Congratulatory Phone Call to Judoka TSUNODA Natsumi

On July 28, 2024, Prime Minister Kishida made a congratulatory phone call to Ms. TSUNODA Natsumi, an Olympic judoka who won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

In the congratulatory phone call, Prime Minister Kishida stated:

“Congratulations, Ms. Tsunoda! I am KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan.”

“We were all very much impressed by your excellent performance. Although this was your first time to participate in the Olympics, we were truly happy to see you prevail over one world-class opponent to another, clearly demonstrating the strength of “Tsunoda as a judoka of the world” and “Tsunoda as an expert at tomoe-nage.” I would very much like to congratulate you on this.”

“You are the first Japanese athlete to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, which is sure to have given much momentum to Team Japan. We are extremely grateful to you for impassionating and giving encouragement across Japan.”

“Although your rivals had completely studied you, you kept perfectly executing a tomoe-nage, one opponent after another. It was an exhilarating experience for us to see you win the matches and we are grateful to you for inspiring so many people.”

“I hope that you will build on this gold medal to seek an even better career as a judoka, but for the moment, you should rest and relish this honorable victory.”

“I hope that you will fully enjoy the joy of victory as you take a new step forward. Congratulations!”