"Why not succeed?"The reality of the second career of professional baseball players and entertainers and their hopes for the future
notebook-laptopTomohiro Jō (52), a former Yakult Swallows outfielder who currently runs the company "J-SHIP" that supports the employment of athlete students and their subsequent employment. Then, in August of last year, Hiroshi Matsunaga (53) left HoriPro, where he belonged for 32 years, and started his second life as an office worker under Mr. Shiro. His experience and anguish because he was in the glamorous world of baseball players and actors. What is the reality of his second career based on his own history?
Matsunaga : I've been an actor since 1989, and I started thinking about the future about 10 years ago, when I was over 40 years old.
My main battlefield was lunch dramas and two-hour dramas, but with the passage of time, such dramas disappeared one after another. Thankfully, the office was following me in various ways, but I still had the feeling that "don't taper off in the future ...".
However, I had children, and there were places where I was reluctant to change jobs suddenly, so when I was wondering what was going on, I met President Shiro. My son is playing baseball, so I met him through an acquaintance. As I was looking for the next path for the actor, I was taken care of as the next stage.
I also told my senior Nagisa Katahira, who is indebted to me, that she will retire as an actor. Mr. Katahira said, "Matsunaga, Elai. I was able to make a good decision while it was this job that I couldn't make that decision." I felt that my back was pushed by the positive ale from the president of the office. No matter what kind of work you do, you will face each other and live firmly. I feel that is the most important thing.
Shiro : That's exactly the case with Mr. Matsunaga, but the basis of what I've been thinking about is "activity in the next stage."
In the world of professional baseball I was in, about 100 people in 12 baseball teams receive out-of-force notifications every year, and among them, directors, coaches, batting pitchers, baseball team staff, and other people who can continue to work in professional baseball. The ratio is less than 20%.
I became a professional because there was something shining, but I don't hear much about success when I step out of professional baseball. When I learned about the current situation, I thought, "Why?"
Simply put, why don't you succeed? After spending 12 years as a baseball player, I was keenly aware of it, but I wonder if there is a reason for the environment of "not thinking about the next".
Most players have to get another job when they quit, but I'm not thinking about that. It is a fact that we cannot afford to think about what to do next in our daily lives, and there is also the aspect that we cannot do it with the feeling of thinking about the next.
I didn't get that kind of guidance from the team, and if I had to think about it, I had to think for myself, but most of the players didn't do that. However, most players receive out-of-strength notifications. I wonder if there is one contradiction here.
Shiro : However, I think that I was lucky to have a connection with Katsuya Nomura. I learned a lot while playing baseball under Director Nomura. Director Nomura always said, "Before you are a baseball player, be a member of society."
It was said that the meetings were long, but about 70% of them are human education. I was hit by almost all the years of my active career, so I think I learned how to prepare for "next to baseball players."
I was particularly impressed by the fact that "the way of thinking becomes a way of working."
This is simple, but it's a very deep story. It's natural, but humans think and act in the brain, and if they think about negative things, they are naturally pulled there. On the contrary, when you think about the positive things such as "Let's do our best" and "Let's earn", it is naturally positive.
However, the troublesome thing is that you can act even with negative feelings. And there is a certain change in whether it is good or bad.
For example, even if you think that you don't like baseball, you can "practice being done", but if you do it, you will build muscle. However, the way of working is completely different for the muscles that I gained through "practice to do", thinking that "this practice has such a meaning".
The way you train your legs really changes between the 10 dashes that you run and the 10 dashes that you run yourself.
I think this is the same in the business world, and even when I'm working as a manager now, for example, when I wake up in the morning, I sometimes think that I'm "sleepy" or "difficult." However, I try not to go to work in that state. I always switch my brain to feel positive before leaving the house.
Behaviors dominated by negative feelings are likely to lead to negatives. That would be meaningless, or rather, even if it moves, it will accumulate negatives.
Because it's really simple, on the contrary, you won't notice it unless someone tells you. I'm really grateful that Director Nomura taught me that.
Matsunaga : I was taken care of by HoriPro for 32 years and changed to my current job, but of course, it was a completely different life.
It was a strict world with common sense and manners of human relations, so I think that I was hit by those parts, but I was keenly aware that I had reached this age without touching the other parts.
The manager took care of all the paperwork on the computer, negotiations with the place of work, and sales to various areas, and I focus on doing good plays. What I was able to do is now studying personal computers and sales from scratch. There are a lot of things to remember, but it's also a day full of fulfillment that I can't put into words.
Right now, I'm helping students find employment, backing up after that, and supporting the second career of people like me who are about to take the next stage from the entertainment world, but in a different job than before. However, the experience so far is also useful.
Although I have no experience in the so-called sales position, I sometimes get support because I have something that I have come to. I feel that it is great to have that feeling.
Castle : Mr. Matsunaga thought, "I definitely want to do it together" from the time I first met him. It's rare to find such a humble person, and I was hired immediately because of my humanity (laughs).
Currently, there are 16 employees including executives, and until now I have focused on employment support for student athletes, but from now on, I hope that Mr. Matsunaga will become a leader and support the second career in the entertainment field.
I've managed to work with everyone in various fields now, but it was difficult to make "0 to 1" at the beginning.
Having a university baseball club or an athlete student register with us would not be possible without the trust of the director and the university, and it is really true to gain trust when there is no track record yet. It was a difficult part.
However, in the case of our company, the goal is not to join a company, but how to live a lively life from there. That is important. We are working with the support up to that point. How do you understand that? It's been 16 years since I started this business, and I've been doing it to this day.
Matsunaga : Compared to professional baseball, the "entrance" and "exit" are not clear in the entertainment world. Especially the exit is extremely vague. It cannot be said that there is no clear retirement like professional baseball, and the concept of going from there to the next is naturally ambiguous.
At the same time, there is an idea that "retirement is a loss". Is it a fear that "I went to the next place if I couldn't sell in this world"?
I can understand that feeling, but if you understand the "importance of living itself", you should be able to do your best in any world, and for 32 years, I was taken care of in that world and embodied that. if you can. With that in mind, I am working on my current job.
Of course it's not a bad thing to continue. However, I blame the director for things that don't go well, and blame the staff for saying, "That's why I can't come to work." If that's the case, I think it's better to quit, and I think it's more positive to look for a better life in a different way, so I'm still talking about that.
Shiro : I've been playing with Nippon-Ham Fighter Tsuyoshi Shinjo, and I've personally made friends with him. It's been said everywhere, but he's a very strategist, even if he looks like that. Is he all thinking backwards?
To tell the truth, our management philosophy also has "always calculate backwards", which was born from my thoughts from my active days.
This may not have been a good thing for an active player, but when I calculated my life backwards, I saw the limits of being a baseball player.
I can't even go to Major League Baseball. There are talented players such as Tetsuya Iida, Mitsuru Manaka and Atsunori Inaba. However, I may still be in demand while I am fast. If you calculate backwards from such a situation, you can see how many years you will be able to continue working, and then you can see the annual salary that you can earn naturally.
When I saw the future, "What would you do if you were told that you were fired?" I started to think about it seriously. So, I may not really be praised when I was active, but thinking about the future, I started studying management when I was 27 to 28 years old.
I think it's even more important for me to run a company, but sensitivity is really important in business. Originally, professional baseball players, entertainers, and those who have some kind of special work should be polished. You should be better than others.
However, when I try to move on to the next stage, it often doesn't work. I wonder if this is a problem with one system.
Every job is difficult, and every job should have the skills that are unique to that job. Taking advantage of that, make the "next" shine more.
I am the one who helps with that, and Mr. Matsunaga, and I wonder if it is possible for a person who has come this way.
I think there are baseball players, actors and entertainers, but I myself am a product. As a manager, the people around me sell it. When it comes to that, it is difficult for me to acquire "selling skills".
It's really important to improve your humanity in a harsh world, but you can't make money without business skills.
In particular, Mr. Matsunaga is really kind to everyone because he has the best humanity. That's really wonderful, but I can't make money by itself, so I'm thinking about it for Mr. Matsunaga, "Mr. Matsunaga, that's important ...", and I'm being told every day (laughs).
Matsunaga : ... Yes, I have my legs and legs well trained (laughs).
(Photo by Masao Nakanishi)
■ Tomohiro Jou
Born April 30, 1969. Born in Chiba prefecture. He participated in the summer Koshien in 1987, the third year of the Narashino High School Baseball Championship, and was in the top eight. After graduating from high school, he joined the Yakult Swallows in 6th draft. He became a free contract in the off-season of 1998 and joined the Hanshin Tigers as a test, but in the 1999 season he became a free contract again and retired from active duty. He has been aspiring to start a business since he was active and turned into a manager. He serves as the representative director of "J-SHIP", a company that supports employment of student athletes centered on college baseball.
■ Hiroshi Matsunaga
Born September 5, 1968. Born in Chiba prefecture. He made his debut as an actor in 1989. He was noted in Fuji TV's drama "Sono Toki ga Kita" (1997), and gained popularity for his neat yet shadowy mask. He left HoriPro, where he belonged, at the end of August 2021 and retired from the entertainment world. He joined "J-SHIP Co., Ltd." where Tomohiro Jō serves as the representative director, and supports the second career centered on entertainers.
