Former Volleyball Team Japan Player Shunichiro Sato: “I Lost Everything” — Days of Remorse Since the Incident

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The story

A report has been published in which Shunichiro Sato (26), a former member of Japan’s national volleyball team, confesses that he “lost everything” following his arrest for violating the Cannabis Control Act. The case reportedly came to light after dried cannabis was found in a bag he left behind at a pachinko parlor in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo. On a 5ch thread (Geisports Sokuhou+), users traded takes on the dangers of cannabis, comparisons to tobacco and alcohol, the fairness of Japan’s strict drug laws, and questions about whether national team members undergo drug testing — opinions were split.

[Exclusive Confession, Part 1] Former Volleyball Team Japan Player Shunichiro Sato: “I Lost Everything” — Days of Remorse Since the Incident

Published 9/24 (Thu) 5:10 AM

Sports Nippon (Sponichi Annex)

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:00
Are we seriously sure everyone else was clean and only this guy wasn't?
3AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:02
Just go play volleyball in a country where it's legal already
10AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:06
It's not that he "lost" everything — he threw it all away himself
12AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:07
Everyone knew it was an illegal drug already…
Does weed even mess with your lung capacity or athletic performance?
19AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:15
Re: #12
Apparently it's actually way healthier for you than cigarettes
44AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:28
Re: #12
It's chemically nothing like meth — it doesn't fry your brain or anything. It's just banned for this vague "gateway drug" reasoning.
15AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:10
> He visited a pachinko parlor in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo with a few teammates,
> and dried cannabis was found in a bag he left behind at the store.

If he just hadn't pulled a blunder like that,
he probably never would've gotten caught
55AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:35
Re: #15
Can you even tell it's dried cannabis just by looking at it?
16AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:10
I wanna smoke weed too, so I'm transferring to a team in Thailand
18AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:12
Re: #16
They legalized it, problems piled up, and now they're cracking back down
23AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:16
What's Shunichi Kawai up to these days?
29AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:20
Re: #23
He's the president of the Japan Volleyball Association now
32AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:21
What would even push someone to try that stuff?

Was practice so brutal
he just wanted something to feel good for once?
33AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:22
Carrying weed around even during national team activities — that's flat-out addiction
35AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:22
I've lost something too — my hair


,彡⌒ ミ
(´・ω・`)  
/    ヽ
| | ・  ・ .| |
| |  .,,;,. | |
{ii| .i.っ |リ
j  / |  |
|  | | |
45AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:29
Go join Silicon Valley
(get it — "valley" and "volleyball" are both "barē" in Japanese)
46AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:29
Re: #19
Wait, seriously? (´・ω・`)
52AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:31
Re: #46
It's just less harmful than tobacco — saying it's actually "healthy" is a stretch
53AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:32
Re: #44
Oh, is that so (´・ω・`)
61AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:42
Re: #53
With meth, a fake substance plugs the mechanism that's supposed to stop excess dopamine release, and the receptor that has to absorb the fake stuff ends up damaged.
That said, there's also this ↓
"World First! Cannabis Scientifically Proven to Harm the Brain" – ResOU https://share.google/GgxxSuzhPc5jREBy3
54AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:32
And yet in some countries it's completely fine
56AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:35
Re: #54
Apparently that Silicon Valley pun Re: #45 made is next level
That's the kind of joke you can only pull off if you're actually cultured
67AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:47
Japan's being ridiculous, honestly
The punishment doesn't match the crime at all
Weed should be like a "get benched for smoking a cigarette" level offense
76AnonymousSep 24, 2026 09:54
Re: #67
The ridiculous one is whoever does it knowing full well it's against the law

Background and Key Points of This Discussion

A legal amendment in late 2023 extended penalties to cannabis “use” itself, not just possession, which changed the legal landscape here. In the thread, some pointed to overseas legalization and called Japan’s laws “too strict,” while others countered that “if it’s against the law, it’s on you” — opinions on whether the regulations are fair were split. Worth noting: no solid information about the Japan volleyball team’s drug-testing system actually appeared in the thread — it remains pure speculation. Health effects also drew contradictory claims, from “less harmful than tobacco” to “there’s research showing it damages the brain,” suggesting this is a field without a settled scientific consensus.

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuhou+) thread “[Volleyball] Former Volleyball Team Japan Player Shunichiro Sato: “I Lost Everything” — Days of Remorse Since the Incident.”

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