Earthquake victim Endo learns the importance of resilience in life and sports

Japanese Olympic hopeful John Endo remembers uncontrollably shaking when she watched on TV as Japan beat the United States in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final in July 2011.

The match took place just four months after she was hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake when she was a fourth-grade student living in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, and Endo remembers telling herself that she would “definitely go there” one day as a member of the national team.

John Endo gave an online interview on February 16, 2021 (Kyodo)

Endo was in the locker room after gym class when the strong earthquake struck. Almost all of the school’s windows were shattered and the grounds of the school yard were open.

“We were all terrified,” she recalls. “I thought I was going to die.”

Her home was not destroyed, but her life changed dramatically, as did the lives of her friends, some of whom had to evacuate.

Endo belongs to a soccer club run by her father Atsushi, but due to the strict safety restrictions for outdoor activities that were put in place after the multiple collapses at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, they were unable to train outside for an entire year.

They would move from one indoor facility to another, and on days when they could only use the communal hall, players would crowd a small space with traditional Japanese tatami mats and play a game of ball.

But Endo says the experience has taught her to control the ball with precision and dribble in tight spaces. Although her team had to travel far to play games, she managed to persevere with the help of some of the same people who now continue to support her.

Despite the fond memories, it has also had its share of difficult times.

“There were days when I thought about quitting,” she said, recalling facing discrimination against Fukushima residents from players outside the prefecture and feeling frustrated that I was not able to play football freely.

She recovered during tough times from her dream of joining the Japanese women’s team, Nadeshiko Japan, who beat the odds in 2011 and brought joy to the tsunami-hit country.

Endo spent her middle and high school days with JFA Fukushima Academy, a player development academy that temporarily relocated its base to Shizuoka Prefecture after the earthquake.

The 20-year-old striker secured a spot in the women’s national team for the first time in November 2018 and is now playing with Japanese powerhouse Nippon TV Beleza.

Endo knows that losing is an important lesson in sport and in life. At 19 years old, she became the youngest player to feature in the World Cup 2019 squad, but felt the pain of an earlier-than-expected exit from the Round of 16 in France.

Now she is competing for one of only 18 locations on the list of the Tokyo Olympics, but she feels physically and mentally up to the challenge.

“Honestly (when I was first selected) I felt I had an excuse because I was the youngest player,” Endo said.

“But you wouldn’t live with a mindset like that. Even if you were younger, you couldn’t allow yourself to outrun the older players.

Nippon TV Beleza striker John Endo scores the opening goal in the Empress Cup Final against the Urawa Reds at Sangha Stadium in Kyoto, December 29, 2020 (Kyodo)

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