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Before introducing today’s article, I would like to let you know a great news.

We have welcomed another staff to Japan Style, and she will write our articles with us. Her name is Junko-san, who lives in the U.S. I’m very interested to read her articles myself as I’m keen on her view on Japan as a Japanese residing abroad! I’m sure her articles will be entertaining all of you, too.

Anyway, here is the very first article from Junko-san!  😉

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"Keith Allison" some rights reserved. flickr

Do you like baseball? Well, to tell you the truth, I’m not interested in it at all and don’t even know the rules very well. Nevertheless, I recently have become a fan of a Japanese pro baseball player. He is Munenori Kawasaki, also known as Mune or Munerin, and he plays for the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada. The other day I happened upon a Youtube video of Mune being interviewed and was glued to it. What a funny guy! In this video, his interviewers can’t help laughing at Mune’s sense of humor 😀

As you can see in the video, Mune is not the best English speaker (and he has no interpreter with him). In such a situation, we Japanese tend to become shy and quiet. But look at him! He fearlessly answers questions and appears to truly enjoy the situation, flipping through pages of his English phrase book lol.

Here is another fun interview video. Two interviewers try some Japanese words that they’ve just learned.

One says “Toire wa doko desuka? (Where is a restroom?)”, but Mune mishears “Toronto wa dou desuka? (How is Toronto?)” and answers the question, “Toronto! Very nice!” That’s a funny mistake 😀

Let’s go on one more video!

I have no idea about the Taiwanese language being used in this video, but Mune seems to be loved very much in Taiwan as well!

Playing baseball as a pro in a foreign country must be both mentally and physically tough. It is unfathomable to me. Mune has even experienced being demoted to the minor leagues. And as we already know, his English is kind of clumsy (fun though). In spite of obstacles, Mune always does his best with a cheerful and happy attitude. I would say he has the power to make negative elements turn positive. This might be the key to why many people admire Mune so much. I hope for his further success!

If you want to know more about his career, check it out at Wikipedia^^

-Junko

This is JAPAN Style!