Kaua‘i AJA Baseball opens 83rd season

LIHU‘E — The late Sen. Daniel Inouye literally fought to prove the patriotism of the Japanese Americans, said Gerald Ako, secretary of the Kaua‘i Americans of Japanese Ancestry Baseball, Sunday.

“One of the results of that is the AJA Baseball program in Hawai‘i, which is celebrating its 83rd season,” Ako said. “If Sen. Inouye did not do what he did, we would all be stepchildren.”

The Kaua‘i AJA Baseball opened its 83rd season Sunday with a trio of games scheduled and six teams participating.

“It is gratifying to see the Japanese culture like bon dances and AJA baseball being perpetuated,” said George Costa, director of the county’s Office of Economic Development, representing Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. who was on O‘ahu for a memorial service for Sen. Inouye. “We have many cultures to celebrate and enjoy because of the sugar industry and the many peoples it brought to our community.

As we start the 83rd season of AJA baseball, I would like to see this and other cultural events continue to prosper.”

Tom Shigemoto leads the Kaua‘i AJA Baseball program as its president, being in that position for many years. He gets help from first vice president Brian Yamase, second vice president Mel Nishihara, Ako as secretary and Russell Maeda as the league treasurer.

 Earl Miyao serves as the league manager.

“Normally, we start the AJA season after New Year’s,” Miyao said. “But taking into account rain days and other factors, we thought we would start the season earlier so there wouldn’t be the scramble at the end due to rained out games.”

Kaua‘i AJA Baseball games are played on Sundays with three games on tap starting with the first game at 10 a.m., the second starting at 1 p.m. The third game is played at Hanapepe Stadium starting at 11 a.m.

The exceptions is for the Dec. 30 game when all three games will be played at Vidinha Stadium due to Hanapepe Stadium being configured for the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation soccer.

There will be no games scheduled during the National Football League’s Super Bowl weekend of Feb. 3. Rain dates include all of the Sundays in March.

There is no admission to view the competition, which will culminate with the state championships, April 6 and 7.

Participating teams include the Makaweli Indians coached by Mel Nishihara and Russell Nakata; Kapa‘a coached by John and Allen Mundon; Lihu‘e coached by Curtis Matsumura; Waimea coached by Bruce Hiraoka and Garret Agena; Hanapepe coached by Leroy Nonaka; and Kalaheo coached by Peter Ishibashi.

Ishibashi accepted the Kaua‘i championship trophy from Shigemoto for winning the island title in 2011, led in part by the league’s most valuable player, Kaleo Saiki, for whom Ishibashi also accepted the MVP trophy.

Shigemoto acknowledged the presence of Rep. Dee Morikawa, wife of Waimea player and coach Ken Morikawa, and newly-elected Kaua‘i County Council member Ross Kagawa, who plays for the Kalaheo squad.

He also acknowledged the county’s support for use of the county parks as practice facilities and the stadiums for the weekly games.

“I want to thank the coaches and managers for their time and dedication for making it possible for Kaua‘i to be the second largest league in the state,” Shigemoto said.

“O‘ahu is the largest with 10 teams, Maui has four teams and the Big Island has three teams.”

Shigemoto said he appreciates the dedication and volunteerism for not only the coaches and players, but the league’s officers as well, Maui recently losing Neal Fujikawa, who was a former spearhead of the program on the Valley Isle.

“This is about greatness,” Shigemoto said. “Sen. Inouye was for everyone, and stood for a lot of good things.

We owe him a debt of gratitude for what he did.”

Shigemoto said there are other figures for whom we owe thanks and gratitude to: “Yuta Matsumura, whom we lost in November after more than 50 years in baseball, and Richard Nakamura of the Big Island AJA, for his 53 years’ involvement. These are volunteers who do things from their heart for our sake.”