On February 1st, the KARATE 2020 Ambassador’s Inaugural Press Conference was held in Tokyo Midtown.
Karate was under consideration for inclusion as an official Olympics event.
The three ambassadors for the conference were the current world champion, Usami rika, who is also active in the media; Iwata Juri from the School of Medicine, Keio University and who also serves as Yokohama Sightseeing Goodwill Ambassador; and Takano Mahiro, two-time champion of the All-Japan boys and girls Karate Championships, whose performances on YouTube have gained a lot of attention.
In addition, official wear, which was designed collaboratively, graciously modeled by Uekusa Ayumi (Teikyo University), was also presented at the conference.
Usami rika and Takano Mahiro performed concurrently at the conference, which gained the attention of the karate world, the press, and even members of the public who are unfamiliar with karate. Their performances were greeted with great applause from the audience.
“I look forward to making my contribution as an ambassador so that karate will one day be included as an Olympics event,” commented Usami rika. “I was so happy that even people who are unfamiliar with karate stopped to watch us in today’s conference.”
Photographs of the Ambassadors’ Inaugural Press Conference can be viewed on the following link.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jkf-press-conference-2015-02-01
