Kazuhisa Ishii joined the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles as GM in 2018 and went on to serve both GM and manager before dedicating himself fully to managing from 2023. Having seen the club from both the front-office perspective as GM and the on-the-ground view as the man in the dugout working alongside players every day, he probably understands the relationship between Rakuten and sports more deeply than anyone. He spoke to us about "Rakuten Baseball" ― the guiding philosophy in his pursuit of a second championship.

“As the large logo on our away uniforms makes clear, the ownership group and the club are one. That sense of identity and responsibility is something I carry more strongly than any of the managers who came before me. Until last season I served as GM, which gave me many opportunities to talk with Rakuten Group employees and work alongside them on club operations.”

“And there’s a lot we have to learn from them. Every one of them is constantly working to get one step ahead of the competition in their own fields. And they’re trying to project that outward, to share information out to the world from Japan. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles need to become a team that takes a leadership role across all of professional baseball. And just because baseball was born in the United States doesn’t mean today’s Japanese baseball, and this team in particular, is somehow ‘below’ anyone.”

“One of Rakuten Group’s brand concepts is ‘Meticulous Preparation,’ and I feel this is an incredibly important concept for us too. Not just preparing, but planning with thoroughness and even a certain craftiness so we’ve looked at things from every angle, so that we can win. That craftiness will always show up when it matters most.”

“With the players’ roots growing deeper now, I feel that this ‘Rakuten Baseball,’ as I call it, is finally starting to take shape.”

“That said, what’s ultimately asked of us is results, and only the best results. Since the Eagles’ first championship in 2013, we’ve regrettably not been able to reach a second. We’re still growing. Satisfaction is our greatest enemy, and we should never be thinking, ‘this is good enough for us.’ We have to keep moving forward, even after failure. Anyone can look down and mope after losing. It’s genuinely difficult to find the strength to look up when you’d rather be looking down. But players who can do that are the ones who reach the top level. We need to face what’s in front of us, and not be thinking about something in the distant future. I want every member of the team to carry that mindset and play ‘Rakuten Baseball.'”

Text: Chiharu Abe