Kiyoshi Nakahata and Kazuhiko Endo came to visit…

When Kiyoshi Nakahata was forming the Professional Baseball Players Association, it was lawyer Kenichi Nagashima who supported the union’s activities from the legal field, which is the foundation of the organization. However, Nagashima was not a lawyer in the labor field, but rather had originally worked as an advisor for a listed company. He did not even choose to study labor law in the bar exam.

What was the background behind this lawyer’s efforts to establish Japan’s first union for professional athletes?

“The first opportunity came when I was introduced to the company by a lawyer from the Hiroshima Carp.”

Nagashima spoke casually in his office and recalled memories from 40 years ago.

“There was a game between Hiroshima and the Giants at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. Nakahata and Carp’s Koji Yamamoto were drinking together at Rukawa after the game when they died. Nakahata asked Koji about the union, and he was connected to a lawyer in Hiroshima. He then contacted me, saying that a lawyer in Tokyo would be best suited for such a case.

The lawyer in Hiroshima told me, “In professional baseball, players are in a weak position, so I want you to meet Nakahata once.” Nakahata called me right away and said, “I want to meet you in a day or two.” So he came to the office right away.”

Koji Yamamoto is seven years older than Kiyoshi Nakahata, but there was a sharing of information and will that went beyond the team. And even though it was during the season, Nakahata took the trouble to show up at Nagashima’s office in Ginza. Kazuhiko Endo, who was the starting pitcher for the Taiyo Whales (at the time), was also there.

There, Nagashima was given a thorough explanation of the environment the players found themselves in and the current state of the players’ union. Nagashima’s father was a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, so although he was a Giants fan, he had no idea about the details of the situation the players found themselves in, and he was learning about many things for the first time, including the issue of the unified contract.

After listening to the story, Nagashima gathered his thoughts and told Nakahata:

“There’s no point in the players’ association remaining an incorporated association. It would certainly be better to form a labor union.”

The Players’ Association, which was a voluntary organization, was approved for incorporation in 1980 thanks to the efforts of executives such as Isao Shibata, Makoto Matsubara, and Choji Murata. However, even though it seemed that things were turning around, the association remained a non-profit organization. This meant that even if they made requests to the organization, they could not make demands.

In fact, Nakahata himself was frustrated when the welfare committee member in charge of labor management, a seasoned veteran of the company, told him, “This is not the kind of organization you belong to.”

This is how Nagashima felt.

“Until now, professional baseball players have not been aware of themselves as workers. It has often been said that ‘as self-employed individuals, players are the masters of their own castles and their own countries,’ and they have never felt like they are being used by someone. However, I think it is time to change this way of thinking.”

Therefore, it was inevitable that the idea of ​​a labor union would arise, but the hurdles to making it a reality were not low. In order to argue that professional baseball players are also workers under the Labor Union Law and to form a union, it was necessary to construct a legal theory and prepare documents to have it recognized by the Tokyo Labor Relations Commission.

“Can you give us a week to consider this so that we can recognize you as an employee?”

Nagashima told Nakahata and Endo. Of course, the Giants’ fifth batter and the Taiyo’s ace had no objections. The fact that the lawyer was serious about it gave him great confidence.