Scottish Teen, 17, Trains Solo in Japan for Judo Dream

When most 17-year-olds plan their gap year, they're thinking about backpacking or couch surfing. Lexi Buchanan bought a plane ticket to Japan and packed her judogi.

The Scottish judoka arrived in Japan last month on a mission she designed herself. No corporate sponsors funded the trip. No national team coaches organized her schedule.

She came to solve one specific problem: Scotland doesn't have enough female judo players in her weight class.

"Judo Scotland has very few girls," Buchanan explained. "In my last competition, I competed at 48 kilos, and the next girls were around 63 kilos and upwards."

Training against much heavier opponents makes it nearly impossible to develop the technical skills she needs. So Buchanan took matters into her own hands.

She'll spend three months training in the country where judo was born, surrounded by female athletes at every weight class. The deep talent pool in Japan gives her something she simply can't find at home: daily practice against partners her own size.

The arrangement required courage most adults would hesitate to muster. Buchanan is living with a Japanese host family, navigating a new language, and training in unfamiliar gyms.

Why This Inspires

Buchanan's journey shows what happens when young athletes refuse to accept limitations. Instead of waiting for better opportunities to appear in Scotland, she created her own path forward.

Her story also highlights a quieter challenge in sports: gender gaps don't just affect competition, they affect training itself. When female athletes outnumber available training partners, development stalls.

By taking this leap at 17, Buchanan is investing in skills that could carry her to international competition. She's proving that sometimes the best coach is your own determination.

The young Scot still has two months left in Japan, training every day and building the foundation her hometown couldn't provide.