Issei Washizaki: Creating a Gateway to the Baseball World in Okinawa

March 26, 2024

I am taking on the challenge of a baseball business called the Winter League, something that has never existed in Japan before.

I was a member of the Juku Baseball Club, but as an inexperienced player, I couldn't win the competition among over 200 members and never made the bench once in four years. While my teammates were active at Jingu Stadium, my four years ended with me just biting my lip and watching the field from the stands, thinking, "Just you wait."

After the Keio-Waseda series in the fall of my senior year, I retired from the baseball club, but my feelings for baseball, which I thought I had settled, began to bubble up again. In the midst of this, I learned about a stage called the Winter League in California, USA, and decided to participate. The Winter League is a tryout league where about 200 players from across the US gather, are given equal opportunities, and play a month-long league schedule to appeal to MLB and independent league scouts. Despite having almost no game experience during my university years, I achieved satisfying results, such as hitting a home run to the opposite field. Although I wasn't scouted, gaining practical experience and being able to demonstrate the results of my hard work allowed my smoldering feelings to finally find peace in California.

After that, I chose the path of a businessman and started my own company after working at Fast Retailing for five years. Thinking about what I truly wanted to change in the world from the bottom of my heart, I decided to take on the challenge of starting a Winter League in Japan. Through this business, what I want to achieve is to create a stage for players who, like me, have felt frustrated or need a practical environment, and to make it a business success.

"Shining a light on places that don't see the sun." Under this mission, many supporters have gathered. We have team members with top-level techniques and passion in Japan, as well as supporters from various fields. Together with these colleagues, I want to raise the level of the baseball world, act with leadership that drives the global baseball community, and turn this league into a culture.

In its second year, fiscal 2023, a total of 101 players from 11 countries participated, and more than 20 signed professional contracts, making it a great success as a tryout league. We will create a gateway in Okinawa where players from all over the world gather in Japan and then take flight to the rest of the world.