Japan-Hawai'i series endures
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
A half-century ago, Japan was still rebuilding from its devastating World War II defeat and high school baseball in Hawai'i was rebuilding from a sharp decline in interest and support.
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But like they did a decade prior, members of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat team stepped forward and answered the call.
Hawai'i's Colby Ho steals second as Japan shortstop Takuma Kawamoto goes high to field the ball in the first inning.
"My Japanese school teacher from Maui, Torao Kobayashi, took a team of all-stars to Japan in 1953, and my older brother was an adviser for them," said Kats Miho, a retired state legislator, family court judge and 442 veteran. "They all wanted to do it as a continual thing, so I talked to the 442 boys and we worked with the Japan people. But this was eight years after World War II, and I had to fight like hell to get the club to sponsor it. I was project manager at the time, and we had really gotten involved in reviving high school baseball, which was almost dead back then. I said, 'What for we going revive baseball if we don't have something like this?
"But it's been worth all the effort."
Generations of players and coaches from Hawai'i and Japan would agree. The Japan-Hawai'i Goodwill series is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week with the final two of five games set for 5 p.m. today and tomorrow at the University of Hawai'i's Les Murakami Stadium.
The Japan team, made up of players from the Chyugoku district, played two games against Maui all-stars on Friday and Saturday in Wailuku and a single game last night against a team of mostly Kalani and Kaiser players at Murakami Stadium. Japan's final two games will be against a team of mostly Punahou players.
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The home-and-home series is played every other year, with the previous series played in Chyugoku in 2001.
Yukinori Nakamura, president of the Yamaguchi High School Baseball Federation and Hawai'i's Neal Takamori and Katsugo "Kats" Miho (left to right) participated in pre-game ceremonies last night.
"It's been good for us," said Shannon Hirai, who coached the Hawai'i all-stars two years ago and the Kalani/Kaiser team yesterday. "We get to see and play against a different style of baseball, something we don't see in this state. And going up there is unreal. We paid our own way to Japan, but once we got there, everything was first-class — the hotels, the restaurants. They gave us shoes, jackets and bags, and they even shut down restaurants for us to eat in. We also got to play in one of the professional stadiums there."
When the Japan team comes here, players stay in homes of host families, usually with the parents of former Hawai'i players who played in Japan.
"Every day, they tell me how nice the families are, how they took them to interesting places," said Shigemi Kito, an adviser traveling with the Chyugoku team.
Kito said for most of the Japan players, this is their first trip to a foreign country.
"(Maui) is a quiet place, not like here, and the nature is so beautiful," said Takuma Kawamoto, a shortstop from Setouchi High School in Hiroshima. "We were very much excited to come."
Kawamoto, who got some snorkeling in at Hanauma Bay yesterday, said the caliber of the Hawai'i players is similar to those in Japan.
"The power is stronger with the Hawaiian team," Kawamoto said through Kito. "Other things are the same."
Hirai, however, said high school baseball in Japan is taken much more seriously than here.
"Their work ethic is insane — they put in four hours-plus for practices," Hirai said. "And high school baseball is a big thing there; they had about 50,000 (fans) for the national championship."
Hirai said even the Hawai'i players were treated like celebrities while in Japan.
"We went to speak to an English class, and then the whole school came out to see us," Hirai said. "It was hard to get to our bus after the game. We had (Mid-Pacific Institute's) Ricky Bauer with us, and he had just gotten drafted, so everybody wanted his autograph."
Several Japan participants have moved on to professional baseball, including current New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui.
"When he stayed with us, we had room for one on a bed and two on the floor," said Lillian Yonamine, who has served as a series host/coordinator with husband Masa since 1959. "(Matsui) walked in and told the other two guys, 'I'm going to be here on the bed; you guys sleep on the floor.' "
The 442 continued to run the series in coordination with the Japan high school baseball federation until 1997, when it passed on the duty to the Athletic Directors and Coaches Association of Hawai'i.
