Hanshin “No smoking at the front of the team,” a smoking ban blowing through Japanese baseball… What about Korea? [이헌재의 B급 야구] ｜Dong-A Ilbo

Hanshin Tigers, a popular Japanese professional baseball team that uses Koshien Stadium as its home base, has decided to implement a ‘totally no smoking’ policy from November 1.

On the 11th, Hanshin announced to its players that smoking will be banned in all baseball-related areas starting from the fall closing camp held in Aki City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan on the 1st.

Those subject to a complete smoking ban are not limited to athletes. This also applies to managers and coaches. Going one step further, baseball team front desk staff are also prohibited from smoking. This is very unusual in Japan, where smoking is relatively tolerant.

Many people may be thinking, “What kind of smoke does a professional baseball player have?” In Major League Baseball (MLB), there are not many players who smoke cigarettes or electronic cigarettes. Instead, you can often find athletes who favor chewing tobacco.

However, among Japanese and Korean professional baseball players, there are quite a lot of smokers. People often smoke before and after a baseball game, as well as during the short period between innings. For this reason, each club has created a separate smoking area for players near the locker room.

It is believed that there are more smokers among Japanese players than among Korean players. When I went to cover the spring training of a Japanese team, a star player ran to the smoking room at the back of the building as soon as he finished sprint training and took a delicious sip. The player is currently the manager of a popular club.

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The Hanshin club has previously implemented a no-smoking policy for second-tier players. Since the second-tier players were mostly composed of young prospects, the no-smoking policy was not too awkward.

However, the total smoking ban implemented this time can be summarized as “You must not smoke as long as you are wearing the uniform.”

The no-smoking policy remains in place not only at the home stadium but also when attending remote games. For this reason, Akishi, where the closing camp is being held, has already removed all smoking facilities installed within the stadium. This rule will remain in effect during the regular season held at Koshien Stadium next year.

However, smoking is permitted as an exception when wearing civilian clothes. This means that we will not touch the away accommodation or personal spaces.

A picture of coach Kyuji Fujikawa, who was appointed as the new coach of the Hanshin Tigers in mid-October. The first reform plan is a total smoking ban. Hanshin Instagram

It is said that the influence of coach Kyuji Fujikawa (44), who was appointed as the new head coach, had a strong influence on Hanshin’s anti-smoking policy. Coach Fujikawa is a former franchise star who served as Hanshin’s closing pitcher in the early 2010s. After leaving the team to advance to the United States in 2013, Oh Seung-hwan (now Samsung) took over and became Hanshin’s closing pitcher. Coach Fujikawa was recently appointed as the new head coach, succeeding coach Akinobu Okada (66), who left the team at the end of this season.

Local media are evaluating this total smoking ban as Director Fujikawa’s first reform policy. The ‘Guardian God’, who was once in charge of Hanshin’s back door as a closing pitcher, becomes the manager and protects the health of the players and the front office.

The club expects that the complete no-smoking policy will not only improve the health of players, but also help control their condition to perform at their best. One player said in an interview with Sponich, “I want to take this opportunity to quit smoking.”

‘Smoking cessation’ is increasingly becoming a hot topic not only in Hanshin but also in Japanese baseball clubs these days. Prior to Hanshin, the Pacific League’s Nippon Ham Fighters and Chiba Lotte Marines have already implemented a no-smoking policy in their baseball stadiums. Hanshin is the first club in the Central League to ban smoking. Three of the 12 teams are implementing a smoking ban. No matter how good a baseball player is, in order to wear the uniform of the three teams above, there is a prerequisite that he must not smoke.

Among the 10 Korean professional baseball teams, none have yet implemented such a smoking ban. However, if the anti-smoking atmosphere continues to spread in the future, wouldn’t there be a team that implements a complete smoking ban in Korea someday?

Reporter Lee Heon-jae [email protected]

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