Masumi Kuwata: “I Never Once Laid a Hand on My Son” — 5ch: “Raise a Kid Normally and You Get… Matt”

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The story

Masumi Kuwata (58), a former Yomiuri Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher who now serves as Chief Baseball Officer at Oisix, appeared on Bunka Broadcasting’s “Ikushima Hiroshi’s Sunday at 9” on August 30 and revealed that he never once laid a hand on his son while raising him. His son, TV personality Matt (32), played baseball in elementary school at Kuwata’s encouragement, but switched to the brass band club in middle school and went on to pursue a career in music. On 5ch, opinions were split: some praised the non-corporal-punishment approach to parenting, while others pointed to Matt’s unconventional career path and asked, “did that upbringing really work out?”

Masumi Kuwata: “I’ve Never Once Laid a Hand on My Own Son Either” — His Parenting Philosophy Is Simple: “What I Tell Him Is…”

Oisix Chief Baseball Officer Masumi Kuwata (58), who played for the Giants and the Pirates among other teams, made a guest appearance on Bunka Broadcasting’s “Ikushima Hiroshi’s Sunday at 9” (Sundays, 9:00 a.m.) on the 30th, where he opened up about his feelings as a father toward his son, TV personality Matt (32).

Matt played baseball in elementary school at his father’s encouragement, but in middle school he joined the brass band club and kept up his music activities all the way through university.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:08
Who's even asking for Kuwata's parenting tips?
11AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:14
Re: #2
Ikushima Hiroshi and Shinnosuke Abe
84AnonymousSep 1, 2026 03:36
Re: #2
He gets treated like a bit of an oddball, but his son turned out successful too — so maybe there is demand for it?
117AnonymousSep 1, 2026 06:49
Re: #2
The point is: raise a kid normally, and you end up with Matt.
3AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:09
The guy who used to say "if you can't pitch on four days' rest, you shouldn't turn pro" — despite everyone telling him "no, that's wrong" — turned out, sure enough, to have that same rigid PL Gakuen mindset, was a pain to deal with on the ground, and got pushed out.
4AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:10
The fact he's saying this on Ikushima Hiroshi's show is great.
7AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:11
Imagining Kuwata actually hitting Matt just cracked me up.
8AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:13
Same as Amuro's dad (Tem Ray from Gundam — the absentee, work-obsessed father archetype).
9AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:13
Ever since my daughter was little, I've drilled it into her, over and over: no plastic surgery, no tattoos, absolutely not — please, I'm begging you, don't.
16AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:22
Re: #1
The real reason Kuwata quit his coaching job wasn't that he couldn't develop pitchers — it was really his clash with Abe, wasn't it?
24AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:30
Wait, he still lives with his parents? lol
34AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:38
Re: #24
Who'd want to move out of Kuwata's house lol. Especially when he actually gets along with his parents.
25AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:30
This kind of approach that respects a kid's autonomy can raise someone proactive and thoughtful, but it also risks producing someone who turns out like a kite with a cut string — totally unpredictable. Well, it's an age that accepts diversity now, so maybe that's fine too lol.
26AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:30
Never telling them "no" just leaves the kid wandering lost — it doesn't do them any favors. "Whatever you want, whatever you want" just breeds monsters.
30AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:34
There are families whose lives got wrecked because of their kids, so I guess as long as he doesn't become a criminal, it's fine.
39AnonymousSep 1, 2026 01:44
Yokoyama Yasushi (the famously wild manzai comedian) also said he never used corporal punishment raising his kids.
54AnonymousSep 1, 2026 02:07
Re: #39
Doesn't count for much if you're smacking people around out in public lol. The people getting hit are somebody's kids too.
53AnonymousSep 1, 2026 02:07
He's just an unusual character — no arrests, no scandals so far. In that sense, the parenting was a success.
64AnonymousSep 1, 2026 02:22
Re: #53
Once the grandkids show up, that's when you know the parenting was a success.

Background and Points of Debate

Kuwata rose to national fame as one half of the “KK Combo” with Kazuhiro Kiyohara during his days at PL Gakuen, a baseball powerhouse known for its strict, hierarchical discipline. In Japanese schools and sports clubs, the shift away from corporal punishment became a major social issue following the 2012 suicide of a student in the Osaka Municipal Sakuranomiya High School basketball club, which was linked to abusive coaching — and Kuwata’s remarks appear to be an extension of that ongoing conversation. Notably, the thread’s discussion split less around approval or disapproval of non-violent parenting itself, and more along two separate axes: debate over home education philosophy, and judgments about Kuwata personally, tangled up with his departure from his Yomiuri coaching post and views on the coaching culture at his alma mater.

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Baseball] Masumi Kuwata: “I’ve Never Once Laid a Hand on My Own Son Either” — His Parenting Philosophy Is Simple: “What I Tell Him Is…”.”

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