Shohei Ohtani waves to the cheering Dodger Stadium crowd just before his first at-bat Friday night against the Colorado Rockies. It was the Japanese star’s first plate appearance at home since reaching and passing the milestone of 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, a feat never before achieved in the history of Major League Baseball. Ohtani later stole his 52nd base and hit his 52nd homer of the season, as the Dodgers downed the Rockies, 6-4.
By GWEN MURANAKA
Years from now, Japanese and Japanese Americans may look back and see this week as one of this community’s finest. When we were not only seen but celebrated on the largest stages of American society.
It started on Sunday when “Shōgun” won a historic 18 Emmys. A triumph for a cast and crew devoted to framing a story in a way that put Japanese language and culture front and center.
That it has been embraced by an American audience shows how far we’ve come since Hiroyuki Sanada was second fiddle to Tom Cruise in “The Last Samurai.” At the Emmys, Sanada picked up the award for lead actor and also for best dramatic series as a producer. He summed up the moment by saying it was an “East meets West dream project with respect.”
Then on Thursday Shohei Ohtani was so dialed-in against the Miami Marlins that it was just a well-thrown ball to third that prevented him from hitting the cycle in addition to going 6-for-6, with three home runs, two stolen bases and 10 RBIs. Every piece of equipment was authenticated and Decoy will now get a dogs-eye view of Cooperstown from Shohei’s historic cleats.
Of any sport, baseball remembers and respects its history.
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker could clearly be seen saying “F— that” at the option of intentionally walking the Dodgers’ designated hitter in his last at-bat. Of course, Ohtani rocketed the ball into the upper decks for his 51st.
Speaking afterwards, Schumaker said, ”That’s a bad move, baseball-wise, karma-wise, baseball-gods-wise. You go after him and see if you can get him out. I think out of respect for the game, we were going to go after him.”
Ohtani has left his teammates awestruck, giggling at his accomplishments, but he’s typically humble, saying first that he was glad the Dodgers got the win. Ohtani will now be in his first playoff run and he’s taking all of us along for the ride.
It’s the combination of humility and respect that resonates and feels so uniquely Japanese. They are values our parents tried to teach us and what we want to preserve when we talk about passing down the Japanese American culture to future generations.
Years ago I was a member of the Japan JACL Chapter and we hosted a program with Wally Yonamine at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo. Yonamine was a Nisei from Maui who played 12 years with the Tokyo Giants and Chunichi Dragons, notching four Japan Series championships and MVP honors in 1957.
When I told my friend Miho, a lifelong Giants fan, about the event, she was awestruck and wanted to meet him. You could see in their interaction the respect that Wally had. In the humble way Wally carried himself, you he saw he was not only an ambassador for baseball but for Japanese Americans, who are so often overlooked in Japan.
Finally this week, just up the Eastern seaboard, June Kuramoto was being elevated by the National Endowment for the Arts with its highest recognition in folk and traditional arts. June may not be known worldwide like Shohei (nor the recipient of a $700 million contract) but her accomplishments are incredibly important and represent decades of devotion to her craft.
June is such a community treasure. As familiar a sight at the Aratani Theatre or Higashi Obon as she is on stages across the globe. She makes it look so effortless but in an NEA video shot at her Alhambra home, June shows how she strings her koto, a skill she had to master in order to perform for audiences worldwide. Her band, Hiroshima, has been around for so long that you kind of take it for granted how accomplished they are.
June shared that coming from Japan at a young age she felt that she didn’t belong. She found her place through koto and has brought all of us along, sharing her joyful artistry rooted in the Southern California JA community. Their cultural impact was acknowledged closer to home, in Torrance on Sunday at a tribute to the late Sumako Azuma.
What a week it has been and the best is that we have more to look forward to and their coattails mean that young people will continue to be inspired by their examples. The team from “Shōgun” is gearing up for another season. June is still performing and out there in the community. And there’s Shohei getting ready for his first postseason.
It’s showtime and Sho time!
Gwen Muranaka, senior editor of The Rafu Shimpo, can be contacted at gwen@rafu.com. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.