Today is Father’s Day. It is said that the older a man is, the more he looks like his father. What makes this young man 20 years old so reminiscent of his father? The function of genes seems to be quite strong. Tatsuru Saito, who won the All-Japan Judo Championship in April, is ▼ My father is Hitoshi (from Aomori City), who won the 95-kilometer class at both the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics. His head is shaken, he goes up to the tatami mat, and his hand is raised to challenge the opponent with Tsugaru dialect. The last word the sick father said to his second son was “go to practice.” His father’s specialty, a beautiful Tai-otoshi, is released by the body-judging that was trained from an early age. Yasuhiro Yamashita, chairman of the All Japan Judo Federation, says, “Jin-chan’s soul is full.” I was talking. I remember the tears shed on the podium in Seoul. He fought and defended the prestige of Japanese judo, which had been sluggish. ▼ The father acknowledged his son and shed tears when he stood in the middle of the podium of the Olympics. When he won the All Japan Championship, Tachi said. “I can’t finish in such a place.” “I strongly want to keep winning whatever.” It seems that it has been inherited steadily. It is also a day when I can think of Furusato. (2022/6/19)
