My first contact with floorball was when I got a new teacher in school. She was a part of the national team for Japan and she told me that it would be an Olympic sport soon. It became a dream for me, and as a 15-year-old I got into the national team. Floorball is still not an Olympic sport, but I got the chance to play in the World Cup instead. My first game was versus Sweden, and we lost. When I later watched the final game between Sweden and Finland, Sweden won really big. So, I knew that If I wanted to move abroad to improve my floorball, I had to choose the best country!

Perhaps through trying to make floorball larger in Japan. In Sweden floorball is really big, but if I tell people in Japan that I’m a national team player, they don’t know what it is. So when I’m in interviews people get to know it a bit more. I’m also studying for a coaching license so I can help younger Japanese players develop. I’d like them to come to Sweden to become better players. If people know more about floorball, they’ll know more about Sweden.

The tactical learning. In Sweden they told me that my level of play was high, but that I didn’t know any tactics. In Japan we are mostly just running around. Another personal challenge has been the food. It’s very different from Japan, where we eat rice for breakfast instead of bread. I often got really hungry, especially on Thursdays when we are served pea soup and pancakes. For me soup is not really lunch, and pancakes are more like dessert!

Japan could learn that it’s possible to work and play sports professionally. I couldn’t combine my teaching and national team duties in Japan, but in Sweden it’s possible. I feel that in Japan you just work to earn money, whereas in Sweden you work in order get an income to use for your spare time. Sweden could learn how to reduce food waste from Japan. In school I often see students taking too much food and then throwing away most of it. In Japan, people don’t take more than they need.

I really don’t know. But I’d like floorball to become bigger in Japan. That would in some way be a nice commemoration of the relationship.