By Chris McAsey

Japan’s dynamic duo of small forwards – Rinto Kijima and Hiroki Mita – are men of few words. But they let action do the talking for them in scintillating performances at the recent AFL Asia Cup.

The two forwards combined seamlessly in Japan’s attack with Rinto playing deep and almost unstoppable in one-on-one contests, while Hiroki played high and used his speed and bullet passing to set up numerous goals.

Hiroki Mita heads for goal.

Rinto – who has only played football for two years – was named in the All-Asian team and finished second on the tournament’s goal kicking table. He says the understanding between he and Hiroki, along with third small forward Haruto Watanabe, is developing well.

‘It’s a very good connection,’ he says. ‘It’s getting better and better every game.’

Rinto Kajima marks on the lead.

Rinto spent last winter in Melbourne, where he trained three times a week and played for a local team.

‘We played and watched a lot of footy!’ he says.

Hiroki has played footy for four years at Komazawa University in Tokyo and is very clear about his favourite part of playing AFL: ‘Goals’.

Hiroki celebrates after Japan wins the AFL Asia Cup.

He says that Rinto couldn’t have become Japan’s top goal scorer without him.

‘Yes, Rinto got many, many goals,’ he admits with a smile. ‘But I fed many goals to him and helped him to be a leading goal kicker.’

And although Rinto hit the scoreboard more often, Hiroki says he is actually a better player and could have kicked more goals himself.

Rinto was almost unstoppable in one-on-one contests.

‘I’m an elder player now and I just wanted to be kind to Rinto.’

While there’s some friendly competition between Japan’s star forwards, they’re sure to create nightmares for opposition defenders for many years to come.