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"I wanted to be a baseball player."
Kensuke Nakai, who was once selected as a candidate for the Japan Futsal National Team and is now challenging himself to create a new football culture for the next generation, recalls this with a smile. The soccer he started in the third grade of elementary school, when a friend invited him, would eventually determine his life's path.
"My friend invited me to play soccer. Everything changed from then on."
His path has been far from easy. Here is the story of Nakai, who has overcome numerous setbacks and consistently maintained his desire "not to lose."
The Unrelenting Desire to Join Takigawa Daini High School
──Mr. Nakai, please tell us about what led you to seriously enter the world of football. I hear you had a lot of trouble with your high school entrance exams.
Nakai: In junior high school, I decided I wanted to be a soccer player, so I took the tryouts for Takigawa Daini High School, which was the strongest in Hyogo Prefecture. I passed the first round, but I failed the second. I also took the third tryout, but it didn't work out.
──Normally, people would give up at that point, wouldn't they?
Nakai: I really wanted to get in. I considered other options for a bit, but ultimately, I still felt Takigawa Daini was the only choice. So, I consulted my junior high school coach, who said, "Let me talk to them," and he directly approached the coach of Takigawa Daini.
A few days later, I received a reply. They gave me the condition that I could not play in any matches for three years and that I had to study and enter through the general academic course. If I passed the general entrance exam, they would allow me to join the soccer club.
──That's an amazing condition...!
Nakai: I thought that the tryouts were also a kindness, meant to help those who weren't skilled enough to give up early by not allowing them to enroll. However, I wanted to take on the challenge without accepting that kindness.
I had always lived a life centered around soccer, but I sealed off soccer for three months and studied intensely. And I successfully passed the exam, finally able to join the Takigawa Daini soccer club I had longed for.
Climbing Up from Number 31
──How was it after you entered?
Nakai: The reality was harsh. My jersey number was 31. While players who joined through tryouts occupied numbers 1 to 30, I was the only one with number 31, having entered through the general entrance exam. My high school life began with me completely sidelined from the regular team.
But I couldn't give up here. I figured if I was the least skilled, then I had to practice the longest. So, I stayed longer than anyone else and kept practicing.
──Did that effort pay off?
Nakai: The coach saw my steady efforts, and I was evaluated more for my character than my skill. The coach, who had been observing my hard work for a year, gave me the opportunity to play in a game. However, my high school years were still not smooth sailing, with strict guidance from seniors and repeated injuries.
Especially in the summer of my second year, when I was dropped due to an injury right before three important tournaments, I was truly devastated. The team ended up winning all three of those tournaments. I thought, "I wish I had been there too."
A Football Career That Continued in University
──After graduating from high school, you continued playing soccer in university, didn't you?
Nakai: Yes, I continued playing soccer at Senshu University. The team became the best in Japan, but I was a bench player. Nevertheless, gaining experience playing at an even higher level through university soccer was invaluable.
A Fateful Encounter with Futsal
──After university, you entered the world of futsal. What was the trigger?
Nakai: When I was considering various career paths after graduation, such as playing soccer overseas or in an amateur league, I happened to hear about tryouts for Futsal club, Pescadola Machida. I tried out casually, but I was playing exceptionally well, and they told me, "We want you for the top team." I thought this was my chance.
──But when you actually joined, you faced a harsh reality, didn't you?
Nakai: That's right. My acceptance confirmation was delayed, so I actually started on the B team, but even on the B team, I didn't get any playing opportunities. The B team coach kept telling me, "You're just no good."
But then a turning point came. The coach changed, and the new coach's tactics were so advanced and complex that they overturned conventional futsal wisdom. Even veteran players were confused and couldn't understand them, creating a "level playing field" where the difference in experience didn't matter.
──That became your chance, then.
Nakai: If no one understood it, then young players would improve faster. I was better at deepening my understanding step by step. I analyzed practice videos on my computer every day and actively learned from my juniors. That thorough research bore fruit, and I finally secured a spot as a candidate for the Japan National Team.
My physical abilities, honed through past efforts, combined with my understanding of the new tactics, led to one championship and two runner-up finishes in the championships, and I was selected as a candidate for the Japan National Team.
Life's Biggest Challenge Gave Birth to a New Mission
──I heard you had a major turning point during your peak as a player.
Nakai: I lost both my parents one after another, and the people I wanted to see my success more than anyone else were gone. I lost the meaning of continuing futsal and fell into deep despair. I wondered, "What am I playing futsal for?"
At one point, I completely lost my motivation and even considered switching to soccer. But at the same time, my YouTube channel "Aim for the Top of F" started to gain traction, and there I found my purpose.
──What kind of mission did you discover?
Nakai: There are many skilled players. There are also many coaches. But I thought that I was the only one who had experienced both soccer and futsal and could explain how futsal techniques and tactics could be applied to soccer.
As a bridge between soccer and futsal, I want to evolve the entire Japanese football world. Soccer players have high physical abilities but low football IQ. Futsal players are the opposite. I want to integrate the best of both.
──That's an ambitious goal.
Nakai: I want to win the World Cup in both soccer and futsal. I envision a world where people will say, "Japanese soccer got strong because of futsal."
As a Coach, He Realizes the Importance of Sleep
──You are currently also active as a coach, and you are realizing the importance of sleep, aren't you?
Nakai: As a coach, it's my job to keep explaining until they understand, but if I'm sleep-deprived, my concentration drops and I get irritable. That should absolutely never happen.
Actually, I've had problems with sleep for many years. I'm not good at regulating my body temperature, so if it's hot, I can't sleep. I'd look for cool spots and sometimes wake up in the middle of the night. I've tried various bedding, but when it was hot, there was nothing I could do.
Encounter with the Brain Sleep Pillow
──So, the Brain Sleep Pillow was what changed your sleep, wasn't it?
Nakai: At first, I wondered how it would be, but after I started using it, things clearly changed. What surprised me the most was its excellent breathability. With the pillows I used before, I would wake up in the middle of the night looking for a cool spot because of the heat, but this pillow doesn't trap heat. Waking up in the middle of the night has dramatically decreased, and waking up in the morning has become genuinely easy. It's really good. It's the best.
──Has the improvement in your sleep quality brought about any changes in your activities as a coach?
Nakai: When I can't sleep, I can't concentrate, I get irritable, and I feel like I might get injured. When I do sleep well, those things are less likely to happen, and I don't even feel like taking a nap. That lack of disruption is very good for my performance.
I believe good sleep should be standard. I can assert that because I've struggled with it for so long.
Future Outlook: "The Value of Futsal for the World of Soccer"
──Please tell me about your future prospects.
Nakai: Currently, I mostly communicate with futsal players and fans, but I want more people playing soccer to realize that "there is something to be gained from futsal." I believe that will lead to change.
Through my coaching in the Kings League and participation in various events, I continue to instill the value of futsal in the world of soccer. Creating opportunities for that realization is also my current mission.
Perhaps it will be through my own messages, or perhaps through those of the people around me whom I've involved. By demonstrating that value and gaining recognition for it, I hope that both soccer and futsal will develop together.
Kensuke Nakai, who constantly seeks growth by turning numerous setbacks into strength, continues to inspire many with his philosophy of rising from jersey number 31 to a candidate for the Japan national team.
Driven by the desire "not to lose," his challenge to connect the two worlds of soccer and futsal knows no end. Today, Nakai continues to forge new possibilities.
▼ Kensuke Nakai's used items
▼ Only passion, never sleep. - Special page
