He was on his way to an izakaya I had planned a small viewing party at for the Japanese community.
After swimming like a salmon upstream, I got to the back of the venue and a six-foot-10 friend of mine used his height and his relationship with Pascal’s brother to get Yuta’s attention for me.
I had really gone there with one intent in mind: to invite him to said viewing party with a current guest list of exactly zero…so far.
He nonchalantly said, “hit me up directly,” and plugged his digits into my phone as four ladies beside me were screaming his name.
So the next morning, I summoned up the courage to call him and leave a message before hopping into the shower.
The biggest Japanese athlete to ever play for a Toronto pro sports franchise made himself so accessible.
As soon as he made it to the front door, all eyes locked on him, and he was greeted with a standing ovation.
He started creating consistent content in the 2020-21 Tampa Bay season, and his subscriber base has grown to 9.61k and has amassed more than 4.6 million views.
The Uike family, whom Kotaro and I met while interviewing Raptors fans outside Scotiabank Arena, could not believe their eyes.
Like him, regular Japanese folks see that fighting tooth-and-nail just to stay competitive in his world as not just a virtue — but required for survival.
The collective need to put in maximal effort, known as the ganbaru spirit, has been etched into the Japanese psyche for decades.
When a Japanese athlete with Yuta’s undrafted, underdog story climbs out of the G-League trenches onto an NBA roster, he embodies this ganbaru spirit.
I had the rare privilege of afterward moderating a Q&A with Yuta — a surreal experience standing on the floor of Scotiabank Arena in front of my community.
This was the third Toronto Raptors Japan Day event.
The following Monday, I had another chance encounter with Yuta as the Raptors came to support the 905 at Scotiabank Arena.
He’s willing to reciprocate the love despite still being new to this city, and for that, Toronto will always appreciate a real one.
