Tomokazu Harimoto, whose birth name is Zhang Tianjie, was born in Shenyang in 1992, with a family background related to sports.
His father was once a player for the Liaoning provincial basketball team, while his mother was a volleyball player.
When Tomokazu Harimoto was six years old, his mother went to study in Japan, and since then the family began a frequent international commuting lifestyle.
Influenced by his family, Tomokazu Harimoto was exposed to Japanese culture from a young age and gained a preliminary understanding of the Japanese way of life.
As time passed, Tomokazu Harimoto quickly grew into adulthood.
He inherited his parents' athletic talents and showed outstanding basketball skills.
However, physical examinations showed that Tomokazu Harimoto's height growth had stagnated, making it difficult for him to reach the standard height for a professional player.
For the sake of their child's future, Tomokazu Harimoto's parents made the difficult decision to immigrate to Japan as a family.
At the age of 12, Tomokazu Harimoto came to Japan with his father and started a new life.
The family opened a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo Prefecture to make ends meet, while Tomokazu Harimoto was sent to a local basketball team, hoping for better development there.
Sure enough, with his outstanding talent, Tomokazu Harimoto soon stood out in the team, and his love and dedication to basketball also won the coach's appreciation.
However, Tomokazu Harimoto's nationality became a stumbling block for him to step onto a bigger stage.
Due to holding Chinese nationality, he failed to be selected for the Japanese national youth team three times.
To help their child achieve his dream, Tomokazu Harimoto's parents decided to naturalize the whole family to Japan, and Tomokazu Harimoto also changed his name to "Tomokazu Harimoto" to signify naturalization.
Thus, Tomokazu Harimoto's professional career finally took off.
In 2008, he successfully joined the Japanese national youth team and represented Japan in important events such as the Asian Youth Games and the Incheon Asian Games in the following years.
During his time at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tomokazu Harimoto became a key center forward for the team due to his excellent performance.
However, some of Tomokazu Harimoto's remarks sparked controversy domestically. In 2015, during an interview, he expressed his desire to defeat the Chinese team, causing a huge stir in China.
At the same time, some of Tomokazu Harimoto's behaviors on the court were also questioned, such as deliberately fouling Chinese players. Faced with criticism, Tomokazu Harimoto did not respond positively.
Afterwards, he explained in interviews that he chose to join the Japanese team because it was difficult to get opportunities to compete in China, while the development environment for athletes in Japan was more fair and just.
Until 2022, Tomokazu Harimoto attracted attention again, but by then his professional career had undergone some changes.
The former key center forward now only sat on the bench with limited playing time. He began to reflect, hoping to return to China in the future to work as a basketball coach.
Opinions on Tomokazu Harimoto's words and deeds vary.
Some are disappointed with his disrespectful remarks and arrogance, feeling that he has forgotten his roots. Others believe he is not qualified to provoke the Chinese men's basketball team.
Regardless, Tomokazu Harimoto's experience is worth China's reflection. As a professional athlete, he needs to break free from the constraints of nationality and pursue self-realization.
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