Chuo University’s junko (semi-hardball) baseball team arrived on Hawaiʻi Island Feb. 26 from Tokyo, Japan, for a pair of exhibition games hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. This was a return trip for the Chuo team after previously visiting in 2017. A planned 2020 visit was canceled due to the pandemic.
Chancellor Bonnie Irwin along with Director of Athletics Patrick Guillen, joined Mayor Kimo Alameda, Honorary Consul General of Japan in Hilo Art Taniguchi, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawai’i 1st vice president Mitchell Dodo, and Japanese Community Association of Hawai’i president Burt Tsuchiya to welcome the team with a special dinner at the Hawaiʻi Japanese Center.
“The young men from the Chuo baseball team are wonderful ambassadors for their university!” says Chancellor Irwin. “I was honored to welcome them and their coaches to Hilo.”
The players also toured museum exhibits highlighting the history and cultural contributions of Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans in Hawaiʻi and Hawaiʻi Island.
Photos of team at museum exhibits by Spencer Honda/Athletics Dept/UH Hilo (click/tap for full size)
“Baseball has served as a bridge between our cultures,” says Garett Yukumoto, UH Hilo baseball interim head coach. “These exhibition games are more than just competition, they’re an opportunity for international friendship and a celebration of the game we all love.”
In a statement from Vulcan Athletics, this second Hawaiʻi expedition is the Chuo team “traveling for a friendly series against the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, framed by director Shigenori Yanagawa as a student-first international exchange focused on growth, new perspectives and deeper cross-border friendship — made possible through the support of families and Hawai’i’s baseball community with a stated commitment to transparent, responsible planning centered on what benefits students’ futures.”
