<figure id="attachment_462729" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-462729" style="width: 2395px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1613f120"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/baeaa58f91ed7c22e2cbf85cff18820f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-462729" class="wp-caption-text">The actual equipment that supported the event for 60 years. A notebook for writing down player information, a scorebook, and a stopwatch are essentials.</figcaption></figure>
<p> This year marks the 60th anniversary of Nippon Broadcasting System&#8217;s famous live baseball broadcast program &#8220;Nippon Broadcasting System Show Up Nightly&#8221;. Miyata has supported the program since its early days and is still a legend today as Japan&#8217;s first &#8220;play-by-play announcer in his 80s&#8221; who continues to provide live coverage.</p>
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<p> Part 1: <a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/462724">Professional Baseball Fans Drool! Tsunoki Miyata: The &#8220;Famous Players&#8221; and Enduring &#8220;Great Games&#8221; I Have Live Reported</a></p>
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<h2> Yoshio Yoshida as bait</h2>
<p> Miyata did not only relay games for the Giants. He was also present at the moment of the Hanshin League championship in 1985 (later to become the number one team in Japan).</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It was a game against Yakult at Jingu Stadium on October 16. At that time, I was in charge of interviewing Yoshio Yoshida about the victory. In those days, the Hanshin fans could have avalanched onto the field, or surrounded the players on their way back to their dormitories.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> So, after discussions with Jingu Stadium officials and Nippon Broadcasting System, we came up with a plan to have me interview the manager and keep the fans inside the stadium while the players returned to their lodgings.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The interview lasted three minutes. When I turned the microphone on Yoshida and said, &#8220;Congratulations on your victory,&#8221; he spoke in his own words and expressed his heartfelt feelings without hesitation. When the time was up, I concluded the interview by saying, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to end this interview with the winning coach,&#8221; and the players had already safely left the stadium. It may not be a good way to put it, but I used Director Yoshida as a decoy to keep the players safe (laughs).</span></p>
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<p> Miyata, who is breaking into a smile as he recalls those days, has also crossed the ocean to report on the situation in real life.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In 2008, I went to the East Coast of the United States to cover Ichiro. Kenji Jojima was also with the Mariners at the time, and I wanted to talk to them in the locker room.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Jojima responded to my interview loudly and clearly, but Ichiro, who was in the same space, stood facing the wall and quietly changed his clothes. No one talked to him, not even the reporter in charge. There was some kind of aura of not being allowed to touch him, so I couldn&#8217;t talk to him either.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, I was really moved when I had the opportunity to report the game in which Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Red Sox and Ichiro of the Mariners went head-to-head at Fenway Park in Boston. Nowadays, Japanese confrontations happen on a daily basis, but it was because of these players that Japanese people were able to cross the ocean.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The Best Match"></div>
<h2>The Joy of Being an Announcer</h2>
<p> What was the &#8220;greatest game&#8221; that Miyata has ever played live?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I&#8217;ve played the games where a major record was set or a famous player retired, but the game that left the greatest impression on me was the game between the Giants and Yakult on September 4, 2009. The Giants&#8217; starting pitcher was Kazunari Tsuruoka. Current manager Shinnosuke Abe was starting at first base, but he had already been replaced, and Ken Kato took over in the 9th inning. However, in the 11th inning of extra innings, Kato took a dead ball to the head and left the game.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The Giants had no catcher left &#8211; and with everyone&#8217;s heads in the sand, it was Takuya Kimura who appeared in the top of the 12th inning wearing a blistering protective suit. It was the first time in 10 years that the utility player had worn the mask.</span><span class="strongInContent"> When Kimura returned to the bench after retiring the first three batters he faced, the stadium erupted in thunderous applause, and then-manager Tatsunori Hara (67) clapped Kimura on the back and praised him for his efforts.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The game was a deadly battle that lasted nearly five and a half hours, and it was a great honor for the announcers to be able to report the whole thing on the field. I often say things like, &#8216;I can&#8217;t wait for it to be over,&#8217; but the truth is, the longer it takes, the happier I am.</span></p>
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<p> Miyata was also in charge of standby at the Belluna Dome last August in case the main card was rained out. Will he remain active for the rest of his life?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When I first started, Mr. Oh and Mr. Nagashima were pulling tires at the Giants&#8217; Aoshima camp,&#8221; Miyata said. Nowadays, players with the latest training have come to challenge the majors one after another.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It&#8217;s fun to do live baseball commentary while experiencing these changes. So I hope I can continue to do it as long as I can speak up, as long as it doesn&#8217;t bother the people around me.</span></p>
<p> The living embodiment of the Japanese baseball world will continue to carry the excitement of the stadium in his voice.</p>
<figure id="attachment_462730" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-462730" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a5898744"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/21de3f9db2e0906ff3a25f93d60ce069.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-462730" class="wp-caption-text"> In 2009, Kimura of the Giants played catcher for the first time in 10 years, and immediately after he shut down the Yakult batting lineup. Manager Hara is all smiles.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_462731" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-462731" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cc2bc357"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/3157b3aad9663c5ad9ff1e9697d090e3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-462731" class="wp-caption-text"> He was on site to report the Japanese duel between Ichiro and Matsuzaka. Miyata said nostalgically, &#8220;We were blessed back then, weren&#8217;t we?</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_462732" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-462732" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="78e6eb95"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/cffeb2508b964d4c376122363a44ab75.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-462732" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished cuts from the magazine: Tsunoki Miyata, the &#8220;great players&#8221; and enduring &#8220;great games&#8221; I relayed live on the field</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_462733" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-462733" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3bab2fa2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/6a19f140c1120e7ab6e432ec85a3023f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-462733" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished cuts from the magazine: Tsuneki Miyata, the &#8220;great players&#8221; and enduring &#8220;great games&#8221; that I relayed live from the stands.</figcaption></figure>
<p> From the April 10, 2026 issue of FRIDAY</p>
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 Tsunoki Miyata not only broadcasted the Giants' games, but he was also present at the moment of the Hanshin League championship in 1985. He even traveled across the ocean to report the game. The best game he ever played was the game between the Giants and Yakult on September 4, 2009.

 A veteran announcer tells his secret story (Part 2)... The '85 Hanshin League championship game between Ichiro and Daisuke Matsuzaka, the "best game ever" for a play-by-play announcer

Tsunoki Miyata, a play-by-play announcer in his 80s: “It’s still fun to play baseball play-by-play.

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