A high school student in Nakagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, is avidly hoping for another successful Olympic showing by Yukiko Ueno, 38, the ace of the Japan women's softball.
Seventeen-year-old Minami Mochihara developed leukemia about three years ago but overcame the illness with help from a message of support written by Ueno.
When Mochihara was a first grader at elementary school, she watched Ueno play at a local event. A ball Ueno pitched suddenly rose immediately before entering the catcher's mitt. Hundreds of elementary students who were watching the event were stunned by the spin and speed of her rise ball, which they had never seen before.
Two years before that, Ueno won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games as the ace of Japan's national team. Armed with a breaking ball and a fastball of about 120 kph, she pitched in three games in two days, including the final. Overall, she threw a staggering 413 balls, a feat still praised as legendary.
When Mochihara started pitching practice in the third grade, she wrote a letter to Ueno as part of an assignment in which students wrote to people they admired. Mochihara asked the softballer, "How can you pitch a straight ball?" She searched for the address of the team Ueno belonged to and sent the letter.
Ueno wrote back with things to be aware of when pitching, such as "Look at the catcher's mitt when you pitch. Be careful with your body balance."
Mochihara became a top player on a mixed-gender team at elementary school and joined a strong team that had won a national event after entering junior high school. Although she switched to a fielding position, her enthusiasm for the game was unchanged.
"She called out most often and brightened up the team's mood," recalled Kazuhide Naito, 46, who coached the strong team. "She was also versatile and could defend multiple positions."
In March 2018, when Mochihara was in the second year of junior high school, she began to experience physical problems. She had prolonged nosebleeds and developed bruises. This was shortly before she was to compete in a national event on her team, representing Fukuoka Prefecture.
Mochihara was diagnosed with acute myelocytic leukemia. Her fear over whether she could recover was dwarfed by the sadness she felt when she learned she could not participate in her last big summer event as a junior high school student.
Anticancer drug treatment through IV drips was tough on her body. She suffered from side effects, such as a high temperature of more than 39 C for days and the loss of her hair and eyebrows. Her entire body ached so much, she could not even speak.
A shikishi card sent by Ueno helped buoy her spirits while she was in the hospital. Mochihara's coach Naito asked Ueno to write the card through Emi Matsuoka, 41, a teammate of Ueno's at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Japan won the bronze medal in Athens.
"God only tests people who can triumph over the test!! Please get better soon and come back," Ueno wrote on the card.
Mochihara was hospitalized on and off for about seven months. Whenever she was given anticancer drugs, she suffered from side effects, but she looked at the card and vowed not to succumb to the illness.
Even after she was discharged from the hospital, Mochihara suffered from muscle deterioration that was worse than she expected. Her mind remembered what to do, but her body could not execute the movements. If she went running, she fell many times.
Mochihara did not give up, solely because she wanted to play softball again.
After entering high school, she got her stamina back and returned to daily practice. Her team reached the last eight in Mochihara's final prefectural event as team captain. Now she is studying to enter a junior college to become a child care provider.
Thirteen years have passed since the Beijing Olympics. While softball had not been an official Olympic event until Tokyo, Ueno had continued to pitch at the highest level.
"She's not only given courage to me, but to many people out there, by going forward while overcoming various troubles, including injuries. I'd love to see her fastball again during the Tokyo Games," Mochihara said.
The Japan softball team opened the Tokyo Olympics with a victory over Australia on Wednesday.
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