Goodbye, My Beloved Announcer Kitayama - Part 1
"Who is your favorite announcer?"
As of today, March 31st, my senior colleague, Yasushi Kitayama, who has been broadcasting "Guts Nighter" for many years, has retired. Twenty-eight years ago, when I was taking local trains back from Tokyo to Gifu, I was listening to "Guts Nighter: Chunichi vs. Giants" on my portable radio. It was Kitayama-san who was calling the play-by-play. "The umpire makes a leaping judgment! Kiyohara, looking strikeout!" This is what it means to have something vividly come to mind. His ability to express the brilliance of a pitch through the umpire's movements. At the time, I was a college student aspiring to be an announcer. Since then, whenever I was asked "Who is your favorite announcer?" in job interviews, I would answer, "Tokai Radio's Yasushi Kitayama."
Becoming a junior colleague of my "favorite announcer"
Through a twist of fate, I became Kitayama-san's junior colleague and found myself chasing his shadow. I was 22; Kitayama-san was 36. When I practiced play-by-play for farm team games at Nagoya Stadium, Kitayama-san would come to watch even on his days off. I hadn't belonged to any "announcing research clubs" in college. I was bad. Terribly bad. But Kitayama-san never said this or that to me. He never pointed out trivial things. "Score, who is leading, who is the pitcher, who is the batter. He threw. He hit. Grounder to third. Out. For now, just keep repeating this. You don't need to try to say anything extra in between. Eventually, you'll be able to. Let's drill the basics into you." And one more thing. "I want Osawa to become an announcer with scale. To do that, I want you to build the physical strength to keep talking for three hours with a loud voice. There is no charm that surpasses the volume of one's voice." Before games, he would often treat me to a "salmon bento" from a delivery service. It was a popular menu item from back when first-team games were held at Nagoya Stadium. The memory of eating that salmon bento together will never fade. It was delicious. I don't remember ever being scolded, either. He was a teacher who always watched over my slow, slow growth from nearby.
Co-starring on a program
In 1999, my second year at the company, Kitayama-san's voice echoed through Jingu Stadium as he reported on Dragons manager Senichi Hoshino being tossed into the air. The phrase, "His wife Fusako in heaven must be happy too!" remains in my ears. That off-season, I was added to the Dragons cheering program "Dragons Special No. 1 Jockey," which featured the duo of Kitayama-san and announcer Yuka Sato. Kitayama-san probably thought, "I'll leave it to Osawa from here on out." His decision to include me must have been intended for me to learn by watching while appearing on the program together.
Is it hard for a "genius" to live?
From my perspective, "Yasushi Kitayama equals genius." His expressive power, vocabulary, and amount of study were beyond my reach. But people around a "genius" often cannot keep up with their behavior, or they might tease them. A salaryman's way of life is difficult for a genius. What surprised me most was when he didn't show up for a live broadcast of "Dragons Special No. 1 Jockey." If social media had existed back then, it would have been a bit of a topic. He suddenly "burst in" during the live broadcast, and neither Sato-san, the guest Tomotoshi Kawamata, nor I knew what to do. In the end, he was tackled by the director and taken out of the studio. Such actions piled up, and he gradually earned a reputation as a "difficult guy to deal with." Because of his desire to "get to the heart of baseball at all costs," his interviews with players at the stadium were detailed and tended to drag on. He gained a reputation among players and staff as "that guy is a bit..." As the world became a harder place for a "genius" to live, he ended up alone, or became a presence in the company where no one knew where he was. Even so, on days he was calling games, Kitayama-san would still practice his vocalizations in empty spaces at Nagoya Dome with considerable volume. There was an announcer from another station who said something mocking to me about Kitayama-san, who always had rough skin due to atopic dermatitis and would practice his vocalizations alone in a loud voice. I couldn't forgive it. I could have retorted, but holding onto the thought of "What do you know about him?" I ignored him and left the scene.
My thoughts are overflowing, and this is likely to get long.
I will upload the second part at a later date.