A press conference was held at a hotel in Tokyo on November 4 to announce the establishment of NPB Enterprise.
'NPB Enterprise' is a separate company from the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB), which is a non-profit public entity. It will be founded with the investment from the NPB and the 12 professional baseball teams in Japan to promote the expansion of the business aspects of Samurai Japan and support its teams: the Women's Team, the 12U Team, the 15U Team, the 18U Team, the Collegiate Team, the 21U Team, the Amateur Team and the Top Team with a common goal of becoming world champions.
Katsuhiko Kumazaki (NPB Commissioner), who will be President & CEO, said, 'This company is to be set up with the hope that professional and amateur baseball players cooperate to promote the development of Japanese baseball.'
The 'new' Samurai Japan was born in October, 2013, where all the teams wear the same uniform and work as one.
President Kumazaki said, 'I really hope that the establishment of this company will strengthen the ties between pro and amateur baseball in order to let more and more Japanese people know about Samurai Japan and make them love it. Our ultimate goal is that all the teams of Samurai Japan become world champions, and also that we bring baseball back to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.' He continued, 'Before we decided to start the company, we received a lot of advice and opinions of specialists in different fields such as the owners of the 12 professional baseball teams. Then we came to the conclusion that it would be best to set up a company so that we could take care of the commercial aspects of Samurai Japan more systematically. The profit will be spent to promote baseball and expand its market.'
It was also announced that Norihiro Akahoshi, a former Hanshin Tigers player would be the 'Samurai Japan Ambassador'.
President Kumazaki said, 'Mr. Akahoshi played in high school, college and industrial league baseball. He also played in the Sydney Olympics. He made his marks as a professional baseball player as well. I couldn't think of any other person for this position but him to represent Samurai Japan, when its teams, both professional and amateur, are working together for its growth.' Akahoshi said, ''I'd like to do my best to promote the development of Japanese baseball with other people of Samurai Japan.'
Manager Hiroki Kokubo of the Top National Team, who was also at the conference, said with enthusiasm, 'I hope that this company will help the new Samurai Japan, where all the teams are working together as one, keep growing. As manager of the Top Team, I'll do my best to make my team a better, stronger one all the time.
With the establishment of the company, the bond between professional and amateur teams will be stronger. They will keep marching forward with the aim of becoming world champions and promoting the further growth of baseball.
Comments:
Yoshinobu Suzuki: Vice President of the Baseball Federation of Japan
'I'd like to say congratulations on the establishment of NPB Enterprise. We've been trying to unite professional and amateur baseball to work together for quite some time. I'm sure this new company will play an important role in getting them to be even closer.'
Hiroki Kokubo: Manager of the Samurai Japan Top National Team
'I'm hoping this new company will give us more opportunities and better environments to play baseball, for example, to play more games against teams in South America, Asia and so on. As manager of the Top Team, I'll try my best to make it good and strong enough to be the world champion in the 2017 WBC with the support of the new company.'
Norihiro Akahoshi : Samurai Japan Ambassador
'It's a great honor to have been given this important duty. I've always felt that amateur and professional players should work together for the development of baseball. I believe it's my mission to let the world know a lot more about the other teams of Samurai Japan such as the 21U and the 18U Teams as well as the Top Team led by Manager Kokubo.'
