Roll Model

ROLL MODEL

IN WESTERN TOKYO'S Koganei-shi area, Shinto priest Oosawa Harutaka's Japanese garden is bathed in splendid sunlight. As are several of his motorcycles, a Suzuki Hayabusa and Honda XR250 among them.

“Our family has been living on this land for 1000 years,” reflects Harutaka. “The temple has always been here. It was for our personal use, for prosperity, to attract good harvest.” Harutaka found an additional application: “Japanese high schools during my time did not allow students to take their motorcycle license test or even own a bike,” he says. “So I learned to ride in the temple garden.” When he turned 18, he decided to go for the “allcapacity” permit. It was no mean feat, as it took him 18 attempts in three months to pass Japan’s notoriously difficult tiered license test.

“Getting the license was very difficult; the examiners were ruthless,” he recalls. “You could get knocked back for the tiniest mistake. When I finally passed, it felt like I had won the MotoGP championship!” Where did Shinto priesthood come in? “I was fresh out of university, where I graduated in economics,” says Harutaka. “But I wasn’t sure what to do. My father started talking career and I replied,

‘Paris-Dakar!’”

Although Harutaka’s passion was clear, his father was not happy about his son’s grand plan and advised him to embrace Shinto priesthood instead. Harutaka honored his father’s wishes and studied Shinto history, culture and traditions in Tokyo. He became a priest, but he never gave up his childhood passion for motorcycles.

So even after being ordained, he kept on riding. “After university, I worked in a temple located in the Tochigi prefecture in northern Tokyo,” he says. “It was nice to go to temple every day via the Ohira mountain roads on a Kawasaki ZX-9R.”

Oosawa-san made his first big

bike getaway at the age of 20 on his father’s Honda CB750. His most memorable trip—this time on a Suzuki SV650-was a twoweek, 2500-mile loop in France, departing from Paris. Now he dreams of riding from Los Angeles to New York. Through all of his travels, the encounters he made with helpful, friendly people along the way and even the mere fraternity of bikers touched him deeply and will remain with him forever. Yes, Oosawa-san’s passion for motorcycling is limitless. It seems the bikerpriest has found his way.

-Laurent Benchana/ Nippon News