Japanese

"Hanshin Tigers"

Hanshin Tigers took 9th Central League championship with 5-1 victories over Yomiori Giants on September 29 at Koshien stadium. The triumph cerebration continued all night in the towns of Osaka, but fortunately, there was no happening as occurred at the time of the championship two years ago, where 5,000 or more people leaped into Osaka's Dotonbori River and several people wounded, probably because of the tightened security. As the senior director of Hanshin Tigers Mr.Hoshino told exquisitely, Hanshin Tigers is the symbolic existence of an anti Yomiuri Giants and anti Tokyo for the people in Kansai Area. Therefore, it is hard for people from Tokyo like me to understand the self-sacrificing supporting attitude of Tigers fans regardless of the results of the seasons, but I also find myself feeling envious of them to tell the truth.

Recently, shocking news attacked Hanshin supporters. It became clear on October 3 that an investment fund commanded by ex bureaucrat of Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Mr.Yoshiaki Murakami, which is commonly called Murakami Fund, had taken 38.1% stake of the parent company of Hanshin Tigers, Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd. The business approach of Mr.Murakami as a fund manager, who is famous as a "vocal stockholder", is to take aim at companies that own superior property and management resources but don't utilize them effectively and the stock price has been left in the low price as a result. Then he buys up the share of those companies, then he requests executive officer to share buy back or to distribute the proceeds to stockholders by using controlling power as leverage. His opinion as a stockholder could be apparently considered as a fair argument, but his aims is to earn a profit by lifting a stock price of the top-rated companies whose net assets are over stock aggregate market value, rather than making long-term investment to the growth possibility of companies. In that sense, it seems to me that he is a speculator rather than an investor.

Now, Mr.Murakami, who acquired 1/3 or more of the stocks of the Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd requested management personnel to make their subsidiary company, Hanshin Tigers go public. I don't understand his real intention, but it seems to me that he realized that he could not ignore the opinions of Tigers fan, that is said to be more than 20 million or more whole country. Therefore, he advertises that he is from Osaka and that he has been a Hanshin Tigers fan over 30 years, to get rid of the suspicion and fear of Tigers fan for his business stance. However, it is only for the past 2-3 years that the Hanshin Tigers has came to have brand value, and it seems to me quite difficult for Tigers fans who have supported Tigers for the long inactive term with gratis love to support the action of Mr. Murakami who appears suddenly and proposes presentation. Although it has said that Mr. Murakami wants to set up a stock price at a low price so that ordinary Tigers fan can buy it, but even if they don't have stock, Tigers fans have already enjoyed a feeling to be the owner or the coach of the Tigers.

2005.10.21