Education
Tokai University.
國母 和宏
Tokai University.
He competed at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics and 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, representing Japan. Kokubo passed the pro test as early as at the age of 11. He represented Japan in Turin Olympics and Vancouver Olympics, and had consecutive wins in United States Open Halfpipe in 2010 and 2011.
He mostly stays in the United States in snowboarding seasons for competitions and video shooting sessions while mentoring and coaching aspiring young snowboarders including Ayumu Hirano, the 15-year-old silver medalist of 2014 winter Olympics from his home country, Japan.
He is assigned as the official technical coach to the Japanese national snowboarding team since August 2013. Kokubo is known to be the mentor to Ayumu Hirano, a Japanese silver medalist in Halfpipe at 2014 Winter Olympics, since 2011.
He was officially assigned as the technical coach to the Japanese snowboarding team for Sochi Winter Olympics, leading Ayumu Hirano and Taku Hiraoka to the Silver and Bronze medals respectively. He stated, “I was speechless, and for the first time since I was a kid, I sat and cried as we watched the news reports.” “I knew immediately that I wanted to help my country and like so many people, I didn’t know how.
Kokubo was criticized for his style of dress in February 9, 2010 after he was seen at the Narita International Airport wearing his Olympic team uniform with his shirt untucked, his trousers hanging low, and his tie loosened.
Next day, when asked by the press, Kokubo said he was sorry about his dress, but the microphone caught Kokubo murmuring in a low voice "shut up". Subsequently, he was barred from the Olympic opening ceremony. This caused a controversy in Japan regarding whether an Olympian should represent the country not only in his/her athletic effort but also in cultural contexts.
He won multiple medals in international halfpipe and bigair events, including the silver in United States Open Halfpipe at the age of 14. Kokubo won his second United States OPEN gold at the age of 22 in March 2011, right after his homecountry Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and following Tsunami. In his winning interview, he confessed how he was saddened by the incident, and hoped for good for his fellow country men: "I talked to my family and everybody is okay, but I have some friends I still haven"t been able to contact." "I hope my win brings a little joy and happiness to Japan." In the following April, he released a press note from JEARS (Japan Earthquake Rescue and Support) where he announced an offer of support to his country.
