By Brett Callwood
A delegation from sister city Ichikawa, Japan arrived on Monday, July 21 and spent a few days enjoying Gardena.
Five officials were here until July 24, with 32 baseball team members staying for an extra day. The city scheduled a number of activities for the visitors; on the Monday, there was a Welcome Dinner at Pollo Inka. On Wednesday, July 23, there was a Sister City and Parks and Recreation Day Celebration, held at City Hall. That included a Sister City Goodwill Baseball Classic.
Before the actual game, the Freeman Park Baseball Diamond was renamed the Ichikawa Nippon Yakyu Field. The game followed, with the visiting team handily defeating Gardena. That was followed by a celebration dinner at the Nakaoka Community Center.
“After several rumored ‘sightings’ in Gardena of Dodger’s star Shohei Ohtani, residents noticed a tighter connection between Japan and its roots in Gardena,” a city statement reads. “That influence helped create an even more eventful week of sports and more as Ichikawa, Japan’s Mayor, Chairman and Youth Baseball players –arrived in California to visit their ‘sister city,’ Gardena, CA. Ichikawa officials were reportedly ‘surprised to receive the notice,’ that Gardena’s Freeman Park Baseball Field would be changed to ‘Ichikawa Nippon Yakyu,’ and wondered if Shohei Ohtani’s success somehow influenced the decision, according to The Japan News.”
On the Tuesday, Ichikawa Mayor Ko Tanaka and 21 members of their Youth Baseball Team attended Dodger Day with the City of Gardena officials and families, watching their “favorite player, Shohei Ohtani and his Dodger teammates, play the Minnesota Twins.”
