Time with children is the best refreshment

　Usually, I am in charge of picking up and dropping off my children. All four of my children go to different schools, and I pick them up after practice and take them home.
　On my days off, I generally stay with my family. When the children are off from school, we go out as a family or take them to the park. I often take my children to the park because it refreshes me to see them having fun at the park. Since many games are held on Saturdays and Sundays and I am off on weekdays, my wife and I sometimes go out together when the children are not around. Since I am an athlete, I try to take good care of myself on my off-days so that my body does not have to work too hard.

Respect and appreciation! My wife and I tell each other how we feel at all times.

　Except for dropping off and picking up children, housework and childcare are basically done by those who notice. Changing diapers, for example. There are many things to do, but we have only one body. There is only so much I can do, so I bathe the children while my wife cooks. Also, when my wife is not sleeping well, I support her in various ways. Of course, the opposite is also true. We always talk about this.
　I am often away from home on expeditions, and sometimes I am not in Japan for long periods of time. During those times, my wife has a heavy workload. So, when I am home, I try to reduce her workload as much as possible. I take the children to the park partly because I have been exercising all my life and it is stressful for me if I don’t let the children exercise, but also because I want to reduce her workload as much as possible. My wife is very appreciative of my efforts, and I always try to express my respect and gratitude to her.

Mentality trained with each additional child.

　Raising four boys is quite a challenge, and the house is amazing every day, but I think I have gained strength, or mental stability, and both myself and my wife have become much better able to control our emotions. with our first and second children, I was much more frustrated. I had been able to do my conditioning and work with only myself to think about, but of course there were times when I couldn’t do as much as I wanted to and I would get stressed out. As the number of children increased from three to four, the difficulties increased, but I feel that we have also become stronger and more disciplined. I often hear people say, “I was raised by my children,” and I feel that each additional child has helped me to develop my mentality. If I had lived my life alone, I would certainly not be where I am today, and I am becoming more and more considerate of my wife.

Carve out your own path! Important things to tell children

　Life with children is fast-paced, and many things happen on a daily basis; with four of them, it’s hard to prepare for long-distance trips and such, and when we go out, I don’t want to inconvenience the people around us. However, children are not always easy to listen to, so I am very careful not to cause trouble for others.
　My child-rearing policy is to nag my children about how to greet people with a smile and to be thankful when they do something for me. Also, when the children fight, they say different things and sometimes lie. I am strict when I have to be strict with them, but basically I let them grow up in a relaxed manner. I have also grown up in a carefree environment, so I try to be open-minded.
　If I were to ask what kind of adults I want my children to become, I would say “as human beings. I want them to be able to greet people with a smile and a firm greeting, to always have a sense of gratitude, and to develop the ability to be self-reliant and to make their own way in the world.

The “ideal image of a Japanese boy” changed after living abroad.

　Italy, where I lived for a long time, is a “ladies first” country, and I had the impression that everything, including child rearing, was done by men, including the players in the same club. I had seen that women came first in everything, so my awareness in this area changed when I went to Italy. In Turkey, where I lived after that, there was a great deal of love for children, and everywhere I went with my children, everyone was loving and concerned about them. Whenever I had my children with me, people everywhere showed great love and concern for them.
　Until then, I grew up in the “Showa” era, where women did the housework and men went out to work, and this awareness remained strong even after I became an adult. However, my awareness changed when I went abroad, and I came to think that it is not necessary to divide roles, such as “women do housework and childcare, and men do work. I think the ideal Japanese man is one who is able to take care of both his work and his family. I am not perfect myself, and it may be impossible for me to do everything, but I think people will change if they have that awareness.

The secret is communication and positive transformation

　Even when I go abroad, I always keep in touch with my wife and we always call each other and talk about various things. Not everything is important, but we talk about trivial things and things that happened today. We talk every day at home after the children go to bed. Even though a couple has been together for a long time, they don’t know each other as well as they might think. It is quite dangerous to say, “I think this is how you think,” but it is not always the case. I think it is very important to communicate with each other by putting words into our mouths.
　In my family, my wife is definitely more positive than I am. Surprisingly, I tend to think more negatively than she does, and when I tell her about it, she converts it into something positive on her own, which is very helpful.
　We have never had a fight. If there is a problem, we talk and solve it. I do my best to do so. A couple of times before, my wife had written something she didn’t like about me on a piece of toilet paper and folded it into a triangle. She told me to flush it after reading it, which is interesting. I thought it was a good idea and thought it was cute (laughs).

The goal is for FC Tokyo to win the J-League championship and participate in its fifth World Cup!

　My two main goals in soccer are to win the J-League championship with FC Tokyo, a club I truly love and am grateful to the supporters for their support. I am very grateful to FC Tokyo, a club I love dearly, and to the supporters who support us. I also want to participate in my fifth World Cup. I am also enjoying myself. Toward that goal.

All parents raising children are friends!

　I just want to say to all the moms and dads out there raising kids, “Thanks for all your hard work!” . I am also in the process of having a child and doing my best both at work and at home, and I consider everyone who is in the same situation as me to be “colleagues”. My wife and I post daily updates on social networking sites, and when we read your comments, we are encouraged and happy, and in turn, we encourage you as well. I think that is a wonderful thing, and we want to share our thoughts and feelings with you. There are a lot of tough times ahead, but I would like to say, “Let’s encourage each other and do our best! I would like to tell them that.