I took my oldest to a baseball practice event the other day. They called it baseball camp but really it was just a two hour event where coaches would introduce the boys to the game and lead them through various drills to him them a feeling of what it's like.

^{Baseball by Wada Sanzo}

My son both wanted to go and didn't want to go. You know how kids are.

About 2-3 months ago I discovered that MLB has a channel on YouTube and that they upload highlights from all the day's games everyday. This has been really great for following the Japanese players in the league. We already see highlights from Ohtani constantly on the Japanese news, but sometimes some of the other players get passed by, so it's nice to have these 10 min official highlight videos on YouTube.

My oldest started watching with me and he instantly latched onto Ohtani. He knows the name from school. At my kids' school all the boys refer to Ohtani affectionately as Ohtani-kun, -kun being the name ending that is commonly used for boys in Japan. He's become everyones' hero and role model. He's such a nice guy that I think pretty much all parents are teachers are happy to encourage this.

It's funny watching games with my kids. They both love scores and homeruns. I did too when I was their age. But as I grow, I enjoy low scoring games more. Watching a good pitcher who can control the game is amazingly impressive. I've never yet seen a no-hitter as an adult when I could appreciate it, but I always long to see one.

when I was young
I loved high score games
now it's the reverse

So anyway, my boy's been watching with me every night before bed. He decided that Ohtani is his favorite player and that he wants to be a pitcher like him. He thinks batting looks fun too, but it's the pitching that he's taken to. Every night after we watch him play, bother kids but especially the oldest tell me that they want to be like Ohtani.

I'm going to be Ohtani
he says, as he leaves for baseball
i laugh and tell him maybe so

That in mind, when my wife spotted this event she decided it would be a great experience and she signed my oldest up. He alternated between being excited and being so nervous that he didn't want to do it. The day of the event as we drove there, he continued this bouncing back and forth between excitement and fear.

We got there and some of the boys were already practicing. I haven't taken either of my boys to a live baseball game yet, so this is as close as they've gotten to the real thing. They both stared wide-eyed, taking it in. The sounds are what jumped out to me. Ah... baseball. They mixed with my memories of playing baseball over the years to produce a pleasant feeling.

the crack of the bat
echos again and again
baseball practice

Actually it might have been the ting of aluminum bats, not the crack of wooden bats. Now that I look back in my memory, I'm unsure which one. Er.... nor can I think offhand which one the schools here use. Isn't memory funny that way? I've watched so many practices in the years from my childhood to now that it's all blurred together. Either way, both of them are very distinctive sounds that go with summer.

WIth a little prodding, my son eventually ran over to join the other boys. At first he stood nervously by himself, but eventually one of the coaches came over to him and got him involved with the group.

Prior to this I've played catch with both my kids, but not more than that. I haven't wanted to push them too hard and also I've thought catching is the fundamental skill so better to stick with that for awhile. As a result, my oldest was basically a beginner going in to this camp.

I watched as he went from only being able to catch the ball so so to doing pretty good catching it. They were working with real baseballs, much to my surprise. I figured for an introduction they would use tennis balls or softer rubber balls, but no, these were real hardballs. I was then a little worried as they started working on catching pop-flies. If you judge it wrong and that ball smashes into your face, that can hurt a lot. To my pleasant surprise, my boy caught two really high pop-flies!

I won't bore you with the details of the rest of the camp. They worked on catching the ball, on fielding ground balls, which is much more challenging than most people who have never played the game expect, and of course on batting.

Watching him play was fun and reminded me of years ago when I did the same.

my son...
watching him play
I remember my childhood

After the camp was over he was really excited and talked about doing it again the next day. Unfortunately the camp was only one day. Real baseball groups cost a lot of money in Japan. We might sign him up for one or not, I don't know yet. That's all up in the air right now. But he had fun and that's the important thing for now.

We immediately went out and bought two baseball gloves for both kids. People always talk about baseball having a high upfront cost. This is often given as one reason for why it hasn't spread as widely in the world as soccer. I think in part this is overblown. After all, in years past in the US kids would use sticks instead of bats ("stickball"), would use rocks instead of baseballs, and would forgo the glove entirely and use their barehands for catching. But anyway, even if you want to avoid the harshness of stickball, a decent beginner bat and glove will only set you back around $50, so it's not a huge investment. We didn't get them bats yet, however, just two gloves. For a ball we are just using old tennis balls that we've found around the neighborhood. Now in the days since both boys have been outside everyday tossing the ball back and forth.

the brothers
laughing and yelling
playing catch

Baseball in Japan is serious business. Many of the coaches are old school and are known for being very hard on the kids, not only yelling about everything but also getting physical with the kids. That hard environment kind of makes me a little wary of my kids getting into baseball. But at the same time, for now they are having fun, so it's all good.

The Haibun is a combination of haiku and prose of some kind, usually diary or journal thoughts, but any kind of prose is considered ok. The most famous haibun in Japanese history is Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi which was in his case a combination of haiku and journal musings about his trip up through the backcountry of northern Japan.

If haiku by itself seems simple or boring for you, you might give some try to haibun.

❦

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.