[Second Career] Yusuke Nakano: “For me, table tennis is the starting point of my life. I learned from table tennis everything that’s necessary in life.”

Published in O-KOKU December 2026 issue, vol. 34

Yusuke Nakano

[All Japan Corporate Champion / Hiroshima, Fukuyama City Hall]

Even after winning the All Japan Corporate Championships while with Citizen Watch, Yusuke Nakano made the switch to local government a year and a half later. While continuing his work as a public servant, he has also served as a board member and in other roles with the city and prefectural table tennis associations, and he remains closely involved with table tennis to this day.

Text by Noboru Konno

[Yusuke Nakano]
Born February 12, 1984, from Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture. He started table tennis with the Kabe-cho Table Tennis Sports Boy's Club, then attended Higashiyama High School before going on to Waseda University. He won the Kanto University Championships twice in a row and the All Japan University Doubles title twice in a row, among other achievements. In his third year with Citizen Watch, in 2008, he won the All Japan Corporate Championships. After four years with the company, he left and joined Fukuyama City Hall. He currently serves as a board member and head of the strengthening division of the Hiroshima Prefectural Table Tennis Association, as well as a board member of the Fukuyama Table Tennis Association

My roots in table tennis go back to what I learned from Mr. Yoshiharu Imai at Higashiyama High School

Yusuke Nakano, who started table tennis in Hiroshima at the Kabe-cho Table Tennis Sports Boy's Club and went on to win the All Japan Cadet Doubles title, later entered Higashiyama High School in Kyoto, where he finished second at the All Japan Junior Championships. After entering Waseda University, he won the Kanto University Rookie Tournament, took the Kanto University Championships two years in a row, won the All Japan University Doubles title two years in a row, and finished third in Singles for two straight years before joining Citizen Watch. He went on to play a leading role in the Japan League and other events, and in his third year won the All Japan Corporate Championships. A year and a half later, he left and joined Fukuyama City Hall in Hiroshima Prefecture.　

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My roots in table tennis go back to what I learned from Mr. Yoshiharu Imai at Higashiyama High School. We trained every day with the aim of becoming number one in Japan, placing importance on “mind, technique, body, harmony, and knowledge,” and keeping both academics and athletics at a high level. From Mr. Imai, I learned not only table tennis skills but also many things that are important in life.