Munenori Kawasaki embraces Dubai offer, joking about winning a camel
Last year, he won the MVP award with the Mid-East Falcons in Dubai.
Baseball from an overseas perspective
“I played in Japan’s professional leagues, went to the majors, and also played in Taiwan and Mexico, but I still have the desire to play overseas. So when I got an offer asking, ‘How about Dubai in the Middle East?’ I happily said yes. The Middle East, and Dubai in particular, seemed full of potential. But when I really thought about it, I asked myself, ‘Where exactly is Dubai?’ I had misunderstood it as a country name (laughs).”
Munenori Kawasaki (44), wearing the traditional “kandura” gifted by a local friend, proudly held up two trophies with a beaming smile (photo).
“The bigger one is the Series MVP. The other is called the ‘Elvis Andras Clubhouse Award,’ which I got for helping boost the team’s morale. Pretty me, right? (laughs)”
The region’s first baseball league, Baseball United, featuring four teams based in the Middle East and South Asia, officially launched at the end of last year. From November, a month-long league took place in Dubai, where Kawasaki played for the Mid East Falcons alongside legendary former players like Hiroyuki Nakajima (43, ex-Chunichi, etc.) and Shuhei Fukuda (36, ex-Chiba Lotte, etc.). He finished the regular season with an impressive .367 batting average and led his team to victory in the playoffs, earning the inaugural Series MVP title.
“I thought maybe I’d get a camel as a secondary prize, but alas (laughs). But at the start of the games, the starting pitcher rides a camel to the mound.”
This was one of the show elements designed to attract fans in Dubai, a place with little baseball tradition, but the game itself was also unconventional, using unique rules that overturned typical norms.
The February 6 issue of FRIDAY (Feb. 20–27 combined issue) and the paid edition FRIDAY GOLD cover Kawasaki’s performance in Dubai, insights gained from this challenge, his continued playing at age 44, and his thoughts on retirement, along with photos taken locally.
For detailed content and multiple photos, click here ↓
From the February 20/27, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”
Interview and text by： Kotaro Tajiri PHOTO： Ryoji Shigemasa