Daily Sports Column (Japanese) Here デイリースポーツの日本語版はこちら
As someone whose lack of athletic ability should have meant never dreaming of playing professional sports, I shifted to dreaming of reporting about sports at a pretty young age. But even that dream came to a screeching halt after a year of college. I resigned to the career that I always felt was my fate: teaching. I guess I would never star on a field of play, or even get anywhere near one as a reporter. Maybe I could somehow teach children who would one day go on to illustrious careers in professional sport?
Now I know, though, that there is someone out there who is straddling my current career and my dream one. How, you ask? Well, he is an English teacher on staff with a professional baseball team. As an educator, this sounds too good to be true. But Brian Hirakawa has, in fact, turned the playing field, the road accommodations, the bullet trains and everything in between into his classroom setting for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars players, coaches, and staff.
As evidenced by his name, Mr. Hirakawa has Japanese roots, and in fact that is why he came to Japan in the first place back in 1998. Hoping to learn more about the country his great-grandparents left behind, he moved to Japan right out of university, and within a year, found himself at a ballpark (home of the Chiba Lotte Marines, to be exact) and discovered a game (or at the very least, fan atmosphere) that differed greatly from the one played by his hometown San Diego Padres.
Now, before you jump the gun and assume that Brian is just a baseball fan who lucked into his current gig, think again. He is actually a fully certified teacher, and has extensive experience not only in Japan, but also back in America. Unlike yours truly, Brian went back to his homeland and lived there for a dozen years before returning to Japan in 2016. And when he got back, he got nudged in the right direction to apply for this position, and the rest is history.
So on a typical day, anywhere from five to nine lessons (including online lessons with the farm team) keep him busy. But still, if you’re going to be employed by a baseball team, you better take advantage by stepping onto the playing field from time to time, right? That’s just what Brian does – between lessons, time permitting, he shags fly balls while talking to the players. Talk about living the teaching dream!
Though Brian says he feels as though international communication has gotten comparatively stronger, and players have a heightened awareness (and understanding) of the English being spoken around them, he is still a greater benefactor than he is contributor. He says the players have taught him a lot about life, baseball, Japanese culture, and even the Kansai dialect. Now, he hopes to pass those lessons on to his own two children – how to properly throw a ball, how to treat people with respect, how to work hard and succeed in Japan. He might even teach them a little Kansai-ben, too.
It sure would be nice if the Hanshin Tigers opened up a position like this one for a professional teacher like me. Granted, the Tigers players don’t need help communicating with manager Akihiro Yano as BayStars players and staff do with their manager (though Alex Ramirez has Japanese citizenship and speaks Japanese just fine). Still, I’d be willing to teach our import players a little more Japanese, and I’ll even throw in lessons for their family members, too!
What say you, Hanshin? I say, “It’s showtime! Ore ga yaru de!”