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'It's All About the Rings': Olympian Amanai Kanoka Announces Engagement!
July 3rd, 2024
Enaga Fumi
Photos courtesy of Suwa Aichiki and the JVA
OUTSIDE AJINOMOTO NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER-
“I have never once taken my spot on this roster for granted,” Amanai Kanoka said regarding being named to the twelve-woman roster for the coming Paris Games.
Fresh out of a quick but high-intensity morning practice led by Head Coach Manabe , Amanai’s spirits remained high as she pulled on her familiar Team Japan jacket to face the media with the rest of her recently confirmed Olympic teammates.
Later this month the 28-year-old outside hitter will participate in her second Olympic Games. Three years ago at the Tokyo 2021 Games, Amanai set a new record for Japanese women with 126 points in 6 games played . Her individual efforts placed her second overall in the tournament in service points and fifth in total points despite a heartbreaking quarter-final loss in a 5-set showdown with Turkey.
Read More: Meet the twelve women (and one alternate) aiming to make history for Japanese Women’s Volleyball in Paris.
In the years since, Amanai has remained the undisputed ace of the national program, being a cornerstone of a team that has recently seen record-breaking success on the world stage, including taking bronze at the 2022 World Championships, and just weeks ago silver in the VNL.
Despite being a highly respected veteran who is now 15th all-time among Japanese women in international caps played, Amanai continues to accept every opportunity with the same graceful and humble nature that she came onto the professional sports scene with nearly ten years ago.
In one of her unofficial duties as the newly named vice-captain, Amanai made sure each of the five first-time Olympians made their way to the front of the crowd to be best admired and interviewed before even beginning to acknowledge any questions in her direction.
“I’m above honored that the JVA and my teammates have so much trust in me,” she continued, her left hand fidgeting at the base of her neck where a tattoo of the Olympic rings peaks from her collar just enough to shyly tout her accomplishments, “I have personal regrets about how I handled certain things in Tokyo. I believe I am stronger now, not just professionally, but that I have come quite a ways in my personal life and that that may make quite a-”
“[REDACTED] RIGHT YOU ARE,” Libero Yonezawa Maiko interrupted, barreling through the line of players to reach Amanai, “Kano-chan you’ve earned our trust, just like you’ve earned this!”
Some 11 years ago, Yozenawa and Amanai first found success together when they won the high school national championship with Niiyama (Girls) High. Now, as adults, they have the chance to win one of sports' greatest prizes together.
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Yonezawa’s overwhelming excitement at being named to her first Olympic team was undeniable but she hardly slowed down as she climbed onto Amanai’s back and used both hands to latch onto Amanai’s right with a newly aimed single-minded ferocity.
After nearly silently thanking her friend, Amanai extracted her hand from the libero’s grip with practiced ease, “There’s a lot going on, and this is certainly a big moment for me.”
As she kept her head up, the fans and media waited patiently for Amanai to elaborate but instead, she locked her lips and opened and closed the same hand Yozenawa grabbed, the flexing motion catching light on a conspicuous new ring.
Throughout her career, Amanai has taken countless media scrums. Even after her worst games and most heartbreaking losses, Amanai has always faced the press with accountability and professionalism. Even the questions that are hardest to answer, she is known for never avoiding them. Whatever had her tongue was not shame or fear.
Read More: Sepaktakraw captain Michimiya Yui leads team to first-round victory at ISTAF World Cup.
Yonezawa the human tea kettle aside, the rest of the roster watched Amanai intently. Their deep-rooted respect for her kept them quiet and patient, while a growing unspoken knowing and eagerness silently encouraged their ace on.
Eventually, the dancing light bounced on her face, and Amanai clasped her hands with a light laugh.
“I never could have made this team without the support of my friends and family. Certainly not without my partner, Akane. And now I’m lucky enough to get to say that she asked me to marry her and we’re now engaged.”
Though Amanai lost barely a drop of professionalism from her tone, only her smile telling that this was grand news and not an analysis of her own play, the team and the fans who were so eager to see the team’s debut cheered as raucously as if she’d scored a winning point.
In a post on her rarely used V (formerly chirp) and instagrab released just before the team press conference, Amanai detailed that Yamamoto Akane (25), a sports journalist and analyst and her partner of around two-and-a-half years, proposed marriage ten days earlier.
The couple intended to keep the exciting news within immediate family for just a week before going public but the JVA ended up announcing the Olympic roster, and together with Yamamoto, Amanai decided to make sure the moment was given the appropriate weight before delivering their life-changing news. “I’ve waited three years for another chance at the Olympics, Akane said she could wait another three days before telling people.”
In her own SNS announcement Yamamoto added that while the timing of the games was not the motivation for the proposal, the couple both agree that it feels somewhat fitting, considering that they first met three years ago at the Tokyo Games. “We were both young and somewhat in over our heads back then. We’ve done a lot of growing up since then, so it means the world to us to be going to another Olympics just as we’re marking this new chapter in our personal lives.”
“We all love Akane!” Setter Hinata Natsu put in as soon as the crowd was settled enough to hear. The twenty-two-year-old is one of only two out of the twelve women to not have played together at last year's Asia Cup , but she’s been vocal for much of her career about having aspirations to play with Amanai and it’s become clear that the two have meshed off the court just as well as they have on.
Read More: Hinata and Hirugami siblings roundtable on the success of their programs and what family means in the world of professional sports.
“It’s true. Kanoka is the only person who ever doubted that she’d be on this team,” Opposite hitter and team captain Hirugami Shouko added, leaning over Hinata’s shoulder into the microphone, “She (Amanai) is a world-class ace and you’d have to be a fool to not include her on the roster. But volleyball is a team sport and so it is our responsibility to remind her of how much we believe in her. Luckily, she also has Akane to do the same whenever we can't.”
Now in her fourth and final season as captain of the National Team, Hirugami is familiar with the ins and outs of the lives of all of the women in the program but she shares a special bond with Amanai who she has spent eight seasons with as teammates for the Hikari Pharmaceutical Red Rabbits.
Read More: ‘Gotta Make This One Count’, Hirugami Shouko (age 32) confirms plan to retire from the national team after this season. Past and present players speak on her impact.
The captain rested an affectionate hand on the ace’s head which seemed to jolt the blushing Amanai back into her body.
“It all feels like a dream,” Amanai confessed a little more quietly. She continued to twist and play with the engagement ring as if her hands hadn’t quite remembered where she was, “There are times as a professional athlete when it is hard to even imagine finding someone who can love all of the ambition and dedication and understand what it all means enough to even want to spend a lifetime together.”
Though she’s always honest, Amanai is more rarely open with the public about her feelings outside of volleyball. While the smile of her teammates did not fade, the slight nods of agreement served as a reminder of all the sacrifice and dedication each and every one of these players put in to even have a chance of making this roster.
“Well, you did,” Hirugami confirmed before the air could grow too heavy, “Akane! Get over here!”
Always at the command of their captain, a handful of Olympic team members sprung into action maneuvering through the crowd to find one Yamamoto Akane with the same focus and efficiency as being given a play on the court.
“I love all of you too!” a voice, presumed to be Yamamoto’s called from the crowd as the players raced toward her.
While Yonezawa spearheaded the effort, it was Middle Blocker Rinko Sudou who easily hoisted Yamamoto on her back, giving the journalist the height boost needed to be seen over the pack of volleyball players.
“I’ve always loved volleyball.” Yamamoto, whose collection of interviews with the Monsters Generation is credited with helping take Japanese volleyball to a global audience said once she reached the stage and had individually greeted each player.
Read More: Going Global: Yachi Hitoka on redesigning Japanese volleyball as a recognizable brand for all to access.
Yamamoto has often spoken openly about how her older brother, (Yamamoto) Taketora (28), the newly named captain of VC Kanagawa, and how at a very young age she was always tagging along to his games and practices. But it’s clear that now that this is much more than a child’s playground infatuation with sport.
“Something that I figured out very quickly after meeting her, is that to love volleyball is to love Kanoka, and to love Kanoka is to love volleyball. But over the years that we’ve spent together, I’ve been able to understand that it's not that I love her because she's a great player, it's that many of the things I love about her, also make her a great player.”
Yamamoto continued, describing Amanai as 'brilliant', ‘kindhearted’, ‘powerful’, ‘devoted,’ and more adjectives that left her fiance bright red around her affectionate smile and the rest of the team swooning over the lovebirds.
“I need a wife so [redacted] bad,” Yonezawa stage-whispered toward Rinko.
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“Well, what am I supposed to say?” Amanai asked with a hiccuping laugh, “She’s the writer. I will never have words to explain the things I love about her.”
“That’s okay,” Yamamoto promised, “I think at this point, my dreams are your dreams and your dreams are my dreams.”
As soon as she said it, Yamamoto turned and buried her face against Amanai’s back, perhaps suddenly worried she’d said too much or sounded silly. But no one laughed. Everyone, friend and stranger alike were struck by her complete sincerity.
If there ever was any doubt about Hirugami’s proclamation that Amanai has found a woman who is not the slightest bit intimidated by her dedication and devotion to her sport then Yamamoto dispelled all of it then and there.
The pair are matched by the years of love that they’ve poured into the sport of volleyball. With the bond that they’ve forged as people, they each finally get to feel that love returned to them. If volleyball itself could love them back, one has to imagine it would look at lot like this.
The National Team has seen couples play side-by-side before, but Amanai and Yamamoto did not find each other by having the same dream, they created a new one together.
“The Olympics are that dream,” Amanai confirmed, “I share it with more and more women and girls every year. (...) (to an athlete) The Olympics are perhaps the greatest romance of all.”
Even though the result was heartbreak, the play of the women at the 2021 Olympics has had an undeniable positive impact on women’s volleyball in Japan. In the years since, spectatorship at women’s professional games has risen a staggering 17% and volleyball has remained the fastest growing sport for girls in both middle and high school.
Read More : Kiniro Sports’ Tanaka Kiyoko on getting a record-setting number of participants at their girls try a sport day for the 3rd year in a row.
With the nation and the world watching, the Olympics are more than just another tournament. No matter how far out of reach, every athlete has dreamed of the Olympics, and those who are lucky enough to go carry the dreams of those who can’t.
Even in a team sport like volleyball, each position and player have their own responsibilities and burdens that cannot be shared. The ace in particular is tested beyond just her skill on the court to lead the team but her mental fortitude to handle the extra attention and expectation from all angles.
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The captain steadies and organizes the team but it’s the ace who is the engine that makes it all happen. So, when the team was pressed about the extent of their dream, and the expectation for their result, all of the players' eyes went immediately to Amanai.
With her hand tightly gripping Yamamoto’s, Amanai smiled without a second of hesitation, “It’s gold. I’d be doing a disservice to everyone here if I said otherwise. I do think we can win gold. It's a dream, of course, but not an impossible one.”
The men’s team is aiming for their second straight Olympic podium, planning to build on the silver they earned in Tokyo while the women look to leap onto the podium for the first time since 2012’s bronze medal performance.
Read More: ‘All matchups after the group stage have not been determined yet,” team captain Ushijima Wakatoshi on the potential for a rematch of the 2021 gold medal match with Argentina.
It’s not impossible. Very little is. No tournament’s outcome is determined by world standing alone, and the Olympics in particular are where anything can happen. Overwhelming favorites fall in the quarter-finals and underdogs go undefeated.
However, with a current world ranking of 7, while it's the highest it’s been in decades, the analytics don't point to the Japanese women taking gold this year. It would take something remarkable. The team is ready to fight for it, and Amanai is ready to be whatever they need her to be.
As talented a player as she was, the Amanai of 2021 would never have made such a bold claim. 2021 Amanai was proud to be deserving of the ace title but it weighed on her in a way it doesn’t now.
Read More: JNT Trainer Iwaizumi Hajime and Nurse Yamaka Mika on the importance of preventative care and what young athletes can be doing for their bodies now.
2024 Amanai has rings tattooed on her neck and another on her hand.
She has a partner, a fiance , who rebuilt her dreams and made them stronger by putting herself into them as well. As a result, 2024 Amanai is the most confident partner, woman, and athlete she’s ever been.
The mic returned to Amanai one final time to answer the question of what winning would mean to her. Support for family, friends, each other, and their retiring captain, all answers she’s happily given in the past already taken by her teammates, Amanai looked down fondly at Yamamoto and then playfully out toward the crowd.
“Who knows? Maybe if we win it all, we’ll elope in Paris. It is the city of love, right?”
Happy to end on a high note, the team saluted the supportive crowd one final time.
As the team began back into the training center, Amanai lingered for a few seconds to admire her engagement ring held up against the Olympic banners fluttering in the wind. While Amanai stood still, Yamamoto stretched to kiss the tattoo on her neck.
Leaning to reciprocate the kiss, Amanai laughed to herself.
“It’s all about the rings.”
(NOTE) This has been a guest piece by Enaga Fumi in Yamamoto Akane’s Road to Paris series #OneTeamOneDream #一心一夢