With the push for break dancing to be added to the 2024 Summer Olympics, the future looks bright for Japan and its already prominent group of b-boys and b-girls who will strive for medals should the sport hit the floor in Paris.
Last October, Ramu "Ram" Kawai became the first b-girl champion at the Youth Olympic Games. Shortly before the 17-year-old won the girls' final, compatriot Shigeyuki Nakarai, nicknamed Shigekix, won the bronze medal battle for boys.
Nakarai, a second-year student at Osaka Gakugei Senior High School, says the sport of break dancing "has profound depths" and it is "a total mind-body workout."