How Captain Tsubasa and other sports mangas have influenced Japanese sports

1： ：禿の月φ 2013/10/11 18:40:18

(Summarized)
The Japanese comic world has indeed played a major role in promoting sports, and its influence is boundless. Many people truly believe that Captain Tsubasa, among others, has helped enlighten the public and develop what was then a sport that was relatively minor in Japan -- soccer.

Japanese sports comics are generally divided into two, "ball games" and "combative sports", with the mangas Kyojin no Hoshi (baseball) and Ashita no Joe (boxing) starting the trend.

Japan has a lot of baseball and soccer comics, followed by tennis with titles such as Aozora Standby, Prince of Tennis and Sho no Densetsu. These led to the emergence of tennis players such as Shuzo Matsuoka, Kimiko Date-Krumm, and Kei Nishikori.
For badminton, there's Ichiban!!, Yamato no hane, and Smash!
Volleyball has Perfect Match and Attack No.1, while basketball not only has Slam Dunk, but also HI5, DRAGON JAM, and BUZZER BEATER.

Source: http://www.recordchina.co.jp/group.php?groupid=82244

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Kei Nishikori (tennis) to marry Honami Tsuboi (gymnastics)!!?

1： 禿の月φ ★ 2013/10/01(火) 00:17:29.46 ID:???P

A sportswriter reports: "There's this woman who's always seen walking a few steps away from Kei Nishikori (23) when he's playing overseas. She goes with him and takes care of his personal life".

This "personal manager" is Honami Tsuboi (24), apparently a former member of Japan's national rhythmic gymnastics team "Fairy Japan". The two were together at the Beijing Olympics 5 years ago but hardly talked to each other back then. They started dating 3 years ago.

"Nishikori and Tsuboi had dinner together with a common friend, and immediately hit it off." - (sports writer)

Their relationship deepened further when Nishikori was diagnosed with kidney stones. 
"Nishikori had to watch his diet so that the situation wouldn't worsen. Tsuboi-san studied nutritional science and wanted Nishikori, who spends most of each year abroad, to eat 'home-cooked food' all the time." - (tennis related staff)

Immediately after they began dating, Nishikori took her to his hometown in Matsue to meet his parents. She was apparently taught by his mom there the secret to the 'taste' of the Nishikori family.

"Nishikori, who rarely gets to visit his hometown, was able to take Tsuboi-san along with him in the latter part of September. He then announced to his relatives at the gathering that he would like to get married to her."

Source: http://jisin.jp/news/2604/6357/

http://www.tennis-navi.jp/news/images/IMG_2208s.JPG