[Special Dialogue Article] Uncovering the Secrets of "Cross-Border Power" to Overcome the Walls of the Heart, People, and the World

2025/06/20

Ito (President) Hello, everyone. Today, we welcome Yayoi Sato from the Los Angeles Dodgers to hear about her experiences. After graduating from the Keio University Faculty of Letters in 1996, Ms. Sato has been active in a wide range of international fields, including public relations for an art company, interpreting for theme park construction projects, and online game localization. Since first joining the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003, she has played a role in connecting Japan and the U.S. in the fields of sports and entertainment. Currently, she promotes Japan-related operations from both the baseball operations and business departments.

You are accompanying the team for the opening of the "MLB Tokyo Series" at the Tokyo Dome, which starts tomorrow. First, please introduce yourself.

Sato Nice to meet you. I am currently the Director of Asia-Pacific Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers, responsible for overall club operations related to Japanese players and Japan in both baseball and business. With the Tokyo Series opening tomorrow, I am very happy to have the opportunity to visit my alma mater as a Keio University alumni.

Ito Until just a moment ago, you were receiving constant messages from everyone at the Dodgers, and it was clear that you are in a position the team relies on.

Sato I knew I was coming to Japan several months ago, but about a week ago, inquiries like "What happened with that?" started coming in non-stop, and I'm currently busy with last-minute responses.

Ito MLB (Major League Baseball) has held opening games in Japan before, featuring teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Seattle Mariners.

Sato MLB oversees overseas exhibitions, but this game between the Dodgers and the Cubs is much larger in scale, and they are putting a lot of effort into it. At the Dodgers, not only the players and staff but also their families and associates are accompanying us, so taking care of them is one of my many roles.

Ito Last year's Dodgers opening game was held in South Korea, wasn't it?

Sato That's right. I think the experience of going to a country with no time difference from Japan is being utilized within the team.

Ito Today's theme is "Overcoming Walls." First, I'd like to hear about the "walls of the heart." Recently, I read in a newspaper that people in the U.S. change jobs an average of seven times. As you have taken on one new challenge after another, could you tell us how you overcame the walls of the heart, or what your state of mind was when you decided to go out into the world?

Sato The first time I thought about going abroad was in high school. I was starting to feel a bit restricted at a combined junior and senior high school for girls. I had a classmate who had experience studying in the U.S., and since English was my favorite subject, I went to study abroad with a longing for foreign countries. At first, I was in high spirits rather than feeling any walls.

However, I didn't get along with my host family and was at a loss as to what to do. I heard later that there were many students in similar situations, and some of my peers even returned home. But I thought that wouldn't be interesting, so I found another host family on my own, left that house, and continued my studies.

Ito So, that was your first experience crossing a border.

Sato I felt it would be regrettable to go home right away. My parents had paid for me, and I had even taken a year off from school, so I didn't want to go home over something like this.

Ito Even back then, you had the power to see things through and were a "good" sore loser.

Sato Actually, I've never felt like a competitive person. In fact, I might be bad at competition. However, I didn't want to compromise on the goals I set for myself.

Ito After that, you went on to Keio University. Did you have any experiences of overcoming walls of the heart there?

Sato I spent a year as a "ronin" (student studying for entrance exams after failing), so I experienced a setback during my first entrance exams. Actually, I originally wanted to go to Waseda (laughs). I somehow thought it suited my character, but a tutor at my prep school said, "There's a gap in the exam schedule, so why not take an exam somewhere?" and the one I chose was the Keio Faculty of Letters.

Ito It feels like, "Welcome to the entrance of destiny" (laughs).

Sato I failed the first department at Waseda, but I passed Keio before the exam for the next department I was planning to take, so I decided Waseda was fine (laughs). Later, I passed the Italian department at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, but I decided on Keio because my friends recommended it.

Ito Was that fateful choice the right one?

Sato It was the absolute right choice. I think if I hadn't entered Keio, I would surely have had a different life.

Ito At Keio, were there any learnings or experiences that triggered you to overcome walls later in life?

Sato I didn't feel any walls during my four years there. If I had to say, German in my first year was the biggest wall because failing the credits meant repeating the year.

I experienced something like organizational management for the first time in an officially authorized student club called the Rally Tennis Club. In my third year, I served as the women's representative. There were other positions as well, and it was a club that properly set an annual schedule for its activities. This experience was very useful later on.

Ito Did you go abroad while you were a student?

Sato No, I was immersed in club activities.

伊藤卒業後、海外に出るきっかけは何だったのでしょう。

Sato Getting a job was the trigger, but even that was haphazard. Job hunting at the time started around the end of the third year, and everyone was attending seminars or sending resumes. I found that bothersome, and before I knew it, it was April of my fourth year. I got a late start.

At that time, I happened to find a company newsletter tucked into a newspaper. The company's main business was art publishing, and it said they were renovating a 100-year-old brick warehouse on Awaji Island—the only one that didn't break during the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake—into a barrier-free art museum. I thought it sounded interesting and sent my resume.

It was around April 8th or 9th, I think. I ended up having an interview on short notice, met the president, and it seems we both felt a spark. I was hired on the spot.

Ito Up to this point, there's no mention of baseball at all. How did you move toward working in baseball in the U.S. after that?

Sato At the first company I joined, my job was to promote up-and-coming overseas artists in Japan. Since I could speak some English from my high school study abroad, I was given overseas experience early on, such as being sent to art shows abroad.

Ito You were in a practical job from the start. You went on to challenge many different things after that, but are there any episodes where you felt a "wall of the heart" in that process?

Sato When the bubble burst in the early 1990s and consumption declined, the art industry was the first to be affected. I tried job hunting because I wanted to move on, but I couldn't find any interesting places to work. So, I quit my job for the time being and spent six months traveling all over the U.S. alone as a backpacker.

Ito Moving forward, how did you get a job with the Dodgers?

Sato After returning from my trip to the U.S., while I was working at Tokyo DisneySea, I met an American man who would become my first husband. We got married and I moved to Los Angeles. I started working for the Dodgers in January of the following year, 2003.

Ito Why did you choose the Dodgers?

Sato A job site I was registered with sent me a recruitment notice for an assistant in the Asia Department they had at the time. I've always liked sports and baseball, so I applied with a bit of a fan's curiosity. After three interviews, I was hired.

However, while the Dodgers are top-tier in popularity and skill now, they weren't quite there back then. Hideo Nomo and Kazuhisa Ishii were in the starting rotation, so it was an interesting year for a Japanese person, but a sports team is all about winning. When we missed the playoffs and I felt the work wasn't interesting, my former boss from Tokyo DisneySea asked if I wanted to participate in the Hong Kong Disneyland construction project, so I decided to quit the team.

Ito "Try quitting once because it wasn't interesting" is a big message for overcoming walls.

Sato I'm often asked what I value most in work, and I think it's working in a way that is true to myself. Performance drops in a job where you can't feel joy or a sense of purpose, right? When I first worked for the Dodgers, my motivation really didn't go up.

Ito Since then, the team has become stronger, and you are now at the center of a major event like the opening game. Have you felt any "walls of people" or "walls of the world" to get this far?

Sato Actually, I rarely imagine things as "walls." When I take on a challenge, my desire to break out of the current state and move forward quickly is strong, and it overcomes my anxiety. I dive in with that thought, and if there is a wall, I'm the type to break it down first rather than trying to climb over it immediately.

Ito What has been the biggest challenge in your work with the Dodgers? Also, please tell us what you find interesting about your current position.

Sato I have quit the Dodgers twice, and since last year, I am on my third stint. The team currently has three players (Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki), and from a business perspective, the Japan segment has come to occupy a central role. There is certainly pressure in being entrusted with this part.

But that's also the best part of the job. It's fun to work near players everyone admires, and it feels like challenge and enjoyment are side-by-side, almost the same thing.

(Moderator) Now, we will take questions for Ms. Sato from the floor.

Questioner A While working for the Dodgers three times, did you feel any barriers that made it difficult to return to the team? Conversely, if there was a reason you were able to rejoin smoothly, please tell us.

Sato Actually, after I resigned, both times they asked me, "Won't you come back?" so I had no hesitation. However, the ownership has changed twice during this time.

In an MLB club, everything changes when ownership changes. In that sense, it was a new challenge, but this time I already had knowledge under the current ownership, so I was able to join smoothly. Some people had quit during my absence, but many people I had worked with for a long time were still there, so we were able to start without really feeling that I had been away.

The current Dodgers ownership group consists of highly skilled people who have not only financial power but also extensive team management experience in other MLB clubs and major sports like the NBA. From the year after they became owners, attendance jumped to the top of the league, revenue increased, and team strengthening progressed.

Ito Unlike NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball), where ownership rarely changes, MLB owners change often, and the direction of the championship race is linked to that. Just as player trades happen constantly even during the season, a major characteristic is that change is taken for granted.

Questioner B Recently, I had the opportunity to hear about the club's global expansion at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers value other countries' cultures very much, such as holding events like "Japanese Heritage Night." What do you think is necessary for NPB to expand globally?

Sato I was previously involved in selling the broadcasting rights for Pacific League games to the U.S. and Europe, and I felt various difficulties. Besides the time difference, competition for global sports content is currently very fierce. Furthermore, compared to global sports like soccer and basketball, baseball is still a domestic sport. There is also the issue that Japanese content must be localized by the buyer or English-fied by the seller. I think the first priority is to increase the appeal as content.

Questioner C You have made major decisions to change jobs many times in your career. Please tell us if there is anything that gives you confidence or any values or ways of thinking you hold dear at such times.

Sato I have done things while thinking it's okay to fail, but a catastrophic failure would be a problem. So, I think it's good to move forward when I have enough conviction that it won't turn out that way. It's fine if you jump and end up with just a broken bone, but are you trying to jump from a height where it would be irreversible? I think it's good to jump while valuing that sense.

Questioner D From another perspective, "having the power to act" can sometimes look like being "reckless." I also want to find a job in the U.S., but I have anxieties like "What if it doesn't work out?" What kind of mindset allows you to dive into an offer without a second thought?

Sato Facing a challenge, you first have to break through the state of anxiety. And if you ask what that anxiety is, I think it's the fear of failing. To challenge something you won't know until you try, the basic thing is to prepare as much as you can. Actually, quite a few people don't do that. It's a poor way to put it, but some people are "infatuated with the idea of themselves challenging something." They get caught up in the idea of challenging and drive themselves to think they must challenge in order to grow.

Alternatively, people with too much anxiety might be pushing themselves before they are ready. As I mentioned earlier, the reason I want to do something new is when I simply want to go to the next thing or break through what's in front of me, so those feelings overcome the anxiety. First, prepare sufficiently and bring yourself to that state. If not, I think it's also courageous to make a calm judgment and decide not to do it.

Questioner E I have lived in the U.S. for about 14 years. At first, I worried that I had to become an American myself. Recently, I've felt the importance of working abroad with pride as a Japanese person. Could you give a message to Japanese people who want to be active globally in the future?

Sato I think we should make use of the good points of Japanese people. For example, simply being punctual. Japanese companies always deliver on or before the deadline, and if it's difficult, they can properly refuse. These things that are taken for granted are sometimes not followed, and I point that out.

However, this Japanese-ness can also backfire in the U.S., where the culture is different. So, I think it's good to be able to act flexibly without being too stubborn.

Questioner F While being in charge of managing Asia-Pacific operations in two very different fields—player/personnel-related and general business—how do you practice multitasking?

Sato The other day, I tried counting the jobs I finished in the morning, and there were about 12 types of tasks across both sides. At times like that, I don't have much time to think; I just clear things as they come.

Of course, I sometimes exceed my capacity, so I delegate work to others depending on the deadline. That judgment is intuitive; if I think it's impossible, I ask immediately. It feels more like I'm reacting to tasks rather than having a set method.

Questioner G In your busy daily life, what is your best way to relax?

Sato Even if I think, "I'll relax today," the reality is that I don't have time to switch off. I feel like I've been running full speed for the last year or two. I suppose it's eating delicious food and sleeping well.

Ito Has this hour spent at your alma mater, away from the hustle and bustle of the Tokyo Series, been a relaxation for you?

Sato Yes. It's very enjoyable.

Questioner H Please tell us if there is anything you would like to challenge in the future.

Sato Right now, I feel like I'm just clearing the tasks thrown at me, but personally, I hope to be able to spend a bit more time on work involving the various communities surrounding the Dodgers.

Ito At Keio University, the ratio of female undergraduate students has exceeded 36% and is approaching 40%. Have you ever been conscious of the gender gap in your work?

Sato Not really. While I am a woman, I am also an immigrant in the U.S., but the people around me treat me equally. MLB is also putting a lot of effort into racial and gender equality, actively trying to hire women and minorities for executive positions. Compared to when I first joined the Dodgers, the thinking on diversity has changed considerably.

Ito This was a very interesting talk. Thank you very much for today.

(This article is based on a special dialogue event with President Kohei Ito, "Uncovering the Secrets of 'Cross-Border Power' to Overcome the Walls of the Heart, People, and the World," held at the Mita Campus on March 17, 2025. You can watch the video below.)