On the 13th, I'll go to Shizuoka to "bring home a medal"
"Carrying the hopes of my parents, those who have helped me, and my friends, I will do whatever it takes to bring the gold medal back to Brazil. I hope everyone in the Japanese community will support me," said Eduardo Yudy Santos (26 years old, Sansei, 2nd dan), who will compete in the judo category at the Tokyo Olympics, expressing his enthusiasm in Japanese that sounds like a Japanese person. With the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games finally starting on the 23rd, we interviewed Eduardo Yudy Santos, a Sansei born and raised in Japan, on June 24th, who will be competing in the judo category as Brazil's representative.
The athlete is a professional judo athlete belonging to the prestigious sports club "Esporte Clube Pinheiros" in the city of Sao Paulo. He has a brilliant track record, including winning the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Test Tournament, the Pan American Judo Championships, the World Military Championships, and the Pan American Games. At the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Judo Championships held in Hungary on June 13, he achieved a world ranking of 18th, which is the condition for participating in the Tokyo Olympics.
There will be 13 Brazilian athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympic judo competition. Of these, four are Japanese Brazilians, and six are from the same club.
Yuji has been training hard every day at the club under the guidance of former Olympic medallists Tiago Camilo and Leandro Marques Guilheiro in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. He will arrive in Japan on the 13th, undergo quarantine and practice matches in Shizuoka, and then compete in an individual match in the 81kg class on the 27th and a team match in the 90kg class on the 30th.
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His great-grandparents immigrated to Brazil, and his grandmother, the late Masako Inaba (second generation, Japanese nationality), married a Brazilian. Her daughter, Leila de Brito Santos, Yuji's mother, visited Japan around 1992 with her husband, Jeremias Antônio dos Santos (Brazilian), to meet Masako, who had returned to Japan.
Masako was living in Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Prefecture at the time, right in the middle of the boom in dekasegi (traditional Japanese laborers). After visiting Japan, the couple decided to work in a factory, and it was there that Yuji was born in 1994.
He started judo at the age of four at the Shimotsuma City Sports Youth Club. His parents initially enrolled him in the dojo because his older sister was interested in judo, and because he was a bit of a troublemaker.
"I was a bit naughty when I was a child, so my parents told me to 'understand other people's pain,' so I started judo.But when I started, I found that winning was more fun than understanding my opponent's pain, and it helped me relieve stress..." he said with a shy smile.
Yuji started judo at the age of four, but was also a member of the soccer club for about two years from the fifth grade of elementary school.
"Soccer was popular at the time, so I played too. My grades weren't that good, though...When I was in the first year of junior high school, the judo club advisor asked me, 'We're one player short for the matches, so can Yuji, who has judo experience, play?' I played, but I lost one of the two matches. I was so upset about that loss that I wanted to get revenge, so I started judo again. After returning, I won the prefectural tournament and also played in the national tournament. Maybe because I had a bad behavior, I didn't receive many recommendations for high schools..." he says with a wry smile.
He then entered Ibaraki Prefectural Akeno High School, where he says that his encounter with the advisor of the school's judo club was a turning point in his life.
"Our advisor was really good at motivating people. I'm still grateful to that time for helping me become who I am today. He never got angry at me, but instead gave me guidance that suited my mood," he recalls.
"At the time, all members of the judo club had to shave their heads, but I didn't like it and was reluctant to do so. But when I was in my second year, my teacher told me that I would be made captain of the judo club, so I shaved my head right away the very next day. I came to the dojo earlier than anyone else, cleaned, practiced for three hours, and did strength training for two hours. I did this every day from Monday to Sunday. Strangely enough, it wasn't difficult."
He continued, "Looking back now, I realize that my teacher was really good at teaching me and helping me grow. If I hadn't had that teacher, I probably would have quit judo in high school and I wouldn't be who I am today..." he said with emotion now that he is an Olympic athlete representing Brazil.
*This article is reprinted from the Nikkei Shimbun (July 6th and 7th , 2021).
© 2021 Takahiko Yodo, Nikkey Shimbun
