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)

Willpower to Keep Winning is still one of the bestselling pocketbooks on Amazon Japan in 2013

Daigo Umehara's semi-autobiography "Willpower to Keep Winning" is revealed to be one of the bestselling pocketbook of 2013 by Amazon Japan's bestsellers rankings.

• Bestselling Kindle book (e-book) of 2013 in pocketbook (nonfiction) category
• The 7th bestselling book (paper edition) of 2013 in pocketbook (nonfiction) category

Please note that the book was also the 7th bestselling pocketbook of 2012.

 

Willpower to Keep Winning sales reach 50k copies

It's revealed by Daigo Umehara himself yesterday at Battle Tour 2013 event in Fukuoka  that his book Willpower to Keep Winning has sold 50,000 copies already.

Willpower to Keep Winning was one of the best selling pocket books in 2012 on Amazon Japan and is also available in Kindle version.

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.

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 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 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.

Daigo Umehara book Famitsu interview: 28k copies sold, Ryu for Evo 2012

Famitsu yesterday finished posting 2-part interview with Daigo Umehara. The interview is about his book "Willpower to Keep Winning" which was sold more than 28,000 copies at the time.

Beast Note's summary is below.

Part 1
- He thought about releasing a book before, though this's actually the right timing.
- Some stories in his book he never told anyone, even persons who are really close to him.
- There's no childhood episode at first, but it's needed to tell readers why he's obsessed about games. This unseen part of his life allows him to tell what he kept in mind. To be able to show what you want to show is what makes originality of such a book.
- The book tells the stories of people in gaming world to the society, and also tells [the gamers who received bad treatments from society] that they're not alone.
- On reactions from his family after reading his book: "So this's what Daigo really thought." Although he and his family always have conversations, they never realized the feeling toward his older sister or some of his father's actions.
- He gets along well with his older sister. He said she's not only good at studying, but also singing and drawing.
- He still insists that he goes to game center 363 days a year. He takes 2 days off at the New Year.
- They talked about how Umehara became the boss of the class when he was a kid. That time, he was a transfer student and got into a fight about soccer's rule with the class leader. Umehara beat him, although he was wrong. Umehara believed that a goal doesn't count until the ball actually hit the net, even it crossed the line. He thought so from reading Captain Tsubasa manga. (Beast Note: The characters in the manga tend to score beautiful goals.)
- He hates losing, it makes him very patient. He doesn't cry in public since he was a kid. He still remembers when he was 5 years old and had chickenpox. The treatment at the hospital hurt so much but he didn't cry.
- When he was a 5th grader, he lost 30 times in a row to an old man's Blanka. He tried to win and he spent all his money. He had to walk back home because he has no money for a bus ride.
- He discovered that playing 6 hours a day is enough for him. You need time to think, not just playing aimlessly. He used to play more than 10 hours a day in the first year of being a pro.
- After becoming a pro, he actually wrote down what he discovered, whether it's gaming related or player's habit related.
- They talked about the differences between "objective and "purpose." He said if you just want to win, you probably stop training after a tournament or underestimate an opponent since your "objective" is to win. But "purpose" will keep you playing for years.
- He does have a small objective like how to improve winning rate against a certain player.
- They talked about when he tried really hard to win 4 of Capcom's official national tournaments (individual) in a row (1998, 2000, 2000, 2002). He only finished in top 8 in the Capcom vs. SNK 2 tournament in 2002. He was so disappointed he ate nothing but udon (plain noodle), lost 5 kilograms of weight, and didn't go to the game center for half a year.
- His top 3 most nervous moments: The tournament above (2002), Evo 2006 (he didn't prepare himself), Guilty Gear team tournament in Tougeki 2004
- He doesn't get extreme nervous in a tournament like that anymore. But he still feels nervous in an interview on mainstream media, and especially in a live show.
- It's said that he's a skilled Mahjong player. But he won't go back to Mahjong world because it's hard to apply his abilities, and it'll only make a news topic.
- One time, he used to learn Mahjong by standing behind and watch a skilled Mahjong player play for 10 hours.

Part 2
- On being an ideal pro gamer: In short, "have pride." Umehara said pro gamer should feel angry inside when someone said "You're weak."
- He doesn't play new games just because he's a pro. If he thinks it's not fun then he won't play.
- He will participate just SSF4AE2012 tournament in Evo 2012 "for now" (it means he probably play other games, too.)
- He will use Ryu in Evo 2012. He said he tried Yun and Akuma, but he finally chose Ryu.
- He said year 2012 is about SF4 and Gunslinger Stratos for him.
- When asked about doing something new outside gaming: He has no plan right now. But it's probably a good idea if "[the community] is fine without me" time comes. He thinks age doesn't matter to experience new things. (He added that his father also likes to try new things. He said that his father wants to live another 100 years. (laugh))
- Without games: When he was a kid, he liked something big like dinosaurs so he wanted to be a space researcher. (universe is big)
- He eats ramen (noodle) really fast. The trick is he's good at eating hot food so he's faster at eating hot soup. (He said probably 4 times faster than women.)

Umehara book reaches Amazon top 3 bestsellers

Maybe due to his book talk on Nico Nico, Daigo Umehara's book Willpower to Keep Winning moved up to 3rd place on Amazon Japan's Best Sellers Rank in overall book category yesterday.

The book is still in shortage and the additional printing is on the way.

Umehara book talk on Nico summary

Info
- Click on Umebook label to see all the related posts
- The stream

Summary
- He came with editor-in-chief of Shogakukan, the publisher of his book.
- The book he signs on the show will be sold online. Nico first planned to sell only 50 copies. It looks like they made a mistake by selling it before the show, and it was sold out since March 31. So they sold more, but this time not before the show.
- The show had around 26,000 attendees and 20,000 comments.
- 88.9% of the viewers rated this show "Extremely good."

Kana Ueda blogs Umebook

Yesterday, voice actress Kana Ueda wrote about Daigo Umehara's book on her blog.

The blog post, with the same title as the book, is dedicated to Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning. It is basically a book review, a very positive one.

Ueda and Umehara are working together on promoting Square Enix's Gunslinger Stratos. She has the book shortly after the release.

The popular voice actress is a gamer and a mahjong player herself. She voiced the protagonist in a mahjong anime and occasionally appears in a mahjong game event. She even said that if she is a man, she would have called Umehara "Aniki" (big bro)!

Umehara spent a lot of time playing mahjong when he quit fighting games in 2008.