Kento Hashimoto had good reason to look forward to this year's J.League season that has been on hold since March.
Last year, the 26-year-old midfielder played in all 34 league matches for FC Tokyo, helped the club take the title race down to the final day, and was named to the Best Eleven team for the first time. And he made his debut for the national team.
"As a player, these next two or three years are really important," Hashimoto said.
Trying to make the most of the league's current hiatus as the nation tries to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Hashimoto has been looking into new training methods that will give him a boost in strength, speed and sharpness.
"I still have a lot of potential in terms of physical and technical development," Hashimoto said.
While it may seem he has made rapid progress, Hashimoto emphasizes that it is the result of an arduous upward process that he has taken one step at a time.
A Tokyo native, he entered FC Tokyo's youth development program starting in elementary school. By 2012, he had turned pro and was on the club's top team. But he spent the whole season on the bench, not seeing any action, and transferred the next year on a limited loan to Roasso Kumamoto, a second-division side at the time.
After a two-year stay, he returned to FC Tokyo and was tipped to earn a place on the team to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but was passed over in the end. He recalls a period when it seemed that each time he passed the ball, some senior member of the team would yell at him, and he was constantly being made to stay after practice to do drills with a coach.
But that never deterred him, and he continued to take on the challenge.
A striker while in the youth program, Hashimoto switched to midfielder while in high school so that he could move up to an upper team.
"I've used any means I could to help myself improve," he said.
When a player he thought was "the one" caught his eye, he enhanced his skills by imitating them.
"My greatest strength is my ability to overcome barriers," said Hashimoto, who is already regarded as one of the best Japanese players because of his ability to steal the ball with his sharp footwork and reaction.
Over the past year or two, he has opened a door to the next phase.
"I'm able to start painting the next picture," he said.
He has evolved from a reckless young player who only saw the opponent in front of him into a playmaker who sees the whole scene and designs the game.
Improving his attacking ability is absolutely essential for him to help lead FC Tokyo to a first-ever title and keep a solid hold of his place on national team, for which he made his debut in March 2019 in an international friendly game against Bolivia.
His aim is to become a "dominating presence" that provides the pass that sets up a goal or involved some way in scoring.
A wall may be standing in his way now, but he seems to be painting a new picture of himself beyond it.
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