Japanese student Hasagawa continues his baseball passion

By Nikki Thompson

After hearing about UNK from a friend and former graduate in Japan, Bunta Hasagawa envisioned he too would be on the blue and yellow campus. When he finally made it to Kearney, from Kanagawa, Japan, he loved every part of it, but something seemed to be missing: baseball.

Hasagawa played baseball in Japan for years and even played for fun once in Kearney but never thought he could make the Loper team—until one day a “very nice lady from the Hub,” as Hasagawa put it, found out about his aspiration and decided to help. She put a call into head baseball coach Damon Day, and Day followed up and requested a meeting. After a nerve-wracking tryout, Hasagawa, officially became a Loper.

Hasagawa says he is so thrilled to be able to have this opportunity to play and make new friends. “They are so nice; they even drive me to practice at six in morning,” Hasagawa says of his new teammates.

His teammates feel the same way about him. Jake Luebbe, a teammate and business administration major, says he has adapted to American customs well but still holds on to his respectful background. “He (Hasagawa) is always polite. I could criticize him, and he would reply with a ‘thank you,’”says Luebbe, a junior from Wichita, Kan.

While the game of baseball is similar, there were many things Hasagawa struggled with at first in Kearney. Hasagawa said that the relationship between the coaches and players was an adjustment for him. In Japan, the coaches are not “friends” with the players; they are more of a boss. This different relationship between coaches and players was interesting and exciting for Hasagawa to experience with Loper coaches, as the UNK coaches are very involved in players’ lives.

Hasagawa was also surprised when his first practice ended after only three hours because in Japan they will practice from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon. Coaches and practice times were not the only change for Hasagawa. He had to learn a whole new set of terminology to communicate. To prepare for the season and communicating with the team and coaches, Hasagawa said, “I studied words of baseball all summer.”

Hasagawa was very nervous of the language barrier. He says that his English is not very good when in fact others have no trouble understanding him and notice humility often while talking to him.

Hasagawa says it is just in his culture to respect everyone and give people the credit they deserve. His positive outlook on everything is evident to others. As some have lost that spark for life, he is drinking in every experience he can.

Hasagawa is humble and respectful to everyone he meets, yet this doesn’t hold him back. If anything, it springs him forward and onward. He has opened my outlook on life and I am inspired to see what this 25 year old, self-proclaimed “little man” will do next.