Shuzo Matsuoka Don't Give Up — Matsuoka’s most famous video

You have without a doubt seen at least one of the unwavering motivational videos by Shuzo Matsuoka. Eyes filled with determination and heart demand your attention, and in contrast to a lot of motivational material out there, succeed in making you believe (more) in yourself. But who is Shuzo Matsuoka, and how did he become a cult legend by motivating people around the world?

The way to internet fame

Matsuoka was a professional tennis player. During his peak in 1992 he ranked #46 in the world. Once retired from tennis, he became a well-known sports commentator in Japan.

In 2006 Matsuoka uploaded his first video on his official website, with a video series called “For you”. The official website of a retired tennis player may seem like a solid place for a niche internet movement to be born, but the videos of Matsuoka remained in the shadows until he decided to upload them on the video platform Niko Niko or ニコニコ.

Niko Niko is essentially the Japanese equivalent of YouTube and experienced a boom in the 2000s. It served as a platform filled with abstract weirdness and was a breeding ground for popularizing pop culture concepts such as Vocaloid, as well as lesser-known ones like Gachimuchi.

Once the videos made it on Niko Niko, Shuzo’s fate of becoming an internet phenomenon was set in stone. He became known as the man that boosted everybody’s confidence with the three magic words “Don’t Give Up”. After circulating in Japan, it didn’t take long before he made his way onto Youtube. The first and most famous one being a video of Matsuoka giving a speech while harvesting clams: “Matsuoka Shuzo [松岡修造 ] - あきらめかけているあなた (NEVER GIVE UP!!)”. From then on, compilation videos started appearing everywhere, and Shuzo Matsuoka became the motivation guru he is today.

Hits different

There’s no lack of motivational videos on the internet. Combine an emotional soundtrack with some clips from Rocky, and you’ve got yourself some class-a motivational material. But there’s something different about Shuzo Matsuoka’s way of encouraging people.

It's all in the rawness, the subtle manner in which he seems to improvise the most chilling and hard-hitting speeches from scratch, that makes us shiver. In every video, it feels as if Matsuoka decided at the last possible minute that, no matter what he was doing, it was the right time to send a little motivation into the world. This directness, this non edited pure words of encouragement, hit harder than any other video out there. That’s why Shuzo Matsuoka will always be our #1 motivational guru.