Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Retired Professional Baseball Player

I believe the first time I met Masha-nii (ましゃにぃ big brother Masha) was in December 2000. I was already his fan at that time. “So he also comes from Kyuushu....” That discovery left a deep impression on me. There are very few men whom I would consider as handsome other than Masha-nii. I find him truly charismatic.

Once, a friend told me: “Fukuyama-san talked about Tsuyoshi in his Osaka concert.” After I heard that, I wanted to go see his concert at once, so I asked a favour of someone I know and was finally able to meet him in the Osaka-jo Hall. I gave him a baseball uniform as a present and he immediately put it on for the encore! I couldn’t believe it, I was overjoyed! After that, we became friends. Perhaps it was because we both came from Kyushu and that he was like a respected big brother to me.

The Masha-nii that I know, is very open-minded and has a great heart. When I was still at Nippon-Ham (Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters)**, Masha-nii would come all the way to Hokkaido to watch my games. We had gone to karaoke with everyone after the game, and, of course, he’d received lots of requests to sing this and sing that. He agreed to them without hesitation and ended up having to sing around 10 of his own songs. If it were me, and someone at the batting center asked me to bat for them to see, I wouldn’t be so quick to say yes.

On another occasion, at the end of one of his concerts, I thought he would be exhausted, so I just emailed him to let him know that I was going home. Instead he replied, “I want to see you, come over to Backstage!” I once mentioned that I liked liquor, he remembered it and came with a bottle of liquor the next time we met for snooker. In this aspect, he is very characteristic of Kyuushu men.

I consult with him in a lot of matters. Although we are in totally different fields of work, he would frequently teach me how to attract more fans, or how to associate with other people, etc. Besides these……, ah, there are also private matters which I cannot disclose!

Of course, I like Masha-nii the artist, too! Upto now, I have almost never attended concerts, but I have been to 4 of Masha-nii’s concerts already! Even the opening music of my games are usually Masha-nii’s songs. I especially remember that time with “Sakurazaka”. I was looking for a slower song, but just couldn’t find the right one. It was then that I heard “Sakurazaka”, and I was very moved by it. I’m the type of player who usually gets too carried away in a game. Listening to Masha-nii’s songs often helps me to calm down before I bat.

My favourite song? Oh it’s so hard to have to choose just one…..I guess it should be “Squall”. When I was negotiating my FA terms *** with the Hanshin Tigers, I was always listening to it in the car. “Squall” led me to think: “Do I really want to stay put here?” It gave me a push in the right direction and it would not be an exaggeration to say that “this song was a major factor that helped me to make up my mind to put myself through the challenge and go to the States.”

Lately, when we go out drinking, I’ve been saying that “I really want to go on a holiday somewhere!” Since I’ve been playing baseball all this time, I don’t have many opportunities to get away for pleasure, and we’ve both been really busy…..so, if we can just go on a trip somewhere, like Africa, it would be wonderful! Masha-nii~~, please make some time for me!