Japan: eSports world champion awarded by university

In Japan, it is by no means the norm for individuals to be recognized by domestic universities for private activities. It is therefore more than astonishing that a student has just been recognized for his outstanding achievements in the field of eSports, by none other than the Tokushima University Graduate School of Medical Science. The lucky one is called Masato Ohnishi and comes from Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture. He is 26 years old and is currently a PhD student at the university. In his sixth year he is already studying medicine there, and although his national exam is due in the near future, he still finds time for video games.

eSports world champion wants to devote himself to sick players as a psychologist

It's not just the popular slots in online casinos or video games that Masato Ohnishi is playing. On the contrary. The 26-year-old is one of the best eSport athletes in the world. Just recently he won the Open World Finals 2019/2020 in eFootball under the pseudonym madakanachappy, which are played in the Konami game “Winning Eleven”. In his home country, he had already caused a sensation by securing a regular place in the national team out of nowhere. It is definitely not easy. After all, “Winning Eleven” is right at the top of the ranking of the most popular video soccer games and the number of players is overwhelming. After being so successful in Japan, Masato Ohnishi made it into the World Championship and even made it into the top three finalists in Asia. This was followed in August of this year by the semi-final against his Brazilian opponent MayconDouglas99 and then the final against Akbarpaudie from Indonesia.



He also defeated him and was able to take home the world champion trophy. The 26-year-old has now been officially recognized by his university for this success. At the ceremony, he announced that he would not defend his title in the near future because he wanted to retire from eSports - at least from professional eSports - in order to be able to concentrate fully on his examination and on his medical work . However, he would also like to use his experience as an eSportsman as a doctor. He plans to go into psychology and focus there on the subject of gambling addiction. He also defeated him and was able to take home the world champion trophy.




The 26-year-old has now been officially recognized by his university for this success. At the ceremony, he announced that he would not defend his title in the near future because he wanted to retire from eSports - at least from professional eSports - in order to be able to concentrate fully on his examination and on his medical work . However, he would also like to use his experience as an eSportsman as a doctor. He plans to go into psychology and focus there on the subject of gambling addiction. He also defeated him and was able to take home the world champion trophy. The 26-year-old has now been officially recognized by his university for this success. At the ceremony, he announced that he would not defend his title in the near future because he wanted to retire from eSports - at least from professional eSports - in order to be able to concentrate fully on his examination and on his medical work.

However, he would also like to use his experience as an eSportsman as a doctor. He plans to go into psychology and focus there on the subject of gambling addiction. that he will not defend his title in the near future, because he wants to withdraw from eSports - at least from professional eSports - in order to be able to concentrate fully on his examination and on his medical work. However, he would also like to use his experience as an eSportsman as a doctor. He plans to go into psychology and focus there on the subject of gambling addiction. that he will not defend his title in the near future, because he wants to withdraw from eSports - at least from professional eSports - in order to be able to concentrate fully on his examination and on his medical work. However, he would also like to use his experience as an eSportsman as a doctor. He plans to go into psychology and focus there on the subject of gambling addiction.

Since his gambling behavior came very close to that of a gambling addict, he has now set himself the goal of helping other players who are definitely affected by it and cannot find a way to get out of this disease on their own, he explains his decision. Masato Ohnishi hopes to be able to incorporate his personal experiences into future work as a medical doctor and psychologist. He never tires of stressing over and over again that he doesn't see anything bad or reprehensible in video games. In his opinion, they can really enrich life in a very positive way, he says in this context and recommends everyone to simply give it a try. So everyone would be able to discover the advantages for themselves and could work on their personal self-discipline in parallel.

Advances in treatment methods

Masato Ohnishi's words are not without a certain irony. Ironically, the area he comes from is the only Japanese region campaigning for video games - especially for minors - to be regulated by ordinance in order to get the dangers of gambling addiction under control. A fact that has sparked a lot of protests from gamers. In 2017, an Internet addiction clinic was set up in Kaganawa Prefecture by the Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, part of the National Hospital Organization in Yokosuka. In the past year, more than 200 patients were diagnosed with this disease. After the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognized dependence on video games as an addiction on May 25, 2019, It has become easier for medical professionals to research and prescribe drugs.




“With the creation of a category (gambling disorder) we can create counseling manuals and the like, and it is likely that the number of medical institutions that claim they cannot deal with the disease will decrease. I think there will be advances in treatment methods too.” says Tomomi Toyama. He is the department head of mental health in the ministry. In the past, cases of addictive gambling were often declared as other mental illnesses and, accordingly, were usually treated incorrectly. There was a lack of experts in the relevant facilities, so it was difficult to “diagnose gaming disorders or develop appropriate treatment”. Researchers around the world are now using the method to teach those affected how to “become aware of their thoughts and ideas and question them”. Good results have been achieved with this form of cognitive behavioral therapy, as it is particularly well suited to "... promoting the restructuring of thoughts and the learning of new behaviors".