＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
１．Star players when we baby boomers were young.
For us baby boomers, the greats and stars of professional golf are Isao Aoki, Masashi Ozaki, Tsuneyuki Nakajima (known as “AON ), and Teruo Sugihara.
In particular, Masashi Ozaki, nicknamed “Jumbo Ozaki,” fascinated us with his birdies and eagles with his overwhelming distances.
Masashi Ozaki has 113 wins, Isao Aoki has 84 wins, Teruo Sugihara has 63 wins, and Tsuneyuki Nakajima has 48 wins, which is an overwhelming number of wins. It may sound extreme, but it feels like one of the four was winning almost every week. It’s similar to the recent success of Korean players on the women’s tour.
2. The first appearance of a star player in a long time: “Hanikami Oji(Shy Prince)” Ryo Ishikawa
This new star, who had appeared for the first time in a long time on the golf world, was given the nickname “Shy Prince” because of his polite and humble demeanor that was not befitting his youth.
That “Shy Prince,” Ryo Ishikawa (born in 1991), became the youngest ever winner at age 15 in 2007 while still an amateur, and in 2008, at age 16, became the youngest ever tour professional.
In 2009, he played in the Masters as the youngest professional ever (he was not ranked 50th in the world, but participated as a “specially invited player”), and also became the youngest ever winner of prize money on the domestic tour (he also became the youngest player ever to break the 100 million yen mark in prize money and to acquire a seed).
In 2010, he won the Chunichi Crowns with an unbelievable “world’s lowest score” of 58 on the final day.
3. A rocket start to the early stages
Anyway, in these few years (2007-2010), true to his motto “If you’re in a hurry, take the shortcut and don’t be afraid of the risks” he broke one record after another, “the youngest in history,” with “unstoppable momentum,” “breakneck pace”.
At the time, Jumbo Ozaki（ Masashi Ozaki）, described him as “a fearless child,” and that’s a very apt description. He was indeed a “genius boy.”
The tour venues were packed with many fans (including many housewives), and it was like an “Ishikawa Ryo fever.”
In 2011, he was actively involved in “social contribution activities,” such as donating all of his winnings that year to support victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. His golf career has been frighteningly “smooth sailing.”
4. The dark days after taking on the US Tour
However, things started to change when he tried out for the US Tour in 2013. Judging from the results, it seems that it was too early to try out for the US Tour. He fell into a vicious cycle of failing to qualify and repeatedly modifying his swing, and returned to the Japanese Tour without achieving any notable results.
This reminds me of the story of Samson, a hero from the Old Testament.
Samson, the hero of the tribe of Dan, was seduced by Delilah, a beautiful Philistine woman, and had his hair cut off and lost his divine powers.He was taken to the temple in Gaza and made a spectacle of, but his divine power was restored and he collapsed the pillars of the temple.
Ryo Ishikawa also seems to have lost his “supernatural power” by succumbing to the temptation of the “US Tour” even though it was too early. His position seems to have been reversed with Hideki Matsuyama, who is now doing very well on the US Tour.
No matter how popular a professional athlete is, if their performance gradually declines and they no longer compete for the championship, their popularity will decline. Fans will leave them and they will no longer have sponsors.
Even singers who stop producing hit songs will fade away. Even celebrities who make fewer TV appearances will leave people wondering, “Where are they now?”
5. Hopes for his future revival and success
However, Ryo Ishikawa is still young and has a track record of 18 tour wins (including 3 major wins). If he can compete for the championship again on the Japanese tour, his popularity will surely return.
He has been serving as the Japan Golf Tour Players’ Association President since 2018. He is currently planning and implementing a mini-tour (Future Tour) (one day pro-am, one day tournament) similar to the sumo wrestling “regional tour” as a measure to boost the men’s golf tour, which has seen a dramatic decline in the number of tournaments.
Although it was not this mini-tour, Ishikawa also achieved the rare feat of winning twice in one week at a two-day regional open tournament. This is a feat that can only be achieved in a two-day tournament.
Recently, the famous male professional golfer Shingo Katayama was punished for making unpleasant remarks and actions toward invited guests at a pro-am. I hope that Chairman Ishikawa will use this as an opportunity to reflect on his actions and make the men’s golf tour more appealing to sponsors and golf fans (including future golf fans).
On the women’s golf tour, many cute and strong Japanese female players have emerged, including Sakura Koiwai, Kana Nagai, Nasa Hataoka, Minami Katsu, Momoka Miura, Hina Arakaki, Rei Matsuda, and Erika Hara, collectively known as the “golden generation,” and they are joining the race for the championship one after another, making the tour more exciting.
It may also be necessary to unearth a “golden generation” of male professional golfers.