<figure id="attachment_59409" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-59409" style="width: 6720px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="52d4b50a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2019/08/becb2f385439bc8716ad4d158c12f43c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-59409" class="wp-caption-text">Seibu Yamakawa wrote this baseball club motto from his high school days, which took him about 10 minutes to write slowly</figcaption></figure>
<p> Sho Nakata, 33, of the Giants, is the topic of conversation.</p>
<p> It is not a topic related to baseball. According to an article distributed by Tōspo Web on December 20, he has an iguana at home. His name is &#8220;Igu-chan. Nakata told the newspaper that he has about 10 other reptiles, including lizards.</p>
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<p> There are many players in the world of professional baseball who have unexpected hobbies and special skills. Here are some of the unknown faces of baseball players interviewed by &#8220;FRIDAY.</p>
<p><strong> I have many hobbies. When I was in elementary school, I learned ice skating at the only rink in my home prefecture of Okinawa, and the sister of a good friend of mine taught me how to play the piano. I can&#8217;t read music, but I can still play Beethoven&#8217;s &#8220;For Elise&#8221; and Joe Hisaishi&#8217;s &#8220;Summer.</strong></p>
<p> In an interview in the April 18, 2006 issue of this magazine, Hotaka Yamakawa (31), the main gun of the Seibu team, said this. What surprised us was his mastery of handwriting. He wrote his motto on a piece of colored paper with a brush pen. Yamakawa&#8217;s comment continues.</p>
<p><strong> My greatest skill is calligraphy, which I have been learning since I was 5 years old on the advice of my mother. I am an 8th dan calligrapher. If asked, I write the motto of the baseball team of my high school (Chubu Sho, Okinawa), which is my motto. It&#8217;s &#8220;It&#8217;s a dream you can only see now, so it&#8217;s worth it to work hard. Whenever I feel backward, I remind myself of this motto to keep my spirits up.</strong></p>
<h2> Every week, without fail, he reads a major manga magazine.</h2>
<figure id="attachment_59414" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-59414" style="width: 5760px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4984fa8c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2019/08/33f26132c248d82c69466f26e0a3db8b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-59414" class="wp-caption-text"> SoftBank player Yanagida likes to read not only baseball manga but also &#8220;Onepiece&#8221; and the cooking manga &#8220;Shokugeki no Soma.</figcaption></figure>
<p> Yuki Yanagita, 34, who led the SoftBank batting lineup with 30 home runs, 30 stolen bases, and a batting average of over 30% in 2003, is a big manga fan. The October 19, 2006 issue of this magazine introduced the following episode.</p>
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<p><strong> Since his high school days (Hiroshima Sho), he has read every major manga magazine, including &#8220;Magazine,&#8221; &#8220;Jump,&#8221; and &#8220;Young Jump,&#8221; without fail every week. I always buy them on the day they go on sale. What has been great since I joined the professional world is that I can now buy manga magazines without worrying about my pocketbook.</strong></p>
<p><strong> Until I was in college (at Hiroshima University of Economics), I didn&#8217;t have any money, and sometimes I had to read manga magazines on the spot for crying out loud. Reading manga at home is a blissful time for me. Sometimes I stay up until dawn.</strong></p>
<p> Shuta Tonozaki, 30, of Seibu, specializes in apple picking; Kensuke Kondo, 29, who transferred from Nippon Ham to Softbank, reads random number tables in his daily routine; and Eigoro Mogi, 28, of Rakuten, enjoys driving &#8230;&#8230;. Related images show a series of &#8220;hobby world photos&#8221; of professional baseball players.</p>
<figure id="attachment_59416" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-59416" style="width: 1000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c9905f1a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2019/08/51489817769a922d8358084048814186.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-59416" class="wp-caption-text"> Kensuke Kondo trains to look at his thumb tips alternately for several minutes. It is said to develop dynamic vision.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_59421" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-59421" style="width: 6720px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="47074d6b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2019/08/3206a483cff101b6f3fc67d69d78b3a3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-59421" class="wp-caption-text"> Kensuke Kondo also enjoys playing darts. When I was in high school (Yokohama High School), I used to find time to go to darts bars with my friends.&#8221;</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_59423" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-59423" style="width: 6720px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0bff41e0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2019/08/a9cb5b06528f54381a752a35e26beb40.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-59423" class="wp-caption-text"> Seibu&#8217;s Shuta Tonozaki&#8217;s special skill is picking apples.　His family has an apple orchard in Aomori Prefecture, and he says he has been &#8220;training his legs and back&#8221; by carrying boxes full of apples since he was in elementary school.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_59425" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-59425" style="width: 5332px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0713a5b3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2019/08/bfa63d5c30099c0c9caab313c437524e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-59425" class="wp-caption-text"> Rakuten&#8217;s Eigoro Mogi&#8217;s hobby is driving. He drives a luxury Japanese-made car through the streets of Sendai.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_282513" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-282513" style="width: 4480px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="47fc64e2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/12/c1386a8132947567ffdf859f38c17608.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-282513" class="wp-caption-text"> Yamakawa exhales and carefully draws strokes one by one.</figcaption></figure>


 Hiroyuki Komatsu, Ryoji Shigemasa, Takashi Kurosawa

 Sho Nakata of the Giants is a hot topic. He keeps an iguana at home. Many players in professional baseball have unexpected hobbies and special skills. Seibu's Yamakawa is a calligrapher, and Softbank's Yanagita is a manga geek. ...... We introduce the unexpected faces of the players in these treasured photos!

The iguana of Nakata of the Giants is a hot topic&#8230;Seibu&#8217;s Yamakawa is calligraphy, Yuki Yanagita&#8217;s manga &#8220;Unexpected Hobbies &#038; Skills of Baseball Players&#8221; photo

The iguana of Nakata of the Giants is a hot topic…Seibu’s Yamakawa is calligraphy, Yuki Yanagita’s manga “Unexpected Hobbies & Skills of Baseball Players” photo

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