Traveling halfway around the world to play softball isn't something just anybody can do. It takes a tremendous amount of skill as well as a willingness to pack up and leave home for months at a time. But this summer, that is exactly what Eri Yamada and Kazuki Watanabe have done.
Acquired this spring, Yamada and Watanabe arrived from their native Japan during the Bandits' season opening series against the Akron Racers. After flying in on Thursday, both played in Friday night's game, just a day after meeting their teammates for the first time. While it may take some time for the two to adjust to life in the United States, they have already shown that they are more than ready to play.
Through her first ten games with the team, Yamada hasn't disappointed for the Bandits. With a .321 batting average, four of her nine hits have been homeruns and she has recorded 10 RBIs while scoring nine times.
Watanabe isn't a complete stranger to all the Bandits, she catches for Monica Abbott in Japan for team Toyota. In the three games she has played for Chicago, the Bandits have posted three shutouts, while giving up 13 hits.
We recently sat down for lunch with Yamada and Watanabe, along with Abbott, and team translator, Masashi. The lunch gave us a chance to get to know Yamada and Watanabe as well as learn a lot about Japanese culture. What followed turned out to be a very interesting experience.
Sushi is not an area of expertise for either of us, and it was pretty obvious at lunch. Before we began eating we asked if we could eat with forks as we struggled with chopsticks when we practiced in the office. In the end, we didn't use either, and wound up just using our hands to eat the sushi, which we discovered is also acceptable.
But before things got messy, we learned that before a meal in Japan, you say "Itadakimasu" which means "I gratefully receive" before eating, similar to saying grace in the United States.
During lunch, Monica forced us to try all the different kinds of sushi, including eel, which she ordered without telling us what we were eating until afterwards. It wasn't hard to try all the different kinds of sushi, in Japan it is not uncommon to share several dishes of food at the table rather than each person having an individual plate. Throughout lunch, Yamada and Watanabe often offered us some of their food to try. We accepted their offer, which brings us to the next rule about eating in Japan. When taking food off of a shared plate and moving it to your own plate, chopsticks are used to transfer the food. Once again however, we used our hands.
After trying the different kinds of sushi, our personal favorites were the avocado and tuna rolls. As we talked about food throughout lunch, of course the topic of pizza came up. It just so happened that after arriving in the States, the other Bandits players took Yamada and Watanabe out for some of Chicago's famous deep dish pizza. After trying both types, both agree that American pizza is better. They also mentioned pizza is very different in Japan, with thinner crust and a much wider variety of toppings. Some examples of Japanese pizzas include tuna and corn, salad, shrimp, teriyaki chicken, and honey and cinnamon.
Monica is currently in her fifth season in Japan, so she also told us about Japanese food and eating American food in Japan. When Monica cooks, she prepares American food, which is readily available at grocery stores in Japan, but when she eats out, she will eat Japanese food. In Japan there are a lot more seafood options than there are in America.
Surprisingly, food wasn't the only thing we talked about at lunch, we also managed to talk about softball. It wasn't a hard decision for Yamada and Watanabe to come play in the NPF, as it gave them a chance to continue playing while their season in Japan is on summer break. In Japan, the season is broken up into two halves. The first half runs from March to May, and the second half is run from the end of August through October, with the playoffs in November.
The break in the summer is meant to give the Japanese players a chance to focus on the national team, which is another reason Yamada and Watanabe decided to play in the NPF. Yamada, 29, and Watanabe, 27, both decided that if softball is added back to the 2020 Olympics, neither of them will be playing for the national team so they decided that it would be best for the country if they let younger players take their spots to begin building up the team now.
Both believe that softball will be added back into the Games, over wrestling and squash, especially if Tokyo's 2020 bid is selected.
Watanabe wasn't alone in her decision to play for the Bandits. Her teammate for Toyota just happens to be Abbott, who after Shannon Doepking's retirement, was looking for another catcher in the NPF. So after asking Watanabe to come be her catcher for the Bandits as well as Toyota, Watanabe couldn't stay away.
After Watanabe decided to play for the Bandits and the opportunity was offered to Yamada, she also decided that she wanted to come to the States, while Team Hitachi is on break. Prior to coming to the Bandits, the two were not friends, but respected each other as competitors, though it looks like they will be pretty good friends after what they have planned for this summer.
Before they made the big move, Monica asked them what they wanted to do so they could start planning their summer. The first thing both of them wanted to see was an MLB game. Check that one off the list, as they went to the Cubs game their first weekend in town. They also want to see other sports such as soccer and hockey, as well as go shopping. Another big plan is to go to a White Sox game when they play the Yankees to watch Ichiro play.
For many international players, Yamada is considered to be the female Ichiro, as she has a very similar batting stance. (Note: at this time it is unknown if Ichiro is planning on attending a Bandits game).
However, this isn't the first time that Yamada and Watanabe have been to the United States. Both have visited before for the World Cup of Softball, playing in Oklahoma, California, and Hawaii, adding another accomplishment to their strong softball careers.
After completing high school, Yamada went straight into professional softball. Since then, she played in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, hitting a solo homerun in the 2008 gold medal game off of Cat Osterman to beat the United States. "The U.S. was obviously the strongest team in softball and we finally beat them in 2008," Yamada said about Japan's gold medal win.
Watanabe played softball all four years at Sonoda Women's University in Japan before playing professionally.
Besides splitting the season in two halves, professional softball is treated very differently than it is in the United States. In Japan, softball is considered a regular job, with practice running from 9-5 Tuesday through Sunday. Monday is the only day that the players do not practice, but from 8-12 the players go into the team sponsor's office and perform normal office tasks before getting the rest of the day to relax.
Approximately 2,000-3,000 fans attend each game in Japan, but they are more reserved in Japan, whereas American fans are more into the game with clapping and cheering. Because of this, Yamada and Watanabe said that they prefer playing in front of American fans because of the energy.
So far the biggest challenge Yamada and Watanabe have faced coming to the United States has been communication. Enter Misashi, the Bandits translator, who travels with Yamada and Watanabe for all team activities to help the team communicate effectively. When Monica is in Japan, Team Toyota has a similar system to help her communicate with her teammates.
It has become somewhat of a common thing for American players to go play in Japan, but it is an exclusive opportunity for top talent players. Currently there are three players besides Monica who play in Japan: the Bandits' Megan Wiggins, who plays for Team Denso; Natasha Watley, who plays for Team Toyota along with Monica and Watanabe; and Jordan Taylor, who also plays for Denso.
In the past, current Bandits Tammy Williams and Kristen Butler have played in Japan. Williams played in 2010 and Butler played in 2008 and 2009. American players who play in Japan are offered tryouts after being scouted by Japanese teams, meaning that the opportunity is saved for a select few.
After talking about softball, the conversation turned more to Japanese culture, specifically the concept of Sen Pai. Sen Pai is the mentor system in Japanese culture, which is found at all levels of education, sports, businesses, and informal or social organizations. The relationship is an essential element of Japanese seniority based status relationships, similar to the way that family and other relationships are based on age.
In Japanese, Sen Pai means "senior" and Ko Hai means "junior." People use these terms when referring to a person who is older or younger than they are. Each plays an important role in Japanese society and has responsibilities and expectations.
For example, on a Japanese softball team, a younger player is expected to perform various tasks for the older players such as doing laundry and cleaning. This isn't considered disrespectful as it might be in the United States, rather it is normal, as one day the younger player will assign tasks to future younger players.
In general, a Ko Hai is expected to respect and obey their Sen Pai and the Sen Pai must guide, protect, and teach the Ko Hai to the best of their ability.
Finally, we talked with Yamada and Watanabe about their families. Both of their families were very supportive and excited for them to get the opportunity to play in the United States and keep in touch with a program similar to Skype. For Watanabe, August can't come fast enough as her parents have already planned a trip to come and see the Bandits play.
After Yamada and Watanabe end their playing careers, they already have an idea of what they want to do. Unlike American players who often want to coach or somehow be involved in softball, the two want to get out of softball, get married and start families.
With lunch finished and empty plates around the table, we all said "Gochisosame (deshita)" which means "thank you for the meal," after what was a very interesting lunch and a great learning experience. Despite their post-softball plans, Yamada and Watanabe look like they have a lot of softball left in them and will be key to the Bandits success this summer.
Their softball skills were ready to go the second they got off the plane, and they seem to be adjusting well to life in the United States, even if they have eaten at the same sushi place four times in one week. If their success continues, the rest of the team might want to consider eating team meals there.