Sadaharu Oh addresses guests at the bipartisan Congress of Baseball…encourages Shohei Ohtani to “be the best in the world as long as he participates” in the WBC.

As long as I’m competing, I want to be the best in the world.

I know I’m a bad guy, but I’m counting on you.

Freelance photographer Takashi Hotta, known on social networking sites as “Freehotter” for his blunt remarks, tapped Kōichi Hagiuda, 62, Acting Secretary General of Japan, on the shoulder and introduced him to Sadaharu Oh, 85, Chairman of Softbank, who has a total of 27.28 million yen in back taxes not reported in his political fund balance report.

He was a senior at Waseda Jitsugyo, my high school, and we have known each other for a long time,” Hagiuda said.

Mr. Oh smiled quietly as Mr. Hagiwada replied with a wry smile, “I’ve known him for a long time.

On December 2, the “Diet Members Caucus for the Future of Baseball” was launched by a nonpartisan group of Diet members. Former professional baseball players Hiroo Ishii, 61, and Kenta Aoshima, 67, were appointed co-chairs, former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, 68, a graduate of the hardball team at Kaisei High School, one of Tokyo’s most prestigious high schools, was named chief advisor, and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, who also used to play high school baseball, became secretary general. The event brought together 122 members of the Diet, ranging from “backroom money lawmakers” to members of the Reiwa Shinsei Gumi and the Sangenkai.

Mr. Oh, who attended as a guest of honor, commented on the diversification of sports and the declining birth rate, which has led to the number of players in some age groups being overtaken by soccer, and the decline in the number of players has not been halted.

Baseball started in the Meiji era and has a longer history than soccer or rugby. There are various organizations, but because they were established so early, they are disjointed and have little horizontal connection. The baseball world is feeling a crisis because soccer and rugby are uniting and moving forward.

On the other hand, in response to the news that Shohei Ohtani, 31, of the Dodgers of the Major League Baseball, has announced his intention to participate in next spring’s World Baseball Classic, he also commented on baseball’s appeal.

He will be a big difference. I think the players will be very excited. I think the players will be very excited. I really want to win the championship for the fourth time. I want a hero to succeed Otani. I want many people to play baseball. I would like to do my job to give such opportunities to children.

Baseball is a team sport, and the players in the lineup always get a chance to bat. If you get a chance to bat and hit a ball, you become a hero. Other sports don’t have that kind of situation, and I think it suits the Japanese,” said Oh.

Mr. Kishida, who professes to be a Hiroshima Carp fan, said, “When I was a child, I played professional baseball games every day.

When I was a child, professional baseball games were broadcast daily on TV, and most children played baseball when they played outside. Most of my memories involved baseball. Today, when I watch the big league games, I feel the potential of Japanese players and Japan. I would like to enliven baseball from my respective standpoints and bring more smiles to children’s faces. I would like to sweat for that.”

Shinjiro also serves as secretary general of the nonpartisan “Rakugo Council,” in which he is a member.

He pointed out the overlap between baseball and rakugo, saying, “Rakugo is no different in that it has been around for a long time and has few horizontal ties. I thought it would be a good idea to create some cross-organizational links between the various rakugo organizations through the Diet members’ association. I would like to work together with the Baseball Federation to create horizontal connections.

Aoshima, who served as the moderator, ended the inaugural meeting in a friendly atmosphere as he talked about the amateur baseball achievements of the participating Diet members, including the fact that Katsuya Haruha, 58, secretary general of the KDP, is a former high school baseball player and a qualified first-class umpire in the Shizuoka Prefecture Baseball Federation.

I didn’t realize there were so many former baseball players with a proven track record in the Diet.

The Japan Innovation Party’s Yuichiro Wada, 61, a member of the House of Representatives, who attended the meeting, continued, “I didn’t think there were so many former baseball players with a proven track record in the Diet.

I like that everyone in the Diet is smiling and relaxed, even though they are often scary in the Diet,” said Yuichiro Wada, 61, a member of the Japan Restoration Association, who attended the meeting. I would like to work on solving social issues through baseball.

The Takaichi administration’s cabinet approved a supplementary budget of 18.3 trillion yen, the largest since the COVID-19 crisis. The Diet will debate the matter in the coming days, but we hope that the government will use this kind of “all-hands-on-deck” approach to take care of the lives of the common people who are suffering from high prices.