I never thought that Naohiro ISHIKAWA, who is the same age as me, and I would grow older and end up talking about "that time" again.
"At that time," the cameraman must have felt a surge of tension every time number 18 had the ball in each match. Pressing the thumb on AF-ON, he began tracking the focus. The shutter sound echoed as the '1981 model prancing horse' through the viewfinder shook the goal net. This continued almost every match. Sixteen years ago, the brilliance shown by Nao (Naohiro ISHIKAWA), then 28 years old, is still vividly remembered.
Imagining the person he wanted to become, he kept taking an incredible number of shots. The skill he finally acquired in his 10th professional season abruptly stopped after the goal he scored in the 24th minute of the second half against Kashiwa Reysol in Sec. 29 of the J1 League on October 17, 2009. His left knee screamed in pain at the moment of the goal. Despite leaving the season midway, he left an astonishing record of 18 goals in 32 official matches that season. The footage from that time has continued to play repeatedly on my or someone else's device over the years. It has now been almost 16 years since then.
In the 2025 Meiji Yasuda J1 League Sec. 29 match against Verdy, Motoki NAGAKURA scored the winning goal to secure victory, while Kei Sato bit his lip in frustration. At the 28th minute of the second half with the score at 1-0, Sato accelerated from slightly left of center, leaving one defender behind and powerfully struck the ball with his right foot. However, the shot missed the target, and he fell backward onto the pitch from the momentum. He slammed both hands on the ground and shouted in frustration.
Nao, who was watching from the stands, said, "Maybe I should tell Megumi," and then went down to the basement level 1 of Ajinomoto Stadium, where the locker rooms are located.
When Sato found Nao in the players' waiting area (the waiting space at the entrance), he suddenly asked, "How can I score a shot?"
"At that time, I was struggling because I couldn't score goals. Just as I was watching a video, footage of old Tokyo came up, and there, Nao-san was scoring goals with sharp skill. It was because Nao-san was there that I half-jokingly asked, and that was how it started."
Nao, who was hesitant about giving advice, was a bit surprised when approached first, but then exchanged a few brief words. He asked back, "How was it at that moment (the shooting scene)?"
Sato answered, "I was tense, or rather, I had a strong desire to score." Nao nodded in agreement and offered this advice.
"I think it's okay that you can carry the ball at that speed up to that point. But if you swing your leg in that flow, you inevitably lose control of the (shot). I think you should just shoot by pushing it with the same leg."
On October 4th, in Sec. 33 against Shimizu S-Pulse, Sato's scoring, which had been stopped for over three months, started moving again. In the 31st minute of the second half, with the score at 0-1, he received a pass from Kota TAWARATSUMIDA and carried the ball into the area, then shifted the ball to the right and powerfully struck the near side. Although it was slightly different from the shape that Nao had conveyed, the shot, struck without force, shook the net. That dry sound is said to have awakened his dormant scoring sense.
"My body still remembers the feeling of the goal I scored in the match against Shimizu. Including the words I received from Nao-san, I want to be able to score many more goals from here on. Not just this season, but I want to keep improving throughout my football career from now on."
There is a phrase that Nao has cherished throughout his career: 'Calmness — a state of mind that is fluid and unbiased.' Even 16 years ago, he scored goals in every match while maintaining this mindset. Sato also tries to keep things as usual before each game.
"I can generally relax during matches. Maybe it's to distract myself from nervousness, but I try to talk to various people. Many people have routines to focus before a match, but I don't do anything special and just stick to my usual habits. That's why I talk to different people."
When I open the interview notes from 16 years ago, they are filled with comments as if he had reached enlightenment, such as "I saw the course," "I knew the trajectory before hitting," and "then my body moved on its own" almost every game. When asked if there are such moments, Jin SATO groaned and moved his mouth, saying "Well...".
"I think that feeling is something you have to keep deciding to hold onto. I haven't realized it yet, but since it was a goal just as I imagined, maybe I'm somehow starting to grasp that feeling. Maybe I can see it because I have a mindset like 'if I shoot, it'll go in,' but I haven't reached that state yet. I think it's from here onward."
Saying that, Sato can be seen shooting every day at the Kodaira Ground. Nao also said this.
"The desire to score is not a bad thing. How to shift from 'I want to score' to 'It will go in if I shoot' is something you won't understand without practice. The flow up to that point is good, so I think it's about training and how you can find that feeling."
The same age group, now 44 years old, later laughed it off self-deprecatingly and revealed this.
"He said, 'I have a feeling I can score goals,' so I told him, 'That's amazing, man. It took me 10 years.'"
This is a strange coincidence. The Meiji Yasuda J1 League Sec. 34 match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima will be held on October 17, exactly 16 years after the day when Nao's "time" stopped. Holding the baton passed down from his senior, it seems as if the stopped clock is about to start moving again with the number 16 on his back.
"I don't want to be fixated only on scoring goals, but I want to be the kind of player who, no matter how much we're being pressed, makes people think it's okay because I will score. If I can do that, I will naturally become someone who can lead the team to victory. I guess that's the key."
Furthermore, there is something I have continued to tell Sato.
"I'm secretly aiming to be the top scorer of the Emperor's Cup. If we reach the Final Round, the opportunities will increase. If we win the championship, there is a chance."
If he performs well in the Semifinal Round and the Final Round beyond that, the team should naturally be able to seize the championship and the title. In his own words, Sato boldly declares, "Here it comes. We aim to win the Emperor's Cup and score double-digit goals in the league. I am confident."
Nao said about Sato, "You're honest," and continued like this.
"It was 16 years ago, but the footage still exists. I'm glad to see the attitude and sensitivity to learn from it. For example, even in the footage of when Tokyo won the Emperor's Cup in the past, although the era was different, I think there are hints and the momentum of the team at that time. I hope more players like that will emerge. I don't know what exactly will be passed down, but in the club's history, there has been no league championship, and the Emperor's Cup has been out of reach for 14 seasons. There has also been no top scorer. So, I want more players to develop the feeling that they can make their mark on that history, and I want to build such an organization. I believe one action will surely change history. That passion is in Yoshimasa Sato. That's why he feels like Tokyo."
I realized with those words that "that time" was not over yet. "I will carve my name into the history of this club." How many times have I heard that line? The spirit was full of determination, just like someone 16 years ago. The ambition that lay dormant in blue and red does not stop. Now, the continuation of that day starts again on the land of Hiroshima.
(Honorifics omitted in the text)
Text by Kohei Baba (Freelance Writer)
