He was on his way to an izakaya I had planned a small viewing party at for the Japanese community.<\/p>\n
After swimming like a salmon upstream, I got to the back of the venue and a six-foot-10\u00a0 friend of mine used his height and his relationship with Pascal\u2019s brother to get Yuta\u2019s attention for me.<\/p>\n
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\u2026so far.<\/p>\n
He nonchalantly said, \u201chit me up directly,\u201d and plugged his digits into my phone as four ladies beside me were screaming his name.<\/p>\n
So the next morning, I summoned up the courage to call him and leave a message before hopping into the shower.<\/p>\n
The biggest Japanese athlete to ever play for a Toronto pro sports franchise made himself so accessible.<\/p>\n
As soon as he made it to the front door, all eyes locked on him, and he was greeted with a standing ovation.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Uike family, whom Kotaro and I met while interviewing Raptors fans outside Scotiabank Arena, could not believe their eyes.<\/p>\n
Like him, regular Japanese folks see that fighting tooth-and-nail just to stay competitive in his world as not just a virtue \u2014 but required for survival.<\/p>\n
The collective need to put in maximal effort, known as the ganbaru spirit, has been etched into the Japanese psyche for decades.<\/p>\n
When a Japanese athlete with Yuta\u2019s undrafted, underdog story climbs out of the G-League trenches onto an NBA roster, he embodies this ganbaru spirit.<\/p>\n
I had the rare privilege of afterward moderating a Q&A with Yuta \u2014 a surreal experience standing on the floor of Scotiabank Arena in front of my community.<\/p>\n
This was the third Toronto Raptors Japan Day event.<\/p>\n
The following Monday, I had another chance encounter with Yuta as the Raptors came to support the 905 at Scotiabank Arena.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s willing to reciprocate the love despite still being new to this city, and for that, Toronto will always appreciate a real one.<\/p>\n