Shosen Book Tower promoting UmeBooks

Tip from Mad Catz Japan. The 8th floor of Shosen Book Tower bookstore in Akihabara currently has a whole shelf of Daigo Umehara's related books. (Willpower to Keep Winning, Match Theory, Umehara Column, To Live Is To Game, Fighting Gamers, Tonari no Pro Gamer)

Cute girl reading Umehara book

A cute picture of Reiko Mihashi reading Daigo Umehara's book Shoubu Ron.

Willpower to Keep Winning reenters Amazon's top 10 bestsellers again

Daigo Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning has reentered Amazon Japan's top 10 bestsellers in overall Book category again (and it's currently out of stock). The Kindle version of his book is also back to the top of the bestselling products on Kindle Store. This repeated what happened in January.

His recent talk event at B&B bookstore is likely to be the cause. The event was reported on 3 websites.

Willpower to Keep Winning was ranked as the 7th bestselling nonfiction pocket book of the year 2012 on Amazon Japan.

Event reports: Umehara's talk show at B&B

Three websites posted an event report of Daigo Umehara's talk show at B&B bookstore.

- Famitsu
- 4Gamer.net
- IT Media

Notes
- Chikirin appeared with a mask.
- There were more than 60 participants.
- When he was a kid, Umehara had a bad relationship with his teacher because he didn't "have a reason to" study. But if there's an invitation for a lecture from the school he will gladly accept.
- What Umehara learnt when he was a kid is if you want people to really accept you then you have to win impressively, not just win. (He was physically strong as a kid. Friends cheered on him when he overcame another kid. But they didn't invite him for a trip to Disneyland. So he realized that he's not actually popular.)
- Umehara will quit playing (retire as pro gamer) if he feels he can't stay competitive.
- Chikirin bought the book Willpower to Keep Winning after seeing Umehara's Evo 2004 comeback video via a tweet. She was impressed by the content of the book and introduced it to her followers.

Umehara to have book talk at bookstore

It's announced that Daigo Umehara will have a book talk at B&B bookstore on March 29 (8PM-10PM). He and a famous blogger Chikirin will talk about Willpower to Keep Winning at the event. The entrance fee is 1,500 yen (get 1 free drink).

It was Chikirin who mentioned about Umehara's book on her blog and helped sending the book back to top 10 of Amazon Japan chart in January. She wrote 3 books and her Twitter has more than 94,000 followers.

Umehara Column: Ken no Maki already sold out on Amazon Japan

Daigo Umehara's new book "Umehara Column: Ken no Maki" is already out of stock on Amazon Japan after 2 days. You can still buy it now but will have to wait 1-3 weeks.

Umehara Column: Ken no Maki is a compilation of Umehara's column in Arcadia magazine since mid 2009, with additional new contents. The book was released on February 25.

Umehara Column: Ken no Maki cover revealed

The cover of Daigo Umehara's new book "Umehara Column: Ken no Maki" is now revealed. You can also check a sample page at Amazon Japan. The book will be released on February 25.

Umehara Column: Ken no Maki release date postponed

We just noticed that the release date of Daigo Umehara's Umehara Column: Ken no Maki was postponed to February 25. It's almost one month delay.

Willpower to Keep Winning reenters top 10, also tops Kindle chart on Amazon Japan

Daigo Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning has reentered top 10 on Amazon Japan's Bestsellers chart in overall Book category once again. It is staying at 6th place as of now.

On another chart, the Kindle version of the book is currently the best selling product on Amazon Japan's Kindle Store.

Willpower to Keep Winning is one of the best selling pocket books in 2012 on Amazon Japan.

Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning is one of the bestselling pocket books on Amazon Japan in 2012

Amazon Japan has revealed a big list of bestselling books of 2012 (between December 1, 2011, to November 30, 2012)  in various categories, and Daigo Umehara's book Willpower to Keep Winning is placed at 7th in shinsho* category.

*Shinsho (新書) is for non-fiction pocket books. They are 2 cm. longer than A6 paper.

The world's most famous Street Fighter player's semi-autobiography was released on April 2 this year. Due to its popularity, there was a shortage after release, and it was able to reach 3rd place on Amazon Japan's bestselling chart in overall Book category. The book has sold 32,000 copies as of October 22. The Kindle version was released on October 26.

Umehara's new book Umehara Column: Ken no Maki will be released next year in January.

Umehara Column in Arcadia gets compilation

As the fans already know, Daigo Umehara began his own column "Umehara Column" in monthly arcade gaming magazine Arcadia since 2009. Now it is revealed that the column is getting its own compilation.

The book called "Umehara Column Ken no Maki -Toushin ga Kimi ni Sazukeru Taisen Kakutou Game Jutsu-" (Umehara Column: The Scroll of Fist -God of Fighting teaches you the art of figting game-) that will be released on January 31, 2013, will have the contents from the past 2+ years plus some new contents supervised by Umehara himself.

The 112-page book will be sold for 998 yen. As usual, you can buy this book from Amazon Japan here.

Umehara appears on Chemistry's Douchin radio show

Daigo Umehara has just appeared as a guest on Inter FM (76.1 MHz) radio tonight. The show is called "Now what can I see?" and is hosted by Yoshikuni Douchin, a member of the band Chemistry.

Chemistry was very famous ten years ago. They had 6 singles and 3 albums in No.1 of the sales chart between 2001-2004.

One thing we learned from the show was Umehara's book Willpower to Keep Winning has now sold 32,000 copies (from 28,000 copies in May).

Umehara on Zai FX TV

Daigo Umehara appeared as a guest on Zai FX TV on October 15 (both Ustream and Niconico). The show is produced by Zai FX, the site about foreign exchange that previously had Umehara interviews (part 1, part 2).

Summary
- The MC was Hanako (a Zai FX staff, was Miss Keio 2008).
- Kouichi Nishihara (from an investment company) was also a guest.
- The other two don't know much about games, but they have read Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning.
- A good blend between Umehara's stories and FX.
- Umehara's father told him that he can do whatever (career), just be good in what he does.
- They also reviewed the Umehara vs. GamerBee match from Evo 2012.
- 21.8% of the viewers wanted to be a pro gamer (from the online poll).
- A staff told them to do Metsu Hadoken pose at the end.

Umehara gets his own mahjong manga

Daigo Umehara is turn into a manga (Japanese comic) story again! But this time it is HIS story!

The preview of the next issue of Kindai Mahjong Original that will be released next month on November 8 shows that it will feature "Umehara's Mahjong" story.

Umehara has turn to mahjong when he quitted fighting gamed half a decade ago. He then return with the release of Street Fighter IV in 2008 and recently said he will not return to the mahjong world. However, this manga seems to be an adaptation rather than biography.

From the preview, it acknowledges Umehara as the world's number one pro gamer and teases "What it takes for the man who keeps winning at fighting games to be able to keep winning at mahjong?" ("Keep Winning" has become a catchphrase after his book "Willpower to Keep Winning.") It also shows him drawing a mahjong tile in Mad Catz T-shirt.

The manga is drawn by Michiaki Kiyama.

Kindai Mahjong Original is a monthly manga magazine exclusively for mahjong stories. It is a spinoff of Kindai Mahjong (semimonthly) that has famous manga Akagi (that was later turn into anime).

Although this is the first time Umehara has his own manga about himself, he was already in manga in some form or another. His legendary Evo 2004 moment was in an anime. He also linked Mad Catz product to anime as well.

Umehara on Zai FX

ZAI FX, a portal site about foreign exchange, has posted an interview with Daigo Umehara with video. They also had a female staff invade his training room (not actually his room/house).

Quick summary
- The interview focuses on his mentality.
- The winners are not always the stronger.
- Losing is not important, it is how you lost that counts.
- Pro gamers are merely the people who know easier ways to win a game more than other people. They are not unbeatable.
- He does not pay attention to losing streak.
- He does not give up on gaming, but rather was made to, due to the lack of challenges and gamer is not an occupation at that time when he was 23 years old.
- He learns from failures and by observation.
- The article will continue next week.



They picked Umehara because fighting games and FX are the same in a sense. It uses knowledges and experiences to reduce the risk of betting, the rest is mentality. This is the reason Umehara's book "Willpower to Keep Winning" was recommended by some in FX industry.

Video of Umehara in Shibuya Message Festival 2012

A video of Daigo Umehara during talk show in Shibuya Message Festival 2012 was uploaded by the event staff tonight. This should be called a rare footage of Umehara talking one hour non-stop!

The talk show aimed toward young audience and the topic was "Dream." Five people from five careers were invited (fashion model, physician, chef, pro gamer, cosmetic company president).

Summary
- The MC is Chiasa Takou (a TV announcer).
- They talked about how Japanese games becomes world culture.
- Umehara said gamers get a lot of attention from media in some countries.
- The origin of "The Beast." He thinks someone called him that in a documentary then people followed.
- The differences of taste in games between Japan and foreign counties.
- Training competitive gaming.
- Evolution, its viewers and attendees.
- His experience in foreign counties.
- His childhood.
- He used to play 8 hours (from 3 pm to 11 pm) using just 100 yen (because he didn't lose).
- He thinks sponsors came too late, it should come since he's 17 (laugh). But he's still happy.
- They talked about the contents in his book.
- His retirement from gaming in 2008.
- His hobby (beside gaming) is finding a delicious place to eat.
- When asked about types of girl he likes: Cheerful and girly.
- There's a lot of girls in the audience, especially in front of the stage.
- There's a chance that he will participate Capcom's SF 25th anniversary tournament in Taiwan.
- He still has an unannounced Gunslinger Stratos activity and more.
- The MC accepted a few questions from the audience.

Umebook talk on Nico 2 summary

Info
- June 30, 21:00
- Umebook talk #1
- Umebook talk #2 announced
- Stream

- An introduction video of Daigo Umehara was showed at the beginning. It has never-before-seen pictures when he was a child, and also some daily life footages.
- Umehara appeared with an editor from the book publisher.
- As a child, he got 1000-1500 yen allowance a time (which is considered large amount) from his grandmother. He spent most of it in game centers.
- When asked what is his best place to eat ramen, Umehara said "Jangara." He ate at least 2,000 meals there. Then the website went down seconds later (overloaded).
- There was a video interview of Mr. T whom Umehara has a lot of respect since his mahjong era. Mr. T was very good at mahjong.
- Nico Nico sold his books with autograph again. They said the books (around 200 copies) sold out in 5 minutes.
- The moment he signed the autograph drew some hype from the viewers as usual. It's like some kind of ritual.
- Around 100 mails were sent to the show asking him questions.
- The show had over 29,000 attendees including timeshift.
- 87.9% of the viewers voted "This show is extremely good."

2nd Umebook talk coming this month

It is announced that Daigo Umehara will have his own special talk show on Nico Nico about his book again at the end of this month (date TBA). Fans can now submit their own questions regarding the contents of his book at this link.

Umehara's book "Willpower to Keep Winning" sold over 28,000 copies and was ranked 3rd place in Amazon Japan's Best Sellers in overall book category. The first book talk was held in April.

Umehara book gets introduction video from publisher

Shogakukan, the publisher of Daigo Umehara's book Willpower to Keep Winning, posted a book introduction video of the book yesterday.

The video is featured in the publisher's 90th anniversary site as one of the recommended choices.

Umehara in Taito Station Shinjuku Minamiguchi 20th anniversary event summary

Info
- Umehara participating Taito Station 20th anniversary event
- Date: May 19
- Time: 14:00
- Stream: Here
- Guest: Nuki, Kokujin, R (the commentator), Bon-chan
- Famitsu now posted a report of this event here.

Talk Show
- Umehara answered questions from fans.
- He chose tea color (Ryu) because other good players already have their own color.
- He chose Laputa (Castle in the Sky) over Nausicaa (of the Valley of the Wind). He actually watched both anime. (Beast Note: They're 26-28 year old classic anime.)
- TOPANGA League match against Mago: He aimed to use Hurricane Kick Fei Long's FADC.
- One game, one player, for living in an isolated island: SF2X and a Guile player. He likes fighting Guile.
- Chosen as SF3 teammate by Haitani: He confirmed the story that Momochi said. He added that he didn't want to compete because he stopped playing and he only good at fighting Yun. He said (joked?) that he cheered on Nuki to win Haitani so he won't have to go.


Exhibition Match (First to 7)

Bon-chan 3-7 Umehara

1. 2-1
2. 0-2
3. 1-2
4. 0-2
5. 1-2
6. 2-0
7. 2-0
8. 1-2 *intense
9. 0-2
10. 1-2

- They gave away Umehara's book "Willpower to Keep Winning" with autograph to the attendees by raffle.
- They had two surprise birthday cakes for Umehara, one from the game center and one from Kokujin.
- The female staff who brought out the cake in the picture below is TOPANGA's Negi.
- Umehara gave away a piece of cake to the attendees who won him at rock-paper-scissors.
- A little girl, an Umehara fan, gave him birthday present. Umehara gave her his cake.