A circle of friends connected by goo touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
This week, we are bringing you a look at the circle of friends connected by Yakult fans in advance of the “Mynavi Swallows Summer Night Festival,” a public live broadcast to be held in the front area of Jingu Stadium.
On August 17, illustrator Betsuyaku Rrei will appear. We asked her about how she became a fan of the Yakult Swallows and the story behind the creation of the “umbrellas” that are used as cheering goods.
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What made her become a Yakult Swallows fan was her favorite manga
Celeina (MC): On our last day, we welcome illustrator Betsuyakurei. Please give her my best regards.
Betsuyaku： It’s nice to meet you.
Celeina: You are an illustrator and a Yakult Swallows fan, is that right?
Betsuyaku： Yes, I am.
Celeina: You are wearing the uniform today as well, No. 55, Murakami.
Betsuyaku： Yes, that’s right.
Celeina: Do you have many uniforms?
Betsuyaku： I have several, but recently I’ve been wearing Murakami.
Celeina: That’s nice.
Takano (MC): Is he your favorite?
Betsuyaku： I guess I’d say he’s like a god for Yakult Swallows fans, so I worship him.
Celeina: You mean with respect.
Betsuyaku: Yes, that’s right.
Celeina: How did you become a Yakult Swallows fan in the first place?
Betsuyaku： When I was in elementary school, I read “Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!!” was very popular in elementary school, and I loved it very much. At first I read it without understanding the rules of baseball at all, but I thought it would be very interesting if I could understand baseball, and I wanted to watch baseball. I told my parents that I wanted to watch baseball, and since Jingu was close by, we decided to go there.
Celeina：It was not so much that your parents were Yakult Swallows fans, but that Jingu Stadium was close by.
Betsuyaku: Yes, that’s right. The stadium was close, and I also liked “Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!!” had a character named Yasuda, who was a pitcher for the Yakult team at the time, as a semi-leading role model. So we wanted to see Yasuda-kun and baseball, so we decided to go to Jingu.
Celeina: Were you hooked from the first time?
Betsuyaku: I started out wanting to understand the rules of baseball and to enjoy watching it, but I never had any doubts about becoming a Yakult Swallows fan.
Takano: Naturally.
Celeina: Normal.
Betsuyaku: It was normal and natural.
Takano: Have you been a Yakult Swallows fan since then?
Betsuyaku: Yes, that’s right.
Celeina: Have you ever played baseball yourself? Only watching the games?
Betsuyaku: No. I’m not athletic.
Celeina: So you don’t do much sports, but you love to watch baseball games.
Betsuyaku: Yes, watching. Doing it is probably a definite no-no.
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The story behind the birth of the cheering goods “umbrellas”
Takano: You have been visiting Jingu Stadium since I was little. Were there umbrellas and such back then?
Betsuyaku: There were none when I was in elementary school. When I was in high school, there was a famous Yakult cheer leader named Okada, who was always in the center of the outfield light stand cheering for the team. At that time, there were very few Yakult Swallows fans. So, the leader of the cheering squad, Mr. Okada, wanted to make it look as if there were more people in the stands, so he brought plastic umbrellas from home and opened them when a point was scored. That way, it would be bigger than one person.
Takano: I see.
Betsuyaku: We wanted to make it look like there were a lot of people, so we asked people coming to the outfield to bring plastic umbrellas from home. That’s how it happened, and the number of people with plastic umbrellas began to increase. So at first, it was just a normal umbrella for rain. The seats were so empty that it was no problem to open them. However, as the number of fans gradually increased, and even though there were fewer people, if the umbrellas were opened, it would be difficult to see the game at all.
Takano: I didn’t realize there was such a history.
Celeina: I’m glad to hear the story behind its birth.
Takano: Isn’t it just like adding bulk?
Betsuyaku: Yes, it’s a bulking up.
Celeina: Takano-san, you’re good. Are there any players you are interested in these days, Mr. Bessyaku?
Betsuyaku: I’m really interested in Souma Uchiyama, but when I looked at his Twitter page earlier, I saw that he was cancelled due to illness, and he can come back within 10 days as long as his health returns. I just saw on Twitter that I had just been cancelled. I thought, “Oh”.
Takano: I hope you feel better soon. I hope you feel better soon.
Betsuyaku: I hope he comes back.
Celeina: I’d like to play a song for you here. What song would you like to listen to together on the radio at this time?
Betsuyaku: Yes, it’s called “Everyday” by JITTERIN’JINN. “Summer Festival,” which I’m sure everyone here is familiar with, so I’m going to twist it a bit.
Celeina: Let’s all listen to it then.
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The Yakult Swallows are “childhood friends”
Celeina：I asked you to listen to “Everyday” by JITTERIN’JINN, selected by illustrator Betsuyaku Rei. Bessyaku-san, you are active as an illustrator. Do you participate in “Comic Market” as well?
Betsuyaku: Yes, I do.
Takano: Do you get to meet many of your fans?
Betsuyaku: Yes, I do. However, the items that I put out at “Comiket” were not my illustrations, but rather fanzines of TV shows that I like, so many fans of those shows came to see my work. It’s not easy to talk about that kind of thing in other places.
Takano: It’s something that can only happen at Comiket.
Celeina: It’s like we shared our love with everyone.
Takano:You don’t participate every time?
Betsuyaku: Recently, due to the Corona disaster, it has been a bit irregular, so there were times when I didn’t go or didn’t participate, but I have been participating rather consistently since 2007 or 2008.
Takano: It’s like a familiar summer event.
Betsuyaku: Yes, it is.
Celeina: What do you think is interesting about “Comiket”?
Betsuyaku: I think it’s interesting that even if you make something very small, people who like it can come and talk with you.
Celeina: I see.
Takano: I imagine it’s like a huge off-line meeting. For example, do you often meet your Twitter followers there in real life?
Betsuyaku: Yes, that kind of thing does happen. Some people come to us saying, “I saw you on Twitter”.
Takano: Communication is fun, isn’t it?
Celeina: We actually featured “Comiket” in our program.
Betsuyaku: I see.
Celeina: We did a bit of a study of Comiket, to see what kind of place it is.
Betsuyaku: My area is in the “critique” genre, but it is a place where genres that don’t fit anywhere else are gathered, so it may be a bit of a special zone within the so-called “Comiket”. It is a bit outside of anime and manga. So, even if you are not an otaku, I think you will have a good time here.
Takano: I see. If there are any listeners who visited Betsuyaku’s booth, please send me a message. And you update your article on Daily Portal Z every Thursday.
Betsuyaku: We are updating today.
Takano: What kind of material do you have for us today?
Betsuyaku: Today, I watch TV Saitama at home, and many of the commercials on TV Saitama are for very local companies, and they are very interesting. Surprisingly, those products are not available in Tokyo, so we are going to make a trip to see them in person.
Takano: That sounds great!
Betsuyaku: Go to Saitama.
Takano: That’s it, “Yum, too good!
Betsuyaku: That’s right, that’s right.
Takano: I see those commercials at my parents’ house too.I will check it out later. Please check out his articles on Daily Portal Z, which is updated every Thursday. And finally, I would like to ask you what the Yakult Swallows means to you.
Betsuyaku: I was asked to think about this earlier, and I haven’t come up with a good answer, but I guess it’s like childhood friends.
Takano: That sounds good.
Celeina: Nice.
Takano: Together all the time.
Betsuyaku: They’ve been together all my lives.
Celeina: FISTBUMP, this week we welcome illustrator Betsuyaku Rei to our circle of friends connected by Yakult Swallows fans. Thank you very much.
GRAND MARQUEE
J-WAVE (81.3FM) Mon-Thu 16:00 – 18:50
Navigator: Shinya Takano, Celeina Ann
