Kaori Matsumoto, a retired Japanese judoka and Olympic medalist, said that her 5-year-old son’s passion was ice cream--so much so that the boy could never be satisfied with just one ice cream.

According to her regular column in the Hokkoku Shimbun newspaper, the youngster would plead, with something verging on despair in his eyes: “If I don’t eat two, I just can’t feel right.”

When Matsumoto gave in and said, “Oh well, but this is it, OK?” his whole face lit up. And as he skipped away to fetch his second ice cream, he would be singing gleefully,........

© The Asahi Shimbun