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Hirotaka Kanai crossed the world to play football. Now he faces a bittersweet graduation.

Ruby Hampton, Staff Writer

Updated: Jan 23

Hirotaka Kanai playing in a Willamette football game. Photo provided by Kanai.
Hirotaka Kanai playing in a Willamette football game. Photo provided by Kanai.

For many students here at Willamette, sports are a way to stay rooted and healthy through their college years. For Hirotaka Kanai (ʼ25), a graduating senior, playing college football was the opportunity of a lifetime. Now, on the verge of graduation, he reflects on a college career marked by personal and team struggle.


Born in Tokyo, Japan, a young Kanai didn’t know much about the gem that is American football. His father, who was a professional cameraman, showed him a movie that would change the course of Kanai’s life forever: the 2004 film “Friday Night Lights.”


“Before I watched the movie, I didn’t even know what football was,” Kanai said. “After watching … I told my dad I had to play high school football.” Kanai set out to find a school in America that would help launch his football career. He moved to Santa Cruz, California his senior year, playing for the Aptos High School Mariners. His rushing touchdown against San Benito High School in the opening round of the 2019 Central Coast Section Division III playoffs helped the Mariners reach the state semifinals.


Kanai explained, “I feel like I had nothing to lose. I did everything I could do before practice, at practice and after practice. As a result, I became a starter and played under the Friday night lights, which has always been my biggest dream. I was nervous, but I enjoyed playing football and I think that is my biggest motivator to keep playing.” He was selected to play for the second all-league team after his achievements during the season, which led Willamette football recruiters to his email inbox.


Kanai's college career started off strong. He worked tirelessly on and off the field to improve his gameplay and showed up to the lifts with a positive attitude that extended onto the field. “It was amazing, just amazing. You know, I had nothing to lose, so I knew I had to do everything that I could do and work hard everyday,” Kanai said. His hard work paid off. As a first-year, he started on the field and earned plenty of playing time. Then, tragedy struck. 


During a spring off season training, a routine squat would end up benching him for the rest of his college career. “After I got injured, I watched my fellow 2025 defenders get better and better, and I felt stuck in one place and left behind.” Feeling discouraged and lost without football, Kanai tried his best to get well and play again. During his senior year, a doctor told him the worst possible news: he wouldn’t be able to play football anymore.


“It was the toughest moment of my life​,” Kanai expressed. “The amount of stress was unbelievable, but at the same time I found so many things outside of football, which was a pretty beautiful thing. I could feel a small happiness while still chasing big dream.” 


It’s not a secret that Willamette’s football team has been in a conference game winning drought since 2016. Nonetheless, Kanai speaks highly of the coaching staff and their hands-on approach to making him feel seen and heard even when not physically on the field. “They are my coaches, but at the same time they feel like my second parents,” Kanai said. A sports team’s morale can be a tricky balancing act between wanting to push yourself and others for the benefit of the win and still remembering the real reason why you play: the love of football. 


The seniors this year, who never achieved a conference victory, contemplate an accusation that because of the consistent conference losses, the team has become used to losing. When asked about this, Kanai said, “That is a good point. I feel like because I came from a really competitive high school team, I definitely see a difference between a winning and losing team. I don’t think it’s only the seniors, though. If one bad play happens, the whole team’s atmosphere goes down. I don’t like losing. No one likes losing.”  


“Seven or eight years ago I was this skinny Japanese boy watching “Friday Night Lights,” and now I am playing college football in the U.S. My life is like a movie.” Kanai looks back on his time at Willamette fondly and has high hopes for the future of the Bearcats football program. 


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