【Rediscover Paradise Okinawa by Corona Extra] Vol.2 Naozumi Tsuchiyama, a professional boxer from a prestigious school in Okinawa, next took on the challenge of creating a restaurant that would be a light for people.

Okinawa's tourism industry was severely affected by COVID-19. Did you know that the beer brand "Corona Extra" is providing full support to save it?

The content of the program is that the brand's budget will be used to pay in advance for vacant rooms at lodging facilities in Okinawa Prefecture, and the purchased rooms will be offered to consumers for the vacancies. (AlreadySpecial SiteThe campaign is now open at) In addition, we have interviewed four groups involved in tourism in Okinawa and are distributing their life-sized stories in a documentary movie.

HOUYHNHNM's will show a limited number of stories of the performers that were not included in the movie. We will follow their backgrounds and perspectives on life in a total of four installments. The second installment features Naozumi Tsuchiyama, a professional boxer from a prestigious school in Okinawa who has since run a restaurant in Okinawa.

A player with a unique background .

Mensore!" . Naozumi Tsuchiyama (a.k.a. Nao-san), who greeted us with a boyish smile during our interview, is a business owner who operates a wide range of businesses in Okinawa Prefecture, mainly restaurants. In fact, before running his own restaurant, he was a professional boxer who competed overseas.

Nao, who has been an all-around sportsman since he was a child, first encountered boxing when he was in high school. He started boxing for the simple reason that there was a gym in his neighborhood, and he was able to make full use of his physical abilities to achieve good results.

After his last tournament, he retired. Although he had temporarily distanced himself from boxing, he realized the importance of the sport until it was gone, and restarted boxing again. As he went around consulting with people involved in his quest to become a professional boxer, he was approached by Mr. Hiranaka of the prestigious Hiranaka Boxing School Gym in Okinawa, a man who is no stranger to the boxing world.

Okinawa , my second home.

. That was the first contact with Okinawa in my life. But the only memories I have of Okinawa at that time are painful boxing memories (laughs). He trained hard from early morning to late at night under Mr. Hiranaka. Thanks to his efforts, he made his debut as a professional boxer overseas.

While he continued to lead a boxing-centered lifestyle, changing his base of residence from the Philippines to the U.S. to Tokyo, his desire to return to Okinawa, his second hometown, grew stronger and stronger.

As he got older, his growth curve as an athlete slowed down, and it was time for him to "retire" for the second time in his life. He said, "If I was going to retire, I wanted to do it at the Hiranaka Boxing School Gym in Okinawa, under my mentor. He moved his base of living to Okinawa and ended his boxing career there.

After his retirement, Nao settled down in Okinawa. . This is where his third chapter began. He opened a seafood restaurant called "EL FARO," which means "lighthouse" in Spanish. The name means "lighthouse" in Spanish, and the restaurant has a terrace that evokes a harbor town. Visitors can enjoy the sunset while savoring the exotic cuisine.

On the wall of the store is the phrase "Don't wait for the storm to pass, dance in the rain. Simply put, it means, "Don't wait for the storm to pass, dance in the rain.

A style of fighting while thinking.

In Okinawa, a tourist city, there is probably no restaurant that was not affected by this COVID-19. As an example, his restaurant was also hit, but he was still positive.

Boxing is a sport where you have to win with just two fists, so you have to think about what you are doing to win," he said. Unlike his amateur days, in the professional world, where movements are tracked down to the tenth of a second, he has had to think more precisely about what moves he is good at, how to win, and what moves he is not suited for with his prosthetic leg.

The same goes for restaurants. During the period of self-restraint, they did not let this handicap deter them and remained positive, saying, "If we think hundreds of times harder than others about how to change this situation, we will surely win. Although he had to make a series of major management decisions, including measures against infection and the renewal of terrace seating, he said, "There was no difficulty in repeating trial and error. Even if I was wrong, I would just do it again. Because no matter how many times you fall down, there is no physical pain (laughs). ." He looked back positively.

Currently (as of October 2020), Kokusai Dori in Okinawa has not yet returned to the streets, but in contrast, the interior of EL FARO is crowded with customers enjoying food and drinks. As the name of the restaurant suggests, it shines brightly like a lighthouse that attracts people even in the darkest of nights.

Photo:_Yoshihiro Kato (ikism)