MONTHLY NEWS
October 2002

Baseball Brings Japanese and Peruvian Kids Together

Peru is all the way on the other side of the world from Japan, but this summer 14 young Peruvian baseball players came to Japan. They came to Oshima, an island about 100 kilometers (62.5 miles) away from Tokyo that is home to about 9,000 people and an active volcano, to play a friendly game of baseball. This event was the idea of Michisuke Sato, the executive director of the Tokyo High School Baseball Federation. Sato has spent more than 10 years giving away baseball equipment in Peru, and he is the representative of a group that supports baseball in that country as well. He has also been the manager of the baseball team at Oshima High School. He had the idea to invite Peruvian children to Japan for a three-day trip.

Oshima is about two hours from Tokyo Bay by speedboat. On the afternoon of August 1, the 14 members of a Peruvian youth baseball team arrived on the island. There was a welcoming party attended by children from Oshima, and all of the kids mingled together. They communicated using body language and hand gestures, and they enjoyed dancing. That evening the Peruvian kids went in groups of two to the homes of volunteers, where they spent the night.

The next day, the Peruvian kids played baseball. They played two games, one against Oshima's champion elementary-school soft-baseball team (the Sashikichi Panthers) and another against the island's select team. The Japanese team won the first game, but even though they may have been tired from their long trip, the Peruvian team came from behind to win the second contest 9-7.

On the third and final day of the trip, everyone went swimming in the ocean, something that the Peruvian kids had been looking forward to. Oshima is a great place to go fishing and take part in marine sports, such as diving. The Japanese and Peruvian children played together happily in the water. After relaxing in a hot spring, a farewell barbecue party was held. The three days seemed to have passed in an instant for all involved.

Shigetoshi Degawa, the head of the Peru Youth Baseball Welcoming Committee, said: "The Peruvian kids really seemed to be interested in the sea and the hot spring. There were even some kids who were sad to go and were crying as they boarded the boat that left the island. There probably won't be many more opportunities for the children of Oshima to interact with foreigners any time soon, so I think this was a good experience for them." This special event will surely live long in the memories of all the children who took part.

One of the Japanese kids, 12-year-old Kenzo Takada, said: "We lost the game, but it was great fun all the same. I'm sad that they have gone home. I got a letter from one of my friends who went back to Peru. He told me his e-mail address, so I'm going to mail him and keep in touch."

Photos: (Top) Shaking hands before the game; (middle) Making friends over dinner; (bottom) Peruvian and Japanese kids pose for a group photo. (Oshima Town)