(CNN) Soichi Hashimoto could have stayed away from the Rio Olympics.
Having missed out on selection for Japan's judo team -- in the -73kg division -- he could have been forgiven for staying at home.
"I was disappointed in myself, watching the Rio Olympic Games from the sidelines," Hashimoto tells CNN on missing out to Shohei Ono, who would go on to win gold.
"This was the main reason why I went to Rio, to feel the disappointment and feel the atmosphere at the Olympic Games.
"When I was watching the medal ceremony, I imagined myself on the highest spot of the podium in four years time."
While Rio was heartache for Hashimoto, sitting out the Tokyo 2020 Games in his home city is unthinkable.
It's that fear that drives him now.
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Ono threat
"To have the Olympic Games being held in your own country, not many athletes have this opportunity," he says. "Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
"I am very motivated and, if I have the chance to represent Japan, I will be under a lot of pressure. However, I am more excited than anything."
Hashimoto is the current world champion in his weight category and generally regarded as one of the best judokasjuodk in the world.
But his biggest battle is at home. After Rio, Ono took time out of judo to pursue his studies at Tenri University but the double world champion is expected to return to the fold for Tokyo 2020.
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Despite his Rio disappointment, Hashimoto is unbeaten since 2015 on the International Judo Federation Circuit.
But the 26-year-old's lack of experience at a World Championship or Olympic Games counted against him in the eyes of the selectors.
Nevertheless, his profile is growing in his homeland. Renowned for his dynamic style -- his quest is "to win every contest by ippon" -- he is also one of Tokyo's more eligible bachelors.
Even in the country that created the sport, Hashimoto admits it still ranks some way behind the likes of baseball and football in the popularity stakes. But he's made it his quest to "put the spotlight on judo by putting on a spectacular performance on the world stage."
For now, there are no autograph hunters. The extent of his celebrity, he says, is occasionally being recognized while grocery shopping.
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Inoue inspiration
Although he is yet to make his Olympic bow, Hashimoto been heavily influenced by the Games.
He had already taken up the sport at the behest of his parents, whose son "enjoyed physical activity and was very competitive," when he watched Kosei Inoue become Olympic champion in Sydney in 2000.
"I still remember watching our current head coach [Inoue] win the Olympic gold," he recalls. "It was at this moment that I thought that I wanted to be No. 1 in the world."
Inoue would end his career as a three-time world champion while Hashimoto currently has just one world crown to his name, picked up at the recent championships in Budapest where Japan topped the medal table with eight golds and 14 medals in all.
"I was so happy to take home the world title," he says of his win over Rustam Orujov for the gold. "I suffered many injuries but I believe it didn't affect me on the day of the fights."
He employed what he calls "the Hashimoto special" but it is better known in judo parlance as sode tsurikomi goshi, effectively a hip throw in which he grips an opponents' sleeves and then turns to face the same direction as them.
Judo through the lens
Born into a life of judo, International Judo Federation photographer Jack Willingham goes through his work, picking out his favorite images and explaining why he loves the sport.
"I have been a judo fan all my life," says Willingham. "I was a volunteer at the Athens 2004 Olympics in the judo and watched Ilias Iliadis win Olympic gold at 17 years old (I was 16 at the time). So for me, it has been amazing to be able to document the ups and downs of his career so closely. He is one of the most spectacular judokas, when he's on the mat something extraordinary invariably happens! He is also one of my favorite judoka of all time. I have two shots of him that I particularly like. This is at the 2011 World Championships in Paris, which he would go on to win to become a double world champion. In the semifinal against one of his great rivals Kiril Denisov, he threw with this incredible Ura Nage for ippon to put him into the final."
"Not such an historic moment, but one of my favorite action shots ever. Both men clear of the mat, in mid air, this is Iliadis throwing Noel Van T End with Uchi Mata to win the 2014 Dusseldorf Grand Prix."
Maljinda Kelmendi has been one of the most dominant judokas on the planet over the last four years," says Willingham. "This is partly thanks to the efforts of the International Judo Federation and its president Marius Vizer, who recognized Kosovo as a nation on the judo circuit. The International Olympic Committee accepted Kosovo into the Games in time for Rio 2016, allowing her to become the first ever Olympic gold medalist from that country. This shot is her leaving the tatami after the Olympic final, completely overcome with emotion, her coach Driton Kuka in the background, also with tears in his eyes."
"The second shot I am proud of as it's IOC president Thomas Bach awarding Kelmendi her medal. Once again it's historic, but I also took a risk and snuck around to the side to see both of their faces and managed to find a gap between two of the medal hostesses to get the exact shot I wanted. This also meant I'm sure I'm the only person in the world with this image!"
Hailing from Cidade de Deus -- featured in the award-winning film the City of God -- Rafaela Silva is another judoka that boasts an amazing story. Here she is celebrating becoming world champion in Rio in 2013.
"This is effectively the same shot as the previous one, when she won Brazil's first gold medal at the Rio Olympics! Although not quite the same angle, I loved the symmetry."
"I have a great friendship with Kayla Harrison, so for her to pick me out and strike a pose as she won her second Olympic title in Rio was really cool. She's a great character, and probably the most determined and mentally tough athlete I've come across."
This image is in because I love working in Paris. The iconic Bercy Stadium (as it was called then) has the best public, atmosphere and energy of any tournament in the world. This picture is France's David Larose celebrating after winning the Paris Grand Slam in 2013. I love the story it tells: Larose ecstatic standing over a distraught Davaadorj Tumurkhuleg, the scoreboard reading ippon and the crowd going mad.
"This throw from the -90kg final of the 2012 Tokyo Grand Slam final by former world champion Lee Kyu Won against Masashi Nishiyama to me really shows how much drive with the legs Lee needs to finish the throw off. I love the expression on his face, I love the flailing arms of Nishiyama trying to scramble to avoid the inevitable, there's so much in this one. It is one my favorites on image alone but, for me, it holds a special place in my heart because 2012 was the first time I had ever been to Japan, the home of judo, and it was my first visit to the legendary Tokyo Grand Slam. So to come away with such a great shot made it all the more special."
"This is a portrait of Olympic and double world champion Kaori Matsumoto. One of the most feared athletes in women's judo, her nickname is the assassin. This is her waiting to come out to fight in the Tokyo Grand Slam final. I love the intensity and the focus this image portrays."
Shohei Ono is now an Olympic and double world champion at -73kg. But in 2013, he had none of those titles. This is him throwing France's Ugo Legrand for ippon in the 2013 World Championship final to become world champion for the first time. If I could choose only one picture to define my career, it would be this. Legrand is so perfectly vertical, which you rarely see in judo... let alone in a world championship final. This was the birth of a legend.
"This shot is in for a number of reasons. Teddy Riner is now unquestionably the greatest judoka of all time. Double Olympic and nine-time world champion (he's going for his tenth in November), so he had to be in my list for that. This is also in Paris, in front of his home crowd at the Grand Slam. It's a massive Uchi Mata (one of judo's classical techniques) and it's not all that often you see the men in the +100kg (some of them upwards of 150kg) launched so high and with such precision."
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The lead-up to the world championships was, by his own admission, stressful. Hashimoto latterly unwound with a holiday to Hawaii.
Now back in training, he is focused on one thing for the next three years.
"Right now, I want to focus all of my energy on the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics."