Tsubo (which I’ve translated as ‘Thoughtpot’ since it can mean both ‘pottery’ or ‘the essence of a topic/discussion’) is Sahana Mako’s monthly solo column for Kageki, which she has been publishing since the May 2021 issue.
This column is about her experiences entering Major League Baseball fandom.
Thoughtpot (Tsubo) – Sahana Mako (July 2024)
Recently, due to family influence, I’ve started watching Ohtani Shohei’s games on TV.
Baseball. Up until now, that was the sport that felt furthest away from me.
When I was in high school, we did softball in my PE class. It’s a similar sport to baseball, but while this might be hard to believe, I had basically no clue about the rules when I took the class.
A kind-hearted classmate gave me detailed orders: ‘Run that way!’ ‘Throw the ball!’, and by moving exactly as they said I made it through somehow.
There’s a legend that when I swung my bat on signal—’Now!’—and got a hit, the PE instructor was completely at a loss. ‘Maybe…she’s actually talented at this?’
And then I, that person, encountered a turning point in my life when I got into Major League Baseball again.
At first I was only paying attention to Ohtani, but gradually I started to understand the rules. (Good job me for making it all the way through so many 3-hour games without even knowing about the ‘3 Outs’ rule.) The fun I was having multiplied when I got to know the signature plays and personalities of all the other Dodgers players.
I’ll adjust my weekly schedule around the MLB games that week, and even if I watch the game broadcasts I’ll still watch highlights from the special programs at night.
In the midst of that life, I had a sudden realization. I remembered the days when I was much younger, and obsessed over Takarazuka every sleeping and waking moment.
I’ve loved and supported Takarauka since I was a child, but at some point it became my workplace, so I started seeing performances from a different perspective as ‘one of the performers’. (I say this, but I did look at Rei Makoto-san with the completely unclouded gaze of a hardcore fangirl.)
It’s so fun to support a person or a team.
We get disappointed when we don’t see results, we take it on ourselves to complain, we try to analyze the situation even though nobody asked us to. When I see a great play I’ll say ‘You did it!’ out loud, and all day it will feel like I’m full of energy. Even though I didn’t accomplish a single thing myself!
It’s the voice of one single fan among millions. But I learned while I was in Takarazuka that many of those small voices together will become a large voice, and sometimes even those small voices will reach someone.
Supporting someone who is doing their best and putting all their strength into something. It gives a little energy to that supposedly faraway person and to me, and makes every day more fun.
Even though I’m talking like an expert here, I’m still studying up on the rules of baseball. But these days I’m swept up by the dazzling MLB players, and my heart is stirred even if I don’t quite understand what’s happening.