Ishikawa (center in the front row) punching air with Zen-Noh workers and officers (in Otemachi, Tokyo)
Kasumi Ishikawa, a professional table tennis player and a member of the table tennis club of National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH), made a visit at the ZEN-NOH office in Otemachi, Tokyo, on July 5 to express her firm commitment to win medals at the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, starting on August 5. Speaking in front of 100 ZEN-NOH workers and officers, she said, “Rice is the source of power for me.”
Masanobu Yoshinaga, senior executive vice president of ZEN-NOH, presented her a Japanese good luck flag with messages like “I look forward to seeing your powerful play” and “Be a star in Rio.” In return, Ishikawa send an autograph board with a handwritten message “I’ll win medals in Rio by playing aggressive games!” to ZEN-NOH.
Yoshinaga promised Ishikawa that ZEN-NOH will offer 100 bags of rice weighting 6 tons if she wins a medal. Then she smiled and replied, “I want double if I win a gold medal.”