Asaeli Ai Valu
Asaeli Ai Valu is a professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Japan Rugby League One club Saitama Wild Knights. Born in Tonga, he represents Japan at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.
International career
After 4 Top League seasons for Panasonic Wild Knights Ai Valu received his first call-up to his adopted country, Japan's senior squad ahead of the 2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals.Personal life
Valu received Japanese Citizenship in 2017. He is the son of former rugby union player Fakahau Valu, who represented Tonga at the 1987 Rugby World Cup.In Valu's university times, during the rugby off-season, he worked part-time at a farm-house and appeared at the Nippon Television variety show The! Tetsuwan! DASH!!.
Upon acquiring Japanese citizenship, he added the first kanji of his wife's name to his Japanese name. His wife's great-uncle is the comedian Kinichi Hagimoto. Although Valu himself has not met Hagimoto, he has been received with a phone call.