[Iseki Seikō & Kinuko Vol. 1] 34 years since coming to Japan: the man who conquered the world and his wife talk about China and Japan

It has been 34 years since they came to Japan.

From the 1980s into 1990, many Chinese Players came to Japan, and while some settled there, others returned to China.

World Championships and Olympic Games Doubles gold medalist, and Asian Games gold medalist Wei Qingguang came to Japan with his wife, Shi Xiaojuan, in 1991. He looks back on the turbulent life that followed.

Now naturalized in Japan and living a second Table tennis life as Table tennis coaches under the names Seikō Iseki and Kinuko, we asked the two what Table tennis in China and Japan has meant to them. ＜April 2025＞

[Iseki, Seikō]

Born July 2, 1962. From Guangxi Province, China. Chinese name: Wei Qingguang. Winner of the 1987 World Championships and the men’s Doubles title at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Came to Japan in 1991 and joined Kotobukiya (Kumamoto). Naturalized in 1997, and won his first title at the 1997 All Japan Championships. He won the All Japan Championships four times in total. As a Japan national team Player, he was runner-up in Singles at the 1998 Asian Championships, won a team bronze medal at the 2000 World Championships, and competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. In 2007, he retired from active competition at age 45, later coached at the JOC Elite Academy, and served as men’s coach for Chinese Taipei at the World Championships and the Paris Olympic Games

[Iseki, Kinuko]

Born October 31, 1965, in Guilin, Guangxi, China. Chinese name: Shi Xiaojuan. Graduated from East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai. Certified coach of the Japan Sport Association. Joined the Guangxi Table tennis team at age 12, where she met Seikō Iseki and married him in 1988. Gave birth to their son, Tenka, in 1993, and obtained Japanese citizenship in 1997. Won the mixed Doubles title at the 1998 All Japan Championships. Opened Iseki TTL in Tokyo in 2009. She continues to coach many children

At the time, I just wanted to “take a look overseas once,” and the Chinese Table tennis Association also welcomed us going out with a “safe trip.”

●─You came to Japan in May 1991, after the World Championships in Chiba, right?

Wei Qingguang (hereafter, Seikō)　I stayed in Japan after the Chiba World Championships. By then, I had already signed with Kotobukiya (later Larala). I remember the contract date clearly: May 25.

Wei Qingguang (hereafter, Kinuko)　I’m not very good at planning things. I never planned the current Table tennis hall in Tokyo’s Kita Ward either. Coming to Japan happened in a rather vague way, too. I did want to go abroad, but in China at the time it was hard to leave the country. So I thought, “I’d like to go anywhere.” At first, there was even talk of going to Italy.

●─So why did you ultimately choose Japan?

Kinuko　The talk of going to Italy was in 1989. But that year, China lost at the Dortmund World Championships (Team Event), and the people above us were furious. That ended the Italy move.

●─And the place you chose was Kumamoto in Japan. For people in China at the time, wasn’t Kumamoto, rather than Tokyo or Osaka, an unfamiliar place?

Kinuko　Yes. But I never planned to go back in two or three years, either. It had taken so much effort just to get out into the world; I didn’t want to return so easily.

●─You didn’t think you’d stay in Japan this long, did you? How many years did you think Seikō would stay?

Seikō　I really didn’t think about it at all. Back then, China had a training system in which Players would gain overseas experience after retiring from active competition. Cai Zhenhua (former world No. 2 and former president of the Chinese Table tennis Association) went to Italy, and in Japan there were Chen Longcan (world champion, Olympic Doubles gold medalist), Lü Lin (Olympic Doubles gold medalist), Qiao Hong (world champion, Olympic Doubles gold medalist), Li Huifen (Olympic silver medalist), and others.

　At the time, I was just thinking, “I want to see overseas once,” and the Chinese Table tennis Association also welcomed us going out with a “safe trip.” I had to learn the language, and there were only a few people in the national team who could speak English. So I wanted to be able to communicate without an interpreter.

　Xie Saike (world team champion) went to France, Chen Xinhua (world team champion) to England, and the Chop defender Wang Hao (world team champion) went to the German Bundesliga.