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The story
On “24-Hour Television 49” (aired August 30), a reenactment segment covered the career path of Matt, the son of former Yomiuri Giants ace Masumi Kuwata and now a TV personality. Though everyone around him expected Matt to become a pro baseball player, he chose a different path — and the segment revealed that Shigeo Nagashima had encouraged him, saying “Let him keep growing as he is.” Following the broadcast, 5ch lit up with opinions from all angles: takes on Kuwata’s parenting, comparisons to Kazuhiro Kiyohara’s son, and comments lamenting Matt’s wasted baseball talent.
Masumi Kuwata’s Son Matt Was Uncertain About His Future — Shigeo Nagashima Pushed Him Forward: “Let Him Keep Growing As He Is”
Nippon TV’s “24-Hour Television 49” aired on the 30th. It revealed an episode involving Giants Lifetime Honorary Manager Shigeo Nagashima, concerning Matt, the son of former pro baseball player Masumi Kuwata and now a TV personality.
This year’s theme was “My Family’s Story — Who Do You Think Of?” Born as the son of Kuwata, the Giants’ ace pitcher, Matt was fervently expected by those around him to become a “professional baseball player.” The story of Matt and his parents was turned into a reenactment drama and aired on the program.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
It's not so much "failed" — I don't think Nagashima actually parented at all. He just supplied the seed, planted it, and paid the bills. That's it.
You didn't watch it, huh. Nobody asked him for advice — Nagashima just volunteered his opinion on his own, and it seemed more like it made Kuwata start questioning himself.
Wait, did someone screw up here?
He could still talk in his later years though.
Maybe Kuwata worried too much about his kid? Kiyohara probably barely had any time to fuss over his.
Credit should go to Kiyohara's wife.
Masumi is a really theory-driven guy, so who knows how his son actually felt as a kid.
Even rich people get plastic surgery — that happens regardless.
Kuwata got trashed by the tabloids constantly during his playing days, so maybe that's part of why his kid turned out a bit twisted.
Anticipating an eventual MLB career, the Kuwatas had already decided to call their firstborn "Mikey" and their second son "Matt" before they were even born.
That'd just trigger a tantrum and make things worse. People prone to tantrums can't be controlled by those around them.
Plastic surgery addiction is a genuine illness though. The parents not being able to say a single word about it and letting it get to that state — that's absolutely the wrong call, no?
But you were raised the "wrong" way too, weren't you!
So how would you have corrected him, then?
True, he doesn't have that peculiar hostility toward his parents that messed-up people usually have.
Wasn't Kazushige being pushed from behind by Burning Production? So it was really his dad's connections?
Well, since Nagashima has already passed away, this whole episode is just a story from the past…
If it's a story from the past, then his dad doesn't matter anymore. His dad won't be around forever either, and once the TV industry drops him — which could happen anytime — he'll have to earn his own living purely on his own merits. It's not like he can coast on being a TV personality forever without any standout talent. There's no guarantee Matt will still have his current celebrity status when he's in his 40s, 50s, or 60s.
Tsunku's drama was about the past too, you know. Are we only allowed to talk about the present unless it's a drama?
A child is a mirror of their parent, after all.
Going soft on your own kid — that's a classic parenting pitfall.
Just looking at something you can't control, like his height, his potential was already above average. And I don't mean the kind of height you can fake with surgery these days — I mean the kind of tall build that actually lets you play sports properly. He may well have inherited baseball talent too, and his parents might have sensed it. But since they didn't force him to keep playing when he didn't want to, and it didn't push him toward delinquency, I'd say that's not bad parenting.
Nagashima at least had real achievements to back it up. As for Yujiro Ishihara, his family was rich, so I think they just let him do whatever he wanted.
IKKO's actual profession is makeup artistry, though.
Background and Key Points of This Story
Masumi Kuwata is a former professional baseball player who starred as an ace pitcher for the Seibu Lions and the Yomiuri Giants; after retiring, he also served as manager and coach for Samurai Japan. His son Matt was expected by everyone around him to become a professional baseball player, but chose a different path and now works as a TV personality. In this episode of “24-Hour Television 49” (aired August 30, 2026), a reenactment drama revealed the story of how Shigeo Nagashima encouraged Matt at a time when he was torn over his career path. On 5ch, opinions split between those who viewed Kuwata’s parenting as “soft” or “overprotective” and those who praised it as “respecting his son’s own wishes instead of crushing his talent.” Comments comparing Kuwata to other prominent baseball players’ parenting — such as Kazuhiro Kiyohara and his son — were also prominent. Note that replies containing speculation or unverified claims about Matt’s appearance have been omitted from this article.
*This article is compiled as excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “[Baseball] Masumi Kuwata: Son Matt Was Uncertain About His Future, Shigeo Nagashima Pushed Him Forward with “Let Him Keep Growing As He Is” — Revealed on 24-Hour Television.”
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