Many soccer fans may have heard of Kaoru Mitaka and Bea Tanaka, a pair of former classmates who set a unanimous ambition - to win for their country - during their youthful years at Kawasaki Municipal Heronuma Elementary School. On this special day on Monday, this reporter visited their alma mater and witnessed the inspiring banner on the lintel, which reads Japan's national football team.
Kawasaki City Heronuma Elementary School is a short 10-minute walk from Heronuma Station. Although the school had held a sports festival last week, today was a holiday and the campus was empty, and I couldn't see any training on the field. However, the flag in front of the school with the names of Kaoru Mitaka and Bea Tanaka and the slogan "From Heronuma to the world, the representative of Japan" is still fluttering in the wind.
Against All Odds Spain
Kaoru Mitaka and Bea Tanaka spent their childhood in Heronuma and finished their studies at this elementary school. Last May, in an interview with a Japanese TV station, they revealed the soccer dreams they recorded in their graduation book that year: words like love for soccer, desire to become a professional player, to be a representative of Japan, and to be the best in the world. Surprisingly, just half a year later, they became the talk of the town when, together, they contributed goals to Japan's World Cup campaign, helping the team turn back Spain and advance to the World Cup.
