Hello everyone, I am Kawamitsu, Director of LFC.

Today we will be reporting on the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Shanghai, China.

This time, Japan was participating in the World Cup for the first time in 12 years and playing in an international tournament for the first time in 47 years with the United States, so I took advantage of this once-in-a-decade opportunity.

As for the games, we were able to watch Czech Republic vs. Japan, Turkey vs. Czech Republic, and USA vs.

As a result, Japan lost three games in the E group of the qualifying round, but they played a game that will make Japan stronger in the future.

The first thing that left an impression on me during my visit to China, other than the games, was a basketball court sponsored by the NBA and Under Armour when I was walking near my hotel. I realized that basketball is very popular in Shanghai, but I also realized that this kind of environment raises the level of basketball in the area.

The arena, the Shanghai Eastern Sports Center, which was the venue for the tournament, had a capacity of 15,000 people and reminded me of the NBA arenas I used to watch in the United States.

With the first part of the next FIBA tournament to be held in Okinawa, I look forward to Okinawa City becoming a basketball town like Shanghai.