Won the Honor with His Strong Willpower - Shoji Teramoto　

A Japanese team that lost to the United States in the semifinals of the 2006 World Kendo Championships in Taiwan and eventually fell from the throne. Their task at the 14th World Championships in Brazil was to reclaim the throne in a team competition and revenge. However, even before the team competition, they were tested for their true value in the men’s individual competition on the first day.

Japanese players lost to Korean players one after another. Takahiro Nakano, Kyoto, was out of the preliminary league, and Tsuneomi, Hurusawa, Kumamoto and Daisuke Wakou, Hokkaido, were also defeated by Korean players in the quarter-finals.

Three of the semifinals were taken by South Korean players, and the Japanese team faced an unprecedented crisis that only one player called Shoji Teramoto, Osaka, left. Teramoto was on a roll, beating strong players such as Kim Wan-soo of Korea and Christopher Young of the United States. Teramoto, who did a great job through a kote strike in the semi-final against Lee Kang-ho, faced young prospective player Park Byung-hoon, who won the semifinal between Koreans. Park Byung-hoon used a hiki-men strike, but Teramoto used a powerful hiki-men at the end, struggling, and defended the throne. Teramoto’s willpower that defended Japan without losing himself in difficult situations deserves praise.

Two days later, Japan, which ranked third in the previous round, competed with South Korea in the semifinals, not the final. Although the vanguard Kenji Shodai, Kanagawa, and the second player Daiki Kiwada, Osaka, win and the third player Ryoichi Uchimura, Metropolitan Police Department loses, the Japanese team beat Korea as the fourth and last players Susumuwa Takanabe and Teramoto tie.

In the final against the U.S., even though Takanabe ties, three consecutive wins at the vanguard and Teramoto's victory gave the Japanese team a score of 4-0, and they returned to the top.