The Japanese Flavor

私は初めてアメリカでultimateをしてたくさん感じたことがあります。それはすごくいいグラウンドでultimateができることです。日本では練習でも大会でも芝があまりないグラウンドでultimateをやっています。唯一日本では決勝戦だけいいグラウンドでultimateができます。また、アメリカほどultimateが日本ではメジャーではありません。日本でultimateを知っていますかと聞いても知らない人が多いです。しかし日本とは違いultimateと言うだけで通じることがすごいと思います。観戦料がかかるにも関わらずあれだけ多くの人が試合を見に来ることです。日本では観戦料がかかる試合は一つもありません。だから、すごく驚きました。またたくさんの子供がultimateに興味を持ちultimateをしているのにも驚きました。日本では少ししかultimateをやっている子供はいません。ほとんどは大学からultimateを始めます。私も大学から始めた一人です。少しずつ中学や高校の授業で取り入れられてますが、まだまだマイナースポーツです。だから私達自身がもっともっと子供達にultimateを教えて、楽しさを知ってほしいです。

This is my first time in the United States playing ultimate, and I have experienced so much. The quality of the fields here have been amazing. In Japan, fields with grass are hard to come by, so we practice on fields of dirt and rocks. The nicest fields are saved for tournament finals. Generally speaking, ultimate frisbee is not common in Japan, so if I were to ask someone if they knew what the sport is, they would most likely have no idea. It's refreshing to be in a country where people know what you're talking about when you mention ultimate; it's a great way to connect with many different people. It is incredible to me that we can charge spectator entry fees, and still attract large crowds. If this was Japan, an entry fee would deter many people from watching. I was also astonished by the youth ultimate scene here in the U.S.; you find very few young adults and children who play the sport in Japan. Usually, you start playing ultimate at the university level. I started dabbling in ultimate in junior high and high school, but didn't really start playing until college. So it has been our mission as leading athletes to coach and encourage children in Japan to play ultimate. That way they can experience the unique nature of the sport. It is my hope that Japan will one day reach a scale of development and availability of coaching similar to that of which I've seen here.