The very first time I “found” basketball was when I was still in grade school. I immediately got immersed in the sport and went on to play on the junior high team. With the SLAM DUNK comic boom hitting kids and grownups everywhere in Japan, I got endlessly involved in basketball.

Then came the 90’s. An era with so many milestones—from Air Jordan, the Dream Team, Bulls’ three peat, to contemporary black culture and then on to hip hop. It was so easy to get swept away by great moments of the African-American culture.

In high school, I came in contact with streetball and dove right into its amazing community. By experiencing the free street style, I was deep in culture shock. There wasn’t a day that passed without playing a game or two. I didn’t know much then, but I was so amazed by its original style. Everything about it was just so cool.

After graduating from college, my enthusiasm never ceased and everything I thought or did eventually got linked to basketball. When I looked around, I was naturally surrounded by basketball culture everywhere, bonding with many great friends who also shared similar mindsets.

Ever since then, I have been seriously thinking about what to do to spread the basketball culture. My prayers integrated empathy within the community, and the environment surrounding the sport started to change. The streetball scene scaled up to form a professional league nationwide. All the players in the league were the ones who kept on believing—that basketball will grow to be a major sport in Japan one day.

In 2014, I was greatly blessed with the opportunity to be in charge of ABOVE magazine in Tokyo, the city to host the 2020 Olympic Games. After three years, we have come far to start-up a new basketball media.

To communicate the true attraction of the sport, and to bring Japan’s basketball scene to a whole new level, I decided to name it “FLY.”

I dedicate “FLY” to all of you who can’t stop loving basketball.

March 7, 2017
Chief editor : Rintaro Akimoto