From our Daily Sports Online column (Japanese) / デイリースポーツの連載コラムから
Fujinami: 思いっきり腕を振って勝負していきたい (Omoikkiri ude wo futte sho-bu shite ikitai)
Translator: Swing my arm and do what I can do and… do my best.
Huh? That doesn’t sound like good baseball English! Come on, translator! You’d be better off saying something like, umm… omoikkiri… hang on a sec, let’s start with the middle part. I know this one. Ude wo futte… geez, this is harder than I thought. But sho-bu suru, that’s easy! Compete! No wait, that doesn’t sound right in this context.
Fuji, throw your translator a bone, man!
These were the thoughts that passed through my mind as I watched Fujinami’s introductory press conference with the Oakland A’s back on January 18. I mean, first off, I was impressed by Fuji’s English. But secondly, I was a little skeptical of his choice in translator. And when I saw comments on social media expressing doubts about his ability to help Fuji adjust to life in America, I felt a need to look the man up and see what he was all about.
I knew I had never heard of anyone named Issei Yamada translating for the Tigers, so just who was he? A quick Google search revealed nothing. Not in English, not in Japanese. Hmmm… what’s up with that? I started to dig around the edges a little bit and see if I could find any useful clues. The floodgates opened up wide when it became apparent that the Oakland A’s got his name wrong! He is NOT Yamada, he’s Kamada!
From there, it became much easier to discover that this man was the Hanshin Tigers’ strength coach and physical trainer from 2013 to 17 and that he was employed by the Orix Buffaloes from 2018 to 22. Before that, he worked in the Nippon-Ham Fighters organization for a couple of years, and earlier than that, he lived stateside, where he got his undergrad degree (U of Northern Colorado), his master’s (Oregon State U), and worked in the Cleveland (Indians) minor league system as well.
The next natural step for me was to try to get in touch with Issei, and I was surprised at how easy it was. So we arranged a meeting and I asked him about his life, his connection with Fuji, and what he hopes to get out of this experience as translator.
After studying and becoming certified as a physical trainer and strength coach, Issei parlayed an internship into a job with the Indians. He said he realized early on that to make it to the bigs (MLB) as a trainer, it would take at least 10 years in the minors, plus a few lucky breaks. Instead of grinding that out, he sent his CV to all 12 NPB organizations. The first to bite was actually the Buffaloes, with whom he worked during their fall camp in 2010. The next year, he joined the Fighters full-time. He spent January helping stud prospect Yuki “Handkerchief Prince” Saitoh during rookie workouts, but spent much of the next two years on the farm, which for the Fighters is in Kamagaya (Chiba). It was there that he met his future wife, a stadium announcer and Hokkaido native.
Long story short, when hired by the Tigers in 2013, they perceived he had “expertise” working with young pitching proteges, so they immediately assigned him to work closely with blue-chip first-round pick Shintaro Fujinami. “He was really lean back then. Like 6’6” and only 183 pounds. But I could see already that he was athletic. He had decent strength, and his running and jumping stats were impressive.” That said, Kamada knew Fujinami needed work. Not only did he help Fujinami with his impressive 50 pound weight increase, but also introduced him to Yu Darvish, who introduced him to Clayton Kershaw in Dallas. This was perhaps Fuji’s first look at major-league talent.
That said, Kamada was not his translator at that time, and he only had sporadic contact with Fuji these past five years. How does one land this kind of job? “Fuji contacted everyone he knew the day before the press release. He wanted to make sure none of his friends were caught off guard by the news.” But a couple of providential moments worked in Kamada’s favor. “He phoned me at night, but I had fallen asleep with my kids, so I missed the call. I didn’t find out until the next morning, when the news had already broken.” So he mentioned the news to his wife, who then said, “Why don’t you ask him if he needs any help when he’s over there?” Issei told his wife he could not do that unless he also had the green light to step up if Fuji requested for him to head to the States with him.
When his wife insisted, that’s just what he did… and before long, an agreement was in place. But what of his career here in Japan? “I mean, I was with the Buffaloes when they won the title last year, so I have no regrets leaving them to help Fuji.”
So when January 18 rolled around, Issei was up there translating for Fujinami in front of cameras and media. “It was my first real job as a translator and it was harder than I thought it would be. Translating is a skill that goes beyond just knowing two languages. I have to be able to change what Fuji says into an English way of speaking.” Vocabulary and knowledge of the two languages is indeed not enough. This is something Fuji will eventually learn, too. “I mean, eventually, I hope Fuji is able to speak for himself. I am not planning on being with him every step of the way. He has to struggle and try on his own. But he’s up for it. I mean, he learned his speech well, which I helped him write, and he’s been observant and learned some English just from listening to me as well.”
Fujinami and the A’s will start the season at home on March 30 against Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. When asked about that, Issei chuckled, “I’m more excited to talk to Ippei (Mizuhara, Ohani’s translator) than I am to meet Ohtani himself! I have a lot to learn from him.”
Beyond just translation, though, Kamada has expressed an interest in learning “everything about the game: from GM to front office, to the American way of training. Japan is like 15-20 years behind the US. I hope to learn the latest stuff and if I end up back in Japan eventually, maybe I can bridge the gap and help Japan catch up in their approach to the game.”
We wish you all the best in America, Issei. Go all out (omoikkiri), be competitive (sho-bu suru) and enjoy watching Fuji throwing hard (ude wo furu)!