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kushiro

Okazaki interviews, comments and pictures from the Japanese media

By kushiro, in Leicester City Forum

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Weller in Tights

Weller in Tights

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Hello, friends! it's the first time for me to visit here

I have been much moved after watching Leicester opening 2 games.

They made me happy and how wonderful to watch such like a speedy football

anyway i have found something what I love. lol

003026-215.png

have fun,I'm also from Osaka next to Hyogo which Okazaki from

Welcome

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Weller in Tights

Weller in Tights

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Love this thread. It's interesting and positive, unlike one or two of our other threads.

Welcome to all our friends in Japan that have joined Foxestalk and have been contributing to this thread. You are really opening a lot of people's eyes to your culture, language and your views on football.

Please ignore the odd negative willy puller (sorry I haven't a clue if you have a translation for that) on some of the threads, all nations have them and all football teams have a fare share following their teams.

We are generally a friendly bunch on here.

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Snik-Snok

Snik-Snok

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Kushiro and Yuta, thanks for the replies. I'll try and find a highlights show on TV whilst I'm out there.

This'll be my 10th trip to Japan. We always go up to yamagata ken, to a town called nanyo, because my wife's from there. The scenary in the mountains in yamagata, Fukushima and Niigata prefectures is beautiful. I was there last summer and it was 35C by 9am, too hot to be outside. I went back last December and it was below freezing, giant icicles everywhere and there was at least half a metre of snow daily. I was clearing snow before breakfast every day, and by lunchtime it was knee deep again. This goes on for 3 months every year! The difference between summer and winter conditions is far more extreme than here.

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kushiro

kushiro

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I'm going to post a few short passages from Shinji's autobiography this morning. It's called 'Three Cheers for Slow Coach'. Before that, a few words about translation. In the posts I've made so far with translations from Shinji's post match comments, I've tried to be pretty cautious when there've been any ambiguous sections.  Generally if I'm not sure of the best way to translate something, I'll take the cautious option, or skip it altogether.

 

On that subject, here's a great article by Ben Mabley, a British sports writer based in Japan. He was doing co-commentary for Japanese TV last week on City's game at West Ham.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/13/manchester-united-shinji-kagawa

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kushiro

kushiro

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So - Shinji's book. First, a reminder of the great passage on the cover of the book:

 

I’m a player full of faults. Too slow. Too short. Poor technique. Not the smartest. Not a crowd favourite. But I’ve turned all that to my advantage. Having no illusions about my talent to begin with, I don’t have sudden attacks of self-doubt, so every day I can train with a strong sense of what I need to do.

 

post-23297-0-44741900-1440235001_thumb.j

 

 

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kushiro

kushiro

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Three Cheers for Slow Coach (1)

 

I wear the number 9 shirt for Japan. As those who go to international games know, you see a lot of replica shirts with 'Honda number 4', 'Kagawa number 10', 'Nagatomo number 5'  and 'Uchida number 2'. Rarely, however, do you see a number 9 shirt. Once, I was flying back from Japan with Shinji Kagawa, who'd just signed for Man United. As we came out of the airport, we were met by a crowd of fans shouting Shinji's name and holding presents for him. One girl shouted, "Kagawa san! Please sign this!". Then she said to him, "Who's that next to you? Your friend?"

 

post-23297-0-82957000-1440235455_thumb.j

 

 

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sphericalfox

sphericalfox

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Three Cheers for Slow Coach (1)

 

I wear the number 9 shirt for Japan. As those who go to international games know, you see a lot of replica shirts with 'Honda number 4', 'Kagawa number 10', 'Nagatomo number 5'  and 'Uchida number 2'. Rarely, however, do you see a number 9 shirt. Once, I was flying back from Japan with Shinji Kagawa, who'd just signed for Man United. As we came out of the airport, we were met by a crowd of fans shouting Shinji's name and holding presents for him. One girl shouted, "Kagawa san! Please sign this!". Then she said to him, "Who's that next to you? Your friend?"

 

attachicon.gif565 2.jpg

 

His smile reminds me of this for some reason...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btn4KwHO0WA

 

 

Is he a robot from the future sent to destroy the Premiership?

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kushiro

kushiro

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Three Cheers for Slow Coach (2)

 

For a run of the mill striker like me, to score goals I need to find a good partner and build a relationship with them. You could say the goal scorer and the provider are like man and wife. In the Japan team, Kengo Nakamura has often been the provider. He is the wife, I'm the husband. But I believe in polygamy (ha ha). I also want an older wife like Yasuhito Endo to set me up kindly, a reliable wife like Makoto Hasebe who plays sharp passes through the middle, an attractive wife like Atsuto Uchida to glide forward and play 1-2s with me, a scary wife with blonde hair like Keisuke Honda .....

 

post-23297-0-71563400-1440236268_thumb.j

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kushiro

kushiro

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Three Cheers for Slow Coach (3)   

 

When I was at Stuttgart, I won the goal of the month award on Germany's ARD channel. That's not my favourite goal of my career though. Ahead of that, I'd choose the goal I got in the World Cup qualifier in Uzbekistan in 2009. Kengo played a ball through, I used my right foot and chest to control it, let it bounce and then shot with my left foot. The keeper saved it but I followed up with my head to score. It wasn't a beautiful goal. It was dorokusai*. I choose it for three reasons. First, I didn't give up after the first shot was saved. Second, it clinched our place at the World Cup. Third, I'd been wanting my team mates to play in a way that helped my game, and here they did that.

 

*dorokusai. Literally this means 'reeking of mud'. But it has a broader meaning here meaning 'unrefined'. It is often used for players like Shinji who have that 'get stuck in' style.

 

Here are the two goals he mentions here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJecef-_vto

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjJZTfOWH3M  (the goal is about 1 minute 45 into this video)

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kushiro

kushiro

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Three Cheers for Slow Coach (4)

 

When I was very young I played for Takarazuka Juniors FC. The thing my coach repeatedly taught me was the diving header. "Don't be afraid, fly in head first!" he said. Even for low crosses, he drilled it into us. If you were scared of using your head, he'd grab you and do a giant swing on you like a wrestler. Recently my hair has started thinning. Maybe all that practice destroyed the roots.

 

post-23297-0-45894500-1440237403_thumb.j

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kushiro

kushiro

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Three Cheers for Slow Coach (5)

 

When I first turned pro, I had a girlfriend I was madly in love with. She was so beautiful. It was like a dream. "I'm going out with a woman like this!" I was totally head over heels. If we met up, I'd be carrying bags of presents I'd bought for her, and I'd even insist on carrying her handbag. I'd buy her presents at Christmas, on her birthday, on Valentine's Day, on our one month anniversary, our second month anniversary, our third month....I went on the attack with presents. But the romance fizzled out. Because I'd stopped being myself. There's something similar about playing in Europe. It's natural to try and adapt yourself to your new home, but you don't need to go as far as abandoning your own beliefs, altering your basic self, and throwing away your Japanese qualities.

 

post-23297-0-75715800-1440238346_thumb.j

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RedSoxUK

RedSoxUK

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Three Cheers for Slow Coach (4)

 

When I was very young I played for Takarazuka Juniors FC. The thing my coach repeatedly taught me was the diving header. "Don't be afraid, fly in head first!" he said. Even for low crosses, he drilled it into us. If you were scared of using your head, he'd grab you and do a giant swing on you like a wrestler. Recently my hair has started thinning. Maybe all that practice destroyed the roots.

 

attachicon.gif565 2.jpg

 

love this, hope he doesnt get hurt though

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kushiro

kushiro

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 A few extracts from the sports papers this morning:

 

The temperature was 29 degrees. For Japan, comfortable conditions, but in England, it's considered the height of summer. Midway though each half, players stopped for drinks. But not Okazaki. "I'm trying not to drink any water. It's tough, but I want to keep my focus on the game."  （水は飲まないようにしている。きついけど、試合に集中したいから）

 

Over the whole game, he covered more distance than any player on either side. "Above all I was thinking about playing a support role. If a team mate was in trouble, I'd try and give him an option". Okazaki was dropping back to receive passes, getting the ball to feet and sometimes winning free kicks. "Depending on the opponents, or my relationship with my fellow striker, I can switch between out-and-out striker and a support striker. I hope I can give the national team the same options".

 

"When I arrived, it was like 'Who is this guy?' What I did in Germany counts for nothing here. But I'm enjoying it. Starting again like a new pro. It's tough, but actually, if it's too easy I don't enjoy it." 

 

In the media zone, team mates were fooling around with him and saying 'Itadakima-su!*' in a strange Japanese voice. It looks like he's fitting in well.

 

 

*'itadakimasu' is what Japanese people say at the start of a meal.

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ScouseFox

ScouseFox

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But not Okazaki. "I'm trying not to drink any water. It's tough, but I want to keep my focus on the game."  （水は飲まないようにしている。きついけど、試合に集中したいから）

 

Over the whole game, he covered more distance than any player on either side. 

 

crazy lil japanese hero 

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