Shogo Shimura: Breaking Free from the Curse of Assumptions

At times, he is a magician who has won a world championship in Las Vegas; at others, a psychiatrist who saves those in distress; and at still others, the mental coach for the Japan national rhythmic gymnastics team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"The reason people suffer and the reason they are deceived by magic are the same. It is 'assumptions.'" Based on this belief, he uses magic to help not only patients but also struggling athletes free themselves from their "assumptions."

At the request of Hiroko Yamazaki, Director of the Japan Gymnastics Association, he has been involved in coaching the national team since 2017. In the mornings, he performs magic to demonstrate how much people are influenced by assumptions. In the afternoons, he points out the athletes' mistaken assumptions, teaching them that "what you should focus on is not uncontrollable results or success, but only your own actions." As a result, athletes who had feared making mistakes clearly changed, and the team won the silver medal in the group all-around at the 2019 World Championships for the first time in 44 years.

He himself was once trapped by "assumptions."

Born into a family of doctors, he assumed that "there is no choice for me but to become a doctor."

On the other hand, he became deeply immersed in magic as a hobby.

Even at Keio Senior High School, he belonged to the Magic Club, ignoring his parents' calls to "study" and spending eight hours a day playing with cards. After graduation, he entered the School of Medicine, but he spent so much time on magic that he had to repeat a year. Although he thought his "life was over," he decided to prove himself through magic and went to study at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). He continued his training by attending the "Magic Castle" in Hollywood.

After returning to Japan, he entered the 2012 Junior Magic World Championship in Las Vegas, despite his parents' opposition. Although he won, he could not feel purely happy when he thought about his future. This was because he lacked the courage to quit the School of Medicine and become a professional magician. It was then that he read a psychiatry book in the library that stated "assumptions narrow one's perspective," and he thought, "This is the same as magic."

Magicians are professionals at controlling the audience's assumptions. If so, perhaps showing magic could help break people's assumptions. Once he thought that, his path suddenly opened up.

Even "revealing the trick," which is a taboo in magic, should be utilized in treatment if it helps someone think positively about life. There are no tricks or gimmicks behind that passion.