Rediscovering Japan!! Part one2009.03.16

Finally, here is the long-awaited next Hide's mail. It really has been a loooong time coming. I am so, so sorry for keeping you waiting from the start of the year until now. Yes, there are all kinds of excuses I could give, but the main reason is that basically, writing Hide's Mail requires a few hours where I can really relax and concentrate. In general this is when I'm overseas or on a long flight. But because I spent pretty much the whole time since the start of the year in Japan, I just didn't have that kind writing time. I did head back overseas just the other day, and am now on a flight from the UK to the USA. So finally I find myself with some writing time on my hands. After such a long break, there is so much to tell!! In fact there's so much that I don't know where to start, but anyway, be prepared because I am just going to write to my heart's content!!

You know, the amount of time I spent in Japan early this year would have to be about the longest I have spent there in 10 years or so! The reason for this was that I had meetings, meetings and more meetings, day and night, working on plans for establishment of the fund that I announced the other week, as well as what I personally will be doing this year. Regarding the fund, it was actually being planned from the second half of last year, but in the days and weeks following the announcement of our plans at the press conference on January 22nd, things remained crazily busy.

With regard to the Life After Football project, since last year I had been going to Kofu and meeting with Mayor Miyajima, and also having meetings with people from the Yamanashi Football Association and the person in charge of the Shingenko Festival. And in order to get a team together, I met with players quite a number of times, and everything was going really smoothly.

For any football performance in Japan, the approval of the Japan Football Association (JFA) is required. At the time of the January 22 press conference, we had already reached agreement between the fund and Kofu City and Yamanashi Football Association, however the host of the event, Yamanashi Football Association, was still waiting for the official approval of the JFA, and therefore the official announcement couldn't happen until last week.

Actually, attaining the JFA's approval for the +1 FOOTBALL MATCH in June last year was not easy either. The whole process was a first for us, and there were really a lot of hurdles to be overcome. To be honest, there were differences in ways of thinking, and there were things I really could not understand, but that can't be helped. All one can do is find a way to clear each hurdle, and that is what I have been doing.

Amongst all this our match did eventuate, and although I invited the JFA people to the match, none of them actually showed up. Haha! Aside from Troussier and Osim, that is. It leaves you with a bit of a lonely feeling doesn't it... ?

I think it's only natural that there are people out there who don't find me particularly interesting, and people who are negative about new things. That's normal in a society and I'm fine with that. But I think football today is surrounded by a different environment to what it used to be. And I think this just might be the time when all people involved in the world of football need to come together and take action, for the sake of football too. In any case, with the immeasurable cooperation of the Yamanashi Football Association, in particular Watanabe-san, the JFA gave us their approval. For this reason, too, I really hope we can somehow make this project work.

After announcing the LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL project, we have been contacted by quite a number of local governments, organisations and individuals. We have even had enquiries from overseas, and I have learned that lots of people are interested. So I am really determined to do my best to make this project an ongoing one.

Currently, we have plans confirmed for a match at Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture on April 12th, and I am hoping to have matches regularly, several times a year, in different regions if possible. But to but honest, with the poor state of the economy around the world, if this project is to continue properly, I think a certain kind of courage is going to be necessary - courage to adapt the project plan to the situation at any given time.

Anyway, this being a total first, I am really feeling my way in the dark, so to speak, which means that the content of my plans may change along the way, but whatever happens, I want to work unchangingly towards making this a fun cycle that is meaningful and worthwhile without asking too much of anyone, so please keep those expectations high!!

Oh, by the way, some of you may have watched the footage on nakata.net, but since this match was decided on, I have been gradually getting into some training. Not having touched the ball at all, or really been seriously active since about July last year, it was pretty tough at first, but after getting out under the cold February skies every day, come rain, snow or shine, I can tell my body is slowly but surely getting back its ability to move again, and this is a great feeling. I've had some practice games with university students and so on, and can feel my game sense emerging too... But having said that I'm nowhere near where I want to be yet, of course. In any case, in order to be able to play well at Kofu on the 12th of April, to give as many spectators as possible as much enjoyment as possible, I am really going to have to throw myself back into training as soon as I return to Japan from this trip.

By the way, preparations are underway so that you can participate not only by physically coming to these events, but also over the internet, so please look forward to that too! For example, as one method for deciding on the location of future LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL matches, we plan to have it set up so you can see both the potential hosts who want to host a match and comments from people who want a match in a particular region, as well facilities for taking other action over the internet, such as one-click donation systems with point systems integrated in so that you can use accumulated points to earn tickets to participate in events and so on. I'm going to create lots of ways for individuals to get more involved, so as they become available I hope you'll all give them a go!

Anyway, making more fun “systems” that people will want to be involved in is a big goal of the fund, so I will be working on coming up with lots more interesting ideas!

This Hide's Mail is being brought to you in two installations. Look out for the title theme “Rediscovering Japan” in the next part.

Hide.