He started throwing the javelin at age 15 in high school and immediately displayed an aptitude for the discipline. He won a silver medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics throwing a new personal best of 76.44 m. He first came to prominence at the 2012 Japan Championships in Athletics, throwing 84.03 m, setting a new championship record, beating veteran Yukifumi Murakami and sealing his place in the Japanese team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Javelin throw. He was selected as the Most Valuable Male Athlete of the Japanese Championships. At the 2012 Olympics he threw 82.07m to qualify from the heats, but could not improve on this and finished 10th in the final with 79.95m.