Chiben Wakayama and Kendai Takasaki faced off in the Koshien final — and as it turns out, both schools have been visited and coached by Ichiro. He sent a message saying, “Two schools I’ve worked with ended up meeting in the final. One of my dreams has come true, and I’m deeply moved.”
The thread saw a mix of cool skepticism (“isn’t it just a coincidence he happened to be connected to these two schools?”) and a tally showing that, of the 11 schools Ichiro has coached, Chiben Wakayama is the only one to ever reach Koshien. The discussion spun off into debate over whether he’s “strategically picking powerhouse schools” or whether “it’s just the media reporting on it after the fact.”
◇108th National High School Baseball Championship Final — Chiben Wakayama 4–3 Kendai Takasaki (August 22, 2026, Koshien)
Ichiro (52), who serves as Special Assistant to the Chairman and Instructor for the Mariners, sent a message on the 22nd to both schools
that fought a hard-fought battle in the 108th National High School Baseball Championship final at Koshien: Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) and Kendai Takasaki (Gunma).
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
2Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:09:53.76ID:DOMUNGIh0
Maybe it's just me, but didn't the level feel kind of low?
4Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:10:22.50ID:plw1LUYk0
Go eat some curry and shut up (a classic 5ch put-down telling someone to quiet down).
33Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:25:42.06ID:/xYN6GQS0
>>4
Gave up curry ages ago, buddy.
6Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:10:39.72ID:UcOH8Pjv0
All that's left now is for him to lead the Dragons to a championship.
7Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:10:56.68ID:SyZMHzKI0
>>1
Still trying to get attention?
88Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:36:34.88ID:emrO+HRq0
>>7
I think he's strategically picking schools because it gets reported as "Ichiro coached them." Asano from Takamatsu Shogyo (now with the Giants) was a first-round draft pick after all.
92Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:41:00.97ID:h2HDfqiZ0
>>7
You're one to talk — you went out of your way to quote post #1.
8Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:11:18.50ID:q8P0GkCa0
Ichiro himself never made it to the finals back in his own high school days, so he must be thrilled.
11Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:12:01.62ID:lCAt8Pf70
Wasn't he just goofing around playing baseball with high school girls?
64Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:03:23.56ID:gvuW7rCc0
>>11
He's been visiting all sorts of schools ever since he got his amateur coaching license. It's only for a day, so it really depends on how much of Ichiro's mindset the kids can soak up in that time.
Asahikawa Higashi High School (never been to Koshien)
12Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:12:06.23ID:w6ak6/8n0
Of course your hit rate goes up if you're coaching the powerhouse schools.
14Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:12:10.47ID:Dra/8iR40
It's not like he's only ever been connected to two schools.
16Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:12:17.89ID:dSpAJymh0
Not as a job, not as some mission — it'd be nice if he could just genuinely enjoy the games.
18Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:14:09.30ID:tmxVuxju0
Just a coincidence, right? They were already strong schools to begin with.
19Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:14:28.59ID:i0a+eCW20
Uncle Ichiro never misses a chance to plug himself lol ("Ichi-oji" — a半-affectionate, half-mocking nickname for Ichiro)
22Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:15:55.36ID:9bPoKxLz0
He probably has more attachment to Chiben Wakayama lol
23Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:16:31.44ID:vlRgkmAh0
"Coaching" but it's only a few days — he doesn't bear any real responsibility.
25Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:16:40.07ID:YrEAFJ3w0
> It hasn't been made public, but I've also had a connection with Kendai Takasaki High School.
Come to think of it, I had a connection too — just never made it public either. (joking)
27Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:17:33.08ID:5vtPU2DN0
If he's going to keep saying stuff like this, he should just become a full-time head coach already.
30Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:20:50.53ID:q8P0GkCa0
Huh? Why didn't he make the connection with Takasaki public until now? What, he only announces it once they reach the finals?
91Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:39:41.32ID:Cvu1Dv6k0
>>30
Most of what's "public" isn't coming from Ichiro himself to begin with — it's the media reporting it. It's not like the press tags along to every single school he coaches.
31Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:21:47.74ID:MIAsXlnG0
I want him to go back to Meiden one more time and get them the championship. It'd be nice if he took on a bit more responsibility for once.
35Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:29:08.04ID:pBpR2UHL0
Ichiro, on players glued to their tablets: "As a fan, it's disappointing" — warns against over-reliance on data
s://hochi.news/articles/20250124-OHT1T51009.html?page=1
37Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:31:35.17ID:w/Tsii7W0
He says visible numbers aren't everything, basically dismissing sabermetrics wholesale — even though he was the one obsessed with nothing but the visible hit count.
38Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:32:14.32ID:w/Tsii7W0
Don't make them train. Tigers and lions don't train, you know — and not just skipping weights either. (referencing Ichiro's famous "lions and tigers don't train" quote)
43Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:35:37.56ID:PXSyqHxB0
Just become a manager already and help energize the sport. Oh, Nagashima, Nomura, and Ochiai all properly took managing jobs and helped hype up the baseball world.
63Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:01:19.92ID:pL5E0aCt0
>>43
Isn't it because becoming a manager would mean he can't coach high schoolers anymore?
45Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:38:37.85ID:RL341TRj0
And yet he even went to his alma mater, Aikodai Meiden 😿
101Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 21:20:42.96ID:ccxm0e0t0
>>45
He's brutally strict when it comes to his own alma mater.
47Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:42:20.78ID:q8P0GkCa0
Of the 11 schools Ichiro has coached, only Chiben Wakayama has ever made it to Koshien
Chiben Wakayama ⭕
Kokugakuin Kugayama ❌
Chiba Meitoku ❌
Takamatsu Shogyo ❌
Tokyo Metropolitan Shinjuku ❌
Fuji ❌
Asahikawa Higashi ❌
Miyako ❌
Okanmuri ❌
Gifu ❌
Aikodai Meiden ❌
50Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:44:02.63ID:Q0fHqdFE0
>>47
Can't even read post #1, can you.
53Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:49:18.47ID:6kwP+TXP0
What's that baseball event where Ichiro's clowning around with high school girls?
56Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 19:53:09.62ID:F7KwPLmC0
>>53
Girls' high school baseball basically doesn't draw any crowds, so there's no revenue to speak of. They probably bring in an audience by having the girls play against Ichiro, then use that income to cover operating costs. The girls' baseball federation isn't even part of the national high school sports federation either.
86Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:31:17.78ID:KJ5YPRwS0
He hates his alma mater. (sarcastic jab, contradicting the earlier post)
100Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 21:19:16.62ID:QN1Rqlhj0
>>86
He went there recently and gave them advice out of love, though.
87Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:35:44.19ID:030j1tfa0
>>1
Shota Imanaga reunites with Ichiro for the first time in two years, receives 15 minutes of "golden wisdom": "Every bit of it was the best advice." Carrying his gratitude to his senior, he takes the mound on the 24th.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5f883e91e68504ef8f1d12ab2a05150a4f815915
98Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 21:03:08.64ID:irNkahV60
>>87
This is actually a pretty great system. You get to chat with Ichiro whenever you happen to catch a Mariners game — he's basically always at the Mariners' stadium anyway.
90Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:38:04.72ID:4VhEWUhJ0
He just went and pushed his way into schools that looked strong, didn't he?
93Anonymous2026/08/22(土) 20:43:26.26ID:jCYTlAcb0
>>90
He said he picks based on reading through the letters he receives. He's coached weak schools too, you know.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports Express+) thread “[High School Baseball] Ichiro Sends Message to Chiben Wakayama and Kendai Takasaki: “Two Schools I’ve Worked With Meet in the Final… One of My Dreams Has Come True”.”
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