MINOBE Kazuyasu

Personal Information

Occupation Athlete, Office Worker

Languages Japanese

Higher education Politics - Hosei University: Tokyo, JPN

License number 15071987003

Club

Upcoming Events

Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? He began fencing at high school in Echizen, Japan. He initially took up foil, but switched to epee after starting university.

Why this sport? He was involved in karate for six years while he was in primary school, and played volleyball in middle school. He began fencing at high school following encouragement from his father.

Club / Team Nexus: Japan

Name of coach Oleksandr Gorbachuk [national], UKR

Handedness Left

International Debut

Year 2008

Competing for Japan

Tournament World Cup

Location Montreal, QC, CAN

General Interest

Nicknames Kazu (nexus-group.jp, 19 May 2015)

Most influential person in career His high school coach Katsuaki Moroe. (the-ans.jp, 17 Jan 2023)

Hero / Idol Japanese feudal lord Nobunaga Oda. (gunosy.com, 22 May 2019)

Injuries In March 2021 he sustained a hernia. He put off surgery until after the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Instagram profile, 17 Nov 2021, 10 Sep 2021)

He sustained injuries to his neck and his shoulders at the 2016 World Cup event in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (sankei.com, 15 Feb 2016)

Sporting philosophy / motto "Don't set limits for yourself." (the-ans.jp, 17 Jan 2023)

Milestones Along with Koki Kano, Masaru Yamada, and Satoru Uyama, he was part of the men's epee team that won Japan's first gold medal in any fencing discipline at the Olympic Games. They beat ROC in the final at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. (SportsDeskOnline, 09 Apr 2022; mainichi.jp, 30 Jul 2021)

He became the first fencer representing Japan to win a medal in men's individual epee at the world championships by claiming silver at the 2022 edition of the tournament in Cairo, Egypt. (SportsDeskOnline, 13 Jun 2023; the-ans.jp, 17 Jan 2023)

Ambitions To win individual and team gold in epee at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (prtimes.jp, 30 Jan 2024; nikkansports.com, 10 Aug 2021)

Other information ATHLETE REPRESENTATIVE
In August 2017 he was voted onto the International Fencing Federation [FIE] athletes' commission. He has also served as chair of the Japanese Fencing Federation athletes' committee. (prtimes.jp, 30 Jan 2024; fie.org, 04 Aug 2017)

AMBIDEXTROUS
He is naturally right-handed, but trained himself to fence left-handed. (hochi.news, 31 Jul 2021)