Canoe is not just about racing.
When I was in fifth grade, I joined OCEAN VAʻA, an outrigger canoe club based in Hayama, Kanagawa. That is where I learned many things.
That our ancestors paddled from island to island. That speed is not everything. That we move with the ocean, not against it.
There are more things than I can write here.
Over the past year, I have traveled to Hawaii and Hong Kong. A few days before each race, paddlers from around the world begin to arrive. People welcome each other.
They paddle out with the sunrise, then return to their own lives.
Some families have been paddling for generations. For them, paddling is part of life.
Canoe is not only about competition. It carries different cultures, people, and ways of living.
I want to see it, feel it, experience it, and share it with people in Japan.
I want to share what I have experienced abroad with the people who paddle in Japan.
