Naonobu Fujii

Naonobu Fujii was a Japanese volleyball player who played for the national team and the Toray Arrows. Growing up in Miyagi, Japan, Fujii attended his local high school, which was known for its volleyball team, before he enrolled at Juntendo University. In March 2011 his family home was destroyed by the tsunami caused by the Tōhoku earthquake. Despite this he went on to graduate from university and pursue his volleyball dream by joining the Toray Arrows.

After a successful season in the 2016/17 V Premier League Fujii was selected to play on the Japanese national team. He was part of the team that won gold at the 2017 Asian Volleyball Championships where he was named the best setter of the tournament. Fujii also competed at the 2019 and 2021 Asian Volleyball Championships, winning bronze and silver, respectively. He represented Japan at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where the team finished in seventh place. Fujii’s career was cut short, however, when he was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer in February 2022. He died from the illness just over a year later. He was 31.