I’ve got a great opportunity to interview Reiya Shinonome-san upon him kindly accepted the offer.
He is known as the one who has unique background – that he was an award winning bicycle racer when he was a student. During the interview, I asked his rich experience and background behind the scene.
This interview has 2 parts – in the first part, I asked him to mainly share his episodes during his student life.
June 2nd, 2023
interviewed with Reiya Shinonome, edited by Mew
November 3rd, 2024
translated by Mio
みゅうMew: Thank you for the great opportunity! Look forward to the great stories!
東雲怜弥Reiya Shinonome: No worries, I look forward too!
−−In the past YouTube series, you’ve mentioned about you being selected as a junior athlete in Tokyo Prefecture as you achieved great results at Sports Exam during junior high. Would you please share the story about that?
Reiya: When I was at 2nd grade in junior high, I took Sports Exam and got full score (10 out of 10 score) for all the events.
−−Full score for all the events!? What kind of event did you have?
R: If I remember correctly, there were around 10 kinds of activities such as 50-meter dash, endurance run, standing long jump, sit-up, handball throw, shuttle jumps, shuttle run and so on, and I got full score for all of them even though I didn’t do any trainings. And among them, I marked extremely high records for some of them.
−−So you were “SUPER” great for all the sports.
R: That’s true, while the basketball team I belonged was not strong at all….
−−Laugh…. With then, how did you become Junior athlete?
R: It was a part of the program Tokyo Prefecture developed for inviting Olympics to Tokyo. Tokyo prefecture wanted to host Olympics in Tokyo, therefore they wanted to develop Olympians from Tokyo. Application was based on the Sports Exam results mentioned earlier and my teacher from junior high knew about the program and he had good relationship with Education committee, so he asked me if I was interested.
−−Then, you’ve become junior athlete through the teacher’s introduction?
R: No. I still took all the necessary steps – there were probably three rounds of exams and I passed all of them, and elected as junior athlete. I was the first batch of the program.
−−So you were chosen as the junior athlete as a 1st batch. Any reasons that you chose bicycle race while there must have been other options?
R: As a background, my father was bike racer and he has been telling me that “You can make a lot of money if you do Keirin” (*Keirin is Japanese term which you can bet for bicycle race), and I sometimes went out for cycling with my father, and I always felt it was fan. Therefore, I wrote “my future dream is either to become Keirin racer or Japanese Taiko Drummer” in my graduation year book.
−−I see – you had influence from your father. Actually, your family episodes are very interesting. Would you please share about your family?
R: My parents were kind of hands off as a family. Both of my parents have been working – my father was working as a TV director for Travel channel which required him to travel, so he didn’t come back home often. My mother was also working. So the principle for education, and/or the operation system was very unique. For example, if I want to get something, or if I need allowance, my parents give some challenges for me, and once I clear out, they give me things I want.
−−Interesting system! Can you give me some example of the challenges?
R: My mom was responsible for giving me allowance. To get allowance, I chose a book to read monthly, like a novel, and after I read, I reported to mom, then she gave me the allowance. I could choose any kind of books, so I went to the library at school to choose, or if I didn’t have any books to choose from the library, I asked my mom to purchase the book.
−−I see. You previously mentioned in Twitter that people knew you as “Book Lover”, yet you’ve named so from this experience.
R: When I wanted something, I asked my dad to purchase, but again, he didn’t simply purchase for me, but gave some challenges prior to his business trip. When he came back, I tried the challenge, and if I could clear, he purchased what I wanted. Example of challenge was like to walk one round of the park with bamboo stilts.
−−That’s great way of raising kids – I also want to reapply into my real life! By the way, you mentioned about Japanese Taiko Drummer as one of your future dream job. You started Taiko also as your family recommended?
R: It was my mom – she watched someone playing the drum at the neighbor festival and it looked good, so she recommended me to do. I went to practice for Taiko and as a part of the program, we practiced Japanese dance, so I have been joining that too!
−−Your mom have chosen very unique lessons…she seems to be very unique and cultured….
−−Now back to the topic of bicycle race, I actually don’t understand well about the bicycle race as is, yet did you have any specialities among the discipline in bicycle race?
R: Bicycle race can be divided into 2 different disciplines with short distance and long distance. Short distance is track race at the velodrome and long distance is road racing, so we bike on the road in town. I was specialized for short distance, but I’ve sometimes got an opportunity to join the long distance road race as the team assistant.
−−Assistant means you don’t join the race?
R: Actually, I did join and disturb the race while other racers were taking break. In the race, sometimes other team’s member distructed to run and I prevented my team from them, as it’s team competition.
−−Is it like the situation of comics “Yowamushi Pedal”?
R: Yeah, the one with long distance is like that.
−−I see, sounds interesting. Then, after graduating junior high, did you go to Sports specialized high school?
R: No. I went to usual public high school.
−−Really. Then the school already had bicycle team?
R: Actually not. But when I went to school orientation, I had a chance to share my wish to have Bicycle team to the school. Then, they said, “If you pass our entrance exam, we would consider”, then I chose to join.
−−You did explain by yourself that you wanted bicycle team during school orientation!??
R: Exactly, I haven’t even taken the exam, but they said possible, so I took entrance exam!
−−Wow! I’ve never heard such a story to choose high school….
R: By the way, the reason I chose that school was as it was located at the end of cycling road.
−−So you commuted to school from home by bicycle?
R: Yeah, it was cycling road beside liver and you reached to school if you just went straight. So I thought it would be good that I could do the training by going to school.
−−Laugh.. that’s very true.
R: The school was just in the good location, I was not so much curious about the level of the school and/or what I can learn as I wanted to focus on my bicycle race in good environment. Then, they were saying they would establish bicycle team. Then, why not…
−−It already demonstrates you have great talent to find the great environment which meets both what you NEED to do and what you want and you can….
R: I was probably lucky, as I can imagine that many school would say it’s not possible to create cycling team….
−−Very true that we don’t often hear establishing team by ourselves….
R: Actually, school already had the system – if they had certain number of members, it first became group, then when you gathered more members it would become the team. Yet for me, I just needed the “Team” to register for inter high school tournament, so I said I don’t need any other members in the team.
−−Then, once you joined, they formed the team.
R: Right. Also another luck was that my new class teacher was also new to the school, and didn’t have any responsibility for the team activities, so he became the coach for the team.
−−You were lucky again!
R: He actually didn’t know anything about bicycle at all, but just because he joined around the same time as me joining, then, he became a coach. Furthermore, he was very nice person, and he thought it would probably be better for him to know more about bicycle, then he got certified as the referee for bicycle race!
−−It’s simply great that you could meet such a teacher at high school.
R: I really appreciate it!
−−Were you able to participate Inter high school tournament which was your goal?
R: I was able to participate at my 2nd year in high school. There are “Big 4” tournament which high school students can participate – Selected tournament, national match, inter high school tournament and Junior Olympics. I participated the Selected tournament at grade 1, and participated rest of all at the grede 2 and 3.
−−You WERE really the athlete at that time.
R: Indeed I was. Yet, at inter high school tournament which was one of my goal, I fell off from my bike, and I lost my right nipple as everyone knows…. My nipple should still be 3rd corner of Yahiko Velodrome in Niigata.
−−You lost your right nipple in such an important situation…. It seems your nipple is now recovered at least when I see your work, but is it common to have such an injury during the race? Bicycle race is very speedy and I feel very scary….
R: Accident is very common! Speed is usually 70-80km per hour. If it’s amateur race, racers even don’t wear any protection other than helmet, and in my case, I also broke my arm on top of my nipple. Also, in other race, I also got an accicent and injured… The doctor said, you may not be able to move your arm anymore… That said, I recovered in a second!
−−It’s thrilling sprots…. Yet, you cured your injury in a second… how does your body function….
−−After high school, you entered Nippon Sport Science University. Did they already have bicycle team?
R: Yes. There were other universities I could choose which have bicycle team, yet I didn’t want to invest in studying something else which I didn’t have much interest. I was aiming to be bicycle racer, and I could study about sports, muscle, and other related, so I chose.
−−You had an option to study other things while continue doing the bicycle race. Yet indeed you were in love with sports and you were interested in human body.
R: Simply because I didn’t like to study.
−−You didn’t?
R: In high school, for example, I practiced in the morning before the class, so I was mostly sleeping during the class. Yet, teachers were accepting the reality like “It’s him, nothing we can do”
−−So you were just focusing on bicycle at school….
R: Indeed. That said, they were putting banner with my name at school to promote me….
−−So your position was the “famous one” in this school…. It’s surprising as my image about you were the one who likes to study….
R: Well, if I want to know something, I search immediately, or if I wonder why or how on something, I further research to better understand. But if the topic or knowledge is given, and if I don’t find it interesting, I wouldn’t take any action.
−−Yeah, I kind of understand that you wouldn’t probably take notes for some learning with what teachers share.
R: Yeah, maybe I felt that there were nothing much interesting. Thus, I was good at math. For example in social study, they study history which was the time when I was not alive, or they study about geography which I’ve never been to, so I was not interested in at all. Instead, when it comes to math, as long as you know the principle, you can understand with formula and its reapplicable to daily life, thus I was good at it.
−−In general, you like to think….
R: Yes. Thus, even they tell when Honnoji Incident happened in such year, I felt like… I have no idea….
−−No idea….
R: At the same time, I was good at memorizing, I borrowed the notes from friends to remember, and got higher scores than my friends..!
−−Oh my… people hate it…. You don’t take notes yourself, but you learn from others’, then you get higher scores….
R: I agree! Also, how I remember was very wired like make a song to remember, or forced to match with some wording, so I don’t remember anything at all even you ask me now….
−−It was literary the learning for “on the spot”. Yet, you’ve been good at sports and have good characteristic, so you must be very popular in the class regardless of gender? Were you self-aware that you were popular?
R: I didn’t feel like I was popular at daily basis, but when we had sports festival there were people making line that they wanted to take photo with me, or at graduation, all my clothes were taken, given they wanted “2nd button” of my school uniform but it was gone. Therefore, in these moments, I realized that “am I popural!? Really?”
−−Maybe, you were too focused on bicycle, and you didn’t pay attention, but you must have been really popular…?
−−Now, you entered the university, what was your major?
R: Faculty of Sport Science department, under Faculty of Sport Science Division!
−−Literary “the Sports” !
R: To be more specific, there were Sports Education unit and Sports Competition Unit and I was in the competition unit.
−−I see. You were the racer until 4th grade of university?
R: Yes. I continued until 4th grade.
−−In other interview, I read you quitted the race due to your back injury. When did it happen?
R: It was winter when I was 3rd grade. It’s called compartment syndrome, and in summary it’s the disease as you train your muscle too much. As you develop your muscle too much, the muscle tightens the capillaries and it prevents blood to circulate all over the body.
−−With that symptom, is it difficult to continue racing? You can’t continue even you take care well of these?
R: You could probably do, if you massaged well and relaxed the mascle. At the sametime, if you continue the race, the symptom gets worse, and other option was to get surgery and open the farcia to completely recover. Thus, I felt like I can’t be better any more….
−−Given it gets worse if you train the muscle…. So, given you couldn’t aim higher any more, and you decided to quit?
R: Right.
−−It should have been really shocking moment for you…. How were you able to shift your mind?
R: Indeed it was shocking moment and I thought through, especially as I have been thinking of becoming professional bicycle racer. So even I thought what I could do after graduation, I couldn’t imagine anything… Yet, even I continue to stay in the moment, it doesn’t make any difference, then I started to look for different opportunities….
−−Were you able to shift sooner? Or did it take time?
R: Hmmmm, I wouldn’t say in certain period of time, but I continued to think “What would I do” for some time….
−−I understand. After then, you started job hunting gradually?
R: One of my senior team members of bicycle team who represented Tokyo was working in “Recruit” related company. That company was to register yourself with your background/skills and companies to choose. So, I registered there to begin with.
−−So you registered “Offer apprached company” vs. usual job hunting seminars.
R: That’s true. At that time, students from sports university were well accepted, and some companies wanted as sports uni students were known as to perform immediately after they joined the company. So, I thought, if someone wanted me, that would be one of the way to start working.
−−More I hear about your story, you always understand what people want from you, then, you find the place where you can shine and perform, which is your great talent.
R: Right. I always try to understand myself objectively, like what others are looking into me, or the quality of things I can delivery, then I motivate myself and offer to others.
−−Now let me ask you about the time when you were office worker – you joined IT tech company and you already promoted and had direct reports right after you joined the company. Is it true?
R: Yes, one of the reasons I joined that company was that they were hiring 100 new-hires and they were declaring that they would make all new-hires to compete the speed to get 3 different kinds of certification, and top 5 of the employees would be promoted to the next level with advanced compensation and hiring status. That motivated me to join!
−−Then, you got to get these 3 earlier than the others?
R: Right. Anyway, if I needed to take these 3 anyway, maybe it would be even better I get them prior to joining the company, so it was cheating, but I took all of them. Then, they were surprised that no one has done such a thing, and they already let me join as ready-to-promote employee.
−−They never had such a new-hire previously….
R: Indeed. So other new-hires joined as engineers and see if they had potential, while I joined as a generalist as future managers.
−−Well…even you cheated, it doesn’t sound like a real story….
R: if you only hear this story, it sounds like some anime comics.
−−You sound like a liar, but is it a real story?
R: My life really sounds like fiction, but it’s all real story. I can really write a novel with this…
みゅうI was thinking of creating your Life Mapping, but it has too much contents to summarize….
東雲怜弥Life Mapping may not explain enough… they wouldn’t understand what has been happening.
みゅうIndeed, people would wonder if this is one person’s story….
東雲怜弥Probably!
That’s for 1st half. It will continue…!
by Mew
