This is a beautiful card and love the tategaki! Nana Fujimoto @nanafujimoto33 -
1. Nana is the eldest of the Fujimoto sisters, and she is a Japanese goalie from Sapporo.
2. Her father, Kenji, was not allowed to play hockey when growing up, and he did not want his daughters to miss out on the game as children like he did. Nana started playing hockey at the age of 6 as a skater. She was eventually placed as a goalie at 10 because she was deemed not skilled enough for the other positions.
3. She joined Team Japan at 16, and she balanced her studies with hockey, usually finishing in the top percentile of her class. When she earned a graduate degree in psychology from @sgu_global in 2009, she decided to quit playing hockey to work as a psychotherapist.
4. With the 2014 Olympics approaching, Nana was contacted by Team Japan and convinced to return to hockey. At the 2015 and 2018 Olympics, Nana represented Team Japan as the starting goalie. She also tended the net in 6 World Championships (winning 3 Gold medals), and she was named Best Goalie of the 2015 IIHF Women's World Championships after leading Japan to their first ever win over Sweden in a 4-3 shootout victory. Her international success led to a pro contract offer from the NWHL’s New York Riveters, where she was the starting goalie for the inaugural season and participated in the All-Star game. Nana’s commitment to Team Japan ended her North American pro career after one season.
5. Since her time with the Riveters, Nana has been a formidable presence in net for Japan’s women’s team, and she spent last season playing pro in Sweden with @farjestadbkdam with her sister, @57_nachi. Given her success, Nana will no doubt always be remembered as one of the great trailblazers of women’s hockey in Japan.