Remembering 10 Days in August
By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS
RAFU SPORTS EDITOR
Saturday, December 20, 2008

Players and coaches from the original Sansei Basketball team reunited 30 years after their pioneering trip to Japan.

MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS/Rafu Shimpo
Attending the Sansei reunion at Sambi in Downey were: front, from left–Kirk Hiura, Dave Urabe, Cal Hosozawa, Steve Miho; standing–Coach Jim Nakabara, Assistant Jon Kagawa, Alan Kosaka, Manager Richard Kitabayashi, Wayde Shimoda, Mark Kitabayashi, Manager Roy Iwami, Manager Clarence Hiura.

Photos courtesy Alan Kosaka/Sansei Basketball
t’s a clean tip-off between Mark Kitabayashi and his
Japanese counterpart, Wayde Shimoda and Cal Hosozawa
angle for the ball.

Kitabayashi, Kirk Hiura, Tim Yamauchi, Sei Shimoguchi and Craig Iwami
surround the opposing center.

DOWNEY.–“Someone told us this trip was to promote goodwill and international relationships, but as 17- and 18-year-olds, we didn’t know any better. We were just going to have fun,” said Alan Kosaka, after looking over an album of photos taken 30 years ago.

Kosaka was one of 12 teenagers who took part in a trip to Japan in 1978, to play basketball and forge friendships with players there. The program, Sansei Basketball, was the brainchild of Roy Iwami and the late Yoichi Hosokawa and the forefather of several intercultural sports exchanges that followed, including the very successful Yonsei Basketball Association.

Kosaka and all but three of his former teammates reunited at Sambi Restaurant in Downey last Saturday, to share memories and marvel at photos–and fashions–from three decades ago.

“What’s scary is that we were the inaugural trip and we had no idea what we were getting into,” Kosaka said. “Fundraising was really tough.”

The team was so stretched for cash that they had to opt for the cheapest possible flight to Japan, a 20-hour ordeal that took them from L.A. to Portland to Anchorage to the new Narita airport in Tokyo.

“When we got to Narita Airport, there were armed military everywhere, so we were thinking, ‘Where in the world have we landed?’” Kosaka recalled.

The team’s game schedule included not only comparable high school squads, but also a semi-pro team from Mitsubishi Electric–who they beat.

Kosaka said that all the players and coaches are gratified to think that perhaps they help to pave the way for programs like Yonsei that help open a new world to local ballplayers. He said the experience continues to be a life bond for all involved.

“Nowadays, with the internet and Facebook, it’s a lot easier to keep in touch,” he said. “Actually, I recently met a gentleman in Japan who said that he came to watch our game 30 years ago. What a small world.”