and sense of distance. He uses it in daily life to pick up and grasp objects, both far and near, and this carries over into how he handles the blade at close quarters.

As a further step towards raising his competitive performance, he developed glasses made from retired fencing masks, under the brand name “BENOMI”. Fencers compete wearing a mask, seeing the bout through a view quite different from everyday sight. After many years in the sport he is naturally used to that view, but he wondered whether the world seen through the mask could become part of daily life. The idea was gladly taken up by “the WORK”, an eyewear factory in Sabae, Fukui. Carrying on the history and craftsmanship of Sabae’s eyewear industry, now more than a century old, with an honest, careful approach to making things and a style that creates new value, the factory brought these fencing glasses to life. Wearing them in daily life and watching bout footage through them keeps his fencing senses sharp.

When he was appointed Hometown Tourism Ambassador for Echizen City, he received an Echizen Uchi-Hamono forged knife — a traditional local craft — and visited its maker, Takamura Hamono. Captivated by the precision and refinement of the blades and by the skill and spirit of the smiths, he learned knife sharpening on the spot. He found that sharpening a blade hones the mind: facing the edge helps him focus and settle his spirit. Since then he has regularly set aside time to sharpen knives — before training camps and trips abroad, and at the start of each season — as a way to start a new wave of his own.

Fencing involves a great deal of equipment, and a long competitive career brings certificates, medals and prizes, on top of ordinary household items and clothing. Fencing is still a minor sport in Japan; with travel and training-camp costs taking priority, there is little budget for living space, and belongings overflow at home. Being surrounded by fencing equipment as well as daily necessities is hardly right for what is practically his only space to switch off. That is when he came across Hello Storage, the storage-room service run by his current sponsor AREALINK. Their support solved the problem at home. Beyond storage, he has named the space “Fencing Base” and uses it to maintain his blades and equipment. He takes pride in maintaining his blades and kit more than any fencer in the world, and spares no effort in caring for the equipment that can decide a bout.

In 2020 the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic transformed his training environment: no face-to-face practice, no access to training facilities, only body-weight training at home. Technogym readily agreed to support him at that time. As an Olympic sponsor that has supplied equipment to the Olympic Villages for many years, Technogym provided machines he already knew well from the Olympics and competitions abroad, and they were installed at his home. Being able to train at home on his own schedule clearly contributed greatly to his results at world-level events.

He spends more than a third of each year abroad, travelling to countries on every continent. Every place has its own scent and atmosphere. Amid these constant changes of environment, he looked for ways to recreate the feeling of being at home in Japan so that he could compete in a relaxed state, and he used to take his favourite scents abroad — yet he had never found one that felt just right. Then he encountered “KAORIUM” by SCENTMATIC, a team of professionals who create super-sensory experiences through scent. As Chief Sports Officer, he launched “SPORTS × KAORIUM”, a project that aims to maximise athletic performance by stimulating the sense of smell. Taking on the challenge of developing the most relaxing, individually personalised scent, he now never travels to competitions abroad without his own one-of-a-kind original aroma.

The craftsmanship that Made in Japan is proud of. Until recently, every fencing uniform worn in competition was made by an overseas manufacturer. Breaking new ground, DESCENTE LTD. obtained approval as an FIE-homologated manufacturer and took on the production of fencing uniforms. The comfort delivered by DESCENTE’s craftsmanship was unlike anything he had experienced. Fencing involves intense whole-body movement and demands a fit and compression that never restrict the arms and legs, together with stretch and mobility in the fabric. Wearing this Japanese-made uniform, he gained a smoothness of movement that no overseas uniform had ever achieved. He also competes with the pride of representing a Japanese manufacturer — fighting with the Hinomaru on his back.