For this week anyway, Japan is the land of Hawai'i's Rising Son.

Tadd Fujikawa, the 16-year-old who lit up the Sony Open in Hawai'i — and thoroughly enjoyed every second of it — will play the Chunichi Crowns beginning tomorrow (tonight Hawai'i time). The Japan Golf Tour Organization event is at Nagoya Golf Club's Wago course, in Aichi Prefecture.

It is Fujikawa's first tournament since he followed up his spectacular top-20 Sony finish with a win over a field full of American and Japanese pros at the Hawai'i Pearl Open Feb. 11. The Moanalua sophomore doesn't expect much from his third pro tour appearance (he was the youngest ever to qualify for last year's U.S. Open) beyond good people, great food and ... a win.

"Only because now I know I can play at that level and hit the shots I need to hit at the right time," Fujikawa said. "I always have high expectations for myself. At Sony, my expectation wasn't to win, but make the cut and do fairly well. Now, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm feeling good about my game and I'm like dying to play a tournament."

Japan's pro tour is dying to see him, and hopes he can attract a crowd. He did at Sony, capturing the golf world's imagination when he became the youngest in 50 years to make a tour cut, then soaring onto the leaderboard over the weekend.

Since Hawai'i's David Ishii won Chunichi Crowns in 1986, the Japanese women's tour has overtaken the men in influence. The men's tour lost five events this year, rank below the women in TV ratings and drew only 436,000 spectators to 29 tournaments last year. In contrast, the PGA Tour's FBR Open in Phoenix annually draws 500,000.

Even Michelle Wie's appearance at the last two Casio tournaments, at a reported $800,000 appearance fee per year, barely budged the radar for the JGTO.

After poring over "nonstop" invitations since January, and dealing with the dilemmas presented by amateur rules, the Fujikawas chose this as Tadd's first pro exemption. They hope the atmosphere is easygoing and the ambience fun. Their son, who was born here and speaks no Japanese, simply can't wait to play, and be back in Japan. His only other visit was a family vacation a decade ago.

"He really wants to play in Japan," said Lori Fujikawa, Tadd's mom. "He didn't want to come home when he was 6. He really likes it there."

Tadd recalls that he "felt like I belonged there. I think that's the way I feel for golf." His preparation is "absolutely" the same as it would be for a junior event, a local tournament or a USGA qualifier. But now, the expectations are immense.

FOCUSING ON TRAINING

The Fujikawas' focus since Pearl has been on training. Tadd worked with Kevin Ralbovsky at the KMR Academy until last year, then worked with Lori through Sony, when he told the world he was"up for grabs."

The family chose Pearl Country Club pro Beau Yokomoto to coach him, in part because Tadd used to sneak behind Yokomoto while he was giving lessons and liked what he had to say, and how he said it. Now Yokomoto and Lori work on his swing — "They check to see if I'm doing something weird," Tadd said — and look for ways to help him work on it himself the long hours he spends practicing alone.

He and Yokomoto work on the short game "always" — Fujikawa still feels he "got lucky" with his short game at Sony — and also focus on "thought processes" and "adding shots to his bag."

"We talk about basics and from there we add in different options," Yokomoto said. "You won't only go to your basics because that's all you believe in. Sometimes you've got to change the ball flight or curve the ball when you're hitting it under the gun. When you practice, you've got to find out if you can do it in a tournament situation. And his stage is a lot bigger than most."

'HEAD ON RIGHT'

Ideally, no one will notice much difference between Sony and Chunichi Crowns. Fujikawa is still a "go-for-it kind of guy" with a huge smile, animated uppercut and relentless work ethic — he practiced putting in the dark at Pearl Open. His recent successes have only fueled his passion for the game.

Yokomoto says simply that Fujikawa "gets it, and works at it." What separates him is his ability to zero in and ignore the distractions, even when they come tsunami-sized, as they have since Sony.

"He's got his head on right, that's the main thing," Yokomoto said. "On that stage you've got to be able to do what you know you can do. That's from inside. A lot of guys can play well with their friends, but when it comes under the gun ... he pushes himself. He knows the time he puts in is going to pay off."

It is all still incredibly fun for Fujikawa, despite the challenges classes present on a daily basis and missing out on his high school season (this tournament conflicts with Monday's OIA Championship). He hopes that won't happen again.

"It will be pretty cool to be on a team again," Fujikawa said. "It's kinda hard when you're always by yourself and not too much with your friends. At the same time, I really like the level of competition on tour and I really like the atmosphere a lot. But I think I also need to hang out with my friends sometimes and relax a little bit. That's what Stephanie is for."

"Stephanie" as in Stephanie Kono, one of his closest friends and another Hawai'i junior with an infinite future. The two share lots of time together, lots of talent and a great love for the game. Kono, who is fluent in Japanese, is now trying to teach Fujikawa the language, with the encouragement of the Fujikawa family.

ALTERING GOALS

Progress is slow, in direct contrast to their golf games.

"I never thought I'd have the opportunities to do what I'm doing now just because of one tournament," Fujikawa said. "It's really hard to say what I can accomplish in a year. My life has changed in the past three months or so.

"A year ago my goal was to play all the junior tournaments and USGA events and do really well on those. Now I'm thinking more on the pro tour side. Hopefully I'll do well on those. Make the cut in maybe every one I play. That would be a really good goal — do well in every tournament I play in from now on."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.