Ya Ra Ma Ii Ka ～!?
Original：“やらまいか！遠州国” 浜松に独立リーグ球団を作る理由とは？
Hamamatsu City located in western Shizuoka prefecture used to be called ‘Totomi,’ and is now commonly known as ‘Enshu District’. People living in this area say that they have the spirit of YARAMAIKA that drives them to take on challenges. This spirit makes them friendly to outsiders and induces a challengeable way of thinking, or as the residents say “even though we might fail, let’s give it a go anyway!”. The YARAMAIKA spirit has led to many successes, such as the flourishing automobile manufacturing industry, which has supported the growth of the Japanese economy for many years. This spirit has also made Hamamatsu City known throughout Japan.
I have started a project to establish a professional baseball team, here in Hamamatsu. The promoter of this project is a guy who is a complete stranger to Hamamatsu City. Why did he decide to get involved in creating this professional baseball team in this alien city?
“Because a professional baseball team is the answer for the demand for a strong regional activism”
The key figure of this project is Takehito Akima, from Yokohama City. He worked for Deloitte a few months ago, and recently moved to Hamamatsu City last April. He doesn’t have any experience in playing baseball. So what is the reason for him to make such a big decision and move here, all by himself?
“One of my reasons to start this project was the Great East Japan Earthquake, which struck 4 years ago”(i.e., March 11th, 2011). Takehito says. ”I visited the affected areas few times as a volunteer, And I found that there were many people, such as social entrepreneurs and acclaimed consultants, in the same business as me, who went volunteering with us. This is why I started thinking about how and what I could do. I was trying to figure out, what it was, that only I could provide.. And then I started thinking about a platform project, which could create a defensive system against such disasters, or at least to make the impact of such disasters not as great as that of the Great East Japan Earthquake was.”
As a result of the research I engaged in in order to start this project, I found out that Nankai Trough was considered a high-risk area for the next big-scale earthquake, and I realized that the suitable place to base the platform project in case of natural disasters was Hamamatsu.
“We need to constantly be aware of various things happening around us; it is not enough to only think about the earthquake when it strikes. It is important to take measures in times of peace. I reckoned we needed to activate the region during a peaceful time. I considered this deeply, and started asking myself questions such as, “What is the best project to start, when starting from scratch?” I gradually reached the point that I wanted to create a project related to sports, because this was something I was interested in.” Takehito says.
Takehito Akima took part in a project named “DREAM GATE, Get up NIPPON”, supported by METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), and studied the Entrepreneur Method from Tomoko Nanba, CEO of DeNA Co.
He was interested in becoming an entrepreneur and studied directly from the top venture entrepreneur. Opportunities like this, have contributed in a unique way to shaping his life philosophy stronger
The first thing he did after his decision to establish a professional baseball team, was to send an e-mail directly to the mayor of Hamamatsu City. He even visited the city office. With some struggles and detours along the way, he finally managed to meet some people who supported his project, and together they held a meeting for starting this project in Hamamatsu.
His work is not only based in Hamamatsu City, but in Tokyo too. When he first started this project, he was working at a consulting company in Tokyo. After a deep consideration whether he should continue this project and conferences in Hamamatsu City, he decided to move to another company located near Tokyo Station. This company was an audit corporation, which had received the highest reliability score of all the companies in the industry. Every time he moved, he was thinking of how to settle down in the new place..
Every Friday evening he jumped into the Shinkansen to Hamamatsu, which he continued for two years. Due to his stellar career in his younger years, he got the opportunity to meet the mayor, which made this project feasible. Gaining the mayor’s endorsement also made it easier to meet stakeholders in regional financial circles.
Here is an outline for establishing the professional baseball team.
The entry into the league is planned for some time in 2017, the home field will be Hamamatsu Stadium. Hamamatsu will be the 9th team joining the Baseball Challenge League. The pro-ball manager has not been chosen yet. The players will be selected or adjusted annually at the pro-baseball entry draft in October.
He thinks it will particularly be necessary to put a lot of effort into promoting sports to the citizens, and he has already established a general incorporated association, by the name of ‘Shizuoka Citizens’ Baseball Team”. In addition, he is now getting ready to establish a stock company for promoting sports.
The influence of Brazilian baseball on establishing a baseball team in Hamamatsu
There are regional companies to be involved, when we think about funding sports as contents(It's means Social capital.). Almost all those in the top management of regional companies are older men. It is therefore natural think of baseball as the sport men are deeply familiar with.
Then, what is the reason for baseball in Hamamatsu? Shizuoka is usually considered a soccer stronghold. We asked Takehito about this and he started talking about the emergence of the baseball team in Hamamatsu City was inevitable. And that’s because of Brazilian baseball.
About 100 years ago in the Meiji period, 13 million Japanese immigrated to Brazil due to a national policy of the Brazilian government, and about 160 million Japanese-Brazilians now live in Brazil.
In 1990, the amendment of the Immigration Control Act allowed third-generation Japanese immigrants to move to Japan as permanent residents, which boosted the number of Japanese-Brazilians who came to Japan as dispatch workers. Currently, about 9,000 Japanese-Brazilians live in Hamamatsu now, although the Brazilian population decreased due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Lehman Shock.
We think of soccer as the symbolic sport in Brazil, but the main sport in the Japanese-Brazilian community in Brazil is baseball rather than soccer. For example, the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) has been sending baseball trainers to Brazil for many years. In 2000, overseas subsidiary of the Yakult Swallows, one of the Central League teams in Japan, established the “Yakult Baseball Academy” in Brazil as a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). Many students graduate from the academy, and their level is considerably, producing 4 to 5 graduates annually who become professional baseball players.
However, Japanese-Brazilians in Brazil complain that many good players get recruited by MLB (Major League Baseball in the US), when their body are still in the premature stage. Takehito talking about his visit to Brazil for inspection:
“It’s not a very well known fact, but many of the main members of the WBC in Brazil were the players previously trained in ‘Brazilian baseball’ in the Japanese-Brazilian community. Brazilian baseball, whose roots have grown deep in the Japanese-Brazilian community, is now going to be one of the major sources for scouting into the professional baseball world. It’s true that Japan’s investing has created many good baseball players. However, even though many good players are growing up inside this community, it’s a pity that they end up playing in MLB instead of Japan.”
In MLB it is the player’s physical ability that matters more than anything else. Some players who went to the MLB in their teens, strained their bodies due to the differences in style between Brazilian and American varieties of the game, which is a major cause of big problems in the Brazilian Baseball field.
Many Japanese-Brazlilans live and work in Hamamatsu and the city has a deep relationship with Brazil. Therefore, Takehito would like the Hamamatsu professional league to welcome Japanese-Brazilian baseball players.
Focusing on baseball alone is not enough
We now turn to the Independent League in Japan.
Both NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) and Independent Lague are considred ‘professional baseball’ in Japan. Out of these two, Independent League is younger, since it was established about ten years ago.
So far, there are three independent leagues in Japan, Shikoku Island League, located in the Shikoku area, Baseball Challenge League, mainly in Kanto, Hokushinetsu and Tohoku (BC league), and Baseball First League, active in the Kansai area (BFL).
Furthermore, there are some industrial league baseball teams and club teams. Industrial league baseball consists of players employed at companies. Club teams, on the other hand, are formed by friends or colleagues who work together, live in the same area, or now one other from their school days , Thus, the latter two types are typically considered amateur leagues.
Independent leagues have been sending players off to NPB, and some leagues have gained attention as a result of acquiring famous players who previously played in NPB or MLB. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is, players in independent leagues are not paid as well as those in NPB or MLB players, so they cannot devote themselves to their baseball careers alone. The situation is especially difficult local baseball teams, as acquisition of sponsors and fans supporting the teams depends on the economical situation.
The goal is a “regional all-round sports club team”
There are soccer teams, rugby teams and other sports teams around the Hamamatsu area, but Hamamatsu has never really been in a good economical situation. We were wondering if it was possible to continue the professional baseball team in this region. We asked Takehito about this.
“Basically, the top season for each sport is not the same, so I think there will be more collaboration than competition. That means that having fan group of local sport teams is a big advantage. My goal is to build an all-round sports club. It’s important to collaborate with other sports clubs, instead of trying to gain supremacy over others. One big company supporting one baseball team is a thing of the past, and our baseball team will be supported by many big and small companies, the public, and the people in the region as a whole.”
For example, Albirex-Niigata is one of the regional all-round sports clubs. Regional all- around sports club are associations operated voluntary by community residents, they offer opportunities for getting in touch with all kinds of sports based on one’s interests or abilities, for people from all walks of life.
Niigata is a home to a variety of sports, such as soccer, basketball, skiing, snowboarding, athletics, motorsports, and baseball. All the teams are called “Albirex”. No team has got any capital ties and they all share the same brand as individual companies. Each sport has a different field for their top season, in some sports you play indoors, while for others outdoors etc. So the community residents can enjoy and get in touch with sports and see “Albirex” all year round. The awareness of their regional team has taken roots among the residents of the region. Each team is close to the residents, so there are many supporters from all generations. Everyone goes to see games to root for their team. Every now and then you can even say some elderly lady say: “I have to go see the game to root for the boy next door!”.
Albirex-Niigata has been a boost to the local business by converting the needs coming from flexible ideas of local residents and networks of people into services or product sales.
With this business-model, the community residents can root for the regional teams, which means that the sports enhance the bonds within the community. Is this going to happen in Hamamatsu too?
Do sports contribute to the communities in a positive way?
Considering the situation in Hamamatsu, regional communities are getting thinned out, which is a common problem in other cities as well. A declining birthrate is the cause of dissolution of communities, and those who actually participate in neighborhood community associations are fewer and fewer. There are not many young, active people, which leads to the decrease of local communities in the region. Hamatsu is facing some serious concerns of rapid aging and a very low birthrate, as the aging rate is over 25%. This means that one out of four people is 65 years of age or older. The number of elderly people who live on their own is increasing, which sometimes leads to solitary deaths.. There has also been a decline in overall safety, manifested in both traffic accidents and crimes alike. Such circumstances make more people protect their privacy, rather than get to know their neighborhood community.
This decline of activity in local communities can be dangerous for people living in the area, from the perspective of preparations for the Nankai Trough earthquake. There are some programs aiming to activate mutual assistance to enhance the local ties in Shizuoka Prefecture, but this has not been received very well, because the people in the region obstinately think they are not in danger of such disasters.
On the other hand, activities such as sports, or other forms of specific social activity are popular, even though bonds within local communities are in a crisis. For example, there are many sport teams in Hamamatsu and the city outskirts, which means that junior sport clubs are still popular. Parents played sports in their childhood and youth, and wish for their children to gain the same kind of experience. This may be due to the obvious advantages of playing sports, as it is enjoyable for everyone.
Will the local communities in Hamamatsu benefit from sports, then, if the region’s unique characteristics are taken advantage of?
Currently, Japan birthrate is declining and the population aging. Some of cities and smaller villages become desolated. The government calls for “regional revitalization” and towns and cities to take advantage of their diversity unique capabilities on their own. We should think about the problems we face in the communities in everyday life. Takehito’s project is interesting due to his elaborate plans for a professional baseball team, Brazilian baseball, and disaster prevention.
The inner perspective demonstrates that local communities are disappearing, so it will be a challenge for come up with new ideas for regional revitalization. As we wish the best of luck to the YARAMAIKA spirit and Takehito’s project, it will be interesting to see how impact sport will have on the local community and regional revitalization in the near future.
(This article is from Journalist Camp 2015, Hamamatsu. Author: Hiroko Harada, Desk: Hiroshi Kainuma, Translation by: Tomoe Mikawa)
