Yo so I probably shouldn’t be the one to make this topic bc I’m still newish or w/e but I didn’t know if anyone else would make it and I feel like people should know…so buckle up!
For those of you that don’t know, Takahiko Hasegawa (Taka) [Taka’s IG] was banned from attending the WYYC2023 and alleges they have done nothing wrong to warrant such a drastic action by the IYYF, a nonprofit organization and the organizer of the WYYC2023.
Taka is a Japanese National Yo-Yo Master and owner of the Spingear store, located in Japan. Taka also alleged that this banning has to do with a feud/business rivalry between Spingear and Rewind. Rewind is partially run by Hironori Mii and Hironori is one of the three members that make up the IYYF board of directors.
We have not heard a statement about the banning from the IYYF so at this point, we can only speculate based on what Taka alleges, and the fact that Taka is indeed, banned. I would like to hear some sort of a statement from the IYYF. If this banning is warranted, please let us know.
Speculatively, it appears that Hiro has used a position of power to unjustly ban a business rival and that is corruption. To ban someone as historically important and well respected as Taka without reason, totally goes against the mission statement of the IYYF and appears just kinda sketchy and lame.
It’s a bummer that this is a narrative for the WYYC2023 and I hope we can hear from the IYYF (@unklesteve ) to clarify the situation. I do believe that if there is corruption, people should know about it, so I’m making this topic. Sorry for the bad juju Steve and I think it was insanely sick that you caught that suicide on-stage and blindfolded.
Would super appreciate you not “speculatively” accusing us of corruption since you admittedly have no actual detail about what’s happened either from Taka or the IYYF.
It’s worth noting that lots of unpleasant crap happens behind-the-scenes in yoyoing, and hiding it from people isn’t always a conspiracy; usually it’s to try and gracefully offer the problematic parties the opportunity to walk away from the situation without drama and with their reputation intact. Immediately calling it ill-intent and “corruption” assumes an awful lot and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.
That would defeat the whole purpose of “usually it’s to try and gracefully offer the problematic parties the opportunity to walk away from the situation without drama and with their reputation intact”, wouldn’t it?
Not trying to get snippy with anyone but considering that Taka already deleted all mention of this from his Instagram it’s clear he realized that there’s zero good to come from a public discussion of this, which is exactly what happened anyway.
I tried to go out of my way to give y’all the benefit of the doubt. I tried saying allegedly and acknowledging this is speculation. I wasn’t like, “yo this is corruption.” Blame Taka for putting it on IG. Look forward to seeing that statement and deciding how I feel about the whole thing.
I don’t know how we could know why he posted that and then deleted it. He’s still got the banned profile set up so he’s still putting it out there. Maybe he just didn’t want to deal with the bs.
JeiCheetah
(J̵̡̥̦̳̗͎̤̯̟͓̞͔͔̻́͛͐̒͋̔̈́͂̃͝ͅͅ E I H W Δ N̸̢̢̡͙͖̝̩̟͎̹̻͔̳͕̙̗̈̆̆͋̈́͛̀̑̒̂̀̈́̇̚͘͠ͅ)
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Considering all the contributions Taka has done for yoyoing literally for over 25 years, and the fact that the scene in Japan would not be what it is today without his influence and work, I’m definitely needing to see a full statement as to why this happened.
Taka is not some random person in the yoyo world, this is literally banning one of the most influencial and big community influences we’ve ever had.
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JeiCheetah
(J̵̡̥̦̳̗͎̤̯̟͓̞͔͔̻́͛͐̒͋̔̈́͂̃͝ͅͅ E I H W Δ N̸̢̢̡͙͖̝̩̟͎̹̻͔̳͕̙̗̈̆̆͋̈́͛̀̑̒̂̀̈́̇̚͘͠ͅ)
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Hoping we hear something soon. Obviously worlds is happening in full swing now, but it’s super sad to see what has happened and that there couldn’t be something worked out
Pretty sure that there will be a statement soon after worlds. Steve will be bussy enogh running the contest right now. Guess the blog post was to ease his mind? I think everybody should chill a little. It’s easy to criticize/bash someone without knowing what happened. Same story as this whole music thing before worlds.
Writing a personal blog post is a hell of a lot easier and quicker than crafting a statement about why a VERY respected, long-time figure in the community is banned from the sport’s biggest event, that will also likely be scrutinized and picked apart by people regardless of whether he deserved it or not. Steve is also not the only person in charge of this, involved in this decision, or situation. This is super easy to see man, you GOTTA relax.
Well, were it not for the community speaking up about the music rules, those might have taken effect and we would have had a much worse worlds. Or maybe they would have changed it without people speaking up. Who knows?
I agree that we most likely won’t get a statement before world ends and I’d like to spend my energy enjoying the final day as well. This is my first time following the worlds competition and all in all, it has been really fun! Production is fantastic and it shows how great Yoyo can look when it’s presented well! Eventually we’ll find out what happened and I can wait until then.
