Ending corporal punishment in Japanese sports easier said than done

Last in a three-part series

CALIFORNIA — In Japanese baseball, we also have the well-known story of Dave Okubo, the former Seibu Lions coach.

Okubo was fired by Seibu in 2009 because he assaulted 19-year-old pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (now with the Toronto Blue Jays) while coaching him on the farm team.

Okubo had roughed Kikuchi up because Kikuchi had the effrontery to complain about being fined ¥100,000 for showing up late to the “early work” segment of a joint voluntary training session.

(As Okubo explained to the young pitching prospect, in Japanese pro baseball the word “voluntary” usually means compulsory.)