Kentaro Asahi
Native name朝日 健太郎
OfficeMember of the House of Councillors
ConstituencyTokyo at-large
Term start26 July 2016
PredecessorKota Matsuda
Birth date19 September 1975 (age 50)
Birth placeKita-ku, Kumamoto, Japan
Alma materHosei University
Waseda University
PartyLiberal Democratic
Kentaro Asahi
Height1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight83 kg (183 lb)
CurrentteammateKatsuhiro Shiratori
TeammatesKoichi Nishimura
Satoshi Watanabe
Tours (points)25 (295)
24 (605)
Medaltemplates-expandyes
Medaltemplates-titleMedal record

Kentaro Asahi (朝日健太郎, Asahi Kentarō, born September 19, 1975) is a Japanese professional beach volleyball player and politician. He was born in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan.

Asahi played as a center for the Japan men's national volleyball team in the 1990s. He ended up in sixteenth place at the 1998 World Championship, and later on started a career in beach volleyball. Asahi and teammate Katsuhiro Shiratori represented Japan in beach volleyball at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.[1]

Asahi began to work for the IT company Forval Corporation in 2011 through a Japanese Olympic Committee athlete hiring program.[2]

In July 2016, Asahi was elected as a member of the House of Councillors representing the Tokyo at-large district for the Liberal Democratic Party.[3]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Kentaro Asahi". 2012 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original on 2013-04-02. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  2. ^ "Japan's athlete hiring program finding more success as 2020 Olympics approach". The Japan Times. Jiji. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  3. ^ "朝日健太郎氏、当選 自民・東京 元ビーチバレー代表". Asahi Shimbun. 11 July 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.