Thanks to everybody that came out to the preview screening for "DRAW" the other day.
It sounds like the staff that created it were all nervous then.
I hope everybody who is waiting for the DVD is looking forward to it.
I'm still reading all your thoughts about Real Vol. 6, the Vagabond series and the illustration collections.
Thank you.
There's nothing that encourages me more.
I'm going to keep things rolling like this for the remaining 3 issues this
year!
I feel sleepy everyday...
Time for some news.
"Shinpei's Everyday World of Wheelchair Basketball" is a new column starting this month. Shinpei Aikawa, a good friend of mine, as well as someone who I couldn't draw "Real" without, and a real wheelchair basketball player, has agreed to pen the column for us from the perspective of everyday life.
Experiencing the strengh of his words, his character, his warmth (it's hot!) and his love and passion for basketball led me to ask him to do a column for us.
I believe that everyone who reads Real will feel something from Chinpe-'s.. no, Shinpei's words.
We're planning on running it every other week!
Plan on it!
I'm happy that we found a good column to complement Mr. Kazuhiko Shimamoto's "Nan Tora".
I need to make sure that I don't let more than a month go by without a new Inoue News column myself...
Please look forward to it.
And also, 2 of my staff just won Kodansha's New Artist "Chiba" award.
This is great news.
They've made it to the starting line.
Please take care of yourselves everyone.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
1 December 2006
Happy New Year.
I hope this will also be a good year for everybody.
It looks like I'll have a lot of things to do again this year.
Work on the Slam Dunk Scholarship has basically started, and there are several
things that I can't announce yet.
Of course there's always having everybody enjoy the continuation of Vagabond and Real.
Lost Oddysey is also close to being released.
Aside from work, there are personal things that I'd like to do, but haven't been able to that are piling up.
I fel that I got a lot accomplished last year.
I feel some sense of accomplishment for the large number of books, DVDs and other material results that I was able to turn out.
Nevertheless I don't want to rest on my laurels.
If you feel too much of a sense of accomplishment you develop a "mountain"
inside.
If you develop a "mountain" you'll also develop a "valley".
That's why I only feel "some" sense of accomplishment for last year.
Mentally, the theme for this year is:
"Lightly and Easily"
That will also be a challenge.
I hope for your support again this year.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
7 January 2007
I'm in the middle of the manuscript for Real, but it's not proceeding very well so I thought I'd take a break and write some News.
I want to thank everyone for the number of well wishes I received for birthday in December.
I turned 40.
"At forty I had no more perplexities...." Hmm... I wonder if that's true for me...?
On the first day in the office this year, all the staff gathered together and wrote down their goals for the year.
These were placed in a sealed envelope.
Nobody will know what anybody else wrote until we open it at the end of the year party for this year.
I wonder if everyone will be able to meet their goals!
...... I wrote up until here on 1/13.
Now it's 1/17.
We're almost done with the 33 pages for Real 38th. All the human figures have been drawn.
The staff is just finishing the last bit of work on it.
I'm writing this in the bits of free time that crops up while doing that.
I had made one of my goals for this year to go "Lightly and Easily", but already with the work on Real 38th it's been neither "light" nor "easy"!
From working on the drafts to working on the final images, it has taken more time than expected.
This caused our schedule to become even tighter.
Because of that I've had more mental and physical stress and I spent a long time sitting and drawing.
It was very "heavy" work. This wasn't what I was hoping for....
Of course I'm going to put all my effort into doing what is in front of me.
But that being said, I don't want to do it too long.
In that way I want to keep things "light and easy", but I haven't been able to...
I hope that I can by the end of the year.
I was really happy to get a mug with a tea strainer on it so I've been drinking several cups of pu-erh tea and now I have a stomach ache.
I guess pu-erh teas is rather strong.
Maybe I shouldn't drink so many cups.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
17 January 2007
Right now I'm on a trip to visit South Kent School.
This is the school that the recipient of the Slam Dunk scholarship will attend.
I just arrived in Boston via Chicago. Chicago was -12 degress and snowing.
Boston feels even colder than that.
I wonder how cold it is?
It will probably be even colder when I go out for dinner.
I wasn't able to sleep on the plane like I had intended, but watched 3 movies and read 2 magazines.
In between, I took notes about ideas I had for manga.
And I also thought about what I wanted to ask the head coach of South Kent's basketball team and their students.
This made the whole12 hour flight feel like it passed quickly.
Wow, it suddenly got dark outside.
It's 5:30 PM.
I'm really sleepy.
I'm glad I didn't schedule anything for today...
The Duke and Boston College game is on TV.
It's a heated game -- the specialty of college games.
They are even better than the pros at getting across their intensity and emotion.
You can say that one reason for the scholarship is to give players a chance at this stage.
The first step is to get the SD scholarship to play at South Kent.
Next, they can aim for getting a scholarship to a NCAA Division I school by playing well.
Tomorrow I'll be visiting Cushing Acadamy which is about an hour and a half away from Boston by car.
This is where they will study the language June through August while South Kent is on Summer vacation.
It looks like it will be cold tomorrow too.
Today I'm just going to eat, then go to sleep.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
29 January 2007
I put on a down jacket and left to go outside for dinner, but after walking for 10 seconds I was chilled to the bone! I hurriedly went back inside, and went to a restaurant that I didn't have to go outside to get to instead.
Weak.
The students who come here will need to figure out how to deal with the winter's cold.
Boston is a city known for it's seafood so the food won't be a problem for somebody Japanese.
You can have oysters, clam chowder, lobsters and other things that aren't too bad.
After coming back to my room and staring at my computer for a few minutes I've gotten slammed by an incredible drowsiness.
I'm just going tosurrender to it.
It's 9 PM.
Adding it all up, I've been awake for 27 hours straight, but I still "wake" up at 1 AM.
Then I stay half-awake, slipping in and out of sleep until I finally wake up for real at 5 AM. Eyes wide open.
This always happens right after I come to America.
It must be really hard on the International soccer players who come back to Japan to play in national games.
Well, I have to checkout at 9 AM today to go to Cushing.
I think I'll grab breakfast at Starbucks.
According to the weather report it's going to be colder today
INOUE TAKEHIKO
30 January 2007
After driving for 2 and a half hours, I've arrived at a tiny hotel in the small town of Kent in Connecticut.
It's call the Starbuck Inn.
The owner came out to meet us, and he seemed to be called Starbuck, so it's probably his name.
It feels like I'm staying as a guest in somebody's house.
It feels cozy and at home.
But they have a LAN connection in such a small hotel in the country -- that's America.
I'm going to South Kent tomorrow so I'll be staying here for 2 nights.
I went to the Cushing Academy, a high school, today.
It's in a (very small) city called Ashburnham, an hour and a half out of Boston.
The collection of red brick buildings standing on the fabulous heights caught
my eye.
Shivering from the intense cold as we got of the car, the 3 of us 40 year old men were given a friendly greeting by one of the students.
*
The scholarship program is set up so that the 2 summer months (from the end of June to the end of August) will be spent here at Cushing Academy, not South Kent.
They'll live with other students in the dorm, study ESL (English for people whose native language is not English) in the morning, and go through their own training program at the gym.
Of course the number 1 purpose of having them go to summer school here instead of spending summer vacation at home in Japan is to improve their English.
The 2 months here will help build their communication skills for the new school year in September.
The person who met us was the head(?) of the summer session, Daniel.
He was a friendly gentleman who gave us a complete, detailed tour of the school.
In the end, I came away with the impression that it was a very well equipped institution.
I have never gone through an American school, so I consulted one of the people on the scholarship staff who had done an exchange in high school, Mr. Sasaki. I had wondered for a moment whether this was normal.
When I asked him, Mr. Sasaki said that they were very lucky.
It was completely different than when he went!
I was especially impressed with their art and exercise facilities.
Danielalso stressed that the art facility is one of the school's characteristics
that they are very proud of. Art?
They can choose from 3 different subjects for the afternoon classes -- art (fine art - drawing, ceramics, engraving, etc), performing arts (music, dance, theater, etc), or academics (science, math, etc).
Although it's not directly related to why they'll come here, I think it would be great if they took advantage of the great art and performing art facilities they
have here.
There were even a lot of high level pieces made by students.
I actually wanted to try those facilities out myself.
Since the exercise facilities were old compared to the art facilities, Daniel wasn't as proud of them.
He even eagerly said that if they were going to renovate, those facilities would be part of it.
But to my eyes, they more than enough compared to the normal high school facilities in Japan.
They have a gym specifically for basketball, a large locker room, and their weight training room has all the normal machines.
There's normally an exclusive trainer present, and they can take care of failures or small injuries that don't require a trip to the hospital right there.
In addition, there is a service where if you put your clothes in a box, they'll clean it and return it to you (for a fee).
For about 2 months, the recipient of the scholarship will be able to set their own training menu.
They have 7 basketball teams, but they mix players of different levels together (8-9 people per team), they don't play teams outside the school, and they mostly practice on a half court so I don't think it will be that challenging.
But they have full court pickup games on the weekends so I imagine that they'll have more fun and be more satisfied with those.
But they do have all the equipment to let you make your own training menu.
There's also soccer and baseball fields, tennis courts, an ice hockey
rink, footbal and field hockey fields, a lacrosse (very popular in New
England) field and an artificial field on campus.
The campus restaurant isn't just for the students but is also used daily by the teachers so it's probably very good. It is buffet style, like a hotel restaurant, and even Daniel said it was very good. But he did say that the coffee was bad.
The typical day will go something like this:
- Attend ESL class in the morning until lunch.
- Eat lunch, then go to either art or academic class.
- Dinner.
- Go through their training menu in the free time through the day up until
now.
- After dinner from 8 PM to 10 PM, study English in their room.
- During this time they will be checked on. TV and the internet are off limits.
- After 30 minutes of free time, lights out at 10:30 PM.
- Sleep
Lights out at 10:30 may seem early to us, but given that they will be in a new environment, communicating in a language they're not used to, attending classes, and training, if they understand what the priorities are that they will need to focus on, then they will naturally fall asleep then.
From tiredness.
Daniel's recommendation is to make up for it by going out on the weekends.
Whether you have time to focus and work toward a goal in your youth makes a large impact on the rest of your life.
Even though they seem similar, there's a complete difference between doing
something you want to do and just going along with the flow.
We are so tired from the inundation of things and information that I think that it
might be nice to make our lives simpler.
*
It's 3 AM. I'm wide awake. Ahh....
I've given up on sleeping. It looks like the night's snow has built up.
Today I'm going to visit the main purpose of my trip, South Kent.
I'm going to see where the recipient of our scholarship will live and what type of people they'll be with.
I'll also watch a game, which I'm looking forward to. Yeah.
Somehow it's gotten light outside, and I can smell bacon frying.
I wonder what Starbuck's breakfast is like.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
31 January 2007
Mr. Starbuck's breakfast was delicious...
I can't describe the goodness of what was served by the stern faced, solidly built man in an apron.
A dark brown labrador was sniffing around our legs.
She was a girl, named Madison.
I didn't ask how old she was.
I scratched her under the chin.
South Kent School's director, Richard came to get me at 10 AM.
He was small for an American and was a bright eyed gentleman.
For some reason all the people I'm meeting this time all seem like good people.
He was a graduate of South Kent.
One of our important scholarship staff members, Mr. Nakamura from Shueisha came here in April.
It looks totally different now.
Yes, this season is also beautiful in its own right.
I kept remarking on it's beauty as I walked through the snow-covered campus.
I had a different impression of it than Cushing Academy.
Each of the buildings were small and they felt like they were standing in the middle of nature.
They were built on a gentle slope.
They also had an art facility.
That seems to be characteristic of all the private high schools in this area.
Their ceramic facilities were very good.
They have several students who decide to go to art school afterwards.
I took a look at the dorm.
They had several rooms, from old to new, very dirty rooms, somewhat dirty rooms and slightly dirty rooms.
I guess that the rooms of young boys everywhere are the same.
The recipient of our scholarship will also be staying here.
In such a boarding school, all the teachers and staff also live on campus with their families.
You could even say that they play the role of parents for the students.
Compared to when I was in high school (in Kagoshima), there's much less distance between the students and their teachers...
Of course they also had a very good gym and training facilities.
Yesterday. Daniel wasn't satisifed with Cushing Acadamey's facilities, and compared to this, I can understand how he wouldn't be.
Now I get it.
One thing that I was jealous of was that the gym is always open.
All the boys live on campus, so they can come practice shooting or do weight
training when they have no class or in their free time.
Even during our tour, we saw student after student come out to shoot.
Their prep team will be playing a game against another school tonight.
I ate lunch and had a conversation with Japanese and Korean exchange students.
One of them told me that he wanted to become a car designer in the future.
Another one, a 15 year-old Japanese boy, said that he wanted to play basketball and that he came here because of a friend of his was already there.
He wasn't very tall, but you could look at his body and tell that he had undergone training.
He's currently playing on the varsity (second string) team, but he's still young so I suspect that he's dreaming of playing on the prep (first string) team and getting a scolarship to college.
Of course there's an even bigger dream after that, but regardless, he said that he wanted to make a living out of basketball.
He's promising.
Hang in there.
Thank you for telling me all of this.
This school and the makeup of their basketball team is different from Japan so I think I need to explain it here.
*
South Kent School has students in 10th, 11th and 12th grade (In Japan, it would be the second and third years of high school?) and post-gradute (PG, one year past the third year of high school in Japan) students.
Because they have the PG system, they are called a prep school.
80% of the students at the post-graduate level go on to play sports in college or aim to do so (I don't know if this percentage is only for this school or not).
There were many exchange students here regardless of their acadamic year.
That's is what I understood.
If I'm wrong, please let me know.
They have a third string basketball team.
The most elite team is the prep team, and they play in the area's Prep League and play in tournaments against comparable teams across America.
The prep team's members aren't all PG students.
It doesn't matter what year you're in, if you're good, then you can get on the prep team.
Currently, a 17 year old Korean athleate is on the team.
Dorell Wright, who was drafted in the first round by the Miami Heat, played 3 years here and made it onto the prep team as a 12th grader (third year high school in Japan).
Also, the teams are very international.
There are players from Korea, Senegal, Nigeria, England and Croatia.
*
In the afternoon I had a lengthy interview with head coach Chillius.
I asked him about his teams, exchange students, Dorell Wright -- one of his players that went to the NBA --, Japanese people, his philosophy as a head coach and more... There was a lot of material so I won't write it here, but I'll publish it in Shonen Jump and Business Jump and post it to the scholarship website soon, so please check it out if you're interested.
Then at night I watched a home game.
In order to make the 6 o'clock start, I ate a quick and early dinner with Richard.
I ate steak, which I don't eat often.
A very thick one.
Game time.
In all honesty their opponent's weren't that strong... South Kent's full court pressure in the first half prevented their opponents from moving the ball, resuling in 10 second violations.
The defense Was the deciding factor and quickly decided the result of the game.
The players ran a lot. But it was a game with a lot of flavor where both teams made a lot of mistakes.
I was imagining a Japanese athlete playing here while I was watching it.
Personally, I think that a good Japanese athlete has the power to compete here.
On the other hand they will need both physical and mental strength.
I gave my thanks to Ricahrd and took my leave.
The three of us had some casual beers before calling an end to a long day.
Tomorrow I'm driving 2 hours to New York and flying from JFK airport to
Maimi.
I'm going from the extremely cold Connecticut to the blazing hot (I've actually never been there so I'm just guessing) Florida.
I'm going to talk with South Kent School's prep team alumi Dorell.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
1 February 2007
The people and atmosphere of New York all felt so brusuque.
My apologies for feeling that way to the people of New York.
I think my heart was unkowningly cleansed after spending only a few days in the cold and quiet New England countryside.
The waitress is staring at me like I'm her enemy (that's what it feels like).
I'm flying from JFK to Miami.
I stuffed my down jacket and muffler into my check-in lugage.
Packing for this trip was tough.
*
After my eyes were cleansed by spending several days in a place where you wouldn't be surprised to see a deer appear, the bright blue sky and the heat, the extravagant mansions and cruisers of the rich and famous, the vividly colored palm trees and the sky-rise buildings all seemed to me to be signs of a city obscenely deteriorating.
The biggest sporting event in America, the Super Bowl, will be held here in Miami this weekend so it's impossible to find a hotel (so I've heard).
I'm in a strange little hotel called Aqua. It's outside looks like something from the 1930's art deco period, and I'm not sure if it's that quaint or not.
I don't know if it was from the guest before me, but the room reeked of perfume which made my eyes water.
I left without taking a shower because it was getting close to the time for my interview.
Mr. Nakamura, who may have been tired because he was older or may not have
been feelinig well, complained that the shower didn't have hot water, but we ignored him since we didn't have much time.
We headed over to America West Arena where the Miami Heat met the Cleveland Cavs tonight.
I was to talk with the 21 year-old third-year graduate from South Kent, Dorell Wright, before the game.
*
I happened to run into Mr. Aoki, a sports writer living in Detroit, at the entrance to the areana.
We talked for a bit about basketball.
He had a worried look on his face as we discussed how Keijiro Matsui, known as KJ, was getting less playing time these days.
I guess every day is an unknown, and there's no telling what tomorrow brings for the young players battling on the front lines.
*
As I entered the locker room, I saw the name plate "6 JONES". The Heat had just impossibly signed a contract with Eddie Jones today.
The ex-Laker, one of my favorite players, Eddie, showed up shortly and all the media that were there crowded around him.
"1 WRIGHT" was next to that.
Dorell Wright appeared next with a big smile on his face, and hugged Eddie with a "My main ma-n!" Dorell is originally from LA, so I'm sure he was a fan of the Lakers' Eddie while growing up.
There's probably a lot that the 21 year-old Dorell can learn from the seasoned veteran.
He's a young man of good character, just like coach Chillius said yesterday.
That's how he looks. Compared to when talking about his team's situation with the Heat not able to improve very well, his face naturally lit up and relaxed when talking about South Kent, and especially coach Chillius.
You could say that his smile was still innocent.
I'll be publishing details of the interview in the Shonen Jump to be released soon, Business Jump, and this scholarship's web site, so check it out.
At the end, he hoped that if a Japanese player went to South Kent that they would enjoy the entire experience.
That message was from a graduated alum.
Now then... the game wasn't the main reason for coming, but of course I had to enjoy it. But, honestly, LeBron (Cavs) was coming off an injury and was far from 100% percent, the same for Shaq, and Wade wasn't his usual self -- not moving well and giving up turnover after turnover -- so we were in real danger of losing the battle against jet lag and sleep during the mediocre game.
But that was just the clever lead up to the start of the "Dwayne Wade Show".
It was the fourth quarter, and just as I had thought that the game was over, this aura -- like you can hear the electricity in the air -- sprang up around Wade, and he drove recklessly towards the basket.
Or so I thought, when he suddenly stopped and sunk a jump shot.
Then he drove in again impossibly quickly.
His opponents were obviously trying to stop him, and they had him covered so that it was impossible for him to do anything.
But.
He sank another one.
He didn't even consider passing the ball for a second.
Is that what you call selfish?
Nope.
It's that fact that he knows he can carry the tema and the confidence that he can win the game.
In spite of playing badly the first half, his extraordinary, stellar performance at the end awed me.
That genius, the level of effort to make his polished play moves my heart.
I don't have much of an opinion about the Miami Heat (I'm a Lakers fan after all), but even a critical observer such as I was almost moved to tears a few times.
It wasn't because I knew the players' backgrounds or I was watching a human drama unfolding, but just because of the exciting play of 1 man in front of me.
It has given me strength.
This is what you call being satisifed.
Back at the hotel.
The reek of perfume was still attacking my nose, but I fell asleep within a minute.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
2 February 2007
I made a mistake in yesterday's News! The Heat's home arena isn't Amerca West, but American Airlines Arena! America West is Phoenix's. I'll fix that.
*
After spending 2 nights at the Aqua Hotel, it's beginning to grow on us.
I'm not as bothered by the lingering smell of perfume in the room, or the soggy cereal at breakfast.
And I'm not particularly concerned about the slippery wet floor tiles.
Mr. Nakamura's shower has hot water, and Mr. Sasaki is so used to the strange sounds in his rooms at night that he's thinking about recording them.
People just get used to things.
But when you do get used to something, it's time to move to the next town.
I took a shower before we leave.
It even had hot water.
My body is tired from more things than I can think of while traveling, so I'm grateful for the chance to take a shower.
But when I tried to hang the bath towel on the wall, the metal towel holder fell to the floor with a crash.
It was a great hotel.
*
I'm currently on the plane to Los Angeles.
It's a domestic flight, but it will take a little more than 5 hours.
What's up with that?
It's almost like travelling a bit internationally.
The climate is also very different depending on where you are, and there's a 3 hour time zone difference between the East and West Coast.
For us, that means we'll have a 27 hour day since we're flying from East to West today.
You have to be tough enough to withstand the stress of traveling and have the discipline to take care of yourself if you want to play sports for a living in America.
I had known about this before, but now I had truly experienced how difficult it is first hand.
I've watched a high school game at South Kent and a NBA game in Miami.
Tonight I'll watch a callege game in LA to wrap things up.
This will actually be the first time that I watch a college basketball game in person, so I'm really looking forward to it.
The next goal for the recipient of the scholarship to aim for is the NCAA Division I stage.
I'm going to watch the University of Portland and Loyola Marymount University game.
The University of Portland's starting PG is a Japanese freshman.
There's another brave person here.
I'll arrive at LAX in a little less than 2 hours.
There's still another 2 hours?!
INOUE TAKEHIKO
3 February 2007
I'm wrapping up this trip with a visit to a college game.
It's been a very long time since I've been in Los Angeles, California.
Even in February, the sun shines down strongly, but it's cool in the shade.
At night it's a bit cold if you don't wear a jacket.
As soon as we got out of the airport, Mr. Nakamura was muttering to himself that the air hair suits him better and that he's more comfortable here.
It looks like he's feeling better now.
The suitcase that I had stuffed everything into died a tragic death so I'll have to buy a new one to replace it.
*
College facilities and gyms are on a different scale than high schools.
I came to see a game so I didn't directly see the training facilities, but I could tell that they were large from what I could see of their outsides.
The college I visited was LA's Loyola Marymount University (LMU).
They were playing the University of Portland tonight.
Both colleges are in the West Coast Conference.
Both LMU and Portland are in the bottom of their conference.
Gonzaga, which turned out John Stockton and Adam Morrison is at the top of the conference.
I bought popcorn and water and went in.
I passed on the beer.
I wasn't watching it as a reporter so it was ok, but for some reason...
Yoko Miyaji, a sports writer, was already there.
I had asked her for help with the scholarship early on, and she gave me a lot of advice.
It was on her advice that we set it up so that the recipient would be sent to a prep school.
I've gotten a lot of help from a lot of different people.
You all have my thanks.
I met Japanese person after Japanese person inside the arena.
People form the media, coaches who were there -- in America -- to observe, interns getting experience and the owner of the Bakersfield Jam, where Yuta Tabusa is playing.
I'm glad I wasn't holding a beer after all.
I wonder why...There was a lot of lively talk with Japanese who love basketball.
There was room to seat 3000, but it was only a third full even though it was a Saturday night.
I had imagined the stands would be full of students nosily cheering, like they show on television, so I was a bit surprised.
I wonder if it's because they aren't doing so well? Or is there a bit of a difference from colleges that are nationally ranked?
In any case, there were cheerleaders and a brass band, so it certainly was noisy.
"#5, Taishi Ito from Japan" was introduced amid the obligatory booing during the introduction of the away team.
Taishi Ito is a 20-year old point guard.
He's the reason why there were so many Japanese there.
It would be good if the booing got louder.
The larger his reputation, the louder the booing will be wherever he goes, which would be a sign of how well he plays.
Of course it would be the complete opposite at home.
I was excited just imagining that happening.
I had heard that the University of Portland had won the last game between them.
LMU was going to get their revenge tonight.
Their good shooting sealed it.
Portland's D (defense) may also have had some problems.
Aside from all that, the one player that stood out above everybody else trying to prove himself on the court tonight was Portland's small-statured Japanese player.
I don't think that I was playing favorites.
I think that if you asked an American, there wouldn't be many who would disagree.
He was very vocal from the start.
More so than any one else on the team.
He was clapping his hands, yelling, directing plays and communicating with his teammates trying to rouse the team from its struggles in the tough game.
He wasn't your typical "quiet Japanese".
I was able to see what he had learned in the 4 years after he had come to America as a high school freshman.
I can imagine the effort the put in.
He couldn't speak English at first.
He couldn't communicate his thoughts, but if he couldn't get them across, then it would be the same as if he wasn't there and the world would move around him and leave him behind.
It was the language that would allow him to make who he was known, and would
let him express himself.
He ventured ahead and got hurt, got depressed, and got over it.
There were probably days when things were uncertain when he couldn't answer whether he had chosen the right path.
It would have been easy to decide not to follow such a difficult path and then he wouldn't have so many stupid problems.
But the moment he decided to do so, the path would disappear.
So he kept moving ahead.
He fiercely held on.
*
After the game I had the chance to talk to him a bit.
What I got from it was that if there is a difference between Japanese and American basketball, and if the latter is the world standard, then it is really important to cross the ocean and accustom yourself to basketball in that country while you're young.
On top of that, the way to show how good a Japanese player you are is probably to "sell" yourself.
He didn't have a lot to say objectively about the differences between Japan and America.
Of course not.
That's because he's already become one with American basketball.
Because of that, he's already showing leadership as a freshman starter.
The first things he said where words of thanks for the trust his coaches and teammates have given him.
He won't forget his gratefulness to his parents for letting him go to America, and his brother who went to America first and opened his eyes.
That's the type of youth he was.
He is grateful for what he has, which gives him the courage to battle unafraid.
He knows the trials of battle, which deepens his gratefulness.
Which gives him the strength to venture forward again.
*
For me, the purpose of this trip was to go to where the recipient of the scholarship will go next year, to visit the school and the team, and to see what they are like with my own eyes so I can present them.
This is to give strength and encouragement to those who love basketball and who want to apply for the scholarship but who haven't taken a step to do so.
The bus won't come for those who just wait for it.
You have to raise your voice and call for it.
Have courage.
I'm waiting for you.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
4 February 2007
In parallel.
I found out from a fan that he had seen an article that plans for a live action "SLAM DUNK" movie were moving forward in Taiwan or China.
I don't know if the article was for real, but if it was, then it troubles me that something like this could proceed without me knowing anything about it.
I wonder what's going on.
Of course I haven't given them permission for it.
*
On a brighter note, it's been a while since my report on my information gathering trip to America last time.
How are you all doing?
My eyes were feverish and heavy and my nose was runing last week.
For a day, I thought that it was the onset of allergies, but they cleared up right afterwards so it wasn't allergies.
It was something else. Hmm.
I don't do much in public when I'm on "break" from my serials, but I'm still working late into the night everyday because of various deadlines.
First, I finished the package illustration for Lost Odyssey, the Xbox 360 game due out this Fall.
I kept thinking that it would take more concentration and focus than normal while I worked on it, so I'm relieved that it's finished.
I think that it turned out pretty cool.
The first installment of Vagabond after my "break" will appear in the issue of Morning coming out on the 22nd.
You can find it by looking for a scary Musashi on the cover.
I've finished the cover and color pages and am working towards finishing the final manuscript.
It's tough to draw all 70 people of the Yoshioka school... nonetheless the deadline has come even faster because of holidays.
Vagabond Vol. 25 will also come out that day.
It will also have a scary looking Musashi on the cover... In keeping with the current state of Musashi, he has a tired look, but for some reason he's still scary.
Vol. 25.
It seems like time has gone by so fast and so long at the same time, to get here... And sometimes I feel ike I should change how I view this work.
But I still feel like it's a "major" piece of work for me.... (I wonder if I got the nuances across).
There's no doubt that it's a piece of work that makes me grow and mature.
And Real 39th is scheduled to appear in the Young Jump coming out on the 29th.
The daedline for this is exactly the same as for Vagabond, so I'm in the odd situtation of having to do two sets of drafts and manuscripts in parallel.
But I now know that I just can't do 2 of them at once... I'm going to work on Vagabond first.
That's how things are going.
My apologies to the overseas readers as this information is always for Japan.
Thank you for all your messages, I do read them.
I can't read the ones that aren't in English, but almost all of them are, which I am grateful for.
I've gotten an especially large amount of mail from Argentina this last month.
The reason why is that Slam Dunk Vol. 31 just came out and ended the series.
I always say this, but the readers' voices are the basis of my motivation.
Thank you!
There are many movies that I want to see.
And the number of books that I buy and leave unread is growing.
And it's almost the good season for going golfing.
But it doesn't look like I'll get to any of that.
Take care.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
11 March 2007
A weekly serial
I'm currently working on Vagabond #228.
I'm running out of time -- the deadline is only a few hours away.
I'm putting all my strength into my arms and shoulders. Every once in a while I feel a powerful drowsiness try to overtake me.
I read all the feedback on Vagabond in the LOUNGE.
I want to thank everybody for all the feedback that I've received since Vol. 25 went on sale.
There were many people who deeply read it, for which I am grateful, regardless of how it was interpreted.
There's only a few pages left. I think I'm going to make it by the deadline!
It gets even better this week... he he he.
A weekly serial is tough, but it's good.
I've gotten help from a lot of people, which will help me make it all the way to the end.
That's it for this time!
Atoonsu!
INOUE TAKEHIKO
6 Apr 2007
On a tangent.
In Eiji Yoshikawa's novel "Miyamoto Musashi", there is a scene of the decisive battle at Ichioji Sagarimatsu.
In this setting, the most prominent figure of the Yoshioka line is a child.
Considering Musashi's tactic of killing the most important figure in battle, he kills the child.
I've been thinking about what to do about this scene ever since I started
work on Vagabond using "Miyamoto Musashi" as a base.
There may even be those of you who have read the novel that are wondering the same thing.
From the very start of "Vagabond", I've wrestled with whether the novel is historically accurate, and even whether "history" itself is accurate.
I've been leaving that decision to my instincts and have been moving
forward with what feels "real" to me.
Because of that, most of it is different from history (although the history itself is vague) and it's very different from the novel.
So what about the battle of Ichioji Sagarimatsu?
In the society that we live in now, it is sad that news of children being
killed and put into danger is too numerous to count.
I draw manga for people living now (and for people to come).
I'm not drawing for people who lived 400 years ago or even 60 years ago.
In this world, is it meaningful, for me to draw a scene where the hero
kills a child?
Especially when so many children today are in such trouble?
Is that a reason itself to draw it?
Or, would it be meaningful for me to not draw such a scene?
If it is to raise awareness of the problem, I think that what can be done
already is more than enough.
Personally, I don't think that we are at that stage anymore.
I've come to believe that there is meaning in deciding not to draw it.
Even though it was tangential to the story, the author of "Miyamoto
Musashi" -- Eiji Yoshikawa -- probably decided to depict what he felt as "real" in the background of that era (to add more detail, Musashi regreted that he killed a child ever after that).
Hoever, I have decided on a different way to depict what I feel as "real".
This whole section has been on a tangent, but it's been running around in
my head lately, so I thought I would get it off my chest...
*
The NBA playoffs have started.
Spurs vs. Nuggets (the combination of Melo and AI heated up at end of the regular season), Suns vs. Lakers (just like last year, they've caught up to the Suns in the blink of an eye), Heat vs. Bulls, and Cavs vs. Wizards make up the starting round.
As for the Lakers, while Kobe has arguably had an MVP season, the rest of the team has been stalled since the All Star game.. I wonder if they'll be able to fulfull their dream or not.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
22 Apr 2007
Japan Playoffs
For those of you who said you worked all GW, you're not alone...!
At this time, there's only 2 chapters left to finish for Vol. 26 of Vagabond.
Lately all I've been thinking about is how to "efficiently slay large groups of people".
It depends on the type of drawing and the number of pages, but it's very hard to finish a chapter for a weely serial without having assistants work on some parts of it.
As a general rule for my work, I basically draw all the people and leave the rest to my assistants.
The amount of "people" work in this volume that I couldn't leave to my assistants has been the most I've ever had, and I feel like I'm getting mired in it.
I want to try to work my way out of it coolly and lightly.
*
According to "Nan Tora", Mr. Shimamoto is going to the High School Noshiro Cup in Akita.
I also went to the Japan Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Sendagaya.
The first round of the NBA Playoffs has also ended (the Lakers were eliminated...).
There's no lack of basketball related material right now.
So... the Championships.
It was great!
Wheelchair basketball is similar to "normal" basketball in some ways, but there are also several interesting ways in which it differs.
"Real" hasn't yet shown some of these interesting things, and I realized again
that I'm just not familiar enough with them.
If you understand those things, then it becomes much more interesting to watch as a sport.
It may even be that it will appeal to people who don't really like sports.
I think I want to add what I've discovered so far into "Real".
I wonder if the tough play of Shinpei's (author of the "Everyday World of Wheelchair Basketball" column on our site) team, NO EXCUSE, in this tournament has blown new life into the world of wheelchair basketball.
I suspect that seeing how good of a fight such a new and powerful team put up has inspired other teams across the country.
On the other hand, the strengh of 3-time Consecutive Champion Chiba Hawks was the highlight.
All their starters were Japanese National Team level players.
It was easy to tell that each single player on their team felt that there was no way they could lose.
Just like a sumo tournament is interesting when a Yokozuna is at his best, the wheelchair basketball scene is currently interesting with Chiba standing firm as a rock, and NO EX, Miyagi MAX, Shimizu and World coming after them and challenging them hard.
I'm looking forward to seeing how these teams come back after coming so close to tasting victory this year.
I'm also looking forward to the next installment of "Everyday World of Wheelchair Basketball".
The Japan Men's National Team will be playing in the Asia/Oceania qualifiers in Australia (Women's is in June).
It will be a tournament for a slot in the Beijing Paralympics.
I can't look away.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
7 May 2007
Feverish.
I think I've finally realized that it's impossible for me to continue to write every week. Hahaha...
A long time ago I wrote that "I started a diary. I'm going to keep writing in it..." , but I can't even remember how many days that lasted now.
I'm not writing it anymore of course.
I'm sorry.
I can't even respond to mail I've received in a timely manner.
I think I'll start by trying to update this column once every 2-3 weeks.
*
About a week ago I developed a fever and was out of commision for 4-5 days straight.
But the hostpial I normally go to happened to be closed, so I ended up spending time with myself -- moaning and nursing a high fever.
There's no question that I was thankful that I normally have good health.
I was thankful that I could normally do what I wanted, and since I couldn't eat anything, also thankful for my food.
I was also thankful for my family who watched over me while I was helpless.
I also couldn't work as I had planned to, and I'm thankful for the help of the editors who came to check up on me and everyone else's help.
When I stumbled outside, perhaps because my senses had become acute, the
landscape of the city looked different.
It was stressful.
Tiring.
I saw a parade of many things of the type that people don't need to see - things that aren't good for you.
It brings a shiver to my spine when I think about how I can blissfully live in the midst of all of that.
I wonder if you get more sensitive with a high fever.
It was problematic that I was quickly moved to tears by small passages of writing, songs, and even some small piece of Vagabond that I had come up with.
The worst thing was when I picked up the newest work by Kiyoshi Shigematsu in a bookstore and just reading the tag line on the book lining brought tears to my eyes.
Even though I hadn't opened it yet...
But those few days were a rich chance for me to experience what it is like to rise up from nothing.
Since I started with nothing, I feel like I'm working up the energy to go forward.
... which I can say now that I'm better ...
*
In other news, our website will also be availble in Korean starting in July.
I hope our Korean readers will look forward to it.
Annyeonghaseyo! Sojyujyuseyo.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
19 June 2007
A famous Asian doctor, AKA "God Hand".
Precise, quick.
It feels like all the parts of my body that I had (unkowningly) locked up
and made tight are slowly loosening up one after another.
Without hestiation he promptly pinpoints the places that need attention.
As I lay flat on my back, It feels like air is returning to my body as he
works his magic.
I can breath deeply again.
It seems that some tightness in my spine (above my lower back) was
affecting my heart.
My neck bones, shoulder blades and hip joints were misaligned.
And my tired eyes have a bad effect on my body.
I feel wordlessly happy as my body loosens up.
I don't know if I can describe it as a feeling.
Basically, I could tell that I was really happy because there was a smile on face before I realized it.
It felt like I couldn't help smiling and being thankful even if I didn't
want to be.
Humans don't actually "have" anything.
Except for one thing that they are given.
It doesn't matter what country, what environment a person was born
in, but the one thing that all humans are given is a body.
While bodies are not all created equal, there are no exceptions to the
fact that every human has one.
Not only how you feel physically, but how you feel emotionally --
the answer is in your body.
I'm convinced of that now.
I had fallen into a situation while I was working, without a break, on
Real 41st and Vagabond #234 where I couldn't get up without it taking a
lot of time.
It was at that time that I was introduced to the famous doctor.
I'm thankful for the timely meeting.
*
Vagabond Vol. 26 is now on sale.
It has the climax of the Yoshioka sotryline.
Once again, I welcome your thoughts on it.
*
Japan, Korea, Argentina, Indonesia, Chile, China, Spain, Brazil, Norway,
America, France, Germany...
I'm sorry if I left one out.
When I checked my mail this month, this was the list of countries that they were from.
I really want to thank you for sending me your thoughts.
I'd like to visit all of the countries if I get a chance.
Please forgive me for not being able to answer each one individually.
There are 4 countries in that list that I haven't been to.
I couldn't imagine that my work would be read by people in so many countries when I first started drawing.
I'm thankful that I've already had more success than I had hoped for.
The current state of Japanese Manga is undeniably a baton that has been passed from our predecessors, who made it what it is through their hard work and dedication.
*
The first manga I ever bought was Dokaben, Vol. 13, and I read many of
Mizushima's baseball manga over and over again.
This year marks the 50th year that Shinji Mizushima has worked in the manga industry, and I was asked to write a congratulary piece for him in Shonen Champion.
50 years... that's a great achievement that I can't even imagine.
I'm happy that the Tonoma that I drew this time will appear in the same
magizine, Champion, that I had enjoyed reading every week in primary
school.
I was suprised when I realized that I am now at the same place in my
career that Mr. Mizushima was when I first read his work.
And it's been 30 years since then... I simply can't imagine it.
I just drop my head in wonder.
*
And just one week later, I drew a small piece to celebrate the 10th year
that One Piece has been serialized.
One Piece started right around the time when I ended Slam Dunk and was absorbed in watching basketball games in America.
I remember reading the first few chapters and thinking to myself that it would be a hit.
Even though that's what I thought, I haven't actually read any more of it.
It's already been 10 years... When I have the time, I plan to read them all at once.
*
Did you know that an Olympic qualifier for the Beijing Olympics will be
held in Tokushima starting on the 28th?
http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/07/fibaAsia/men/index.asp
China is already qualified, so this is a golden opportunity for you to see
them compete locally!
Those of you who will go the games and help make the most out of the home advantage -- please add my support as you voice yours as loudly as you can!
For the players!
INOUE TAKEHIKO
22 July 2007
I am currently in America.
I'll be in Hawaii for 3 days for an interview and photo shoot for November's issue of SWITCH (with the special on Lost Odyssey).
After that I'll be in San Francisco... I'm going to pass on a planned meeting and lock myself in a hotel room to work on my manuscript for Real.
I still have another (planned) 17 pages of edits to make for the continuation of Real 42nd which was published the other day.
It's cold. I only brought light clothes with me, so I bought a jacket and a knit cap at the Barney's next to the hotel.
The turkey sandwich I bought for lunch was so bad that I feel strange after eating it...
I'm flying to New York tomorrow, then going to South Kent, Connecticut the next day. I'm going to visit the school where the recipient of the Slam Dunk Scholarship will be going again. This time I'll be bringing the player with me and he will participate in some practices. The selection process was done via applications and DVDs, so this will be the first time that I (only me) has met him. But the fact that he applied makes me feel as though he's my own son...
I'm just a manga artist, but I feel that I should put more weight into work like this.
I was in so much of a hurry when I left Japan that I forgot my watch. But it's something that I can live without.
*
Looking at the last Inoue News, I discovered that it was 7/22!
Looking at my notes, I found that I've built up a collection of things that I just jotted down or that I couldn't pull together and forgot about.
Since I'm already here (?) I'll try to write them up, like a diary.
*
July:
I received a postcard from a reader with a drawing of the Yoshioka brothers. The two that are now dead.
It was a drawing that showed them smiling and looking like brothers.
Suddenly, I mean really suddenly, I got a scratchy feeling in the back of my through. I almost cried.
I don't know if it was tears for the fact that a reader had imagined and drawn a side of the characters that had not been shown in the manga
or if it was for the story of the brothers themselves. I don't know myself.
August:
Lately, in sports, I've seen that the Japanese representatives have been suffering naive defeats. There may have been some that could have been avoided if they had better skills and strategy, but I'll leave those for the examination of experts. I'm talking about a problem with the heart and spirit during a competition.
You can consider that the weaknesses of these players who represent us Japanese aren't just limited to themselves, but are also present, on average, in each and everyone of us.
This is a self criticism, but I took a look to see if there's something missing:
Our ability to sense danger, the ability to sense when you're on the edge of danger and to quickly quell the feeling. The ability to sense when you're opponent is on the edge themselves and to realize that that is the moment to attack, and to do so.
Whether you can see that even though there is risk to yourself, there is equal risk to your opponent. Whether you can audaciously flaunt that and put on the face of a winner.
Putting away a match without being afraid of the consequences when the chance presents itself.
Being strong and confident, and keeping your cool when moving in to finish things. Being aware that if you fail, you will be giving them the chance to come back. It's not reckless courage, but not letting cowardice and strength interfere with each other.
Understanding that competition has a certain flow, a certain momentum.
Things will not continue to flow the same way the whole time. If you don't take advantage when the chance arises, you're letting the momentum move away from you, thus inviting defeat.
Understanding that danger will not be present forever, and that you can take it and you can overcome it.
....
Somehow, we've lost sight of these things or forgotten them somewhere along the way.
There are many ways to look at things, and "competition" is related to only a small number of them. Something that appears short term from one perspective may be long term from another.
But in the world of competition, I've never seen a person whose goal was to lose.
*
Wow, this has gotten long. I'll cut things off here.
INOUE TAKEHIKO
5 October 2007
