Late night on Monday, June 28th after my return to Japan on June 20th and during my self quarantine period in a hotel in Tokyo, the notice came. The approval of O1A VISA from the USCIS…
I was still an active player when I made this decision in September of 2019 and it was before my last Kodokan Championship. 1 year and 9 months from that point in time, I saw a flashback of the days that passed. Didn’t cry a bit, but trembling with excitement.
The first VISA I tried was the Artist VISA (P-3) but Judo was not considered art and was denied. Then COVID came into play and VISAs itself were stopped for a year. At the end I said may be a Student VISA (F-1) would be sufficient for me. I studied hard to meet the criteria on my TOEFL test and cleared it this January. And, finally though my human network I got to know USA Judo who sponsored me with this Athlete VISA. This VISA is only provided to World Class Athletes like Yu Darvish, Shohei Ohtani, and Rui Hachimura so I didn’t believe that I will qualify. It is the first for a JUDOKA. I do not believe that I don’t have the content suitable for this VISA, but I vow that I will make the children in the US and in the world through Judo.
I am grateful to all that supported me and happy that I am able to report this.
I will return on Chicago in August. I will stay there, and build up my foundation. I will never give up and look forward to everyone’s support. Very Happy, BANZAI!!!
(Diagram) The Approval letter from USCIS. It took me 1 year and 9 months to get here…
