Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
BOOK REVIEW: WHY THE JAPANESE ARE A SUPERIOR PEOPLE!
See: THE UNBEARABLE UNIQUENESS OF THE JAPANESE RACE by Dice-K
http://www.japantoday.com/category/book-reviews/view/why-the-japanese-are-superior-people
BOOK REVIEW
Why the Japanese Are a Superior People
In “Why the Japanese Are a Superior People - The Advantages of Using Both Sides of Your Brain,” Boyé Lafayette De Mente, internationally known for his 40-plus pioneer books on the business practices, cultures and languages of Japan, Korea, China and Mexico, covers the elements in Japan’s traditional culture that have made them remarkably successful in virtually all of their endeavors.
De Mente attributes the special knowledge and skills of the Japanese to the premise that they are primarily right-brain oriented as a result of their vowel-heavy language — a linguistic circumstance they share with only one other group of people: the Polynesians of the South Pacific.
He quotes Japan’s noted brain authority Dr Tadanobu Tsunoda [author of “The Japanese Brain” and many other works] on how the Japanese tend to first process information in the right side of their brains — the side that deals with feelings rather than facts; a factor that is readily discernible in their arts and crafts as well as in their traditional management practices.
“In the Japanese mindset, aesthetics and form play an equal role with functionality,” De Mente says, adding: “and it is this cultural element that is responsible for the extraordinary beauty of such common things as their bowls, vases, paper doors, room dividers, kimono and yukata.”
De Mente says that the fact that the Japanese are able to use both sides of their brains gives them significant advantages over strictly left-brained people in designing and manufacturing products from arts and crafts to electronic devices.
In addition to such topics as emotions vs. reason, the “fuzzy” [holistic] thinking of the Japanese vs the linear thinking of other people, the diligence factor in Japanese behavior, and quality vs profit, De Mente identifies a long list of views and practices that distinguish the Japanese from left-brain oriented people — and are important for foreigners to know about.
For foreign readers, one of the more interesting topics in the book may be what foreign women have to do to cope with their left-brain oriented male counterparts.
Additional Information:
By Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books/Publishers. ISBN: 0914778552. 128 Pages. $12.95.
Distributor: Ingram Book Company.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/book-reviews/view/why-the-japanese-are-superior-peopleBOOK REVIEW
Why the Japanese Are a Superior People
In “Why the Japanese Are a Superior People - The Advantages of Using Both Sides of Your Brain,” Boyé Lafayette De Mente, internationally known for his 40-plus pioneer books on the business practices, cultures and languages of Japan, Korea, China and Mexico, covers the elements in Japan’s traditional culture that have made them remarkably successful in virtually all of their endeavors.
De Mente attributes the special knowledge and skills of the Japanese to the premise that they are primarily right-brain oriented as a result of their vowel-heavy language — a linguistic circumstance they share with only one other group of people: the Polynesians of the South Pacific.
He quotes Japan’s noted brain authority Dr Tadanobu Tsunoda [author of “The Japanese Brain” and many other works] on how the Japanese tend to first process information in the right side of their brains — the side that deals with feelings rather than facts; a factor that is readily discernible in their arts and crafts as well as in their traditional management practices.
“In the Japanese mindset, aesthetics and form play an equal role with functionality,” De Mente says, adding: “and it is this cultural element that is responsible for the extraordinary beauty of such common things as their bowls, vases, paper doors, room dividers, kimono and yukata.”
De Mente says that the fact that the Japanese are able to use both sides of their brains gives them significant advantages over strictly left-brained people in designing and manufacturing products from arts and crafts to electronic devices.
In addition to such topics as emotions vs. reason, the “fuzzy” [holistic] thinking of the Japanese vs the linear thinking of other people, the diligence factor in Japanese behavior, and quality vs profit, De Mente identifies a long list of views and practices that distinguish the Japanese from left-brain oriented people — and are important for foreigners to know about.
For foreign readers, one of the more interesting topics in the book may be what foreign women have to do to cope with their left-brain oriented male counterparts.
Additional Information:
By Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books/Publishers. ISBN: 0914778552. 128 Pages. $12.95.
Distributor: Ingram Book Company.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Baseball expert lines up new book on mobsters in Japan - Article on Robert Whiting
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090801a1.html
Baseball expert lines up new book on mobsters in Japan
American Robert Whiting of 'Chrysanthemum and the Bat,' 'You Gotta Have Wa' renown has followup to 'Tokyo Underworld' in the works
By WILSON WHYTE
Contributing writer
Robert Whiting is best known as an expert on baseball. But he's much more than that. He's also an expert on mobsters in Japan and the sound a radar site makes when it is "spotted" by a U2 spy plane.
 |
| Not just baseball: Author Robert Whiting, perhaps best known for his book "You Gotta Have Wa," knows his stuff when it comes to Japanese baseball. He also knows about postwar underworld dealings in Japan and is currently working on his second book on the subject after "Tokyo Underworld." WILSON WHYTE PHOTO |
So far, he hasn't written anything about the "squschheee" sounds the U2s transmitted to his earphones when he worked for the National Security Agency in Tokyo, but if you ever read one book on Japan, it has to be "Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan."
And if you're going to read at least two books, then check out "The Chrysanthemum and the Bat" or "You Gotta Have Wa" (which has just been updated) or "The Samurai Way of Baseball: The Impact of Ichiro and the New Wave from Japan."
But, if you can wait, Whiting is working on a followup to "Tokyo Underworld." There may be some who say sequels never work, but Whiting's new book is not a sequel, which would be hard since the main character in "Tokyo Underworld" died, and this ain't fiction.
The reason why Whiting can produce a "sequel" is that his research was so thorough he had enough material — and a whole new story line and central figure — to write a completely new book.
"I had a lot of characters in 'Tokyo Underworld' and I came across some really interesting people I did research on who didn't fit in because they got in the way of the main narrative," Whiting said. "So I'm taking that additional information and putting it together to come up with a sequel. I came across some really interesting people, and I also learned that crime knows no borders."
Whiting's sequel will be based around a character as equally entertaining and "enterprising" as Nicola Zappetti in "Tokyo Underworld." That man is Ted Lewin, who was featured in a 1959 report in Time magazine under the headline "The Plug-Ugly American."
Time described Lewin (whose birth name was Theodore Lieweraenowski) as "an American ex-prizefighter with a taste for dark shirts, penthouses, air-conditioned Cadillacs and shadowy wheelings and dealings."
"He was a former heavyweight boxer from New York who also had a really good mind for numbers," Whiting reveals. "He was a natural gambler and knew Meyer Lansky, who sent him to Asia to open clubs for the mafia."
"He went to Shanghai and Manila before the war and when Japan invaded the Philippines, he enlisted in the army," Whiting continued. "He was captured and took part in the Bataan Death March. He was held in a camp outside Manila and taught Japanese officers how to gamble, and, as a result, got special privileges."
Eventually, Lewin wound up in the mines of Kyushu with Lester Tenney, one of the veterans' leaders who campaigned for compensation from the Japanese government and Mitsubishi.
"Ted would be sitting on the porch sipping iced tea when everyone else was working in the mines," Whiting says. After testifying in the Tokyo War Crimes trials, Lewin opened the legendary Latin Quarter nightclub in Tokyo in 1949 on land owned by Yoshio Kodama, who Whiting calls "a rightwing godfather and mastermind of the Lockheed scandal" that brought down then-Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
"The Latin Quarter was a big deal," Whiting says. "The likes of Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee would fly over and entertain there." It was burned down in a mysterious fire after Lewin was deported for illegal gambling. Lewin retrenched in Manila, where he operated a casino and, says Whiting, ran guns for Japanese gangsters.
He also made friends with Vice President Fernando Lopez of the Philippines. When the VP's American son-in-law divorced his wife and took their son back to the United States, Lewin helped kidnap the boy and bring him back to Manila, for which Lopez was eternally and generously grateful.
According to Time, Lewin deposited over $6 million in a Nevada bank between 1951 and 1953, although it' s unlikely that all the money was his.
"His was an interesting story, and part of it's even a love story, but I couldn't put it in 'Tokyo Underworld,' " Whiting states. He hopes to have Lewin's story on the bookshelves in a couple of years' time, after the movie of "Tokyo Underworld" is made — or hopefully made, that is.
Whiting could almost write a book about the hurdles he's faced in trying to get "Tokyo Underworld" onto the big screen.
Originally, the screenplay was written by Nicholas Pileggi of "Goodfellas" fame and was commissioned by DreamWorks Pictures, the company founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.
"The first draft was three hours long and an astonishingly good panoramic view of postwar Japan, with sex, violence, pathos and a sweeping vista taking in everything from the postwar black market to the U.S.-Japan security treaty," Whiting recalls. "But then, over the course of several rewrites, and many years, it gradually metastasized into something more family-friendly, more comedy than drama. Adam Sandler was even mentioned as a lead. Then Ben Stiller was going to act and direct."
The frustration was only mildly relieved by the annual option payments.
"I wasn't doing very much," Whiting admits. "They would call me up and say, 'Where is Akasaka?' In one script they had (pro wrestler) Rikidozan knocking out a water buffalo that had charged out of a toilet stall at the Latin Quarter. I told them there are no water buffalo in Tokyo and if there were, they wouldn't fit in the toilet. I was told, 'Don't worry, it's not a documentary.' "
The final script, says Whiting, is "actually pretty good," despite all the changes. But problems occurred after DreamWorks entered into a joint venture with Paramount that did not work out and Paramount wound up with the rights to the finished screenplays.
"There was a rights dispute and the project was at a standstill for a time," Whiting says, "but a resolution is in sight and Martin Scorsese says he is going to direct it."
At an absurdly youthful 66, Whiting remains a busy man. Apart from dealing with "Tokyo Underworld" scripts and working on its sequel, he is in demand as a speaker and as a writer. On top of that, his wife has just retired from a senior post with the United Nations. So he's got plenty on his plate. And he's still trying to explain Japanese baseball and Japan to the outside world.
He did this first with "The Chrysanthemum and the Bat," an inspired attempt to explain Japan through baseball, and its followup "You Gotta Have Wa," which focused on cultural conflict between Japan and America as reflected in the game.
With the major leagues embracing Japanese stars such as Ichiro and Hideki Matsui, Whiting was able to complete his trilogy with "The Samurai Way of Baseball: The Impact of Ichiro and the New Wave from Japan."
The use of baseball was far more apt than, say, soccer or rugby because baseball in Japan has a long history that dates back to the Meiji era, when it became the Japanese national sport, and in the process it has been "Japanized." Despite the strict parameters laid down in the laws of baseball, Whiting was able to see in dramatic fashion how different the same game could be between two absurdly diverse countries.
"I could see the difference between the individual and the group ethic, as well as the sport as a kind of martial art," Whiting explains. "It goes back to the 19th century, the samurai and the warrior ethic developed over the centuries." Whiting points out how, in Japan, individual freedoms or rights are always low on the list of social values.
"There are numerous surveys that show in England, France or Germany, the importance of individual freedoms rank much higher on the scale than in Japan, and in the United States rank even higher. You can clearly see the differences between Japanese society and Western society."
Whiting's bicultural credentials come from spending time here for the NSA while in the U.S. military and then studying at Sophia University, where he specialized in Japanese politics. He was fortunate enough to work with Tsuneo Watanabe, the future boss of the Yomiuri Shimbun, and befriend a member of the Sumiyoshi-kai. Both taught him about the influence of the yakuza — Watanabe in relation to politics, and his nine-fingered friend in relation to thuggery.
With the outside world embracing Japanese culture more than ever before, how does Whiting reconcile this newfound love with the lingering scars of its warrior past and a disruption of the social fabric?
"A Japanese professor once said to me a long time ago the Japanese either kiss your feet or put a boot in your face," Whiting states. "I think that might be a bit extreme these days, but (baseball) stars are certainly helping Japan to get rid of its inferiority complex."
"When I first came here, Japan was a quiet backwater that no one was interested in; the country had no influence at all. Japanese products were a joke, you couldn't read the instructions because they were written in bad English and they were cheaply made. But it got better in the '70s. Then, it was American TV sets that kept breaking down.
"Soon, the headline was 'How to stop the Japanese juggernaut,' and I remember one guy, Kent Calder, saying we were all doomed to being enlisted men in the Japanese corporate army.
"When Ezra Vogel brought out 'Japan As Number One,' Americans first began to think they weren't the superpower anymore; it was the Japanese.
"But then the Nikkei lost 75 percent of its value and everything changed again. Now, the Americans look at Japan and talk admiringly about its horror films, fashion, anime, manga, Hello Kitty and — something that was once an object of ridicule — baseball players.
"I wonder what the next 20 years will bring."
Thursday, July 30, 2009
THE UNBEARABLE UNIQUENESS OF THE JAPANESE RACE by Dice-K
THE UNBEARABLE UNIQUENESS OF THE JAPANESE RACE by Dice-KYo! It ain't easy being descended from a Divine Sun Goddess...
Nihonjinron as cultural nationalism
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron#Nihonjinron_as_cultural_nationalism)
The term Nihonjinron (日本人論) literally means theories/discussions about the Japanese. The term refers to a genre of texts that focuses on issues of Japanese national and cultural identity.
Scholars such as Peter N. Dale (1986), Harumi Befu (1987), and Kosaku Yoshino (1992) view nihonjinron more critically, identifying it as a tool for enforcing social and political conformity. Dale, for example, characterizes nihonjinron as follows:
- "First, they implicitly assume that the Japanese constitute a culturally and socially homogeneous racial entity, whose essence is virtually unchanged from prehistoric times down to the present day. Secondly, they presuppose that the Japanese differ radically from all other known peoples. Thirdly, they are conspicuously nationalistic, displaying a conceptual and procedural hostility to any mode of analysis which might be seen to derive from external, non-Japanese sources. In a general sense then, nihonjinron may be defined as works of cultural nationalism concerned with ostensible 'uniqueness' of Japan in any aspect, and which are hostile to both individual experience and the notion of internal socio-historical diversity."[22]
The emphasis on ingroup unity in nihonjinron writings, and its popularization during Japan's period of military expansion at the turn of the 20th century, has led many Western critics to brand it a form of ethnocentric nationalism. Karel van Wolferen echoes this assessment, noting that:
- In the nihonjinron perspective, Japanese limit their actions, do not claim 'rights' and always obey those placed above them, not because they have no other choice, but because it comes naturally to them. Japanese are portrayed as if born with a special quality of brain that makes them want to suppress their individual selves.[23]
As Japan is often deemed to be "almost as unique as its people like to think" (Pearl Buck, qtd. In Dale 1986:26) so too the Japanese people are considered not just unique but, in the words of Sugimoto and Mouer, "more unique than other societies."[24]
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1187573
Francona, Sox ’disappointed’ by Matsuzaka’s criticismBy Michael Silverman | Tuesday, July 28, 2009
| http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Red Sox
Manager Terry Francona expressed disappointment on behalf of the Red Sox for Daisuke Matsuzaka’s comments about the team’s throwing program, comments that Francona believes Matsuzaka showed poor judgment in making.
Photo by Nancy Lane
“I thought we made huge strides in communicating through some of his frustrations and maybe ours, so to hear him say that is disappointing,” said Francona this afternoon. “Not disappointing that he has an opinion, that’s very welcome. Disappointing that he took a meeting that was confidential and decided to air it publicly. Yeah, we’re very disappointed.”
Matsuzaka expressed to a Japanese newspaper that he had considerable frustration with the Sox’ conditioning program, specifically that he is unable to do as much throwing off the mound as he would like. He also complained about the team being unable to give him a timetable for his return.
In comments that were translated and appeared on WEEI.com, based on an article written by Taeko Yoshi for the allatanys.com website, Matsuzaka also has told the Red Sox that because of ethnic, racial and physiological differences between U.S. and Japanese-born pitchers, different conditioning programs must be used. When it cannot be used, the result is the decline in performance of so many Japanese pitchers after only a couple of seasons in the major leagues.
“If I’m forced to continue to train in this environment, I may no longer be able to pitch like I did in Japan,” Matsuzaka said. “The only reason why I managed to win games during the first and second years (in the U.S.) was because I used the savings of the shoulder I built up in Japan. Since I came to the Major Leagues, I couldn’t train in my own way, so now I’ve lost all those savings.”
Francona does not believe that there will be a problem going forward.
“I think we already have a resolution,” he said. “I guess that’s why we’re somewhat disappointed. We came out of that meeting feeling very good. Came out of that meeting two days ago and felt that everybody was on board with exactly what we were doing, himself included. I don’t know that we felt there was an issue there, still don’t know. I think there were things said out of frustration that were poor judgment on his part.”
Speaking on the radio, Sox pitching coach John Farrell agreed.
“For this to come out as it has -- I mean, we recognize there are differences and we’ve worked diligently and thoroughly to bridge that gap. For them to come out as they have is, in a word, disappointing,” said Farrell.
Matsuzaka is on the disabled list now for the second time this season with a mild right shoulder strain that the team said translates into a weakness stemming mainly from his participation in the World Baseball Classic this spring.
Matsuzaka has been hit hard this season, and the Red Sox have gone to great lengths of late to portray their communication with the pitcher as positive and improving.
After a visit at Fenway Park last Friday, the Red Sox said that Matsuzaka’s shoulder strength had “vastly improved” and that his conditioning had also taken a turn for the better.
They also said that he would continue to throw from flat ground only for the immediate future and that no mound throwing had been scheduled.
But to the Japanese media, Matsuzaka also said, “Until now, many Japanese players have joined the majors, but they usually only lasted for two or three years. I realized from my own experience that this was not due to their individual abilities but because of the difference in training methods. If someone doesn’t act, the way people think in the Majors would never be changed. I want them to understand this, not only for my sake, but for the sake of future Japanese players in the Major Leagues.”
Matsuzaka added: “They come armed with data and logic. To counter that, I have to respond with my own logic and that takes a lot of thinking and energy, but I can’t back down on this one.”
Farrell disputed the notion of the cultural-physiological theory proposed by the pitcher.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re from Japan, the Dominican or the States,” said Farrell. “We feel that the human body has movements that it goes through that you’ve got to support with overall conditioning and strength in addition to throwing. But if you just take it from a throwing standpoint, you are reaching a point of diminishing return and putting your arm in jeopardy of further injury. That’s what we’ve felt along.”
Farrell said that the ball club never mandated that Matsuzaka make changes in his program but it appears clear that the club still believes that its way is the right way. For Matsuzaka to do the throwing off the mound he wants to do, he must first meet the club’s standards when it comes to shoulder strength.
“I know Daisuke’s transition here and the challenges he’s faced, he’s obviously on record now saying he has vast differences with the throwing program but we have a $103 million investment in a guy that we have to what we feel not only to protect him but to have that success that we just outlined,” said Farrell.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
NPB STANDINGS FOR JULY 29 2009
Got this from a friend. Hope he doesn't mind...
click on the image to get a better view
click on the image to get a better view
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
ROYALS MANAGER HILLMAN GIVEN VOTE OF CONFIDENCE
... JUST BARELY. According to the AP, former Nippon Ham Fighters Manager, Trey Hillman, will be managing the Kansas City Royals for one more year.
Royals manager Hillman given vote of confidence
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — General manager Dayton Moore has given Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman a vote of confidence, saying he will return next season.
The Royals (37-54) went into Monday night's game against the Los Angeles Angels 17 games below .500 after losing six straight and eight of nine.
They took leads into the eighth inning in three games over the weekend against Tampa Bay, but the Rays rallied each time and swept the series.
Hillman said he appreciated the vote of confidence. He had never played or coached in the majors, spending five years as a manager in Japan before the Royals hired him after the 2007 season.
Hillman guided the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to the playoffs three times and the Japan Series title in 2006.
JAPANESE WASHOUTS TO RETURN HOME?
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20090726wg.html
Sunday, July 26, 2009Kobayashi, Yabuta might have better luck pitching back home
It is obvious 2009 has not been a great year for Japanese pitchers in the major leagues. Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox and Koji Uehara of the Baltimore Orioles have spent a lot of time on the disabled list, while Kenshin Kawakami of the Atlanta Braves has posted a losing record of 5-6 through games of Wednesday.
Hiroki Kuroda of the Los Angeles Dodgers is also behind the .500 ball at 3-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 11 games.
Hopefully, they will all get healthy, bounce back and make significant contributions to their respective teams before the season ends. For at least two others whose attempts at finding success at the major league level have not panned out, it may be time to call it a day, to look back with pride for trying, come home and help a Central or Pacific League team.
Former Chiba Lotte Marines close Masahide Kobayashi was released by the Cleveland Indians last week, and media reports indicated his agent was still trying to get him hooked on with another major league club. Instead, he should follow the example of Kazuo Fukumori whose attempt at playing regularly in the majors with the Texas Rangers never materialized.
Fukumori, the Rakuten Eagles closer in 2007, left Tohoku for Texas in 2008 but struggled through a season and a half. Finally, he apparently saw the writing on the wall, realized he is not MLB compatible and returned to Sendai, back with the Eagles.
Kobayashi should see the light, too, and the same goes for Yasuhiko Yabuta, another ex-Lotte reliever who, like his former teammate, has not really done anything for the Kansas City Royals since departing Chiba for the American Midwest at the end of 2007.
The 35-year-old Kobayashi has seen more of Columbus, Ohio, than Cleveland during the past 18 months. His major league record with the Indians does include 57 appearances, but he leaves behind a 4-5 won-loss record, six saves and a 4.53 ERA.
In 10 American League games this year, he was 0-0 with no saves and an ERA of 8.38. With the Triple-A Clippers, he was 2-2 with a save and a 4.66 ERA in 18 games prior to his release. Obviously, he was nowhere near the pitcher he was in 2005 with Lotte when he recorded a Pacific League-leading 29 saves in 46 games, along with a 2.58 ERA for the Japan Series champion Marines.
Middle reliever and setup man Yabuta (36), meanwhile, pitched in 31 games for manager Trey Hillman's Royals last season, compiling a 1-3 mark with a 4.78 ERA. This year at Triple-A Omaha, Yabuta is 1-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 19 appearances.
After losing both Kobayashi and Yabuta to free agency and the majors last year, and seeing situational lefty reliever Soichi Fujita become a free agent and defect to the Yomiuri Giants, Chiba Lotte manager Bobby Valentine indicated there was no doubt his club was damaged by their absence.
"Not so much Fujita, but not having Kobayashi and Yabuta in the bullpen was huge," said Valentine at mid-season in 2008, as the Marines failed to make the Pa League postseason Climax Series, and the outlook for this season's playoff qualification does not look that great, either.
It would seem Kobayashi and Yabuta could improve the bullpens of several teams in Japan, and they should be more comfortable here than in Columbus or Omaha.
The list of native players who left Japanese ball for a crack at MLB but returned to their native country is getting to be a long one. It includes pitchers Hideki Irabu, Masato Yoshii, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Kazuhisa Ishii, Shingo Takatsu, Masao Kida and Fukumori, and position players Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Tadahito Iguchi.
Is it not time for Kobayashi and Yabuta to join them by giving up the major league dream and coming home where they belong?
There are a lot of teams here who could use them.
* * * * * Contact Wayne Graczyk at: wayne@JapanBall.com
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM BOBBY VALENTINE
This official announcement from Bobby Valentine was posted on his blog:
http://www.bobbysway.jp/?p=493
http://www.bobbysway.jp/?p=493
日本語で読まれたい方は、ブログタイトル横の「日本語」をクリック！
(July 26th)
To the Chiba Lotte Marines Family,
From the moment that I agreed to come back to manage the Chiba Lotte Marines 6 years ago, I have always had two major priorities: to do what is best for the Shigemitsu family, who invited me back with enthusiasm, and to do what is best for the Chiba Lotte Marines. For the first 5 years, thanks to the wonderful support of our fans, players, coaches and support staff it was easy to be passionate and committed to my task as manager.
But this season many people around me and I were presented with a very challenging and confusing situation. Lask week Acting Owner Shigemitsu came to my office and I had a chance to speak privately with him one-on-one for the first time since last July. I thanked him for visiting me and apologized for the poor performance of the team. We reassured each other that our friendship remained the same and I felt grateful for it. And most importantly, I came to feel that for me to leave the team at the end of the 2009 season is best for the Shigemitsu family and for the Chiba Lotte Marines, and so I wanted to make this announcement about the decision as soon as possible.
There might not be words to sufficiently express my love and appreciation for the greatest fans in baseball. You moved me to tears when I was met at the airport in January. You amazed me and the entire baseball world with your petition drive. You inspire me and the players every single game with your banners, songs and your relentless passion and commitment to this team. All of it will be part of me forever. I deeply respect the traditions and culture of Japan. And, especially, my love for Japanese baseball will never fade.
Please view this announcement as my determination to make Chiba Lotte Marines baseball fun once again, for our fans and for each member of the team. I have always felt victory was shallow--and true victory was impossible--if the attempt to gain it was not fun. This year has not been fun for anyone who truly loves the Chiba Lotte Marines, so I will make a renewed effort to make this 2009 season the most fun that it can possibly be, and one that we will all remember and cherish for our lifetimes. To help me with this effort and to inspire the team, I would like you, the greatest fans in the world, to cheer for us more than ever.
Let’s play fun baseball again,
Bobby Valentine
Bobby
Commit to your passions - Passionately pursue your commitments(7月26日)
千葉ロッテマリーンズ・ファミリーの皆さんへ
6 年前、私が千葉ロッテマリーンズの監督として復帰すると決めた時から、私は、情熱を持って再度迎えて下さった重光家のために最善を尽くすこと、そして、千 葉ロッテマリーンズのために一番良いと思われることに尽力することの二点を、最も重要な事柄として捉えてきました。そして最初の 5 年間は、ファンの皆さん、選手、コーチとスタッフたちの素晴らしい協力に助けられ、監督業に情熱を傾け、真剣に打ち込むことができました。
しかし、今シーズンはここまで、私と私の周囲の人々にとって大変困難で、混乱を極める事態に見舞われています。この中で先週、重光オーナー代行が監督室に いらっしゃり、昨年の 7 月以降初めて、私はオーナー代行と二人だけでお話しすることができました。私は、彼の訪問に感謝し、今シーズンこれまでのふがいない成績に対する謝罪をし ました。また、我々の友情も以前と変わらぬことを確認し合い、それに対する感謝の気持ちをお伝えすることもできました。同時に、今シーズン限りで私が千葉 ロッテマリーンズを去ることが、重光家、そして千葉ロッテマリーンズにとって最善の道であると実感し、その決断を皆さんにできるだけ早くお伝えするべき だ、と思うに至りました。
世界で最も素晴らしいファンの皆さんに対する、私の愛情と感謝の気持ちを十分に伝える言葉はないかもしれません。今年の 1 月に皆さんが空港で出迎えてくれたとき、私は感動で涙しましたし、私の残留を求める署名活動には深い感銘を受けました。また、毎試合のように旗を振り、歌 を歌い、チームに対して絶えることない情熱と献身的な姿勢を見せてくださり、私も選手たちも大変勇気づけられています。これらの全ては、永遠に私の中の一 部として生き続けることでしょう。私は日本という国の伝統や文化を心から尊敬しており、その中でも日本の野球に対する愛情が色あせることは決してありませ ん。
皆さんに対する私のこのメッセージは、千葉ロッテマリーンズの野球をもう一度、ファンの皆さんにとって、そしてチームの皆にとって楽しいものにするための 決意だ、と考えてください。私は、勝利を目指す過程が楽しいものでなければその勝利は表面的なものであるし、本当の意味での勝利とは呼べない、といつも感 じています。今シーズンはこの時点まで、千葉ロッテマリーンズを本当に愛する人々にとって、決して楽しいものではありませんでした。ですから、2009 年シーズンを最高に楽しいシーズンにし、ファンの皆さんそしてチームの皆が一生忘れることのできない、かけがえのないシーズンにするために、私はこれか ら、改めて努力を続けていきます。そのためにも、ファンの皆さんの、チームを勇気づけるためのより一層の応援をお願いしたいと思います。
もう一度、楽しい野球をしましょう！
ボビー・バレンタイン
ボビー
Commit to your passions - Passionately pursue your commitments
心に誓い、心を燃やす
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
