［Seiko Iseki & Kinuko Vol. 3］“We’re working hard to go beyond China. They’re giving us motivation.”

Japan and China: close, yet far apart.

With roots in China, Harumitsu Izeki learned Table tennis in China and went on to reach the top of the world. He arrived in Japan with his newlywed wife, Xiaojuan Shi. “I planned to go back to China after two or three years” (Harumitsu), “Since we had come all the way here, I wanted to stay in Japan for a long time” (Kinuko). The two built their lives in Kumamoto, had children, and eventually acquired Japanese nationality.

Izeki became the All Japan champion and even represented Japan at the Olympics wearing the rising sun flag. But the company he worked for went bankrupt, and a torn Achilles tendon was followed by more misfortune.

A life full of ups and downs. The two overcame both major and minor hurdles. Now, 34 years of life in Japan have become longer than the time he spent in China, and the mountains they have climbed look, in hindsight, like only a small part of a grand landscape.

For every year they have lived, Harumitsu Izeki and Kinuko Izeki have stories to tell. <2025年4月取材>

One day, when all five tables were finally available, I just burst out laughing without meaning to haha

●─After 2004, you became a coach, right?

Kinuko　The Super Circuit gradually dwindled, and it naturally came to an end. So we decided to become coaches. Harumitsu coached at Aomori Yamada, and he also trained in Akita as a representative for the 2007 Akita National Sports Festival. We managed to make a living.

●─What about you around that time, Kinuko?

Kinuko　I was writing, and then there was childcare. Because Tenka couldn’t speak Chinese, I had her attend a Chinese elementary school for about a year. I shuttled back and forth between China and Japan. Tenka also played Table tennis. There weren’t many clubs in Tokyo, so in the end she went to Nissan Junior in Shinkoyasu. We took her back to China, had her attend elementary school there... and then in 2009, we opened a Table tennis hall. The Table tennis hall (Izeki TTL) wasn’t something we planned from the start; it felt more like something that came together naturally.

●─Did you think running a Table tennis hall would be that difficult? Did you expect it to last this long?

Kinuko　I was strangely confident haha. The Table tennis hall is spacious, but it’s just far from the station. The person who had been advising us was very worried and said it was a really good idea to run a Table tennis hall. But when they looked at the location, they said, “This area is no good,” and “Have you checked this area?” Hearing that, I thought we should give up on this location. At first, I was thinking, What should we do? But while we may not know much about anything else, I figured we could probably manage when it came to Table tennis.