<figure id="attachment_307136" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307136" style="width: 2000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="edf1fb16"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/71A6029.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307136" class="wp-caption-text">Taken just after the singer&#8217;s debut in October &#8217;15. She said, &#8220;I want to sing songs that encourage athletes, like the theme for high school baseball.&#8221;</figcaption></figure>
 An athlete who is too beautiful.
 On July 6, former professional women&#8217;s baseball player Yu Kato (28) announced her marriage by updating her Instagram page.
 I am happy to announce that I have married Yuki Tsujimoto, an actor with whom I have been in a relationship for some time.
 Kato wrote, &#8220;I have known Tsujimoto for a long time. Kato met Tsujimoto when they were both working, and they had been dating for some time.
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 Kato passed the entrance test for the women&#8217;s professional baseball league in October 2003. She is 167 cm tall and has a model-like figure, and her play attracted attention not only from baseball fans but also from many others.
 FRIDAY&#8221; (November 6, 2003 issue) interviewed Kato immediately after she joined the women&#8217;s professional baseball league. What is not so well known is that she aimed to be a &#8220;two-singer and a singer. We would like to reproduce the article from that time and introduce the tearful and beautiful voice of the &#8220;too beautiful former women&#8217;s professional baseball player&#8221; who got married (some contents have been modified) &#8211;.
<h2> My admiration is for the full-swinging Ogasawara.</h2>
 Kato tells us how she started playing baseball.
 My father was the manager of the local youth baseball team in Hadano City, Kanagawa Prefecture, my mother was the manager, and my brother, who was four years older than me, was a player. When I was five years old, my father asked me if I wanted to try it. Once I started, I was having so much fun. &#8230;&#8230;
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 In high school, she was a member of the Asahi Trust, a women&#8217;s club team, and hit over .300 for two consecutive years. In 2003, she contributed to the team winning the All-Japan Women&#8217;s Hardball Club Baseball Championship.
 I put up a net in my yard, and I tee bat 100 balls every day for five sets. My idol is Ogasawara (Michihiro)-san, who always takes a full swing.
 Kato has another side to him. He is a singer-songwriter who writes lyrics. In October 2003, he made his CD debut with &#8220;Kimi no Sora/Fight! In October 2003, she made her CD debut with &#8220;Kimi no sora/Fight!
 My mother was a teacher at Yamaha Electone School, and I took music lessons as well as baseball until I was in the second grade. I was in the 6th grade of elementary school when I started playing again. My father bought a CD titled &#8220;Tomodachi no Uta (Poem of a Friend)&#8221; by Ataru Nakamura. When I sang the song after copying him, my mother surprised me by saying, &#8220;You&#8217;re so good! She was surprised. Since then, I have sung at school morning assemblies and held mini-concerts at live music clubs.
 As she entered the workforce, she had even more opportunities to sing in public.
 When the Japanese national team won the World Cup in September 2002, I was invited to a fan meeting and sang &#8220;Dorikamu&#8217;s &#8216;Dokodemo Demo'&#8221; at the event. All the players cried. Akiko Shimura, the captain of the team, told us that she was &#8220;very moved. &#8230;&#8230;
 I had given up on the idea that it would be impossible to play both baseball and music as a professional, but those words gave me a push. I decided to try anything I wanted to do, and through an acquaintance of my father&#8217;s, I pitched the idea to an office.&#8221;
 Kato currently runs a baseball school for elementary school girls. We hope that her beautiful singing voice will also encourage women who aspire to become baseball players.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Unseen Faces of Beautiful Baseball Players"></div>
<figure id="attachment_307137" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307137" style="width: 3840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="06b8ebb0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/71A6010.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307137" class="wp-caption-text">Former &#8220;too beautiful to be true&#8221; professional baseball player debuted as a singer in October &#8217;15</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_307138" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307138" style="width: 3840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0b63d5da"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/71A6080.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307138" class="wp-caption-text"> Former &#8220;too beautiful to be true&#8221; professional baseball player made his debut as a singer in October &#8217;15.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_307140" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307140" style="width: 3840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1399857f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/71A6133.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307140" class="wp-caption-text"> Former &#8220;too-beautiful pro baseball player&#8221; who debuted as a singer in October 2003.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_307141" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307141" style="width: 1499px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c5d6bddd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/SH067891.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307141" class="wp-caption-text"> This magazine also interviewed her in April &#8217;14. Here is a rare shot of her in her casual clothes.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_307142" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307142" style="width: 1763px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7599ce90"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/SH067200.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307142" class="wp-caption-text"> Kato was a candidate for Japan&#8217;s national team. She played for several professional women&#8217;s baseball teams, including Saitama Astoria.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_307143" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307143" style="width: 3840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7ac7030d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/71A6043.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307143" class="wp-caption-text"> A former &#8220;too-beautiful pro baseball player&#8221; who made her debut as a singer in October 2003.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_307144" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307144" style="width: 3840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0b96a61a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/71A5969.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307144" class="wp-caption-text"> Former &#8220;too beautiful to be true&#8221; professional baseball player who debuted as a singer in October &#8217;15.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_307145" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307145" style="width: 3840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9b3d5258"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/71A5939.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307145" class="wp-caption-text"> Former professional baseball player who debuted as a singer in October &#8217;15.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_307146" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307146" style="width: 3840px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2233c6a5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/71A6143.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-307146" class="wp-caption-text"> She had a fresh smile during the interview.</figcaption></figure>

 Tetsuko Takemoto, Shinji Hamasaki

 Ai Kato, a former "too beautiful to be true" professional baseball player, has announced her marriage. Her partner is actor Yuki Tsujimoto. This magazine interviewed Kato right after she joined professional baseball. We reproduce the article in which she reveals the hidden pain of her dual career as a singer.

Bold pose with a guitar… A beautiful ex-professional baseball player who announced his marriage to a singer.

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