We had the opportunity to interview two students from Meiji University who will be competing in next month's All Japan Championships. As BUSHIZO staff member Ueshima is from Miyagi Prefecture and BUSHIZO staff member Kudo is from Hokkaido, we were very happy to hear that they will be competing in the All Japan Championships from our hometowns.

Now in their final year at Meiji University, the two students look back on their university life, talk about their relationship as good rivals, how they felt after winning the All Japan Championship preliminaries, and their aspirations for the finals!

In the second part of the interview, we will answer questions sent in by our readers.

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Ryohei Yamada

During his high school years, he won the All Japan High School Selected Kendo Tournament, the All Japan High School Athletic Meet, the Gyokuryu-ki High School Kendo Tournament, the All Kyushu Kendo Tournament, and the Kaisei-ki National High School Tournament. As a freshman at university, he was active as a representative player at the World Championships. As a sophomore, he won the 64th All Japan Student Championships. He is scheduled to represent Hokkaido in the 66th All Japan Championships next month.

Kai Senda

He is a fourth-year student at Meiji University. While attending Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School, he placed third individually in the Inter-High School Championships. He placed in the top eight individually in the All Japan Student Kendo Championships in his second and third years. He was the runner-up in the 66th Kanto Student Team Championships. Following on from last year, he has won the Miyagi Prefecture qualifying round for the All Japan Kendo Championships and will be representing Miyagi Prefecture in the 66th All Japan Championships.

The relationship between the two was a good rivalry

-You are both in your final year. Looking back on your student life, how do you feel?

Yamada: " There were four members in my year who entered the university on kendo recommendations. The other two students were also athletes who had achieved success at the national level, so we came to Meiji University thinking, 'We can aim to win the national championship,' but our results in team competitions have been disappointing. In our third year, we were only able to come in second in the Kanto Student Team Championships. The All-Japan Student Team Championships are coming up soon, and we really want to win and move on to the All-Japan Championships."

—What impression do you have of your fellow competitor, Senda?

Yamada: " I had some tough times in my second and third years, but seeing Senda working hard inspired me. He's my classmate and he's always winning matches and getting results. Since we're classmates, I'm honestly embarrassed to ask him what I'm lacking, but watching his kendo made me think about what I'm lacking."

—What do you think of Senda?

Senda: " Our year had a good reputation when we enrolled, but the only result we were able to achieve was runner-up in the Kanto Student Group Championship last year. People around us kept telling us, 'You guys are no good at all.'

This is my final year, so I want to show overwhelming strength and win the team championship."

— Mr. Senda, what kind of person is Mr. Yamada?

Senda : "Yamada has had amazing results since he entered university, including being selected as a member of the Japanese national team. At first, I felt like there was no way I could beat him, but I tried my best to keep up. As Yamada said, it was embarrassing to ask him directly, so I was inspired by his achievements and studied his techniques ."

—It must be embarrassing to ask you directly (laughs). You both have achieved great results in individual competitions, but your passion for team competitions seems stronger!

Yamada and Senda : "The joy is completely different. In individual competitions, only you are happy when you win. In team competitions, victory can be shared with all the members."

About the All Japan Championships

—Please tell us how you felt when you took part in the prefectural preliminaries.

Yamada : "I lost in the first round of the Kanto individual tournament in May of this year. I was unable to participate in the All-Japan Student Championships, so I instead focused on qualifying for the All-Japan Championships. Of course, the Hokkaido Prefectural Police are full of talented fighters, so I never thought I would be able to beat them easily. I watched YouTube every day and came up with strategies. I also knew there was no way I could win if I just thought about it on my own, so I asked the teacher at my old dojo for advice, saying things like, 'I'm going to be competing against this player, how should I approach the match?' I think it was with everyone's help that I was able to somehow win the right to participate."

—So you came into the qualifying round with a thorough strategy in mind!

Yamada : "I was conscious of giving it my all. You can only show what you've done in training in a match, so I was especially conscious of giving it my all. If I still couldn't win after giving it my all, then I can accept it because it was simply because I wasn't strong enough."

- Mr. Senda, you also won the Miyagi Prefecture qualifying tournament last year. How did you approach the match with the pressure of winning last year?

Senda: " Last year, I won the Miyagi Prefecture qualifying tournament. I knew that this year the Miyagi Prefectural Police would be determined not to let Senda make it to the finals, so I thought it was important to go into the match with an even stronger determination to win ."

—So you were conscious of having a strong will! Did you also use videos on YouTube and other sites to analyze your opponents?

Senda : "I knew the Miyagi Prefectural Police's kendo techniques well, so I made sure to do image training. I don't watch YouTube videos. I focused on image training as my preparation. It's important to have an image of winning no matter who you're playing against."

—Although your methods were different, it seems that you both prepared thoroughly before entering the preliminaries!

How I feel now that I've qualified to play in the All Japan Championships

Yamada : "The matchups have already been announced. In the first round, I will be facing Sakaguchi from the Kyoto Prefectural Police. Just like in the preliminaries, I will be studying my opponent thoroughly. When I spoke to my seniors who have competed in the All Japan Championships, they told me that everyone gets nervous in the first round, so I too will be approaching the match with the mindset that the first round is everything ."

— If you can get through the first round, it will probably be easier to practice your own kendo!

Yamada : "I would like to ask my seniors about the type of player my opponent is. It is also important to use YouTube to analyze the type of player he is. I am a student, so I have nothing to lose. I will do my best in kendo and have no regrets in this match ."

—This is Senda's second time competing, following last year .

Senda: " I was able to participate last year as well, but I was defeated in the first round. I was very disappointed that I was unable to show my kendo skills at all. When I look back at the video of the match, I think, 'I could have done more.'

After competing, I realized that the atmosphere at the finals is quite strange. I wasn't nervous until I got into the waiting room, but once I put on my mask, I started to feel extremely nervous. I'm generally focused during the match, so it doesn't bother me, but from the first round onwards, I felt a silence that reminded me of the finals. There were times when I suddenly thought, 'I'm competing in the All Japan Championships.'"

—This year, you'll be able to make use of last year's experience to play the game!

Senda: " Last year's experience was extremely valuable. I would like to make use of it and do my best."

This will be the last time that both of them will be competing in the All Japan Championships as students, so I hope they will play with all their might and have no regrets!

In the second part, we will answer questions sent in by our readers!

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