Kawaii Basketball Star: Japanese Influencer Revealed

[OSEN=서정환 기자] A cute basketball girl from Japan is a hot topic.

KXO (Korea 3×3 Basketball Federation), Hongcheon-gun, and Hongcheon-gun Sports Association held the ‘NH Nonghyup Bank 2026 Hongcheon Global Youth Basketball Super Cup (hereinafter referred to as Super Cup)’ in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province from the 16th to the 18th. This competition was held in eight categories, including U8, U9, U10, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, and elementary school girls. Over 2,000 players from 84 teams from Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Mongolia participated, continuing the reputation of Korea’s largest international youth basketball tournament.

The Super Cup, which started in 2024, celebrates its 5th anniversary this year. The Super Cup is an international youth basketball tournament held in Korea every summer and winter vacation season. Meanwhile, aspiring youth basketball players from various countries, including the United States, China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Thailand, came to Korea and competed with Korean prospects.

[사진] Iwakuracho, one of the most prestigious basketball schools in Japan

Among the overseas teams invited to this competition, the Japanese elementary school girls’ team stands out. Japan’s Iwakura Elementary School, comprised of six players, defeated Korea’s Chuncheoncheon Elementary School by a score of 33-17. Although they are young players, their individual skills were very good, using crossover dribbling freely.

Among them, Ran Taniguchi (12, Iwakuracho 5) was a player who stood out. Even the audience was amazed at the way he freely handled a basketball larger than his face. Thanks to his cute appearance, male players also showed great interest in this player.

Taniguchi, whom we met after the game, expressed his humble feelings, saying, “I’m Ran Taniguchi from Japan. I’m 153cm tall and watching guard. It was a difficult game because the Korean team had better physical conditions than the Japanese. I was able to win because I performed each role instructed by the coach one by one.”

[사진] Ran Taniguchi, who works as a basketball influencer

It turned out that Taniguchi was an influencer who ran a social media site with 170,000 followers. Since 2022, he has been filming and uploading videos of himself training, and they are gaining enormous popularity.

Taniguchi showed his determination, saying, “I saw someone else’s account and uploaded it too. I play basketball for about 5 hours a day, including team practice and individual training, rather than making a face. Since there is no team training, I do individual training for 1-2 hours every day. I want to be recognized for my skills.”

Iwakura Elementary School participated in the Super Cup last year and won with overwhelming power. It is one of the most prestigious basketball teams in Japan. This is Taniguchi’s second visit to Korea. When he wasn’t playing basketball, he was like a lively elementary school student. I like K-pop and Aillet’s Minjoo is my favorite member.

[사진] The Hongcheon Ice Cream Festival will be held until January 25th.

These days, the ‘Frozen Frozen Festival’, which features ice fishing, is being held along the Hongcheon River. Spectators can catch ginseng trout grown on ginseng and eat it as raw fish on the spot. There are many things to enjoy, such as an ice sledding slope and a folk playground, so it is crowded.

Taniguchi, who enjoyed the sight, laughed and said, “I want to try snail fishing in Hongcheon.” / [email protected]

Seo Jeong-hwan ([email protected])