Hazing has a long history in Japanese sports

First in a three-part series

TOKYO — In one of the major stories this 2023 offseason the Rakuten Golden Eagles released pitcher Tomohiro Anraku for the “power harassment” of younger players on the team. According to various reports, Anraku was accused of hazing junior athletes on the squad by verbally abusing them, slapping them and shaming them in front of their teammates by forcing them to disrobe and stand on their heads with their genitals exposed — among other things.

If the name sounds familiar to you, Anraku was the subject of wide press coverage in the United States for his performance in the 2013 Koshien high school baseball spring invitational tournament in which he threw 772 pitches over five games. American sports doctors accused his manager of ‘child abuse,’ noting it would take a major league pitcher two months to throw that total in a game. Anraku subsequently suffered arm trouble and never realized his full potential as a professional. But he has certainly made news off the field.

The behavior Anraku is accused of is not unheard of in the baseball world of Japan. It starts in high school — or earlier — where there is a long history of taibatsu, or corporal punishment, as part of the education process.