<figure id="attachment_460718" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460718" style="width: 3268px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="97dd07cb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/f2e10a9abc4b11768436c4cbd2683a17.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460718" class="wp-caption-text">As you can see from the photo, Murakami applauded the Emperor and his family</figcaption></figure>
<h2> It&#8217;s all about the mune. &#8230;&#8230;</h2>
 Samurai Japan, which advanced to the WBC Tokyo Round in Miami, U.S., after winning all its games, was &#8220;burned&#8221; by Munetaka Murakami (26), who hit a miraculous goodbye hit in the previous WBC in 2023, at the Emperor&#8217;s Match held on March 8.
 Murakami has just left Yakult for the White Sox of the U.S. Major League Baseball, and is expected to play an active role. &#8230;&#8230;
 Hirokazu Ibata, 50, has called up Murakami for the second consecutive tournament, aiming for a &#8220;win-win&#8221; baseball game by a Japanese major leaguer. He was not in great form in the Tokyo round, but he showed signs of awakening with a grand slam in the final game against the Czech Republic.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 What in the world did Murakami&#8217;s &#8220;flaming out&#8221; mean? The incident occurred after the game against Australia on August 8, when Murakami started.
 On that day, the Emperor and his family were watching the game. It was the first time in 60 years that a match had been held under the Emperor&#8217;s watchful eye, and it was a match that caught the attention of all of Japan. The family watched until the game set with commentary by former manager Hideki Kuriyama, 64, and others, and applauded the victorious Samurai Japan. The team commander, Shohei Ohtani (31), and other members of the nine-man team were on the field applauding and bowing to the emperor and his family, but only Murakami was chewing gum with his arms folded.
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
 Immediately afterwards, a huge debate broke out on the Internet, with comments such as &#8220;That was extremely rude,&#8221; &#8220;No, it was just a coincidence,&#8221; and &#8220;Wasn&#8217;t there anyone there to warn them?
 In fact, there was a time to clap for the family, but the live camera caught Murakami folding his arms for more than 10 seconds, which resulted in inexcusable evidence. Murakami has a natural tendency, so I don&#8217;t think it was intentional. But I must say that it was NG behavior for a representative carrying the flag of Japan.
 The Samurai Japan management was troubled, and unofficially received a complaint from the sponsors saying, &#8220;That was not good. The staff took the situation very seriously and immediately gathered the players and others involved and told them, &#8220;Everything you do is broadcast to the world through the mass media and fans on social networking sites. Please be aware that you are representing the team, and be careful about your behavior in public, not only on the field but also in dealing with fans when traveling by bus,&#8221; he said.
 Although he did not name Murakami, the Nine also laughed, saying, &#8216;Obviously, I was talking about Mune, wasn&#8217;t I? &#8230;&#8230; I never thought that the top players of the Samurai Japan team would be lectured like students. &#8230;&#8230;
 Perhaps this &#8220;righteous&#8221; emergency meeting paid off, as Murakami became the hero of the game against the Czechs with a powerful home run. We hope he will explode in the U.S. round.

 Kyodo News

 Samurai Japan, which advanced to the WBC series in Miami after winning all of its games in the Tokyo round, was "burned" by Munetaka Murakami (26), who hit a miraculous goodbye hit in the previous round in 2023, at the Emperor's Exhibition Game held on March 8. Why?

 The reprimand was too "justifiable".

Samurai Japan held an emergency meeting due to the flare-up over the &#8220;arm-folding issue of Munetaka Murakami&#8221; at the Tenran Match&#8230;perhaps a notice to &#8220;be aware of your status as a representative of the national team?

Samurai Japan held an emergency meeting due to the flare-up over the “arm-folding issue of Munetaka Murakami” at the Tenran Match…perhaps a notice to “be aware of your status as a representative of the national team?

Access Ranking