At Toyota we have a total of seven representative clubs: rugby, baseball, long-distance running, women’s basketball, women’s softball, short track speed skating, and beach volleyball. I am responsible for expanding the fan base and enhancing fans’ satisfaction when they come to support our teams, as well as planning supporter tours and livening up event venues. I am also responsible for supporting the 26 non-competitive clubs.

My group is responsible for supporting the activities of individual athletes, including Hiroki Muto, who won bronze in the men’s team archery event at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and also Paralympic athletes. We are also involved in creating buzz and excitement about the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and engaging in community contribution activities.

I consulted with my parents and my coach from high school days while visiting various potential companies. I concluded that at that time that a rugby player could expect to play competitively until about the age of 30 and that I would want to choose a company where I could concentrate on my work after that. When I visited Toyota, they introduced me to former players of the rugby club, who are working in various divisions at Toyota. Also, at training camps for Japan national team members, players from Toyota told me that after retiring from competitive sports I could find a stable job there, which was why I decided on Toyota.

Because my working life is going to be much longer than my career in competitive sports, similarly to Mr. Watanabe I chose Toyota based on the decision that it provides an environment where I can devote myself to my work.

First and foremost, work was very difficult. I remember being severely criticized in a cost-related meeting at the Manufacturing departments for reading out in a monotone a document I had spent a great deal of time preparing, only to be told that it was so disordered as to be unintelligible (smiles wryly). However, my senior work colleagues helped me out and it was a really useful experience to have stuck to my guns without escaping from the hard situation. A good memory is that some of the strictest people in the workplace were the ones shouting loudest from the stands to support me.

During my running days, I worked from 9am to 2pm, and I would often be away at training camp or events. It was therefore difficult to entrust me with any kind of proper work and so after retiring from running I initially felt work to be a challenge. However, I would be honest and say, ‘I can’t do this, can you help me?’ and many people in my group and in the workplace who had supported me as a runner would kindly provide support, saying, ‘We’re only doing this because it’s you.’ I sometimes think that I should have studied more in the workplace while I was still an athlete, but I am where I am today thanks to the workplace atmosphere and the people there who have helped me.

When I was playing sports I really felt the presence of people supporting me in the stands, and I was also very grateful for the various kinds of support I received. However, once I was in the position of providing this support I was shocked by its scale and breadth, such as just how much it costs to go to training camp just once, or how much effort it takes to arrange for a bus to transport supporters. Also, when I reported the results of my matches I received encouragement from many people, but I realize even more clearly now than back then just how many people cared about my activities.

I can utilize my own experiences, such as deciding whether it’s better to talk to someone before a big event, or just leave them alone. I suffered various injuries when I was running, and this helps me to understand the thoughts and feelings of athletes experiencing similar difficulties.

I don’t know whether my choice of words is appropriate, but both Oda and I put our lives on the line when we were participating in competitive sports. We therefore understand that today’s athletes approach games and events with the same determination, and we want to provide perfect support and ensure that they can compete in an ideal environment. That is where our motivation comes from for our current work.

At the time I was working in the Corporate Citizenship Group where Oda currently works. It had been confirmed that World Cup matches would be played at Toyota Stadium and although there is a rugby school in Toyota City, there are no rugby clubs at any of the public junior high schools in the city. We faced the problem that although rugby is popular and played through to the end of elementary school, from junior high school onwards the number of people playing rugby suddenly drops off. It was in order to create an environment where children could devote themselves to rugby on weekdays that we made careful preparations, with the result that the Toyota Sports Academy was launched as a joint industry-government-academia collaboration between Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota City Hall, and Chukyo University.

Over several decades as a runner I was able to accumulate various experiences. It is those skills and experiences, as well as the sheer enjoyment of running, that I want to share with amateur runners and children. I have been working to bring together former athletes from Toyota’s athletics club and colleagues who run the internal company Ekiden race, and hold a homespun-style athletics event. It is in this relaxed atmosphere that former and current Toyota athletes act as the pace makers, encouraging other participants to achieve new personal bests, and I hope to further enhance and invigorate such activities.

Although one of the important roles of having successful in-house teams and clubs is to provide bright and cheerful talking points and strengthen solidarity among colleagues, it is also important to go that one step further and continue to think about how we can contribute to society. For starters, by popularizing competitive sports I want to promote sports more broadly.