Episode 90: The Rotary Lecture
June 16, 2026
I received a request from Dr. Takashi Fuke, the former ring doctor for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
"Let me double-check my schedule," I replied, but at that exact moment, I was right in the middle of a whirlwind of chaotic days. There was barely any open slot on my calendar. I told him I could manage if he didn't mind a date a little further out, and so it was set for Friday, June 8th.
The host of this lecture was the Tokyo West Rotary Club. It is a gathering of members who are highly dedicated to social and community service. On the day of the lecture, I had the privilege of speaking with many of them. Some even told me, "I went to your Tokyo Dome show!" which warmed my heart... but that cozy feeling was short-lived, as I suddenly found myself wrapped in a very unusual kind of tension.
Why? Because looking around at the seats nearby, and looking out once again from the vantage point of the stage... out of every single person inside that venue, I was the youngest one there (laughs).
Man, talk about a tough spot. If I had to express the mathematical probability of a young upstart's words actually reaching the hearts of these lifelong veterans of society, it would probably be around 2%, wouldn't it? Hahaha.
However—"An away game is my true home turf." This kind of environment actually fires me up all the more.
After being introduced by the master of ceremonies, it was finally time to kick off the lecture. I did my self-introduction, dropped a light opening joke to grab their attention, and then spoke passionately during the main segment. Before I knew it, my time was up.
During the 30-minute speech, I received massive rounds of applause exactly three times. Doesn't that mean I managed to say something profoundly inspiring once every 10 minutes? Honestly, this might be worthy of a pay raise.
At the very end, along with my closing remarks, I gave a talk packed to the brim with the charms of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and made a fierce closing pitch: "Please, you must come see us live at the venue!"
I probably should have mentioned this at the beginning, but the title of this particular lecture was "The Ace and The President"—a pretty heavily seasoned title, if I do say so myself (laughs).
By the way, the actual core content was about how the view you see as "The Ace" is completely different from the scenery you look at as "The President." Wow... that's incredibly educational, isn't it?